Be Here Now

Disclaimer: Yep, I own Harry Potter. *wakes up* Darn it!

A/N: Hey faithful readers! HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRED AND GEORGE! Happy April Fools' Day! Fred and George made April Fools' Day just that! ;) I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Neogirl31: I'm sorry I couldn't get it up in time! This one is though!

Eclare LJ and Percabeeth: Thank you! I am too, she slapped Maya quite hard! :D :'( Next year maybe we will remember! :D

Aurora White: I will. I just don't know when. Ha-ha! I update quite fast because my teachers have been letting us off lately and I've had a lot of free time lately. I hope this pleases!

katien100: We all do. :D I'm thinking of making this a trilogy, but we'll see!

Kind of long author's note at the end! PLEASE READ IT! This is dedicated to Neogirl31! Happy belated birthday, and I hope it was a good one! And here's chapter twelve!

x.o.x.o.x.

Hearing a sharp crack, James whirls around, expecting to find someone on the path behind him, but he finds no one. Shrugging slightly, he continues up the path to the castle's front doors, Lily in his arms.

x.o.x.o.x.

"Ah, Severus. You are willing to attack the Potters?" Lord Voldemort's high, cold voice rings around the room.

"Yes, my Lord. More than willing," Severus Snape replies eagerly.

"Excellent," breathes Voldemort. "Very well, Severus. You shall be rewarded in time, but for now, go back to Hogwarts."

"Yes, my Lord." Snape Disapparates with a loud crack, leaving a triumphant Dark Lord once more.

x.o.x.o.x.

The world is blurry. Lily Evans's eyes pop open, and she rubs them to clear them. At first, she can't recognize her surroundings, but finally she realizes that she is in the hospital wing. Suddenly, all that happened the day before came rushing back. After shopping for dresses, Hogsmeade had been ambushed by Death Eaters. The Marauders had fought well, but she had run forward to assist them. She Stunned Bellatrix Lestrange, but was knocked out afterward.

"LILY!" squeals Hilary, running into the hospital wing.

Lily closes her eyes briefly, and then smiles at her best friend. "Hi, Hilary."

"Why the hell did I let you go?" gasps Hilary, hugging Lily tightly.

"I feel better that I did something. Don't blame yourself, Hils," Lily reassures her.

Hilary smiles, but Madam Pomfrey's arrival cuts her response off. "Miss Evans! You are awake! You are such a foolish girl, stepping out to battle Death Eaters!" the nurse scolds.

Lily merely shrugs off the scolding. "I must, Madam Pomfrey. I must fight for the greater good."

Madam Pomfrey scoffs. "So noble. You may go, Miss Evans."

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey!" Lily thanks her, jumping off the bed.

"Let's go to your common room," suggests Hilary, linking their arms.

Lily nods. "Yeah, sure."

x.o.x.o.x.

But their plans are crushed. In the Head Common Room, they find James and Maya making out ferociously. Hilary groans, covering her eyes. Seriously, she did not need to see her twin brother snogging the biggest slut in the world.

Lily swallows the terrible feeling in her throat and swishes her wand, throwing them apart very forcefully. "You are very lucky I didn't get McGonagall. I suspect that could have gotten both of you expelled, Head Boy or not."

"Are you saying I'm Head Boy?" Maya asks, outraged.

"No. Of course not! You have neither the brains nor the guts to be a leader. You're a hardly adequate follower," snaps Lily, twirling her wand idly between her fingers. "And if you don't get out of here now, you'll find yourself in the past century at the hand of my hex."

"I'm not scared of you, Evans," Maya spits in Lily's face.

Lily narrows her beautiful green eyes and stops the wand's twirling, stopping it dead in Maya's face. Using a silent spell, fireworks suddenly explode, creating stars in Maya's vision but not quite blinding her. Then she jabs her wand forward, blasting open the portrait. Again using a silent spell, Lily prods Maya out of the Head Common Room, and not too gently either. Maya isn't silent.

"Bloody bitch!" she curses.

"Miss Santiago! You will not address the Head Girl with that foul language! Twenty points from Hufflepuff!" passing Professor Slughorn admonishes. "Now get back to the Hufflepuff common room!"

Lily smirks, turning from the portrait as it slams shut.

"I'm going," Hilary says suddenly, and departs despite Lily's pleas.

Smirking again as she stops begging Hilary to keep her company, Lily faces her fellow Head. "Good afternoon, Potter."

"Oh, Potter, is it?" James inquires, arching an eyebrow.

"What the hell are you on about, Potter? It's been Potter since bloody first year!" Lily snaps.

"Is addressing your love by his surname right?" James queries politely, eyes sparkling with mischief.

Inside, Lily freezes, and she falters for a second. How the hell does he know? "What the hell are you on about?" she repeats.

"Yesterday, just before you faded out of consciousness, you told me that you loved me," James informs her, watching her reaction carefully.

"I was losing my mind, James! What would you expect? Everything was the opposite," Lily makes excuse lamely.

James smirks. "You just called me James."

"Did not," Lily denies, playing her sentence back. "Damn."

James nods. "Yep."

"Damn," repeats Lily.

"Such foul language for the Head Girl!" James mock-scolds, wagging a finger in her direction.

"Shut the hell up, Potter," snarls Lily.

James sighs, resigning. "Couldn't we be friends at least, Lily? The Marauders are back together, please?"

Lily regards him silently. "I don't know if that will work," she says softly, all the fight draining from her.

"Why not?" James demands.

"I-I love you," Lily stammers. "I can't control who I love. But I can control who my friends are. That would be pure torture, James…"

"I have a girlfriend, Lily. We can make this work. Please?" he begs.

What's the harm? I mean, he would make a fantastic friend. Hilary's civil with him again. The Marauders have stitched their group back together. Marlene and Alice never really disliked James, even though he's dating Maya. Lily finally makes up her mind. "Okay," she agrees quietly. "We can be friends."

James nods, triumphant. "Thank you, Lily," he says sincerely.

Lily gives a short nod, and heads for her room.

"And, Lily?"

Lily pauses, but doesn't turn.

"I wasn't going to wait forever."

x.o.x.o.x.

The week before the Halloween Ball was uneventful for the girls and the Marauders. Other students were getting invites, declining and accepting them, and inviting classmates. Lily had been asked by many a boy, but she had declined each invitation. She had her mind set on going stag. Hilary had the same intention, but Marlene was asked by Sirius on Friday.

"Marlene, tomorrow is the Halloween Ball," Sirius begins confidently.

Marlene nods. "I kind of know that, Sirius, after all, the Head Girl is my best friend."

"Would you like to go with me?" Sirius asks.

Marlene freezes. Then her face breaks into a wide grin. "Yes! Of course!" With that, she darts up the girls' staircase to drop the news to her friends.

Sirius turns back to the Marauders' conversation.

"I thought you liked Hilary," Peter ventures nervously.

"I do," sighs Sirius. "But she'd never agree."

"Damn right," agrees James. "My twin sister has too much sense to. You are just a player after all."

"So are you," snaps Sirius. "I have more of a chance of a steady relationship than you do. I know what love is."

"Are you implying that the last six years weren't love?" James challenges.

Sirius falters. "Okay, those years you were in love. But something changed in you this year, Prongs. It's as if we switched roles. I'm going after the one girl, and you're the player with a steady girlfriend. I wouldn't be surprised if you were shagging three girls other than your girlfriend."

James shrugs that off, pretending it didn't sting. "Apparently Lily and my roles also switched."

Remus' eyes widen. "She loves you, you hate her?"

"Hate is a strong word. I don't hate her. We're friends. I'm just not interested in her that way," James lies convincingly.

Peter buys the lie straightaway, but Remus (perceptive) and Sirius (the best mate) stares at him.

x.o.x.o.x.

"That's brilliant, Marls!" Lily exclaims, hugging Marlene in congratulations.

Alice also hugs Marlene, offering her congratulations.

Hilary, however, stays back, blending into the background. Marlene is so excited, she doesn't notice.

"I can't believe it! This is perfect," gushes Marlene. "Do you girls want to nip down to the kitchens for celebratory ice cream?"

Alice agrees at once. "Yes! A fudge cone for me!"

"Lily?" questions Marlene. "Hilary?"

Hilary silently shakes her head. Lily, seeing this, also declines. "No, that's okay. Just go have fun and gorge," she says.

Shrugging, the two girls depart for their ice cream fix.

Lily opens her mouth to ask Hilary what is going on, but there is a knock at the door. She gets up, opening it. Professor McGonagall and two girls aged seventeen are standing there.

"Professor!" Lily exclaims in surprise.

"Why, hello, Miss Evans. I wasn't expecting you to be here. We have two transfer students, fraternal twins, from Beauxbatons," McGonagall explains.

"Transfer students!" cries Hilary, coming over. Catching sight of one of the girls, her mouth gapes open and she falls speechless in shock.

"Yes, Miss Potter. Miss Naomi Riley and Miss Kate Riley," McGonagall introduces. "Miss Riley and Miss Riley, this is our amazing Head Girl, Miss Lily Evans, and her best friend, seventh year prefect Miss Hilary Potter."

"Oh, Professor, I know them," Hilary says, her voice frosty. "Naomi," she greets icily.

Naomi Riley, a medium-height girl with chin-length cropped dark hair, inclines her head and replies just as coldly, "Hilary."

Hilary glares at her, and then turns a warmer gaze on her enemy's twin. Kate Riley has blond hair reaching to her elbows and is the same exact height as her sister. "Kate," she greets warmly with a hug. Lily raises her eyebrows. Hilary hadn't mentioned a twin Riley or that they were friends.

Kate hugs her back. "Hilary."

"Come, Miss Riley. Naomi has been Sorted into Hufflepuff, but Kate has been deemed a Gryffindor. We will get going now." McGonagall and Naomi (who tosses a superior smirk at Hilary) depart.

"Thanks, Hils," Lily says sarcastically. "I suppose Sirius, Remus, Marls, and Alice will be thrilled that you kept the secret of a twin from them."

"I'm sorry, Lily! It was a mistake, and it didn't seem right to say!" Hilary protests.

Lily purses her lips. "I'm not keen on the fact that you kept a secret, but I forgive you. Hello Kate, I'm Lily Evans, the Head Girl."

Kate offers a friendly smile. "I'm Kate Riley. Nice to meet you."

Lily smiles. "I've got to get going. I've got a Heads' meeting with James. See you tonight after dinner to decorate the Great Hall?"

Hilary nods, and Lily leaves.

"She seems nice," comments Kate.

"She's considered the brightest witch of our age," Hilary responds.

x.o.x.o.x.

"Tonight we will raid the Potters'," Voldemort declares. "And kill the spares."

x.o.x.o.x.

**PLEASE READ!**

A/N: Longer than usual! Anyway, I wanted you to read this because I want to start another fanfic. I wouldn't stop this one or anything, but I want to know if this would appeal to some people. Would you like it if I wrote a fanfic about a Lily/James ARRANGED MARRIAGE? I've been searching for one for months, and I've read the good ones out there so far. I wanted to start one for the people who enjoy that type of thing. I think it would be fun to write, too, but I wonder if it would be too much to juggle both this one and that one. I really want to start one, though, but I want to know if it will have an audience. Enough of my babbling! It'd be nice if you hit that button down there and reviewed! ;) And again, happy birthday Fred and George! Next chapter: THE BALL! Until chapter thirteen…

~TrueLoveis4ever