A/N: After much delay, folks, I’m pleased to give you: Chapter 13, Howlers and Howling. It’s been a while (don’t hurt me!!!), but you get a twelve-paged chapter to make up for it.

Disclaimer: All Jo’s.

Important: HBP is out, and canon has been changed. I am not altering my fiction to fit HBP. Any major events that happen in this fiction were planned far before HBP came out. That does not mean there may not be tiny spoilers here and there. The new facts have, of course, infiltrated my mind, and my pop up later. They will be little things, but spoilers nonetheless. I do not advice reading if you haven’t finished HBP. Although, really, I don’t advice reading any fan fiction if you haven’t read HBP. *laughs*

So, without further ado…I give you…Chapter 13!!!!

“Well, said Lily, walking into the Potter’s kitchen with an odd sense of accomplishment on her face, “I did it.”

“Did what?” asked Sirius, looking up from his porridge.

“Sent a letter to Marlene. Well, the McKinnons, really. Explaining, the -- ah -- situation.”

“What did you tell them?” asked James.

“That I was very sorry I had to leave, but something came up, and it was imperative that I left immediately.”

“Did you tell them where you came?” said Sirius, looking slightly amused.

Lily smiled grimly. “In a separate letter to Marlene. Though Merlin knows it will hardly stay separate for long. 10 galleons says the first thing she’ll do after she reads it -- besides shouting some obscenities at my poor owl, that is -- is go running to Mick, telling him what a backstabbing girlfriend I was.” She laughed humorlessly.

“I’m sorry,” offered James, unsure whether he was being honest or not. “If there’s anything I could do…?”

“Do you do hired work as an undercover hit-wizard?

“I do,” said Sirius, grinning at her.

Lily laughed, happier this time. “I wouldn’t be surprised,” she chortled, sitting down at the table.

The mail arrived a bit later. James and Lily were sitting in the living room: James watching with amusement as Sirius introduced Lily to his pride and Joy.

“Tada!” he cried, removing a large linen sheet from a lumpy mound in the corner of the room.

Lily stared for a moment at the contraption before her, then burst out laughing. “You bought…honestly…a motorcycle?” she choked.

“That’s what it’s called then,” commented James idly. “I always forget.”

Sirius beamed. “Beautiful, isn’t she?”

Lily considered. Beautiful was not the word she would’ve used. The thing was definitely an older model, and it looked as though it could’ve been stolen from a Muggle junkyard. On second thought, it probably was.

Despite all this, it had a certain flair that she was quite sure only Sirius Black could pull off. “It suits you,” she said finally.

Sirius grinned. “She needs a bit more work, of course, but when I’m done -- just you wait. One fly by and this baby will be collecting girls as if it had an unbreakable summoning charm on it.”

Lily attempted to suppress a snort. She failed, dismally.

“Hang on -- did you say fly?” Lily asked after a moment, rather suddenly and with a shrewd expression on her face.

Sirius suddenly looked a bit shifty.

“Aren’t they supposed to?” asked James, sounding surprised.

“No they are not!” said Lily trying her hardest to hide her amusement. “Isn’t it illegal to tamper with Muggle items?”

“Only a little,” said Sirius ruefully. “It’s not a serious offense, you know. They’ve got bigger things on their plate.”

Sirius was a saved a lecture from Lily by the arrival of the mail.

“Nothing too interesting here,” said James lazily. “A letter for dad -- probably something from the ministry; the Daily Prophet, and --”

His voice trailed off ominously.

All three stared at the red envelope in his hand. A Howler.

“It’s --ah -- for you,” said James awkwardly, handing the now-smoking envelope to Lily.

“No less than I expected,” Lily sighed. “Faster, maybe, but no less. She does like a show, doesn’t she?”

“You’d better open it,” advised Sirius, looking at the envelope with distaste. It was starting to hiss.

“I look forward to it.” But she didn’t look like she looked forward to it at all. In fact, she looked as though she’d rather do just about anything else. Scrubbing the hospital chamber pots without magic included.

“Right, anyone sleeping upstairs?”

“Nah, we’re the only ones here.”

Lily sighed deeply and ripped open the envelope. Marlene McKinnon’s voice instantly filled the room.

“LILY EVANS, YOU DISGUST ME!” it shrieked. “YOU THINK YOU’RE AWFULLY CLEVER, DON’T YOU? OH, I’M SURE YOU STAGED THAT WHOLE THING JUST SO YOU COULD GO FLOOING INTO POTTER’S BIG, SAFE ARMS! DID HE HAVE A PLATE SET FOR YOU AT THE TABLE? WAS HE EXPECTING YOU?”

Oh no. This was to be worse than Lily had anticipated.

“I’LL GIVE YOU ONE THING, THOUGH. YOU’RE A DAMNED GOOD ACTRESS! ‘Oh, I went to a Prefects meeting, I must be shagging Potter in secret and cheating on your brother!’” the Howler cried, in perfect imitation of Lily’s sarcastic tones. “I ALMOST BELIEVED YOU! I ALMOST FELT BAD UNTIL I GOT YOUR LETTER, YOU FOUL, DISGUSTING, FILTHY, SLIMY, EVIL, LOATHSOME --” Here the howler paused, apparently unable to think of any more insulting adjectives, but then it shrieked shrilly, “MUDBLOOD!”

The three watched the letter burn in silence, the last word ringing in their ears.

Lily was shocked. She had expected something like the Howler, she could deal with that, but for her best friend to call her a -- a -- well, that was just more than she was prepared to bear.

It was Sirius who broke the silence. “Marlene is a foul --” He then proceeded to call her something that normally would’ve made Lily jump and dock points. Instead, she just stared numbly at the ash where the Howler had exploded moments before.

“You didn’t tell me that the fight was -- well, included, er, me,” said James.

“Yeah. Well, you came up,” said Lily, refusing to meet his eyes. She avoided his gaze for a full minute until --

“Well, this has been sufficiently awkward,” said Sirius brightly, vanishing the ash with his wand. “So, how ‘bout that hit-wizard, Lily? I work for low wages, you know.”

They all laughed. Sirius had broken the tension almost instantly. Lily could’ve kissed him. Well, almost.

“You better watch out, Black, because at the rate this is going, I might very well take you up on that offer.”

Sirius grinned.

“Anything interesting in the Daily Prophet?” asked Lily, keen to change the subject. Maybe if she just acted like the whole thing was a joke, unworthy of her thoughts, the others would just forget it…

“Nobody we know,” replied James, frowning at the Prophet. He knew -- though her question hadn’t been specific -- exactly what she had meant.

“A few more unexplained disappearances,” continued James, his frown more pronounced. “But I reckon if they’re not dead a few will show up later as new Death Eaters, pledging their loyalty to Darkness.”

Meaning, they, like so many unidentified others, had been Imperiused, blackmailed, or cursed.

James glared at the Prophet a bit more before passing it to Sirius. Sirius didn’t even glance at the front page, but simply flipped to the back, ripped out the crossword section, and chucked it back.

“Nine letter word for ‘Living Shroud?’” he asked, but was interrupted by Mrs. Potter bursting through the front door, looking flustered.

‘They made me stay late again!” she said angrily, taking her coat off and stuffing it in a closet. The closet burped. “Making me do ridiculous things that aren’t even remotely related to my department or -- or you-know-who.”

Mrs. Potter was now in the kitchen, but, though faded, they could still hear her voice clearly. “And they know I only have today and tomorrow to get read for the party!”

“Party?” asked Lily, slightly surprised.

“The Annual Christmas Eve Party,” said James, without much enthusiasm. “We have it every year.”

It seemed absurd and yet extraordinary to Lily that something so normal as a Christmas Party could have Mrs. Potter in such a frenzy. And with her amazement came the uncomfortable but ever-familiar feeling of intrusion.

James seemed to notice this, because he said, “It’s not that fun, for me, anyway. It’s mostly a bunch of my mum and dad’s friends, and I spend most of the time answering questions like, ‘You’re Warty Shilbert’s kid, aren’t you?’ or ‘You’ve got your mum’s ears, where is dear old Bea, anyway?’”

Lily laughed.

“I came the last two years,” contributed Sirius. “After my parents had finally given up on me, and let me ‘stay at Hogwarts’ for Christmas.”

“We’re usually the only two underage wizards there --”

“Except that we’re not underage anymore --”

“Well, yeah --”

“Oh, and there was fifth year,” said Sirius with a smirk. “Ronda Swiss-something, wasn’t it?”

James groaned. “My mum’s friend brought her niece -- she’s a year below us, I think. Anyway, I guess my mum mentioned that I wasn’t -- ah -- dating anyone, and her friend decided it would be a good idea to try and set me up with her niece. It was dreadful.”

“And then she kept coming up to you at school --”

“Yeah, well, to put it simply, the parties have never been the best times in my life. But this one should be better,” James added, “with you and Sirius here.”

A few minutes later James’s mum reentered the room, ready to scrub every room until it shone like a gnome’s behind. She was running around the house, cleaning every thing her eyes fell upon with her wand, and throwing others randomly into the rubbish bin. James already had had to retrieve his favorite pair of socks, a few nice quills, and his Which Broomstick? catalogue.

“She does this every year,” James explained to a somewhat bemused Lily, who was watching a vase clean itself. James was sitting on the couch, and lazily flicking his wand every once in a while to reclaim something that had recently hurled itself into the rubbish bin. “She’s a right slob most of the year, but then the day before Christmas Eve, my mum goes mad cleaning and decorating.

“James,” said an exasperated Mrs. Potter, “Won’t you at least gather your junk and take it up to your room? Oh not you, dear,” his mum added as Lily stood up.

“I’d like to help,” said Lily brightly. “I learned a variety of household spells as soon as I could use magic out of school, to help around at home. I finished my chores about an hour fast than my sister -- she hated me for it.” James’s mum laughed appreciatively, and Lily laughed to, but only James knew that she was being entirely serious.

“And,” Lily added, “if all else fails, I grew up in a Muggle household with a mother who couldn’t sleep if there was one spec of dust on the mantle. I know all the good old-fashioned methods.”

“Well, if you’re sure…” Lily winked at James as she followed his mum, who was beaming, out of the room.

“You’d better watch out,” said Sirius. “The way this is going, your mum is going to disown both of us and adopt Lily.”

James laughed.

Lily helped Mrs. Potter clean the house for most of the afternoon. They worked in silence, mostly, Mrs. Potter humming happily (and much more calmly).

“My goodness,” said Mrs. Potter, glancing at a nearby clock. “I hadn’t realized how late it had gotten. How horrible of me to keep a guest cleaning all day!

Lily laughed. “Really, it’s no problem.” And it wasn’t. Lily quite liked James’s mum, and being in her amicable presence, especially (and rather ironically) cleaning, almost made her feel as if she had her own mother back.

“You’re sweet,” said Mrs. Potter smiling. “Would you like something drink, dear? A gilly water, tea, pumpkin juice? I think I might actually have some lemonade in here too…”

“A lemonade would be wonderful,” said Lily.

Mrs. Potter looked pleased and poured a glass for Lily and one for herself.

“So, said Mrs. Potter, as the two took a sea t at the kitchen table, “tell me about yourself.” She suddenly had a rather mischievous glint in her eye, not unlike the one her son so often donned. “Not that I don’t already know a bit…”

Lily coughed on the mouthful of lemonade she was swallowing. She was not entirely surprised -- after all, for four years her son and Lily had been sworn enemies, and for the last two years James had declared Lily fair game for dating, and Lily had quite loudly declared she thought James was nothing more than the smallest bit of scum on the most mundane toadstool. Nonetheless, the thought of what James Potter said about her out of Hogwarts was enough to make anyone choke on their lemonade. “What?”

Mrs. Potter looked amused. “Oh, a little this, a little that.” Lily fixed her with a steely gaze, trying her hardest to ward off the red flush that was creeping into her cheeks. Mrs. Potter relented, laughing. “I can see why James is so taken with you. No boy can walk away from that sort of challenge.”

The flush won, and Lily felt her cheeks grow hot. “Sorry?”

Mrs. Potter laughed again. “If you just go out with a boy and let him think he’s won, he’ll leave you alone.”

Lily looked at her, aghast. “But I could never do that! Then he’d go around boasting to everyone --” Lily had almost forgotten this was James Potter’s mother she was talking to. “Well, I just could never do that.”

“I know,” Mrs. Potter smiled. “I can tell. But I hate to tell you, dear, that that is exactly why boys, like my dear son --” she laughed, “-- won’t leave you alone. You’re a challenge.”

“Hmpf,” said Lily.

“So, anyway, do tell me about yourself. I’m very interested.” Her eyes twinkled with amusement.

“You tell me what you know, and I’ll fill in the blanks.”

“Oho!’ Mrs. Potter laughed heartily. “Clever one, aren’t you? Very well then…let’s see…I know that you’re top in your class at charms, you were a prefects and now Head Girl, you’ve given James at least three (well-deserved, I’m sure) detentions, you hexed Sirius once so badly that he had to spend the night in the hospital wing --” Mrs. Potter could not conceal her smirk. “You don’t think much of Quidditch -- something James can not understand, I tell you -- And I know that for two years you quite colorfully rejected him.”

Lily would’ve thought James’s mum might’ve been rather indignant that Lily had openly and loudly rejected her son, but Mrs. Potter was not; in fact, she looked positively gleeful.

“Well,” said Lily sure that her face was a color to rival her hair. “I don’t have much to fill in then, do I?”

“Of course you do,” said Mrs. Potter. “I want to know all about the girl my son had been talking about for six years. And feel free to be as nasty as you like about dear James. I do love him, but I’ve also known him his whole life, so I’m not entirely oblivious to what he’s like at school.”

Lily was slightly taken aback. “Well, I mean -- he isn’t --” she stuttered, unsure of herself.

“I’ve made you uncomfortable enough for one day, haven’t I?” Mrs. Potter smiled. But there was something different about her smile. This one was not so amused, but understanding, as if she knew exactly what Lily was thinking, even if Lily herself did not.

The day of Christmas Eve came far too soon, and Mrs. Potter was once again running around the house, this time decorating, and every so often running into the kitchen preparing food.

James, Sirius and Lily had all been assigned decorating tasks, and James and Lily, who had both finished theirs and were now enjoying a butterbeer in the living room, were helping Sirius with his.

“Why does it matter?” said Sirius sourly, staring at a list of Christmas music. “Christmas music is Christmas music. If people want to dance, they’ll dance.

“Just humor her,” said James uninterestedly, returning his gaze to Chasing the Cup: A Chaser’s Complete Guide to Quidditch.

Lily peered over Sirius’s shoulder at the list.

“Well, I’d cross off ‘A Hag’s Holiday.’ That hardly sounds pleasant.” Sirius obliged. “You know, you should have some Muggle music on there,” said Lily brightly. “Some of it’s really good.”

“Where am I to get any?” asked Sirius, raising his eyebrows.

“I’ve got some records somewhere --”

“We haven’t got a record player.”

“Oh,” said Lily, looking slightly put out.

“You could serenade us,” offered Sirius, smirking at her.

“Right,” snorted Lily. “I sing about as well as I snog,” she said, poking fun at Sirius’s idea that Lily was a complete prude.

“Pretty well then,” said James unexpectedly.

Both Lily and Sirius snapped their heads in his direction. “What?”

James looked up from his book at the two faces staring at him. Sirius’s was shocked, curious, and even a little bit excited. Lily’s eyes were wide, almost pleading. “Don’t tell him,” she thought furiously. Though, come to think of it, she didn’t even know if he already had.

James seemed to have only just realized what he had said. “I wasn’t -- I mean, I only meant -- joke,” he said weakly.

Lily breathed freely again. She didn’t know why it mattered so much, but it did.

Sirius was glaring at both of them, scrutinizing their faces. He didn’t look like he believed James at all, but to Lily’s relief, he dropped it.

“This will have to do,” Sirius muttered, grabbing the list and heading out of the door to give it to Mrs. Potter.

Lily and James sat on the sofa in an awkward silence. Lily opened her mouth to say something, but James mouthed “No,” and gave a very small jerk of the head towards the door. Lily flicked her eyes over and saw Sirius peering around the corner, apparently trying to tell if they really had…well, snogged.

Those two knew each other way too well.

Lily sighed and rolled her eyes. James mouthed, “Sorry.” Lily just shrugged.

“So, ah, is this a formal party?”

“Oh, I completely forgot. Well, yeah, it kind of is, but don’t worry about it, if you didn’t bring anything.”

“I -- I have something, I think,” said Lily, amazed at her luck. Any other time she wouldn’t have even considered bringing her dress robes…

“Oh, all right then,” said James.

Only a few hours later, the house was completely decorated (and beautifully so), and James’s mother was hurrying around putting the finishing touches on everything.

“I wonder when your father will get home,” she said nervously, every time she passed James.

Lily had disappeared a bit ago to change into her dress robes, and Sirius and James had thrown theirs on, simply to stop James’s mum from nagging.

“Wonder why it takes girls so long to change,” said Sirius irritably. Mrs. Potter nagged them a lot less when Lily was around.

“Dunno,” said James, gazing out the window. It was snowing lightly, something that had pleased his mother very much.

“Perfect weather for a Christmas party!” she had said happily.

It was only about an hour till the party, and James’s father still wasn’t home. He had said he might be late, but…

“Whoa,” said Sirius quietly, looking up at the stairs.

James turned around. Standing at the top of the stairs and making her way down slowly was Lily Evans -- but then, it wasn’t. She looked different. James had always known Lily was pretty -- that and her fiery personality was why he had pursued her in fifth year. But here, now, she looked…beautiful.

Her dress was cream-colored, with a green sash accentuating her waist (as James was quick to notice). The dress hung off her shoulders rather elegantly, and her dark red hair fell in loose curls onto her petite figure. A green ribbon was in her hair, of the same hue as the sash. She was, well, stunning. A quick glance at Sirius showed he agreed.

“Hi,” said Lily brightly as she reached the bottom of the stairs. She seemed unaware of the effect she had just had on the two boys.

“You look great,” said Sirius.

Damn him, thought James. That’s what I was going to say. Unable to think of anything, James simply nodded.

“Oh, thanks,” said Lily. James couldn’t help but notice that she blushed slightly as she looked at him.

“Oh, don’t you look lovely!” cried James mum, clasping her hands together. “Still no word from your father, James, but I’m sure he’ll show up soon…”

The guests began to arrive not long after. James knew his mum had been worried that few people would show up, due to all the terror from Voldemort, but it seemed people need some fun in their lives. There were even a few from Hogwarts James recognized.

“I hope you don’t mind terribly, Bea,” one of his mother’s friends from work had said. “But I didn’t want to leave Ellie home in times like these…”

“Of course not, of course not!” James’s mum had said jovially. “The more the merrier!” This turned out to be a good thing, as Ellie had brought some of her friends.

The house quickly filled up, and James was forced to go through the whole process of welcoming guests and pretending to enjoy talking to old witches and wizards he didn’t know.

“I knew your mother since she was this tall!” an old wizard in periwinkle robes had told him. “I bet you never knew that old Beatrice once…” and on came the stories.

The wizard had cornered him by the refreshments table, which, actually, was rather convenient. James poured two glasses of punch and said, “Yes, if you’ll excuse me…” He nodded at Lily, who was just visible across the room.

The old wizard’s eyes twinkled. “Oh, yes, of course. She’s a lovely lady and a lucky gal!” The wizard winked.

“Er, right,” said James uncomfortably, making his way through the crowd.

Lily, it seemed, was having the same troubles as James. A very tall witch in a glittering ruby shawl was talking to her in a very grandiose manner. “Tell Lord Wickerboot --”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know a Lord Wickerboot,” Lily replied, looking amused.

“Tell Lord Wickerboot that I approve of his island.”

“Alright,” nodded Lily, looking as though she was trying very hard not to laugh. “I’ll do that.” And the witch stalked off.

She spotted James and waved.

He grinned. “Having fun?”

Lily burst out laughing. “I’m sorry, I’ve been dying to do that for ten minutes. That witch over there --” she nodded at the tall witch, “Lady Venderbrook, I think it was…what a character! Is she…?”

“A bit mad? Yes,” replied James with a laugh. He remembered the punch in his hand. “Here,” he said, handing her the drink.

“Oh…um, thanks, but I just got one with you a few minutes ago.”

“Yes, well, I needed an excuse to get away from that bloke over there.”

Lily laughed. “Well, thank you, my dear Sir James, and if you had an island, I’d approve of it, but --”

“Having a good time, you two?” Mrs. Potter came by and smiled at them distractedly. Before they could answer, she said, “James, you haven’t seen your father yet, have you?”

James shook his head, but his mother had already moved on to other guests.

“Yes, yes, Frank, I’m sure he’s just had to work late,” his mum told the wizard who had clearly asked where Mr. Potter was.

“Ah, yes, well, wonderful party, Beatrice…”

James frowned. It was not like his father to be this late, especially for something as important to his mum as this.

“I’m sure he’s just working late,” said Lily softly, apparently understanding his thoughts. “There’s so much going on, now, isn’t there?”

“Yeah, you’re right,” muttered James. “Oh, no…” His gaze landed on a group of girls, who were eying him hopefully. Among them he recognized Ellie, the girl who had brought several of her friends. Several, he decided, was an understatement. And worst of all, among them he recognized…

“Ronda?” asked Lily with a slight smirk.

“Another drink?” asked James weakly.

“No, I’m good to go,” replied a very amused Lily.

James slipped away as Ronda began to make her way over. He heard Lily saying, “I’m so sorry, Ronda, I just don’t know where he went.”

“Hi, James.”

James blinked. He had no idea where they had come from, but suddenly James found himself surrounded by smiling girls. How many friends had Ellie brought?

“James!” Speak of the devil. Here came Ellie now.

“Er, hi.”

“Hi. I was just so excited when my auntie said she was going to your party, I mean, James Potter’s party! I’ve been just so excited. Oh, this is such a good song, you know my brother saw them in concert --” She said this all very fast.

“Er, right.”
“James!” Not another one! he thought desperately. But it wasn’t; it was Lily.

“Hi, James,” she said, imitating the girls around him and batting her eyelids.

James was confused. “What --?” But Lily winked at him, so he shut up.

“Want a drink, James?” she asked, ignoring Ellie, who was glaring daggers at her. “Oh, you’ve already got one, well have another, they’re so good.” She thrust the untouched punch that he had just recently given her into his hand.

“Are you two --” began Ellie, but Lily interrupted her.

“This is such a good song, isn’t it? I just love it,” she wrapped her arm around his. Ellie’s eyes widened, and she looked furious. “Can I help you?” Lily asked her dismissively.

Ellie opened her mouth, changed her mind, and stalked off, her friends following her. They instantly formed a group to discuss this new bit of gossip.

“Thanks,” said James, looking at the now-laughing Lily with great respect.

Lily was laughing too hard to respond, but after a minute she calmed down and said, “You did look a little desperate. Oh, that was so much fun. Did you see the look on her face?” And she was off laughing again.

“You do realize that you’ve given one of the biggest gossip spreaders in the school the biggest story since -- since I don’t know when!”

Lily shrugged. “It’s not like Marlene won’t be telling the whole school and their aunts that I had a shag-fest with you all break.” She rolled her eyes. “It’ll give them something to talk about. Call it my good deed of the day.”

Just then, Sirius showed up. “Hey, James, know the name of that girl over there?” He motioned to a girl across the room with silvery-blond hair.

“Hattie something, I think,” said James.

“I thought you were going out with Hazel Marchfox?” said Lily, eying him rather suspiciously.

“Nah, we broke up ages ago. She’s a cat person, anyway.”

Lily looked as though she was going to ask why that mattered, but thought better of it.

“Thirsty are you?” asked Sirius, looking at James’s full hands.

“Dying,” laughed James. “Here, have one, I haven’t touched either.”

As the conversation turned to more mundane things that only boys talk about (like the history and availability of the blond across the room), Lily turned around and watched the cleared out where a few older couples were dancing.

“She’s out of Hogwarts, I think,” said James, sounding bored.

“Yeah, but only a year or so, by the looks of her, wouldn’t you say?”

“Sure.”

The song Ellie had been raving about was drawing to an end. Lily turned around, quite suddenly. “Dance with me,” she said. It was her voice, but it was though someone else had said it.

“S-sorry?” James asked, spluttering on his punch.

“Dance with me.”

“I think Lily’s had a few too many punches,” said Sirius, raising his eyebrows.

“Oh, shut it, I’ve hardly had one. I just think it would be fun. Please?”

James was still too surprised to respond.

“Fine, if you won’t, then Sirius will,” she declared, turning to Sirius.

“Sorry, Lily, you’re on your own with this one,” said Sirius, downing the punch and heading over the silvery-blond witch.

“Oh, come on James,” said Lily exasperatedly.

“I - I don’t dance.”

“Sure you do. You dance as well as you snog,” she said slyly, taking his hand and dragging him towards the dancing people.

“You can’t tell me you have a Christmas party every year and a mum like yours and have never been taught to dance?”

“Well, yeah,” said James grudgingly. He had had to learn to dance years ago, and it was an experience he’d like to forget.

Lily smiled. “I knew it. Just pretend I’m whoever taught you to dance.”

Hardly, James thought. If he were to dance with anyone, it would be Lily Evans. But still -- he had to agree with Sirius. He would be giving Lily no more drinks for the rest of the night.

A new song started just as they reached the dance floor. It was jarringly different from the other upbeat songs. It was a slow, wordless tune, a haunting melody.

With a sort of shiver down his spine, James put one hand on her waist and grasped her right hand with the other.

Slowly they moved, or rather, floated. Step one, two, three -- Lily twirled around and put her arms around his neck. They danced for Merlin-Knows-How-Long, but James soon found himself getting lost in the music…Lily’s dark red curls were bouncing off her shoulders, her body moving with his.

Her eyes were closed, and James could tell she was as caught up in the moment as he was, not thinking, merely moving where James’s hands told her to.

James had only actually danced with one other girl besides Lily, and that was Ronda Swisshond. His mother had made him, out of courtesy. It was nothing like this. With Ronda, motion was harsh and jerky, forced. With Lily, he was in a dreamlike state, and he thought he might go so far as to say he was enjoying himself.

His attention was so focused upon the music, upon Lily, that he hardly noticed Ellie and her friends staring at him. Nor did he hear one of his mum’s friends say to her neighbor, “Look at those two. That’s Bea’s son, you know.”

“Lovely,” the other had replied. “Young love -- it’s such a beautiful light in all this darkness…”

They danced on.

It was only when the song ended that they slowed at last. Lily opened her eyes, taking James by surprise. Whenever he would get caught staring into those glistening emeralds …something would come over him. But as he gazed into her eyes, James remembered something.

“I’m through.”

He turned away rather suddenly.

“Thank you for dancing with me, James.”

“You’re welcome,” he said. “I’m hungry, are you? I think I’ll go get something to eat. Want anything?” The voice that spoke was not his own.

“N-no, I’m okay, thanks,” said Lily.

“Right.” And James left her, standing in the center of several dancing couples, looking rather disappointed.

“James.”

“James looked up to see Sirius standing in front of him. “Hello.”

“What was that?” asked Sirius rather heatedly, motioning at Lily, who was now walking slowly away from the dancing people, not looking nearly as happy as she had earlier.

“Sorry?” said James.

“You know exactly what I mean. You! And Lily! Weren’t you paying any attention? You just danced romantically around the room with Lily Evans -- Lily Evans, James! -- and she was obviously wanting you to kiss her, or something!”

“Didn’t I tell you I’ve given up?” said James irritably.

“Why?” roared Sirius. “Merlin, James, you’ve like this girl since fifth year --”

“Fourth,” muttered James.

“Exactly! Why, now that Lily is obviously interested, would you walk away?”

James didn’t respond. He -- He loved her. He knew it now, after so many years. He knew she was the one -- the only one -- he would ever want to be with, but…

“You’re scared,” said Sirius, glaring at him.

“I’m not scared!” What would I be scared of?”

“I don’t know! Something -- something you’re not telling me.”

“What?”

“James, you’ve already almost lost her once -- you know what I mean,” growled Sirius, for James showed every sign of interrupting. “To Voldemort,” he hissed. “You’ve almost lost her once -- it could happen again. It will happen again!”

James stared at him.

Sirius lowered his voice to a whisper. “Voldemort didn’t attack Lily Evans for fun. He wouldn’t have sent Death Eaters and himself to attack a seventeen-year-old girl. Not unless it was something really important…you know something. You know what’s going on, I know you do.”

James couldn’t meet his eyes. “I don’t know what’s going on. I know something’s going on, but I don’t know what.”

Lily Evans stood outside the Potter residence, shivering slightly as the snow fell on her bare shoulders.

She had missed her chance, she knew it.

Her shoes would be ruined. She glanced down at her emerald slippers only to realize she didn’t care.

He didn’t like her anymore, of course. He’d moved on, like any normal person would.

It was too cold out here, and her hair was getting wet, but she didn’t care. The snow was comforting.

Foolish, foolish girl.

She could hear the music coming from inside. She hated it. She hated the song, she hated dancing, she hated this stupid party, but most of all, she hated --

However, her mutinous thoughts of hate were distracted by the sight of a tawny owl coming towards her through the snowy night.

It went for the windows, tapping its beak against each in turn, but they were all closed and no one could hear over the music. She went over to the owl, which looked slightly ruffled. It stuck its right leg out to her and she removed the letter. She had planned on taking it right to Mrs. Potter, but something caught her eye. It was from the Minister of Magic.

Cursing curiosity, she slowly opened the letter.

She wished she hadn’t.

I don’t know what’s going on, Sirius,” James repeated dully. He was considering saying something about the night he overheard Dumbledore and McGonagall, when he saw Lily coming towards him.

She looked very upset, and as she moved closer, he was startled to see that she had tears in her eyes. Had he upset her that much?

She stopped when she reached him. She didn’t say anything at first, but then she emitted one wavering syllable: “James…”

“Lily, I didn’t mean to --” he started, surprised by how upset she was.

“No,” she said shaking her head. “James…” She handed him the letter.

He unfolded it and read it, very slowly. Then, still staring coldly at the letter, he walked over to his mother, who was chatting idly with a co-worker.

He handed her the letter.

Her howl pierced the night like a very sharp knife.

Author Notes:

I just started school a day ago: My Junior year, one of the most important years of my high school career. *scowls* I will have even less time to write (Don't hurt me!!) because of the amount of work and stress that will be placed on me this year. That being said, I've started the next chapter, and hope to have it up soon! (Though I won't give an aproximate time, because I learned with last chapter that things come up and dilemmas (like the computer not working, MNFF not accepting submissions, me making stupid mistakes...) WILL work against you as much as possible. *laughs*

Well, was it worth the wait?

Edit 9/9/05: Thank you all for your reviews, you make my day! Know that I will try and respond to everyone, but it will take me a bit of time, and I'm sure you'd rather me spend that writing...*wink* Anyways, I do read EVERY review, and I'm so thankful for every one...so...where am I going with this? ...Oh, right. Well, thanks. :)

Edit 9-27-05: You all hate me right now, I'm sure, and thus it is my unhappy duty to inform you that I have had little to no time to work on Chapter 14. I'm so sorry, but this school year has proven to be twice as brutal as anticipated, so far, and I have little to zero time. Now I'm preparing for the PSATS and crap (admire my eloquence), and I just can't find the time. Next weekend I have time to myself, however, you can expect that I'm sitting at this very computer, typing away!