It's been a while. Sorry. I had some major family stuff over the past few months and it all culminated last month so I had no time to write anything. It's all resolved now so here's the new chapter!

Chapter Seven

Treacherous Slopes

The brief peace that James created did not last long. She could not sleep. She made her way back to her flat just as the sun began to peek through the clouds. Lily could barely remember showering and changing into her night clothes but somehow she did and managed to pull herself into her bed, knocking out almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

And then the nightmares began.

She kept on seeing that horrid flash of green light and hearing the dull drop of the body. She saw James and Sirius and Marlene being hit with the curse. She saw her sister being tortured by men in dark cloaks and masks. She saw Severus pointing his wand at her and cursing her, causing her to hurt the people she loved. Her dreams were filled with screams and blood and terror. Every night she woke up drenched in cold sweat and blankets tangled around her. Over the course of those three days she was lucky to have scraped about two hours sleep each night.

Saturday morning rolled around and she got dressed quietly after downing her third cup of coffee. Not for the first time she thought about procuring a sleeping draught, but she didn't have half the ingredients needed and she refused to leave the flat to go buy them or buy a readymade potion. Instead she endured. She took a long hot shower, hoping to unknot some of her muscles. It did not work. Quickly, she shimmied herself into a pair of dark jeans and a dark blue jumper. It looked as though it was going to rain. Dumbledore wanted all available Order members in his office before seven for a debriefing. He had sent the message late yesterday evening. Lily secured the end of her braid with an elastic and patted some concealer to hide the dark circles under her eyes. She managed to eat an entire slice of toast before her stomach started churning.

With a quiet pop, Lily apparated to Hogsmeade. The town was already crawling with various other Order members. She caught Caradoc's eye through the masses and the two shared a brief smile.

"Good morning, Lily," said Caradoc, walking over to her. She mimicked his greeting and the two walked up to the castle together, slowly chatting.

"Moody's been drilling the man Potter captured," he said offhandedly. Her stomach turned to ice but somehow she still managed to keep on smiling. "I reckon the bloke's probably pissed himself a few times; Moody's going all the way with this one."

"You work with the aurors?" she asked politely, trying to subtly change the subject.

Caradoc laughed. "Merlin no; Department of Magical Cooperation; he had me send message to the Romanian authorities on the victim's involvement," he said in an undertone, "And it was just by chance that I heard."

He sent her a secretive wink and they both shared a grin. All too soon they arrived at Dumbledore's office. It was positively teeming with people. In fact, Lily thought that this might have been the first time she's seen the entire Order together. She saw the Marauders in a corner not too far away and thought about heading over there for a second but then changed her mind. Things between her and James were... awkward to say the least. Instead she searched the room for Marlene. Finally she found her near the front chatting with Hestia Jones.

"Hello love," said Marlene, enveloping her in a hug. "You're almost very late."

Lily smiled at the blonde and said hello to Hestia who repeated her sentiments before excusing herself to go talk with someone else. Marlene made room for her on the couch and they both sat down.

"How are you, Poppet? I haven't seen you at the Cauldron in a while," said Marlene.

Lily shrugged. "I've been off for a bit. Pulled two long shifts back to back and then Tom gave me a few days off because I kept on 'falling ill.'"

The older woman nodded in response. Just then, the low thrum of conversation ceased and the two of them looked up. At the front stood Moody and Dumbledore. All eyes were on them. Finally, Moody started to speak.

"Newcastle," he said. "Finally weaselled it out of the bastard late last night. We aren't sure exactly where we're going so we're having you all placed in groups of two to three before sending you out to various locations around its environs. The aurors in the room know exactly what we're doing. I want an auror per group. At the first signs of trouble send out a patronus to the rest of us."

It took the group an entire three seconds before things dissolved into madness. There were maybe eight trained aurors that belonged to the Order. Marlene grabbed Lily's hand and pulled her over to the other side of the room despite her protests. She already knew where the blonde was headed and tried to dig her heels into the ground to stop her. Marlene turned around and gave her an exasperated look. Lily met it with an annoyed glare.

"Don't you even dare, Marlene."

"Moody said that we have to have an auror per group," countered Marlene, giving Lily's arm a tug. "He's an auror, we're a group."

Lily gritted her teeth. "Don't act as though you don't have an ulterior motive here, McKinnon," she said lowly. Her lack of sleep combined with the general annoyance that surfaced when confronted with Potter was making her temper short. "It was cute at first but now it isn't, so just drop it. Besides, he's probably already in a group with Sirius and they."

Marlene gripped her hand tighter. "Moody doesn't have them work together. They cause too much trouble. Now, would you please put your damn pride aside and come on? James is a prat but you know what they say; once a prat, always a prat." She grinned at her.

"Is that supposed to reassure me? Because all it's doing is making me want to go over there even less."

Lily should have known that all her arguing was in vain. Marlene always got her way, especially when she was determined- and she was very determined with this. Which is why, half an hour later, she could be found sitting between Marlene and James, the former grinning smugly and the latter fidgeting uncomfortably. They were at a little cafe on the outskirts of the town, hidden away at a table outside. Lily was clenching her cup so tightly that she was surprised that it didn't shatter within her grip. Marlene was chatting animatedly, ignoring the thick tension between her nephew and Lily. Every so often James would lightly quip or reply to something that she said while Lily steadfastly glared at her now stone cold coffee.

"I like your jumper, Lily," said Marlene amicably, trying for the umpteenth time to include her in the conversation. Lily grunted her thanks in response. Not so easily dissuaded, Marlene continued, this time with a slight smirk, "You and James match, did you know that? It's adorable."

Unable to help herself, Lily glanced over at the man sitting next to her and much to her chagrin, Marlene was right; both of them were in the same dark blue, knitted jumper. James jumped up at his name being called and now his hand was tangled in his hair while his cheeks were tinted light pink. Meanwhile, Lily glared at the blonde before tossing back the rest of her coffee.

"I need more coffee," she muttered, beginning to stand. The cup was plucked out of hand and Lily blinked owlishly. It took her a full second to realise that Marlene was standing with the cup in her hands and grinning from ear to ear.

"I'll get that for you, Lily dear," she said happily. Lily didn't even get to reply before she disappeared leaving only her and James at the table. Alone. Halfway hidden by a plant and completely unnoticed by most passersby.

It suddenly got very hot outside and Lily tugged uncomfortably at the collar of her jumper. James' fingers were tapping out a tattoo against the table top. He somehow managed to knock over the napkin holder and Lily pretended not to notice (however she couldn't help the slight twitch of her lips as his arms flailed trying to pack them all back.)

A few more minutes passed by before James cleared his throat. "So... how are you?"

Lily gnashed her teeth. "Just peachy," she snarled.

He winced but still trudged onwards. "You look tired."

"Do I?"

"Look," he said, running a hand through his hair once more and his voice dropping to that a little over a whisper. "I know that we're a bit at- at odds right now but if you want to talk about what happened you can always-"

"Thanks," Lily spoke over him, "But I'm fine."

They lapsed back into uncomfortable silence once more. Lily thought that she might as well glue James' hand to his head since it never seemed to leave his hair. Marlene returned to the table and her smile dimmed as she took in the frosty silence between the pair. She slid Lily's coffee over to her and sat back down again.

Lily took a sip and barely suppressed a grimace. It needed more sugar.

James ruffled his hair again.

Marlene picked at her nails.

The wind picked up a bit as the clouds rolled in. After emptying two packets of sugar into her coffee, Lily took another sip. It began to drizzle slightly.

It was then that a silvery mist appeared before them. "We found 'em. Death Eaters at the top of the hill in the abandoned square. Roughly twenty of them. Back up needed immediately." The mist disappeared almost straight away. The voice which spoke was either that of Fabian or Gideon Prewett. Lily couldn't tell nor did she have the time to. James stood up at once, already in full auror mode.

"The hill is on the other side of town," he said, pointing at it. If Lily squinted enough she could just barely see the outline of what must have been a church. "We're going to have to apparate." He said no more. Marlene nodded once before turning on her heel and disappearing. Lily caught James' eye for a moment and she looked away, envisioning the large church in her mind before disapparating.

She landed with a thud right outside the church and glanced around. If she strained her ears, she could hear the sounds of a battle not too far away. Just there, through a thicket of trees, she could see the flashes of light not more than a hundred paces away. Lily broke out into a run.

The battle was already in full swing and she caught sight of both Marlene and James duelling ferociously with Death Eaters. Half of the Order was missing so far but ever so often there was a small pop that signified the appearance of someone. Lily didn't have long to take in the scene in front of her as she got caught up in her own duel. Hexes flew past at alarming speeds and the battle seemed to rage on forever. More Death Eaters appeared and it seemed as though for every one they managed to knock out, five more appeared. It was a full on bloodbath.

Lily wasn't sure if it had been five minutes or five hours when she finally managed to catch her breath. She was crouched behind a half demolished wall of an abandoned shop. Her ankle was throbbing painfully, swollen and angry red in colour, while there was a gash across the left side of her chest that was bleeding heavily and seared every time she took a deep breath. Her hair was singed at the ends and her clothes were grass stained, blood stained, mud stained and whole lot of other –stained. Thunder crashed above them as the rain poured down even heavier than before. Visibility was reduced to no more than a six foot radius- if so much.

She wanted to stay there, hiding behind the stone and nurse her injuries but the battle was still going on. Instead, Lily gritted her teeth, shot a quick 'Episkey,' at her ankle and ventured back into the fray. Not far from where she stood, she could make out the silhouettes of four men fighting tooth and nail against each other. She didn't hesitate to join in. When she got close enough, she realised that it was James and he was surrounded by three Death Eaters. He looked worse off than she. Various cuts and scrapes littered his skin, his lip was split and his wand arm was pressed close to his chest as he used the other to wave his wand, sending spell after spell.

Lily shot a stunning spell at the one closest. It missed him but it did divert his attention towards her. Before he could react Lily sent a stinging hex that hit him directly in the face.

"I can handle my own here, Evans!" James yelled at her as he dodged a jet of yellow light. He returned it with a purple streak of his own that had the Death Eater clutching his eyes.

"Your split lip says otherwise!" she replied, throwing him a quick grin before blocking the barrage of hexes and curses the one she was battling with sent her way. She whipped her wand viciously at him and he flew back against the wall. Two more Death Eaters joined in. Spell after spell, hex after hex, Lily even dodged a few killing curses a few times, her stomach turning uncomfortably as memories from the other night resurfaced. She glanced at James. He was still managing, but only just. His movements grew sloppy and he was once again faced by three Death Eaters.

A small scream escaped her as she was yanked backwards. James' head shot up. "Lily!" he shouted. She could barely hear him above the thudding of her own heartbeat in her ears. Her wand clattered to the floor as she clawed at the beefy arm crushing her windpipe.

The Death Eater that held her chuckled. "Potter seems to fancy the little Mudblood whore, boys," he said and the surrounding Death Eaters joined in on his laughter. James sent a hex at him and he merely brushed it away with a lazy flick of his wand.

"Leave her alone, Greyback," James snarled, getting the better of one of the Death Eaters. His spell was so powerful that he was blasted several feet backwards before crumpling to the floor.

The man, Greyback, just laughed at him. "Does the little blood traitor think he can tell me what to do?" he said, amusedly. Lily struggled against his grip. Her lungs felt as though they were on fire from the lack of oxygen. James was getting distracted. Most of his attention was on her. Something in her chest tugged. If she didn't get out of here soon both of them were going to end up dead. It was easier said than done. She didn't have her wand. She was helpless-

Then the idea came to her.

Mustering up whatever strength she could find, Lily bent her head and bit into his forearm. Hard. He howled in pain and his grip slackened, but not nearly enough for her to escape properly. She greedily gulped down air. James laughed.

"Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?" he asked snidely, stunning another Death Eater. He was only facing one now and that was something that made Lily rest easy. "The werewolf bites the victims, not the victim bites the werewolf!"

Greyback growled some less than complimentary things about both James and Lily. She was still trapped in his vice like grip but she wasn't giving up just yet. Bracing herself, she threw her head back and crashed into his skull. Black dots danced in front her eyes, her jaw rattled and she was sure that she bit her tongue somewhere in there as well- as the coppery taste of blood flooded through her mouth, but she ignored them all. Finally she was free of his grasp. She rubbed her neck and stumbled to find her wand. Not easily deterred, Greyback grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. She was pleased to see that he had obtained a split lip from their altercation. She was less pleased to see the wand that he had pointed at her face.

"Fucking bitch," he snarled. "Avada-"

His sentence stopped there. Lily panicked and ended up pulling back her free hand, only to punch him straight in the nose with all she had. The pain that flared up in her hand was dulled by the satisfaction of seeing the blood spurt forth from his nose. Greyback stumbled backwards, eyes unfocused. A quick stunner from James put an end to him.

Lily snatched up her wand. James was roaring with laughter. "You are bloody amazing, Evans!" he yelled at her through his laughter. "I fucking love you! I could practically kiss you right now! Completely-"

"Sectumsempra!"

Her blood turned cold as the last remaining Death Eater spoke the word. It was as though time slowed down. She could see the flash of light warping and twisting as it headed towards James. James, who was still laughing at her. James, who turned around a second too late only to see the spell hit him squarely on the chest. He took a shaky step backwards before falling to his knees. Lily vaguely registered herself screaming out and throwing some spell or the other at the Death Eater as she ran over to James.

Already the muddy water that he fell into was turning red as blood poured out of him. Lily knelt next to him and pulled his head onto her lap.

"Good going punching the Death Eater, Lils," he said weakly, grinning up at her nonetheless. "You're amazing."

Lily ignored him. Her hands were shaking and her blood was roaring. She unsuccessfully grabbed at the hem of his jumper before growling and slashing at it with her wand. She cringed when she saw the wound. It was deep, absolutely pouring blood, and ran from his right shoulder to his waist, passing just under his heart.

"Why Miss Evans, if you wanted me to undress for you, you could've just asked. No need to rip my clothes off," he said thickly. His pulse was racing wildly under his skin, his face pale and breathing shallow.

Lily rolled her eyes, unable to help herself. "You're practically bleeding dry and that's what you can think off?" she asked shakily as she racked her brain. She knew this spell. She knew the person who made this spell. She felt as though she was going to be sick. Her dream from a few nights ago came to the front of her mind in vivid clarity. He told her the counter charm for it but that had been years ago. "You are incorrigible."

It came to her slowly and she started muttering the song like incantation. It was soft and soothing in James' ear and it helped the pain ease up but Lily looked as though the words pained her to say. He felt light headed and dizzy and James didn't even know what he was saying (most likely a load of tosh since Lily had rolled her eyes at him)

"You're going to be okay," she muttered, more to herself than to James. "You'll be fine. We'll get out of this in one piece."

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep, Miss Evans."

Both of them looked towards the new speaker and Lily made some sort of strangled scream sound. James wanted to grab her hand or hide her or do something but was unable to. He had suffered too much blood loss and his previous injuries were starting to take a toll on him. In fact, it was miraculous that his eyes were still open.

"Voldemort," Lily whispered almost soundlessly. She brought a hand up to her face. It shook slightly and James noted that it was covered in blood. His blood.

Voldemort smiled at them and he stepped forward, walking over the unconscious Death Eater body as if it wasn't there. "Formidable wizards, both of you," he said softly, watching them like a snake would a mouse right before he ate it. He looked over at Lily and continued, "Especially you, Miss Evans, being a mudblood and all."

Lily stiffened. "Thanks for the praises," she snarled. "Glad to know I've surpassed your standards."

She was practically spitting fire and James wasn't sure if he wanted to shake her or snog her for her insubordinate behaviour. Maybe both. Stupid, stupid girl.

However, Voldemort did not pull his wand on them as yet and merely continued to smile as though Lily was a pet and she had done something she wasn't supposed to. "Yes, you have," he said. "Which is why it would be an honour to have you two join my ranks."

"Join you?" Lily said shrilly. A short burst of manic laughter escaped her lips. "Why the ever loving hell would we join you? Why would you want a mudblood," she sneered the word, "Fighting for you when you yourself want to wipe them off?" She stared straight at his eyes, back ramrod straight and jaw set.

Once they were out of Voldemort's clutches and tusked away safely (and his injuries taken care of- Merlin his lungs felt as though they were on fire), James was going to snog her until they couldn't breathe, he decided. And then maybe lecture her on why she should try to contain her cheek when dealing with a madman hell bent on committing Wizarding genocide since he was very much capable of killing them on the spot.

Voldemort's eyes narrowed into slits and, for the first time since he appeared, the sadistic smile dropped. He shook the sleeve of his cloak and procured a wand. "Watch your tongue, mudblood," he snarled, flicking the wand. Lily flinched, her cheek reddening from contact of the stinging hex, and grasped the bloody material of James' torn jumper. "This is your first and only chance to save your skin. Think wisely."

Lily held her head high. "Go to hell," she spat.

James saw it a moment before she did. The fury that blazed in his eyes, the way he tightened his grip on the wand and the beginnings of the curse. He did the only thing he could think of. The hilt of his wand was slippery- blood, water, mud or perhaps a mixture of all three.

"Bombarda Maxima!" he shouted. The intensity of the spell caused both he and Lily to fly back several feet while the wall crumbled, falling on top of Voldemort. His skull cracked painfully against something. His vision blurred and he felt Lily's hands grasping his wrists right before he finally passed out.

When he finally came to, James tensed as he took in the unfamiliar surroundings. It was a few moments before he realised that the surroundings were not unfamiliar the slightest- he was in his flat, in his bedroom, tucked away in his bed- and that he only found it strange since he wasn't wearing his glasses. James sat up, hissing slightly as his knotted muscles protested. His body felt sore all over and he felt drained and tired, not to mention the killer of a headache he had.

Something stirred in the corner and his hand immediately jumped to his pocket for his wand while the other patted around the night stand for his glasses. He found them and slipped it on. James blinked a few times before turning back to the corner. With a start, he realised that it was Lily, curled up in a hard backed, uncomfortable looking chair. He smiled slightly as she shifted in her sleep, muttering nonsense to herself. It was still the middle of the morning when they were attacked and now it was pitch black out- night time. What time exactly, he wasn't sure. His watch was no longer on his wrist. Again, he started patting around the night stand. Unfortunately, all he managed was the knocking over of something or the other.

James swore violently and Lily jumped awake, her wand already grasped in her hand. "Potter?" she asked, scrubbing her eyes with the heel of her palm. "What the bloody hell are you doing?"

"Trying to find out the time," he hissed in pain, cradling his hand to his chest. The place where he hit it already felt tender. Great. Another injury to add to the litany of others.

Lily yawned and stretched out, sighing blissfully as several joints cracked and popped. With a quick flick of her wand the room flared to life as a floating orb of light appeared. She crossed over to his bed and gently pushed him down on the bed. "You shouldn't be sitting up," she said softly. "It might aggravate the wound."

James refused and continued to sit up. "I'm fine Evans," he said perhaps a bit too snappy.

She whirled on him her eyes glittering with anger. "Oh, you're fine are you? Do fine people spend over sixteen hours unconscious after almost bleeding to death? Not to mention that Voldemort almost killed us. But oh you're fine."

His eyes widened. "Lily-"

"Don't you 'Lily' me, James Potter!" she yelled at him, "You almost died!"

James winced and sunk back against his pillows slightly. Lily stared at him, eyes hard and unflinching while her mouth was pressed into a thin line. Without warning she turned around and grabbed a vial from the table. She thrust the bottle in front of his face. "Drink It. Blood replenishing potion," was all she said.

He uncorked it without a word and threw it back, making a face as it burned down his throat. He threw the vial in the general vicinity of the night stand before she shoved a glass of water in his face without a word. Lily's arms were crossed and her muscles were pulled taut. She still had her wand clasped in her arm. He took the glass and drank it out in one go, muttering his thanks to her.

"Are you all right?" he asked her lowly. She had shucked her jumper from earlier and stood before him in a thin camisole. The blue black bruises that littered her arms stood out in stark contrast against her pale skin.

She shrugged. "I'm fine."

James sighed. "Lily," he groaned slightly, looking up at her. She adamantly refused to meet his gaze choosing instead to glare at the wall. Her arms dropped, clenching into tight fists. He swung his legs off the bed and caught hold of one of her hands and tugged her forward. The mask cracked for a moment and Lily allowed herself to be pulled between his legs. James pressed his face into her stomach. "I'm sorry," he mumbled into her shirt. "I was being a prat for the last couple of days."

"According to Marlene 'once a prat, always a prat,'" said Lily as she threaded her fingers into his hair. He sighed and held her closer.

"Damn aunt," he swore. Lily's lips twitched slightly. His grip on her waist tightened. "Stay."

She worried her lip between her teeth. "I don't know," she said, running her hands soothingly through his hair.

"Lily, it's two in the morning. You're exhausted and probably ache all over. Trust me when I say that if you spend the night in that chair not only will you feel worse in the morning, you'll also have a crick in your neck. Stay," he told her, pulling back slightly to scrutinise her face.

"I haven't even showered as yet." James hitched an eyebrow as he took in her appearance. Last he remembered she was coated in blood and dirt. Now, her skin was clear, save for the multiple bruises and scars while her clothes looked freshly laundered. She coloured under his gaze. "A good Scourgify can go a long way," she explained.

"I don't care. I haven't showered either," he said. "Stay."

He looked up at her again, pleading with his eyes and she sighed. "Fine," she acquiesced. She walked around to the other side and clambered into the bed while James lied back down. Both of them elected to sleep on either side of the bed, leaving a fair amount of space between them. It was quiet except for their deep breathing and Lily thought that James had fallen asleep.

"Evans?" he murmured a few minutes later, "I am sorry for being a prat. I was just..."

"Yeah," quickly said Lily, knowing exactly where he was going with his sentence.

"Evans?" he asked a few minutes later. His voice sounded heavy with sleep. She felt his hand brush against hers slightly before lightly grasping it. She squeezed it gently in return and soon she too fell asleep holding onto his hand while each of them faced opposite sides of the room.

When Sirius apparated over to the flat the next morning, he found Marlene sitting cross legged in front the door. She leant her head against the wood and her eyes were closed. Next to her was a large basket. At the sound of Sirius' arrival she cracked an eye open and waved to him lazily.

"Morning," she said.

"Morning," he replied amusedly. "Why are you sitting outside on the floor?"

"The git," she jerked her thumb towards the door, "Hasn't answered the door. He's probably asleep. Or, you know, dead or something."

"Hmm," said Sirius said. He rummaged through his pockets for something and Marlene pulled herself up from the floor. "I do hope he's not dead; he broke my record player a few weeks back and hasn't had the chance to replace it yet."

She snorted. "What are you looking for, Black?" she asked curiously.

"Just- aha!" he yelled victoriously and whipped out a small brass thing from his pocket.

"A key?" she said flatly.

"An enchanted key," Sirius corrected her. "James gave it to me. Works like a normal key except it not only unlocks the doors but takes down the wards also to let us get in." He slid the key into the lock and wiggled it. "How's Lily? She was a mess yesterday after that encounter."

"She's all right now I think," said Marlene as she grabbed the basket off of the floor, "It took two entire vials of Calming Draught to get her to calm down again. She was in hysterics."

"I reckon anyone would be after anything like that," said Sirius solemnly. He closed the door behind her. "Is she coming over later?"

Marlene shrugged. "I invited her for breakfast," She glanced at her watch, "Which is going to get cold if Potter doesn't get his arse out here in the next few minutes."

"I'll go wake him," Sirius told her before slipping down the hall and leaving Marlene to spread out their breakfast on the table. However, when Sirius didn't return after she placed the pot of tea on the table, she rolled her eyes and went to find him.

"How long does it take to-" she began before Sirius rudely shushed her.

"They're sleeping," he hissed.

Her eyes narrowed. "'They're'? What do you mean by 'they'-oh."

Sirius had moved over and allowed her to look into the room. The coverlet- as well as most of the bedding- was hanging off the bed and even lying on the floor in some cases. Their torsos were flush together, no more than an inch of space between them. One of Lily's legs was wedged between James' while the other was hooked across his hip. Meanwhile, James had an arm thrown across her waist, gripping it possessively. Their hands were still clasped together.

Both Sirius and Marlene shared a look.

"What do we do?" she whispered. "They don't look as though they're going to be moving anytime soon." A wicked glint slipped into Sirius' eyes and Marlene regretted bringing up that question at all. "Sirius, don't you-"

"Oi lovebirds!" he yelled, "Time to rejoin the land of the living!"

The two of them jumped awake with a start, James knocking his head against the bed frame in the process.

"Fucking hell, Sirius," he groaned, patting around for his glasses. Once he found them and slipped them on he glared at Sirius. "Was that fucking necessary?"

Sirius grinned at him. "You're always so charming in the morning, Prongs-"

"Fuck you, Black."

He continued on as though James hadn't spoken, "Poor Lily is going to have to deal with that from now on. I hope you know what you've gotten yourself into, Red."

The other three in the room glanced over at her as she was mentioned. Lily was frozen, eyes wide and staring at James while clenching the sheet so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She gave a small yelp and scrambled from the room, tripping over her own feet in her haste to leave.

Sirius dumbly stared after her. "What did I do?" he asked. James groaned loudly before dropping back down on to the bed, pulling a pillow over his face. "James?" asked Sirius. "What happened? Isn't she your-"

"No," he said shortly. "No she's not."

"Oh."

Marlene, who hadn't said a single word through all of this, stepped forward and slapped James.

"Ow!" he gasped, sitting upright. "What the bloody hell was that for?"

She slapped him again. "You like Lily, right?" she asked, sounding as though it was taking all of her will power to not jump and strangle him.

"Yes, of course, but why does this-"

"Then go after her, you twat!" She slapped him again.

"Stop that!" He batted her hands away. "She doesn't like me and I've already gone and cocked up this entire... whatever we had going on-"

Marlene extracted her wand from her pocket. "If you're not out of this flat by the time I'm finished with this sentence I will hex your-"

Whatever she was going to hex off, James didn't hear as he shoved his feet into a pair of sneakers and ran down the hall after Lily.

He caught up to her on the landing between the second and third floor.

"Lily," he breathed, catching her arm.

She turned around, her entire face almost as red as her hair. "Look, James, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have stayed last night-"

He kissed her.

She was speaking rather quickly- stumbling over her words in the process- and he leant down and pressed his lips to hers. She made a surprised sound before stilling for a few seconds. Tentatively, she began kissing him back, easily matching the slow pace he set, her hands coming to wrap around his neck. They stood there on the landing between the second and third floors, kissing and sucking and licking and biting and completely and wholly enraptured with the other.

It was a while before they separated. James grinned at her. "Hey Evans," he said, burying his head in her neck and stroking the skin there with his lips. "Go out with me?"

Just like last night, she tangled her fingers into his messy hair- even more so now, thanks to their previous activities- and hummed contentedly. He pulled back and looked at her expectantly for her answer.

"All right," she said, smiling shyly before leaning up to kiss him. He gladly reciprocated and linked their hands below, tangling their fingers as they savoured the feel of each other.

And that's the end. Just the epilogue which I should be posting tomorrow. :)

xoxo Nai