~
A few days passed without event. James and Lily were sitting in their common room once more with the rest of their friends. Lily was nervous, because she had not yet told James about Amos.
"Hey Lily?" James asked suddenly. "You're going to Hogsmeade this afternoon, right?"
"Yes, I am," Lily answered, a bit hesitantly.
James smiled. "Great. Where do you want to go? I was thinking of going to Honeydukes first, then-"
"I think I should ask Amos first," Lily said as she cringed inside. She knew what was coming next.
James's eyebrow twitched. "Amos? Amos who? Diggory? What does Diggory have to do with anything?"
"Well... you see... he kind of... asked me on a date," Her last words came out in a bit of a rush.
James jumped up in a blaze of anger. "DIGGORY!" He exploded, "Diggory! That git! He asked you on a DATE! How COULD he! How could YOU! With HIM! I-I- ARGH!"
Lily was on her feet now, too, her emerald eyes flashing as they once had. "What are you, my- my MOTHER?" Her voice shook and cracked slightly, "Who gave you the right to dictate what I do? Who do you think you are, going on like that about Amos? What's he ever done to you?"
James glared at her. How DARE Lily talk as if he didn't care about her? "I don't want you to see him," He said, his voice low and deadly.
"I WILL see him, POTTER, this afternoon, and nothing you can do can stop me!" Lily spat.
James took another step forward. The two were so close that they were almost touching. "You know what, Evans? Fine. Go and have a swell time with Diggory. But I'm not going, no matter what Dumbledore said."
Lily looked up into the burning hazel eyes that towered above her, and glared back. James turned on his heel and stormed out of the Gryffindor common room in a rush. "And good riddance," She whispered under her breath. An emotion crept up inside her chest, one that Lily recognized. 'NO! I am NOT disappointed about Potter. I'm MUCH better off without him.' But as she walked up the stairs to her dormitory to prepare for her date with Amos, she couldn't help but notice how hollow she felt inside.
~
Amos waited patiently at the entrance to the Great Hall, where he was supposed to meet Lily.
He felt a light tapping on his shoulder. Turning, expecting to see his date, he was instead met with someone's fast-moving fist.
That someone dragged the unconscious boy into a broom closet close by.
Less than a minute later, Amos Diggory stepped out of the closet, exactly as before, and just in time. A pretty redhead had just stepped off of the winding stairs. "You ready to go, Lily?" the boy asked.
Lily smiled, "Of course, Amos. Where to first?"
Amos's smile grew. "What do you say we skip Hogsmeade? I know this great, beautiful place we could go to instead."
Lily shrugged. "It's all the same to me."
"Great," Amos said. Taking Lily's arm a little harder than she would have liked, he led her outside, towards the trees.
When they reached the forest's edge, Lily stared at the towering trees in apprehension, "The forest? Are you sure, Amos?"
Amos nodded. "It's perfectly safe. We're only going a little way in."
Lily hesitated only for a moment, and then followed Amos into the Forbidden Forest.
~
James was still fuming as he stalked around the castle.
Grumbling, he muttered to himself, "Why should I care? She's probably happy in his arms right now, having a dandy time." This only served to make him angrier.
Banging his toe on a wall, James cursed. He looked up and noticed that he had stopped near the Great Hall. He thought of going away, but a thumping from nearby stopped him. Curious, James followed the thuds until he reached a small broom cupboard. Praying that he had not just found a couple snogging, he threw the door open.
Amos Diggory stumbled out, rubbing a welt on his temple. James resisted the urge to slam the door back on his face. "What are you doing here, Diggory?" He spat out instead, "Shouldn't you be with Lily?"
Amos looked at him, confused. "I was supposed to be, about-" he checked his watch, "Ten minutes ago, but someone knocked me out."
"What are you saying?" James asked slowly.
"I'm saying that that girl is probably more trouble than she's worth," Amos said angrily. "Now if you don't mind, I think I'm going to go to the Hospital Wing."
James glared at Amos Diggory's back in disgust. Lily was better off without him. Much better off.
James started to walk away, but a thought stopped him abruptly. If Diggory was still in the castle, where was Lily?
Eyes wide, James bolted off towards the Gryffindor Tower. As he accidentally shoved several students out of the way, he barely had enough time to say that he was sorry.
He reached the portrait of the Pink Lady hardly out of breath. Quidditch had kept him in top condition. "Foxtail!" he yelled, causing the surrounding Gryffindors to look at him quite strangely.
"As you say, dear," the Pink Lady said mildly, and swung open. James bolted inside, and darted up the stairs to the sixth year boys' dormitory.
He reached his trunk with lightning speed, threw it open, and started digging inside. "Where IS it?" he muttered to himself. He tossed the contents of his trunk around the room, not bothering to note where they fell. At long last, he pulled a piece of yellowed parchment out. "Got it!" he cried in triumph.
He quickly muttered, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Instantly, James's own writing flooded across the page. He watched as the lines appeared on the page, muttering, "Lily, Lily. Where ARE you, Lily?"
At last he found the dot he was looking for. His heart froze as he took in the surrounding marks. "What on earth is she doing in THERE with a guy like HIM?"
He answered himself and replied, "No good, that's what. She could be in trouble."
With no further hesitation, he snatched his Invisibility Cloak and threw it around his shoulders, and ran towards the forest, and towards Lily.
~
Author's Notes:
Well, what did you think? 'grins evilly'. Hope you liked the cliffhanger! Were you guys expecting that?