Failure

James woke surprisingly late the next morning, and almost stretched, yawning, but he realised there was a small body curled against him. He looked down and found a mass of red hair cascading across his chest to the girl by his side.

An absurd thought hit him. If ever word got out that he slept with a beautiful girl in his arms all night and hadn't shagged her; no, made love, shagged wasn't a word he could associate with Lily, then his reputation would be ruined. He grinned at this thought, and felt very happy with himself. He also realised that, for once, he hadn't woke up at all during the night.

He looked down at Lily and smiled again, a warm glow spreading through his chest; every time she breathed softly in, a stray strand of hair tickled her nose and she kept wrinkling it up in her sleep. Suddenly she rolled over, snuggling her head into his shoulder and pressing her torso against his side.

He propped his head up on the pillow and looked down at her. He drew gentle, ghostly letters across Lily's back and she murmured, 'Shh… sleeping…' quietly.

'Wake up, Lily,' he whispered, 'Wake up.'

'Shhh, it's warm.' She murmured again, beginning to wake up.

He bent his neck and kissed her forehead, 'Wake up, Lily.'

'Mmhmm,' She opened her eyes and blinked at him.

'Good morning, babe.'

'Mm, morning.' She snuggled up closer against him.

'Need to get up, Lily.'

'Not yet, its warm.' She grumbled back, only half awake.

James gently rolled her over on her back, rolling with her so he was half on top of her; he kissed her nose, then missing out her lips; her chin, her neck, down the centre of her chest and to her navel. Then, he took a deep breath, placed his mouth over her tummy-button and blew a loud raspberry.

Lily came fully awake very suddenly.

'Morning!' James called cheerfully, as he walked into the kitchen.

'You slept in late,' his Mother said from where she was watering some flowers on the windowsill with a small jug.

'Tired, I expect,' his Father said ambiguously from behind the Daily Prophet he was reading.

James just put the kettle on the hob.

'It's odd you know; you think they would have found old Frettington by now, wouldn't you?'

'He probably just went on holiday and forgot to tell anyone,' James' Mother replied as she finished watering the plants, 'Where's Lily, darling?'

'Senile dementia setting in if you ask me,' Charlus said knowledgeably, 'I told him only last month that he should of retired when I did, mind like a sieve these days.'

'She's in the shower,' James replied, pouring tea.

'What are you going to do today?'

'I thought we might go down to the cliffs and have a wander; maybe head in to Diagon Alley tomorrow, see if there's any sales on.'

'Alright then, dear. Supper's at eight, remember.'

'Yes, Mother,' James sighed, picking up the two mugs of tea and speaking to the air, 'Cheery, you couldn't bring breakfast up to the West Wing could you?'

The elf appeared with a crack a bobbed a quick curtsy, 'Yes, Master James.'

'You know, I like her; she's sort of… I'm not sure if it's the right word; untarnished.'

'That's an odd choice, Padfoot.' Remus replied, looking quizzically at his friend.

Sirius frowned thoughtfully, 'Well look at other girls; like Canton-Fell, Greene, Meliflua, they're all, sort of, well…'

He couldn't think of the word to describe her.

'Not virgins?' Peter supplied.

'Exactly. No!' Sirius agreed and disagreed with himself and exclaimed, 'And yet, yes. There's something delightfully innocent about her.'

'Unlike any of your girlfriends.' Remus pointed out.

'Hey! I make it my personal goal to tutor young ladies in the ways of the world.' Sirius replied with a grin.

'And make them so disappointed in every other male on the planet.' Peter added.

'I can't help that,' Sirius shrugged.

'What about Lily?' Peter asked.

'You know, she kind of fits into the same category; she's not naïve, but… well… she's Lily.'

Remus sighed and said, 'I know exactly what you mean. You know, Padfoot, about last term…'

'Don't.' Sirius replied tersely.

'You should have apologised to Lizz-'

'Leave it.'

'Fine.'

'You know Lily; I never gave you your Christmas present.'

'Mmm?' Lily replied; she was reading a book on the window seat in the playroom as James lounged by the fire. He got up and wandered over to her.

'So, I thought I'd give you this,' He held out his fist and suddenly a locket dropped on a silver chain from it, stopping in front of her eyes.

'Oh, James, it's beautiful! Where did you get it?'

'Oh, it's a family thing, but I want you to have it.'

Lily stared at him, 'James, I can't take it, not if it belongs to your family.'

He smiled easily at her, 'Consider it on loan then, Mum said she thought you would like it,' he replied, taking it from her hands, and fastening it around her neck. Then he took a little hand mirror out of his pocket and gave it to her so she could see herself.

It was a silver heart, and it appeared to have a catch on one side. Lily tried to open it, but it wouldn't. Something shone in James' eyes for a moment, but Lily was too busy admiring the heart.

'It's got initials on it; "C.P to D.B" are those…?'

'Charlus Potter and Dorea Black.'

'Are you related to Sirius then?'

'Distantly,' James grinned, 'all pure-bloods are related if you go back far enough. He's like my third cousin, twice removed on my great aunt's third niece's side or something. Peter's a bit less related than that, and Remus probably fits in somewhere; his Dad's a pure-blood.'

'Well, thank you,' she smiled at him and leant forward for a kiss, 'you know; I actually got you something as well.'

'Really?' James said, excitement lighting up his eyes, and Lily almost laughed; he just like a big kid sometimes.

'Yes,' she replied, getting to her feet, 'I'll be back in a moment.'

Lily walked along the corridor to her room, marvelling at the last few days. Potter Manor was enormous; James' parents had a separate wing, which she hadn't even been in and what was left was still several times bigger than her parents' house. They hadn't really seen James' parents at all, unless they went to the main sitting room, or bumped into them in the garden.

It had been an amazing few days and she could see why James had been like he had in his first few years at school. If he had come from this; of course he wasn't impressed by the castle, of course he had been arrogant and that had got out of hand. He had matured though, and now, Lily was happy to say that he was a different person.

She thought about the current sleeping arrangements and smiled to herself; James hadn't slept in his bed since she had arrived. Lily would never have expected her own reaction though; she hadn't really thought about it when she invited him into her bed, but now she was strangely happy she had. She knew it was strange, but for some reason she didn't feel self-conscious in front of James. Maybe it was the way he looked at her; she didn't feel self-conscious, just… just… appreciated? It wasn't the right word, but it was close.

She pushed open the door to her room, and went across the bag she had brought; she took a small, square parcel. It was a book; it had just come out before Christmas and it was the most comprehensive on its subject that had ever been written. There were little snowmen on the wrapping paper.

She took it back through, finding James on the sofa in front of the fire and handed it to him, 'A book?' he asked, raising an eyebrow.

'Not just any book,' Lily replied, trying not to smile.

He tore off the wrapping paper, 'Merlin, Lily! Padfoot said he tried to get me a copy of this, but they had sold out everywhere he went, how did you get it?'

In James' lap, lay a brand new copy of 'Quidditch Through the Ages' by Kennilworthy Whisp.

Lily smiled properly this time, and rolled her eyes, 'I did the obvious thing and ordered it in advance.'

'Ah, the "best laid plans of mice and men".' James quoted at her.

'"Sense and sensibility" actually,' Lily smirked back.

James raised an eyebrow threateningly.

Lily pursed her lips.

James leapt.

Lily dodged and ran giggling out of the room.

'My Lord, Frettington has been disposed of.'

'Good,' the imposing figure facing the fire turned. Brown hair was swept back from a pale forehead, high cheekbones and a straight nose. The man was tall, the face was handsome and impassive, but the eyes were terrifying.

It was as though they had imbued the anger of the sparking fire behind him; the irises glowed demonically red like burning coals, and they seemed to bore into the hunched man before him. The man cowered, 'an… and Yaxley has imperiused Quentin Hargreave, my Lord. It should only be a matter of time b… before we have informers in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.'

'And Rookwood?' the voice issued softly from barely moving lips.

'He says he has been approached by the Unspeakables.'

'Good. There is no hurry; let them wallow in their self-contentment, their safety and arrogance. We are on the rise, are we not, Bella?' He turned to the young woman who stood nearby.

She was watching him with a mixture of adoration and concern. She had only lately been told of the real purpose behind the political movement that was growing in the pure-blood community. But she had accepted completely and without reservations, his offer of limitless power in a new world, under a new order.

'Yes, my Lord, we will sweep the filth from this world,' she pouted as she spoke, and Lord Voldemort watched her. She was beautiful, he could easily admit that, but he had no interest in her; there was growing fanatical glow in her eyes, loyalty unbound, an interesting trait of her family.

He turned back to the cowering man before him, 'You have not told me all, Avery.'

'M…my Lord?'

'Lord Voldemort knows, Avery, Lord Voldemort always knows,' he raised his wand and the man shrank almost to his knees.

'My Lord! It was Crabbe! Scrimgeour discovered him at his house; your plan to hold him hostage was a fine one my Lord, his brother in the Auror Office wou- AAARGH!'

He let out a high pitched scream and fell not only to his knees, but to the floor and spasms rolled through his body as it contorted wildly.

Lord Voldemort released him and he lay, curled up and whimpering quietly, 'Did I not task you with capturing the man, and you alone, so that we could use him to extract information from his brother?'

'Y… Yes, my Lord! He sobbed.

'And now, it would appear he is dead. Having Rufus Scrimgeour under our control would have been most useful. But with Brutus dead… You set the Mark?'

'Yes, my Lord.'

'Then it seems you did not fail in everything,' he paused for a moment and then continued softly, 'You will try again.'

'M…my Lord?'

'Find another.' The man snapped, showing emotion for the first time.

'I'm sorry we didn't really see much of you yesterday,' James' Mum apologised, 'An urgent call at St. Mungo's; a family incident.'

'They're always the worst,' his Dad added as the covers over the dishes vanished and James started to help himself to potatoes, 'Wine?' he added, holding out a bottle.

Lily glanced at James, unsure.

He raised an eyebrow, 'Don't look at me, Lily; you're the one drinking it.'

James' Dad was already pouring wine for her by the time she turned back, so she accepted the glass and set it down beside her plate. James traded the potatoes for the vegetables and piled carrots beside his gammon.

'So, Lily, what do your parents do?' Mr Potter asked her.

'Charlus, you don't have to interrogate the poor girl.' James' Mum cut in.

'I'm just asking!'

'Dad works for an engineering company, and Mum works in a bookshop sometimes.' Lily answered.

'Ah… engineering, eh? What kind?'

Lily wasn't entirely sure, and definitely wasn't prepared for that kind of question from a wizard's parents, she coughed as a pea tickled her throat and Mrs Potter reached for her wand.

'I'm alright; um… he helps with designing oil platforms, and deep sea equipment.'

'Ah, so marine architecture and engineering then?' he asked knowledgeably.

'Yes,' Lily replied grasping at straws, and wondering how James' Dad seemed to know more about it than she did.

Mrs Potter noticed her confusion and answered her unasked question, 'Charlus was part of a unit stationed in the Muggle Navy for a while.'

'Oh.'

'All hush hush though, so don't ask.' Charlus said with a wink.

'James?'

'Yup?'

'Why does Sirius live with you?'

She felt him tense, and knew already she wouldn't get a real answer; it was one of those forbidden topics it seemed.

'Family problems.'

'Oh.'

Lily didn't ask any more questions. She lay against James' bare chest and after a few minutes felt him relax again.