Chapter eight!

Of Banters and Discussions


He was running along a dark corridor, panting and completely out of breath. He halted for just a second, caught his breath, and started running again. He couldn't stop...he wouldn't stop. No, he had to save her. He couldn't lose her.

His footsteps echoed across the hall, in the eerie silence of the castle. It was unusually quiet...just like the calm before a heavy storm.

He skidded to a stop at the end of the corridor, temporarily forgetting how to breathe.

There she was, her eyes the same beautiful shade of green that he'd always gotten lost in. She was perfection in herself.

But then he noticed the other horrifying details too. He eyes had lost the sparkle, and were so full of hopelessness and fear, two things he'd never seen previously. Her clothes were tattered. She was tied onto a chair and gagged. Even from the distance, she saw him. He tried to convey his thoughts into words, but her eyes said only one thing: Run!

Two people dressed in black robes stood beside her, one on each side. Even beneath the masks, he could sense their sneers, cold and malicious. Between them was Lily, looking afraid for the first time since he'd ever seen her.

James vision clouded. Anger filled his head like lava, waiting to be sprouted out of a volcano with such fierceness, that it could wipe out all signs of humanity. His stomach boiled with uninhibited anger. How dare they touch her? How dare they even think of laying a finger on her?

"He has not come yet," the cloaked figure of the left said. "You said he would come."

"And so he will," said the person on the right. "You know these lovesick fools, always falling prey."

"But I don't think this one's coming any time soon," the left one sneered. "It's been an hour since we've had her here, now."

"Patience! I have full faith that he will come. And, let's say that he doesn't show up, then we'll finish off with this one here."

"Alright. A shame, though. She's quite the looker," the guy on the left sneered, reaching his hand towards her face. "Aren't you gir-"

He didn't get to complete, because at that moment, someone screamed and charged at him. James stood there with his wand drawn, with a murderous look etched across face. Lily was writhing violently, the look in her eyes urgent. She was asking him to go and save himself. He stepped forward and Lily shook her head, thrashing violently.

"I'm not leaving you." James yelled, blasting another curse off.

But the dueling stopped as soon as it had started. Another figure had stepped out of the shadows and was standing directly behind Lily's chair, pointing his wand just below her chin.

"Drop you wand," the person barked. There was something familiar about that voice...like he ought to have known the person saying those words, but that didn't matter to him right now.

He dropped his wand and it fell with a click sound.

"Very good," said the figure who had been fighting him. "I understand now why the Master would want the boy. And the girl, of course. Put up quite a fight, didn't she?" he asked, and for the first time James noticed the bruises all along his arm and neck. He had no doubts who gave them to him.

"Leave her!" James yelled.'

"Oh, but I can't do that, Potter." the person said. "The Master was very specific about this. You were both to be brought alive."

James started running forward, but ropes appeared out of nowhere, pinning him to that place. He trashed around like an animal chained by force, but couldn't free himself.

"Master, however, said that one of you could be sacrificed if the other refused to...cooperate, shall we say. So, watch your hands and your mouth, boy."

James halted, eyes growing wide in fear. No bleeding way was he going to let anyone touch Lily. But what was he supposed to do, tied up and helpless?

James dropped wand, which the two figures had carelessly forgotten to pick up, was lying not very far behind him. If only he could tilt little backwards and get his hand on it- a distraction. That's what he needed.

The person pointing his wand at Lily muttered something, but the other guy waved it away impatiently.

"No one will notice you were gone, you coward. If you want to prove your allegiance to the Master, then you had better be well aware of what all you need to do."

"I-I know. But I was j-just wondering if w-we should l-let them-"

"No one cares what you think, boy," said the cloaked figure coldly. "Just do what you're asked to do."

"Y-y-yes," the other boy stammered.

There was still a feeling nagging James at the back of his mind, like he was supposed to know this person, but he put it aside. He got the distraction that he had wanted.

In one fluid movement, he reached behind him, hands still tied and grasped his wand between his entwined fingers. He lunged sideways, so that his wand pointed at the guy holding Lily down and with all his strength, he shouted: "Stupify!"

The guy fell down, his wand falling on Lily's lap. She struggled to free her hand.

"Wait!" James shouted, as he ducked a spell thrown on him by the cloaked figure.

"Oh, you're going to pay for this, Potter!" he spat.

And before James could grasp what was going on, the guy turned on to Lily and yelled coldly: "Avada Ke-"

NO!" James shouted, running as fast as his tied up legs could carry him.

"-davra!"

"NO!" James yelled.

"James! What- oh, dear. James?"

It took him a while to notice his surroundings. He was in the Heads' common room. He had shot bolt upright from his sleeping bag and removed the blankets in the process. But the only thing that really caught his attention was the small hand, firmly clasped in his own.

"James-Merlin! What happened?"

James didn't reply. He felt like his mouth was filled with sand. He took a shaky breath, and in one single movement, he threw his free arm around her and brought her as close to him as humanly possible.

Her hand joined to James' was lying in an awkward position, but Lily didn't care. She wrapped her other arm around him and held him.

His body shook with sobs. Tears ran down his face and on her neck. Lily couldn't believe it. She had never seen him cry.

"Shh. James, it's going to be okay," she promised.

His hands grew tighter around her, but she didn't care. She kept mumbling incoherent things in his ear until his shaking subsided. The tears still didn't stop, though. She felt her heart break when she heard him cry; those heart wrenching sobs. Never before had she seen him lose control like this, to simply give in to the sorrow.

"It's going to be alright. It's okay, James."

She felt him take a shaky breath. "I-I don't want to lose you. Ever."

She wouldn't deny that her heart sped up when he said that. She tightened her own arm around him and gave the one she was stuck to a little squeeze.

"Like you would ever leave me alone," she said, trying her best to sound sarcastic.

He chuckled, a little laugh mixed with worry, shock and so many more feelings she couldn't quite place. But what on earth could make him like this?

She held him till he relaxed slightly and reluctantly removed his arm, though he didn't make any efforts to put a little space between them.

She cupped his face gently, again, surprising both James and herself. 'He's hurt,' she said to herself. 'There's nothing more to it.' But was there?

"What happened?" she asked softly.

He closed his eyes and shuddered in voluntarily. Then he started. When he got to the part when Lily had dropped from the chair, not moving, he choked up again.

Lily threw her arm around him and closed her eyes briefly. She couldn't believe he had been so worried and crying because of...well, her. She had always thought his insistent asking her out had been a game, to amuse him. But today, all her previous misconceptions were thrown out of the window. He had started shaking again, his arm tight against her.

"James, it was just a dream," she whispered gently, though she herself was pretty shaken up. First that hellhound, then those creepy Slytherins and now this dream...all different and seemingly random events, but somehow they felt...connected. Somehow...

"I-I know. I'm s-sorry, I just-"

"Shh. It's alright. I'm alive." That calmed him down a bit. "And about to smack you behind the head and you ever put on that ruddy cologne again." That calmed him down completely.

He laughed. She decided that she quite liked it, when he laughed.

She smiled, "The others will be down here any minute. And knowing Sirius Black, I suggest that it would be best if we got ready while we still have the chance," she whispered dramatically.

He chuckled. "You're the boss," he said and allowed himself to be hoisted.

Lily waved her wand and the sleeping bags, along with the blankets, vanished. He still marveled at how easily she cast spells non-verbally, and still had trouble with a few Transfiguration spells (Lily had asked him to help her with a few spells that she said were bothering her). If someone like her could do Charms so easily, a subject that drove him nuts, then it seemed very odd that they should have trouble with a subject like Transfiguration. Adding to the fact that it was Lily, made it seem all the more unbelievable to him. And of course, Transfiguration just happened to be his best subject.

"What would you like to adorn today, Potter?"

James barked a laugh. "Anything to match your outfit, m'lady, Evans."

Lily burst out laughing. "M'lady Evans?" she choked in between bouts of laughter.

James turned a little red, but kept his cool, composed look. "Now, would you mind changing our clothes, m'lady Ev-"

He stopped short, laughing on his own stupidity along with Lily. The morning's tension swept away, and James enjoyed the moment.

"Right," Lily choked. "Clothes. How about the uniform, eh Potter?" she asked, raising one eyebrow suggestively again and again, sending James into another bout of laughter.

"You-" he wheezed -"look so cute!" He doubled over.

Lily joined in, though she had no idea why she was laughing so hard.

They both calmed down eventually. Lily changed their night clothes to their uniform.

"But our uniform is so boring!" he pouted.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Well, unless you want to enter the class, first being McGonagall's by the way, looking like an out of place pop singer-" James snickered -"I suggest you just stick to the uniform."

"Well, as you say, m'lady Evans."

And that ended the "dress-talk" for the day, as the two seventh years broke into peals of laughter.


"You hear that, Moony?" Sirius whispered, rather unnecessarily.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Yes, Padfoot, I do. Now shut up."

Sirius pouted, "But Moooo-"

"Shut it, Sirius!" Eva snapped. "Let me hear!"

Sirius scowled and opened his mouth.

"Well, if-"

"Sirius!" five people whisper-yelled at the same time.

"Oh, all right. Be that way." Sirius grumbled.

"Is he upset?" Peter asked nervously.

Eva rolled her eyes. "He will be just fine, Peter. Now let me listen!"

Six people pressed their ears against the door; oh, they had already given the password, but on hearing voices from inside, they quickly shut it back...well, almost. They heard faint voices, but couldn't decipher anything. They pressed their ears harder, when Remus suddenly hit his palm on his forehead, startling the other four; Sirius excluded, as he was still too busy being all grumpy.

He waved his wand and muttered something silently. Suddenly they could hear Lily and James' voices distinctly.

Everyone looked at him in amazement, even Sirius who raised an eyebrow.

"Voice enhancement charm," he muttered, as he stowed away his wand.

"Brilliant." Isa smiled. Remus grinned back.

"Cool." Mary muttered, before pressing her ear against the door again.

"-to match your outfit, m'lady, Evans," they could hear James say. Then they heard someone laugh, obviously Lily.

"My-lady-" Eva waited to smother a laugh -"Evans?"

Everyone burst out laughing, but they were careful to keep their voices low. Remus shook his head, albeit a little fondly. He ever understood how he had ended up with these people, but he wouldn't really have it another way.

"Is he usually this daft?" Mary asked.

"Nah," Sirius started. "Much more than this."

"Yeah rich, that coming from you, Padfoot." Remus snorted.

Sirius smirked, "I'll have you know, Moony dearest, that-"

"What the hell did you call me?" Remus asked indignantly.

"-that, I-"

"Hey, you lot! What the ruddy hell are you doing, hiding behind my sacred place? It's a disgrace, I tell you! An absolute disgrace!" the Heads' tower's portrait all but screamed.

"Hey, calm down dude! It's-" Isa started, but was cut off by the portrait.

"I most certainly will not calm down, young lady. And what in the devil's name is a dood? Is it some sort of vile language that you youngsters use?" the portrait sputtered in indignation.

"Well, you see," Sirius started, "a dood is a nasty illness which affects the functioning of the brai-"

"Why, you sorry little-"

And before he could continue threatening Sirius, a voice broke in.

"Who is there?" James asked.

"Your damsel, Prongsiekins."

"Get lost, Sirius."

The rest of them laughed, minus Sirius of course.

"Oi!"

They opened the door and walked in, well, more like barged in, to find Lily and James all dressed, looking on, amused.

"Well, that's a way to greet your best friend." Sirius grumbled.

James rolled his eyes. "If you really want better treatment, then I'd suggest that you improve your eavesdropping skills."

Remus and Eva chuckled.

"All of you."

Remus coughed. "Right. Well, I told you it was a bad idea, guys."

Peter turned towards James. "Yeah, remove the 'a' and put a 'my' instead."

"It was not my- oh, whatever. Yes, it was my idea." Remus sighed.

"Very poor judgement on your part, Mr. Lupin. Never would I have expected this from you." Lily said, mimicking McGonagall's voice so perfectly, even the old Transfigurtion teacher would have been astonished.

Remus laughed quietly. "Well, sorry to disappoint, m'lady Evans."

And everyone burst out laughing again, leaving James, who was turning redder by the second.

"You guys are dead!" he said.

"Yeah, come save your damsel, Prongieni-"

He didn't get to complete his sentence because a hysterical Head Boy cut him off and started chasing him all around the common room.


Breakfast was a comparatively uneventful affair. Peter dropped his pumpkin juice over Mary's new shoes, and she chased the poor boy out of the hall with her shoes in her hands.

Sirius was trying to balance two spoons on his chin. Remus was reprimanding him and trying to read a book at the same time. Eva and Isa were having a heated conversation about Witch Weekly's latest edition's front cover.

Lily was alternating between rolling her eyes at, first Sirius, and then her two best friends. James was alternating between stealing glances at Lily and trying to eat with his left hand.

But this was all routine. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"Look! The mail's here!" shrieked a little first year girl.

Hundreds of owls came swooping down the hall elegantly. Well, almost all of them, leaving one tawny brown colored owl who was delivering a letter to a sixth year Ravenclaw.

Letters came for all of them, leaving Peter whose parents had gone to Albania for vacations and Sirius, who never really did get any letter from his family. (Long story...his family consisted of a bunch of twisted Voldemort-followers, and Sirius had left them in his fifth year and had been living with the Potter's ever since. So he'd basically been disowned after that. First being sorted in Gryffindor...well, that had been the last straw.)

Ellina, Lily's owl, dropped a letter neatly on Lily's lap. Ellina was a little cream colored owl.

"Thanks, Elli." Lily said and offered the owl some nuts, which she nibbled contentedly for a while and then flew away to the Owlery.

Lily tried to open the letter with just one hand, but to no avail. James, who had been going through the Daily Prophet, noticed and proceeded to help her to tear open the letter. Once they managed to open the seal, she took out the letter from the parchment and started reading. She frowned when she read the first line, and the crease didn't vanish even after she completed reading the whole thing.

"Lily?" James asked gently.

She didn't reply. She was staring at the letter, as though willing it to go up in flames.

"Lils?" he prodded on.

She shook suddenly, as if waking up from a trance.

"Hmm?"

"What is it?"

"I-huh? Oh, um, nothing. I-"

She broke off and handed the letter to James. His brow creased in worry and anxiety, because he had never seen Lily get upset so easily. He looked over at the others and found their expressions mirroring that of his own.

James looked at the letter curiously. It read:

Lily,

I'm getting married to Vernon in a few days, by which time I assume your winter vacations will have started. I have been engaged to Vernon for two months now. He proposed just after he got promoted.
The wedding will take place on 30th December, and the reception on 31st.
Come, if you can.

Petunia

"Oh," was all James said.

He looked at Lily cautiously, but she was still looking completely spaced. He knew very well that she and her sister had a very rocky relationship. And after what Lily had told him...about what had happened last year...

He passed the letter to Eva and turned towards Lily.

"But...it's good, isn't it? I mean, it shows that she's forgiven you-not that there was anything to forgive you for in the first place- but-"

"It shows-" Lily hissed -"that my mother has once again succeeded in trying to force Petunia to make amends with me." She snorted, though no one missed the small gleam of sadness in her eyes. "As if."

"But, come on Lils-" James started.

"No James," her lips trembled slightly. "Didn't you read it? 'Come if you can.' Don't you see? She doesn't want me there, not that I'd want to go to anything Vermin-related anyway." James chuckled slightly, but his expression remained concerned.

"She's right, James." Eva muttered darkly. "Trust me, I've seen the horse-face. I still don't understand how she can be related to Lils. She is the definition of muggle. The paragon of muggle. The epitome of muggle."

Lily laughed slightly. "Alright, Eva. I know you've learnt your synonyms."

Eva rolled here eyes. "Well, that's a way to say thank you."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "You really want to get me started?"

Eva laughed. "No, thanks. I think I'll pass."

"It's alright, Lilybunny." Sirius didn't falter under the halfhearted glare she sent his way. "I know how it feels to have crappy siblings." He glared over at the Slytherin table. "Trust me."

Lily looked at him sadly. "Two in the group, huh?"

Sirius laughed. "I never thought I'd live to witness the day when I could proudly tell people that I was in the same group as the elusive Lily Evans."

Lily chuckled. "Shut it, dog boy."

Sirius stuck out his tongue. "Are you okay, though?"

"I guess," she sighed. "It's okay. I'm tired of trying to come to terms with her when she doesn't even deserve it. I'm not going to make any more excuses for her now. She-she doesn't understand." She gripped the table with her free hand. "Just blaming everything on me. Must to convenient. She lost something? Dang! Lily must have voodooed it somewhere! But I'm sick of everything now. If she can't accept who I am, then it's her problem."

She took a breath, turned towards the rest of them, raised her eyebrows slightly and shook her head.

"Well, that was cheerful."

Everyone laughed lightly, the tension evaporating. It just happened that way somehow; they were so used to seeing Lily cheerful and all smiles; when Lily was happy, the general atmosphere was happy.

James smiled. "And anyway, she is the one missing out, isn't she?"

Lily smiled at him. She didn't know what to say, but sometimes there really was no need to put everything in words.

"So," James started. "Are you going to go?"

Lily sighed. "Honestly, I really don't know."

"You should." Sirius said.

Seven pairs of eyes turned op him in surprise. But he didn't notice and went on.

"I mean, I know how it feels to have pain in the neck siblings, but you should do it. For your mom and dad. I mean, it is kind of a big day for you sister-" Lily opened her mouth, but he shook his head and went on -"I know, I know. And you won't be doing this for your sister. You will be doing this for your parents. And for yourself. We never realize the value of something until we have lost it. Trust me, I have first hand experience on this. And who knows? Everything might even turn out to be alright. You've got to give it a shot."

Silence. Complete silence. Seven pairs of wide eyes regarded him.

James was the first one to break free of his trance.

"What the bleeding hell, Padfoot?"

"What?" He asked defensively.

"Every sodding time I ever asked you for help to get Lily to talk to me, all you would give me were crappy suggestions like 'jumping off the Astronomy Tower'-"

Lily and Sirius cut in between at the same time.

"Excuse me?" Lily asked, aghast, giving her best "Lily Evans is out for blood" look.

"Oh, come off it. You were the one stupid enough to go through with it." Sirius said.

"Wow, Sirius." Isa said. "That's the second smart thing you've said all day. You should be proud!"

Sirius smiled, evidently pleased with himself.

"-and," James continued forcibly, "then you have the nerve to go ahead and give good suggestions in my presence?"

Sirius snickered. "Well-" he started, but he didn't get the chance to complete. Lily yelped, as James jumped up, pretending to be moody and said, "I'll be down by the lake, trying to drown myself. See you lot later."

With that, he slouched out of the hall, dragging along a very confused, slightly angry and amused redhead in his wake.

"Pass me the juice, Wormtail."

Everyone stared at Sirius, like he'd suddenly grown another pair of eyebrows.

"Whaa?" he asked, his mouth full with smashed eggs.

"Shouldn't you be going and seeing how James is doing?" Eva asked and rolled her eyes, trying to hide the fact that she had actually been impressed with the shaggy haired boy less than a minute ago.

"He's just kidding, Eva," Remus said casually. "You know how these two are with dramatics."

"Oh, gee! You don't say?"

Remus rolled his eyes.

"Well, I guess I should go and check, anyway. He might actually try to drown himself...won't be the first time." Sirius mock sighed and left the six laughing Gryffindors sitting in the Great Hall.


"Silence!" Professor McGonagall said. To no one's surprise, the chattering continued.

"SILENCE!" she barked. The talking died down immediately.

"Now, transfiguring inanimate objects to animate ones has always been-" And that's when a laughing Sirius, a dripping wet James, and an exhausted and equally wet, yet slightly amused Lily walked in.

"What happened this time?" McGonagall sighed.

Apparently, she was used to the boys' antics by now.

"And Miss Evans?" McGonagall raised an eyebrow. Not that she wasn't used to the Head Girl participating in...interesting acts, not at all. But to see Lily Evans looking amused and, dare she think it, flustered in the vicinity of James Potter and Sirius Black, well more of James per say, was a tad bit surprising.

"Nothing, Professor. I tried to drown myself." James said.

"And what were you doing, Mr. Black?"

"I was watching them and laughing, Professor."

"Yes, of course you were. But if Mr. Black here did not prevent you, which I would have guessed even if he hadn't shared this information, then why did you resurface, Mr. Potter? Considering you had a very strong reason that led to such an extreme act, of course?"

"I realized my hand was stuck to Lily's, Professor."

The female population of the class swooned. The male population of the class grinned. Sirius snickered. Lily rolled her eyes, cheeks turning slightly pink. James' face got slightly red.

Now Professor McGonagall wanted to humor them.

"And why exactly did that alter the functioning of your brain?"

"Brain or heart?" Sirius muttered.

James turned redder, but regained his suave attitude a moment later.

"You see Professor, the Giant Squid appeared just as I realized I had this lovely lady, quite literally, on my arm. And Lily dear was kind enough to let me know of my...competition-" he paused, snorting -"a few years ago. I would have to be a fool, plunging deeper withing the waters that held the...person-" he snorted harder this time -"who is a likely threat to steal my fair maiden. How could I let that happen?"

The entire class was laughing, barring the Slytherins of course with whom, unfortunately, the Gryffindor's had to share this class.

McGonagall's lips twitched. "Very well. Take your seats." She waved her wands and their clothes dried. Lily mentally kicked herself for not having thought of it earlier.

Professor McGonagall massaged her temples. And then people thought teaching was easy. If only they knew the the seventh year students belonging in her house.

"You're insufferable, Potter." Lily said.

"Come on...you lie, Evans." James smirked.

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Yes, I don't. I know."

"You cheated!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did not!"

"Did too-hey!"

"Yes, I know Lily." James stuck out his tongue.

"You can't use my own trick against me!"

"I can!"

"Cannot!"

"I can!"

"Canno-oh, what the hell." Lily sighed.

James grinned.

"I win!"

"Yeah, sure big boy." Lily snorted. James stuck out his tongue.

"You know," Sirius started casually, "if you two are done flirting, could you focus on entertaining me, now?"

"We were not flirting, Black. And I'm pretty sure you can keep yourself entertained. You're barking good at it."

James burst out laughing.

"Oh, har har har. Very funny, Lily." Sirius said, though the sarcasm effect was lost when he too, started chuckling.

"What is so amusing, Mr. Potter?" McGonagall snapped.

"Nothing, Professor."

McGonagall opened her mouth, but apparently thought better of it and closed it. There was no use trying to put sense in this boy.

"Just sit down, Potter," she sighed.

And the rest of the class went on rather normally.


"What about the Weird Sisters?"

"I don't know Lils, they are, well...weird."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Yes, James. That would explain the name."

They were sitting on the ground before the couch by the fire. The rest of the day had passed in a blur, worrying about the Ball arrangements and trying to make it through all the classes without any more detentions. It was now night time and Remus was on patrol duty with a Ravenclaw prefect. Sirius and Eva had gone off to the kitchens. Mary and Isa were discussing their outfits for the Ball. (Lily rolled her eyes. How very typical of them.) Peter was still in the hospital wing after having been hexed by Mary that morning, the poor thing.

So that left James and Lily alone in the Heads' common room and they decided to discuss the upcoming Winter Ball.

"But I still don't like their music much."

"That won't be the only band's music we will be having," Lily pointed out. "Nor will they be the opening song, of course. We'll just fit the songs somewhere in between. Besides, they are like...a new venture. We can save them some songs, right? Who knows, we might be the first ones to hear the band and we could brag about it someday, considering they got famous, you know."

James snorted. "As if."

"Just because you don't like punk music-"

"Because it's unnecessarily loud!"

"-doesn't mean that others don't like it either, James!"

"You don't like it, Lily!" he pointed out.

"But there are other people in this castle who apparently enjoy it."

"Yeah, okay," he conceded. "But what about the band? For the opening and closing songs and all?"

"We'll ask Dumbledore. I'm sure he has contacts."

"And he has taste too."

"Come on, James. Eating habits don't necessarily show your overall opinions."

"Yes...hmm, of course."

"Why did you even make the comment?" she rolled her eyes.

"Dunno."

"James?"

"Hmm?"

She turned towards him; well, however much of movement their joined hands would allow anyway.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing," he said.

"You're a terrible liar."

"Am not!" he protested. "I lie to the teachers all the time!"

Lily rolled her eyes. "The only teacher you have ever actually managed to convince is Binns, and trust me, that's not a feat you should brag about."

"Yeah, well-"

"What is it?" she pressed.

"I-" he sighed. "I was just thinking about...you know, the dream..." She felt his hand grip hers ever tighter.

"James," she started gently, "it was just a dream. I told you not to hold much water over-"

"But, Lily! Don't you see? That dream showed me exactly the two things I'm afraid of," he muttered, looking quite vulnerable.

"And...what-what are they?"

He looked at her. "Someone I know betraying me and losing someone I love."

Lily tried to, really she did, but she couldn't look away. Did he mean-?

"James, it's-it's alright. No one's going anywhere, okay? Everyone's here."

He nodded. "Yeah, I-I know. I'm sorry, I guess I'm being paranoid."

"And what was with the betraying thing?"

"Oh, that. Yes, that-that guy who had his wand pointed at y-at-at you. Well, I thought I recognized his voice. It was very vague, but I was so sure there was some sort of connection."

Lily felt slightly disturbed, but she tried to bury it. "It was just a dream, James," she said gently. "Let's forget about it, yeah?"

"Yeah, alright." He smiled at her. "Thanks."

"What for?"

"Just like that," he shrugged.

"Welcome, I guess."

"Why did you think of it suddenly, though?"

"Well, we were talking about Dumbledore...and it just made me realize how much that old guy does for us, you know. We never really acknowledge it."

"Okay, now you're scaring me James. What happened to you?"

He stuck out his tongue.

They worked in a comfortable silence for a few minutes. The only noise heard was the occasional scratching of their quills.

"What about the food, though?" James asked.

Lilt rolled her eyes. "Honestly, is there anything else you think about?"

"Why, jealous are we?"

"Yeah, very," she scoffed.

"Well, at least you're not in denial anymore."

"You know, there are these coaching classes that I know...to train people in the art of sarcasm...using it and deciphering it. I think you should try it out."

James sat up, his eyes gleaming. "You mean-you're actually giving your secret away to me?"

Lily laughed. "Good. See, I mention it once and you already start getting the hang of it."

James laughed and then shook his head.

"You're without a doubt the most interesting person I've ever seen."

She raised her eyebrows. "How so?"

"Because you're you, I guess."

Lily looked at him.

"That's the best reason I could give you. Anything else would have been undermining the whole point, you know."

"Flattery will get you nowhere in life, Potter."

"Well, a bloke's gotta try, Evans."

She shook her head but smiled nonetheless.

"Coming back to-"

"Food, yeah."

James chuckled. "Well, yes. I think we should finalize the dessert options. I mean, the Ball is what, two days from now?"

"Merlin, yes. Yes it is," she sighed. "I've always hated dances."

"Why?"

"Well, not dance, per say. Just this dressing up and being all polite-"

"Which is extremely unlike you, Lilykins, I know."

"Har har har. Anyway, and then you have to slow dance." She shuddered. "I hate sow dancing."

"Why?" he asked curiously.

"I had to endure three hours of slow dancing practice with this highly irritating guy-" James' shoulders tensed -"back when I was eight." He relaxed. "Trust me, he'd eat like a pig and then-" she shuddered again. "Let's just say that sort of killed this slow dancing thing for me."

"Well, we'll just have to change that opinion for you, huh? Not that I'm a big fan myself. I mean I can't da-I mean, I don't really like dancing."

"Yeah, sure." Lily snorted.

"It's true!" he insisted.

"Yes, James. It sure is," she said, as though speaking to a five year old.

He rolled his eyes. "Anyway, coming back to desserts. What all are your preferences?"

"Well, I suppose-"

"Wait, let me write it down!"

Lily rolled her eyes. "With which hand?" she asked dryly.

James noticed the problem and groaned. Lily muttered a spell and the quill which had been resting in James' lap jumped up in the air and positioned itself just above the parchment.

James grinned. "You're the best!"

Lily smirked. "I know. Now can I continue?"

He stuck out his tongue. "Yeah, go on."

"Okay, so let's have...a chocolate gateau, Blancmange, Knickerbocker glory-"

"The what?" James snorted.

"It's just a name. Besides, it's actually quite delici-oh, sod it. I didn't mean it like that!" she said to a laughing James.

He tried (and failed miserably, by the way) to pull a straight face. "Right, and we have to have treacle tart, of course. And self propelling custard pie, apple tart, cheese meringue pie..." he went on , the quill scribbling on his parchment.

"Oh and lemon cheesecake for Dumbledore. He had it in some muggle store, I suppose, but he's been barmy over it since last summer. That's the password to his office too."

James snorted. "Trust Dumbledore to come up with such ridiculous passwords."

"It seems like someone's forgotten the password of the Heads' lavatory. What was it? Slytherin sucks?" she teased.

James laughed. "That was the best password ever. No Slytherin will ever be able to sneak in."

Lily grinned. "Yeah, whatever. So, I guess this settles your ardent desire for the finalization of desserts, then. We'll keep on adding all other items."

"Yes, ma'am," he saluted.

"Well, someone's happy."

"I'm always happy around food."

"And food related topics," she pointed out dryly.

He grinned. She yawned.

"I think it's enough for today. Let's worry about the rest tomorrow."

She stood up and conjured their sleeping bags, and since they had already magicked their uniform to their night clothes, they settled in their respective beds.

"Alright...and you should go to sleep early. It's rather difficult to wake you up in the morning."

She mock gasped. "You lie!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

She laughed quietly. "How long do you think we can keep up with this fight?"

"Till the time I don't win."

"Oh, please. You give yourself way too much credit."

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do-oh, forget it. You're never going to give up."

He grinned victoriously. "I win!"

She yawned as she turned around to settle herself more comfortably. "No, you cheat."

"All is fair in love and war, Evans." James said as he rested his head more comfortably on his pillow.

"And what exactly, is this?"

He looked at their joined hands between their separate sleeping bags, and smiled.

"A bit of both."


A/N: Hello there! And here's presenting chapter eight.

This is all that I could do in a day and a half. Why, you wonder, just a day and a half, when the last update was so long ago? Well, to answer that in one word: school. -_-

It's kept me so busy, I couldn't even open my account before yesterday! And then when I started writing...well, I just couldn't stop. It had been soo long and just sitting down with my laptop and writing felt so...good. :3

Though I really have no idea how this chapter's come out. But I'll leave that for you people to decide.

And yes, the dream...the 'familiar voice'...I suppose you can figure that out.

And I was actually thinking of writing a little one-shot about Annabeth and Percy! Any Percy Jackson fans here? :D

So, there you have it. Chapter eight...my longest chapter yet.
Review, pretty please? You see, that little grey box below? It'll take you about a minute or so, but it really makes my day.
Constant criticism is always appreciated. So many of you favorite it and put it on alert...but if you could take one minute and leave a review, so that I can actually know if it's any good or not, I'd really like it. =)

It's already night here, where I live. So have a good day/afternoon/night, depending on where you live, to everyone! =D
A
nd I'm not very happy with the chapter name, but I just couldn't think of anything else!

Please review! (I've just recently replenished my Butterbeer stock. Not that I'm bribing or anything. xD) Feedback is better than chocolate.

Oh and a very Happy New Year to everyone!

Cheers,
RainHolly!