When You Wish Upon a Star

When You Wish Upon a Star
by Christabell

Chapter Sixteen: Of Promises and Protection

"You didn't really mean what you said, did you? You can't really hate me... right?" James just stared at Lily.

"You have some nerve, coming up here to talk to me, after what you said before... I can't believe you..."

"Just give me an answer. Did you mean what you said on the Pitch?" James didn't respond. "Give me your fucking answer!" Lily's voice was beginning to raise. He looked up at her use of a swear, judging from that alone that she was getting very upset.

"Go to hell, Evans... I really don't want to talk to you, and I don't care what you want to say." Lily found tears beginning to form in her eyes at the harshness of James' words.

"James..." she pleaded. James abruptly closed the curtains on his bed, shutting Lily out. A single, heart-wrenching sob met his ears, and then silence. Lily was gone. He peered out of the curtains and spied a note lying on the ground. Curiously, he picked it up, and began to read it.

I've been told that I should write to you. I'm supposed to say 'I'm sorry' about what I said at Mum's and Dad's funeral. We were brought up not to lie. So I can't say that. I meant every word that I said. It's your fault that they died, and I hate you for it. This is the last time you will ever hear from me. I am disowning you, and I am going to forget that you ever existed. There never was any Lily Evans to ruin my life. And that really is what you did.

James gasped as he realized who the note was addressed to. No wonder Lily had been upset, and he sure hadn't helped. 'Damn,' he thought to himself. 'I sure screwed up this time...' He tossed his thoughts aside, and continued reading.

Oh yes, I'm getting married to Vernon Dursley next week. I didn't think you'd want to be there, and even if you had wanted to come, you'd just ruin everything anyway. So goodbye, and good riddance.

Petunia

James sat there, shocked by the severeness of the note. How could anyone be that mean to one of their siblings? To Lily? At that moment, she stepped in.

"Is that mine?" Lily asked icily. James looked at her guiltily.

"I found it on the ground...."

"And you just assumed you could read it? Give it back to me right now." Lily snatched it out of his hand and promptly marched toward the door.

"Wait... please..." he called out desperately. Lily slowly walked back over to him.

"What do you want?" James stared at her intently, and then, without warning, Lily found him embracing her, and before she could think to push him away, his lips were on hers.

"I'm so sorry..." he murmured breathlessly between kisses. "I'm an ass... always afraid that I'm going to lose you... love you so much... so sorry..." Lily pulled back carefully.

"Well, why the hell did you say it? I know you were annoyed with me about potions, but isn't that harsh enough? I... I wouldn't be able to handle it if you hated me; I already have people to do that."

"What do you mean? Your sister?" Lily nodded.

"I hate that bitch... nobody gets away with treating *my* Lily like that..." James threatened. Lily found herself smiling.

"Your Lily," she murmured softly, sitting down next to him.

"Yes, mine. Lily, I'm sorry. I know that I shouldn't have assumed anything about what was going on with you and Snape, and I know that I always do that, but I'm so scared that one day, maybe you'll choose him over me, and I just don't know what I would do if that happened..."

"Do you mean that?" Lily eyes pierced straight into James', searching them, hoping for the truth.

"More than anything. Please believe me?"

"I do."

"Thank you."

He claimed her yet again with an intense kiss, and one of Lily's hands slowly reached up to fist James' hair, pulling him closer to her, the other hand moving up and down his chest. She felt, more than heard, him groan as she pressed herself into him, all the while keeping close contact with their lips. James shifted his position until he was laying partly on top of Lily on the bed and began to plant feverish kisses all over her skin, moving from her cheeks, to her neck, and then further down to the edge of her robe, running a hand up and down her spine. Not even realizing what he was doing, James used his free hand to undo the first few buttons on Lily's robe. He glanced up into her eyes, and saw only love and trust for him there.

"Go ahead, James. I love you," Lily whispered in his ear. Cautiously, James unbuttoned the remaining buttons, and Lily shrugged off the robe. She shivered slightly, as the cool air hit her nearly bare skin, the top part of her body covered only in a simple white bra. Under James' passionate gaze, she felt herself blushing, and cursed herself for turning as red as her hair. "James?" she asked after several seconds went by. "Are you alright? You're staring..."

"Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful," he murmured.

"I... thank you, James," she smiled at him, looking very embarrassed. "Hey, hang on...." As James sat up, Lily reached over, and in one swift movement, lifted James' shirt off him, admiring his well-toned muscles.

"Quidditch helps, huh?" she grinned. James let himself settle fully on top of her, and began kissing her again.

"It sure does..." He kissed her on the cheek, and then looked into her eyes. "We should get some sleep; it's getting pretty late," James said regretfully.

"Can I stay here tonight?" Lily asked, feeling her cheeks grow steadily hotter.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

~~~~~~~~~~~

"And what do we have here?" Sirius questioned jokingly, after bursting through the door sometime later that night. "I see you two have made up then?" James moved to cover Lily's body, and then glared at his friend.

"Padfoot, you have the worst timing..."

"Or the best... Just think, I prevented you from caught in a more compromising position by someone not as understanding as I."

"Just go away and leave us alone," Lily groaned. Sirius shook a finger at her.

"Dear Lily-Billy, if I do that, who knows what sorts of trouble you two will get into..."

"Sirius, I do not care if I am half-naked. I am still the better wizard, and have no problems cursing you. I suggest you go to sleep." Sirius made no effort to move. Apparently he didn't find much of a threat in James clothed in only his boxers. "And I mean now..." James threatened. "That's what I would do if I found you and Ara." Lily reached up and closed the curtains around them. She curled up closer to him, inhaling his scent, feeling safer than she had since her parents' funeral.

"Love you," James whispered. "Forever." Out of the corner of his eye, a bright light winked at him, and he looked up to find the star. Feeling slightly childish, he closed his eyes, and made a wish. 'I wish that I will be able to keep Lily safe, and we will be able to make it through everything that will be thrown at us.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, Lily stumbled into her dormitory, hair sticking up in all directions, clothes partway on, with a dreamy yet exhausted expression on her face. She plopped herself down on Arabella's bed and grinned sleepily at her.

"Hey."

"Oh my god, you didn't..." Arabella's face dropped into a shocked "O". Lily rubbed her eyes, and stared blankly back at her friend.

"Didn't what?" Arabella rolled her eyes, exasperated.

"Sleep with James! What else would I mean?"

"Sleep with him? Of course I did... Where else would I have been?" Realization of what Arabella meant suddenly dawned on Lily, and she burst out into a fit of giggles. "No... get your mind out of the gutter, Ara! I didn't *sleep* sleep with him, I just *slept* with him."

"You scare me Lils..." Arabella commented, looking at the laughing girl to her right.

"I know, I scare myself sometimes," Lily chuckled.

"Oh yeah, what did Snape want to talk to you about before?" Lily looked at her hesitantly, suddenly somber.

"I... I can't really tell you..." she said regretfully.

"And why not? Aren't I your best friend? You can tell me anything!" Arabella glared at her, causing Lily to sigh.

"No, I can't. Not when it's this serious. If I told you, it could get out," Lily replied icily.

"Are you going to tell James?"

"..."

"I can't believe you, Lily. You'd tell him and not me?"

"It's not like that, Ara. I don't even know if I am going to tell him. It's just that yes, if I was to tell anyone, then it would be him. Because it's something that he can relate to. Maybe when I'm a bit more comfortable with the subject, I can tell you. But not now. Ara, please, just try to understand...." Lily pleaded.

"Fine, whatever."

"Don't be mad at me, Arabella. It's nothing against you..." Lily cast a sympathetic glance back at her best friend and walked down to the common room to find James.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"James, if I told you something really bad that I probably wasn't supposed to tell you, but I had to tell someone anyway, what would you do?" James' expression turned very serious at Lily's words.

"What happened? Lils, you have to tell me!" he exclaimed, though his fear for what she would tell him made its presence known.

"I... not here. I don't want anyone to overhear us." Automatically, the two got up and exited the common room, to proceed straight to their tower. Once up there, James sat Lily down, and looked at her sternly.

"Tell me what happened."

"I'm supposed to fall in love with Severus. If I don't both of us might die." James just stared at her.

"What the hell? Is this some sort of sick joke? For gods sake, just tell me what's going on!"

"Voldemort has heard about me. He wants me on his side. He's going to kill everyone who might get in his way, anyone who is close to me." Lily's voice lacked all emotion. "He's going to kill you."

James laughed bitterly. "And you think that's news to me? Of course he's going to kill me! He's gone out of his way to murder every fucking male Potter! Some prophecy crap. Voldemort is scared of fate. He's a coward. But yes, he will kill me." Lily remained silent, staring down at her hands. "Lily, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you like that. It's just that... every single day, I have to live with the fact that all my friends, family, and you..." he paused, gently placing caressing her cheek with the tips of his fingers, "...may be at risk because you are close to me. And if I wasn't so selfish, I would be able to push you all away to protect you from him, but I can't."

"I know, James. I know. I'm being just as selfish. I... I couldn't live without you. I love you so much. Even if I tried to distance myself from you, it wouldn't work," she smiled lovingly at him.

"Hang on, I'll be right back... wait right here," James said, almost excitedly. He got up quickly and ran down the stairs. Lily watched his retreating back with confusion, but figured that he would explain as soon as he got back. Five minutes passed, and James still hadn't returned. Lily, growing anxious, started pacing around the tower. She finally heard the sound of feet pounding up the stairs, and relaxed.

"Now what was that about?" she questioned James, teasing him slightly. He gulped noticeably, and then began to speak.

"Lily, ummm, well... it's a tradition in my family that when you finally realize how much you love someone, you, ummm... crap..." James stuttered. "Here," he said, taking a small box out of his pocket. "I want to give this to you."

Lily took the box carefully from him. She opened it, and gasped as it revealed an exquisite ring, with emerald in the middle and two smaller diamonds set on either side of it.

"James... this must have cost a fortune... I can't accept this!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, you can. Think of it as a step down from an engagement ring." James took the ring out of the box and slipped it on her left ring finger, and Lily promptly burst into tears, hugging James tightly.

"You really want to give this to me?"

"Lils, who else could I possibly give it to? I love you so much that I would give up my life for you. Besides, the ring wouldn't have gone on if I didn't love you completely. That's part of the tradition. It's one way to test your love for someone. I didn't exactly have to test it to know that it would fit fine." James' face colored slightly as he spoke, and he reached up to wipe the tears from Lily's face.

"I don't deserve you, James. Not all. How did I get so lucky?"

"So you're saying that all your wishes came true in me?" James joked, pretending to be extremely cocky. Lily grew suddenly pensive.

"Do you think it's possible? For wishes to come true?"

"I hope so..." James said, thinking back to his wish the night before.

"Crap!" Lily interrupted. "James, we have a Quidditch match today! In about an hour!" Lily grabbed James' hand and the two hurried off to get changed.

~~~~~~~~~~

"And for the Gryffindor team.... Beaters Sirius Black and Travis Sanders! Keeper Mike Corkian! Seeker Lily Evans! Chasers Kathleen Spinnet, Frank Longbottom, and Captain James Potter!" The team zoomed out, with Sirius showing off his many tricks, performing loops, and flips, until a voice was heard over the cheers and hollers of the crowd.

"Sirius Black, if you don't stop that this instant, I'll...!" Sirius flew over to Arabella, and kissed her hard on the lips, causing numerous cat-calls.

"Shut up, she's mine!" Sirius yelled in response. He turned back to his girlfriend, smiling like a child who had just been given ice cream. "You'll do what, love?" Arabella blushed, and swatted playfully at Sirius.

"Just get out there and win, huh?" Sirius grinned, and joined the team again as the announcer began on the Slytherin team.

"For Slytherin, we have.... Beaters Antonin Dolohov and Ludovic Bagman! Keeper Walden Macnair! Seeker and Captain Lucius Malfoy! Chasers Igor Karkaroff , Marcos Zabini, and Evan Rosier!" The team entered the stadium, and paid no attention to the fact that only Slytherin was rooting for them, while everyone else wanted the Gryffindors to win. "Captains, please shake hands." James stuck out his hand in annoyance, and when Lucius finally took it, the two exchanged death glares. James dropped the Slytherin's hand as though it was poison, and walked back to his team.

"Alright you guys, we can do this. The Slytherins play dirty, but we have twice the amount of skills right here. So just get out there, and have fun. Oh yeah, let's go kick some Slytherin ass!" With that, both teams flew to their positions, and the announcer began to speak again.

"Hey, I'm Arthur Weasley, and welcome to the first game of Gryffindor vs. Slytherin of the year! Both teams are undefeated so far, so the outcome of this game will definitely effect their records. And they're off! Spinnet in possession of the Quaffle. She passes to Longbottom, and awwww... stolen by Karkaroff, but Potter snatches it back and scores! Gryffindor in the lead, 10-0!

"Oooo... that must have hurt. Zabini takes a well directed Bludger from Black in the stomach. Foul for Slytherin. Zabini takes the shot, and makes it in the hoop easy. Tied, 10-10. And Longbottom grabs the Quaffle and Rosier is right on his trial. Longbottom drops the ball to Spinnet who scores. What a good use of the Porskoff Ploy! Gryffindor ahead by 10!"

The game went on and on, until the score was 140-120 with Slytherin in the lead. The two teams were fairly well matched, but a number of Gryffindor's points had been from the Slytherins being caught Lily, who had been flying above the rest of the players, was getting bored. So far, there had been no sign of the snitch, and to be frank, she was getting bored. Suddenly, she dove down steeply, with Lucius hot on the pursuit.

"Have the seekers seen the snitch? This may be a Gryffindor win! Awww... nice feint, Evans," Arthur complimented. At the last moment, she had pulled out of the dive, and to her surprise, Lucius did as well.

"Don't try the Wronski Defensive Feint next time, Evans. I've seen it many times before," Lucius smirked. The two seekers soared up high above everyone else and began to search for the Snitch again.

"Macnair commits a flacking foul, Potter takes the shot, but Macnair comes back with a great defensive block. Karkaroff now in trouble for both blagging and blatching. Longbottom takes the foul and scores! The Slytherin Chasers just used the Hawkshead Attacking Formation to earn back those points. Potter just committed haversacking... Slytherin scores on the foul. This has to be an all-time record here at Hogwarts for most fouls ever committed in a game!"

Simultaneously, Lily and Lucius spotted the snitch. Both took off at record speed, and soon, Lily felt herself slowly inching behind Lucius. Fearing that he would beat her too it, she glanced over at him.

"You may have seen the Feint before, but have you seen this?" Lily challenged. With that, Lily dove off her broom, plummeting downward, on hand stretched out all the way.

"What's this?" Arthur's magnified voice called out in alarm. "Is this another dirty trick of the Slytherins? Evans is off her broom, and Potter is going after her. Ouch...." With a sickening crunch, Lily hit the ground. James landed only a second later, concern filling his eyes.

"Are you okay, Lily?" he asked. Lily smiled slightly and held up her hand. She had the snitch.

"We won!" James shouted out joyfully. He kissed Lily, before being pulling back.

"Don't you ever do anything that crazy again. We thought we were going to lose you for a minute..." Sirius' face came into view. "But that was a hell of a catch. I thought Malfoy was going to go mad!"

"Sorry, guys," she grinned apologetically.

"Get out of the way, out of the way! Give the girl some space!" Madam McKnight bustled through the crowd, forcing her way through to Lily. She surveyed the girl quickly, and then gave her examination. "Well, Lily, you've broken both your legs, and you've fractured your wrist..."

"You can fix it, can't you?" Lily interrupted. Madam McKnight smiled down on the girl.

"Of course I can. It'll be just a few simple healing charms, and you'll be fit to go celebrate with the rest of your house, as I'm positive you will want to." The charms were performed quickly, and Lily shakily got to her feet.

"Thanks," she said gratefully.

"Now, you'll be a bit sore at first, but that will go away within the half-hour. Go ahead and party." With that, the Gryffindor Quidditch team lifted Lily up onto their shoulders, and began to run towards the entrance of the school, cheering loudly, while Lily squealed in delight. When they finally reached Gryffindor Tower, they set Lily down, only to realize that they had a problem. Someone had changed the password, and now they were stuck outside. Suddenly, Daphene popped out of the portrait hole.

"Hey y'all. The new password is 'Victory.' Nice game, especially you, Lily. It was an amazing catch. Now, whatever party you have planned, is, of course, a secret, and I obviously don't know anything about it. So I would tell you to have a good time, but seeing as I'm very oblivious, I wouldn't know what I was talking about. Goodnight, y'all."

As soon as she was out of sight, the team broke into laughter. With a cheer of 'Victory,' they made their way inside to find the rest of their house already partying. When the team entered, the room grew silent.

"Lils! You nearly scared me to death! Don't do that again!" Melanie shrieked, breaking the silence, before blushing deeply. "Get over here!" Lily walked over, and her friend embraced her. "Oh my god...!" Melanie blurted out. "Everyone come over here and see this!" The Marauders, Tiffany, Mari, and Arabella all crowed around the two girls, James automatically moving behind Lily and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"What are you going on about, Mel?" Lily asked.

"Lils, is there something you and James aren't telling us?" The couple exchanged a look of confusion, before James turned to reply.

"I don't think we are..."

"Then what's that on Lily's finger?" Melanie challenged. Lily blushed slightly.

"Are you serious? You guys are going to get married? When?" Tiffany blurted out excitedly. At that, Lily and James cracked up.

"It's a step down from that... like a muggle promise ring," James explained, still chuckling as he saw everyone's faces drop slightly.

"Sorry to disappoint you guys," Lily added.

"Maybe we'll be there someday, Lils..." James whispered close into her ear, leaning forward to kiss her cheek.

"Someday," she whispered back. She turned around and their lips met, and for a moment, there was only the two of them in the room and they were all that mattered. They stood comfortably in each other's embrace, but then, as they broke apart, Lily realized that not only had everyone else actually disappeared, their location had changed, and they were no longer in the Gryffindor common room.

"Ah, Lily, James, right on time." A door opened, and the owner of the voice stepped in. Though Lily had never seen him, she knew exactly who it was. The smouldering red eyes, and the long black robe, the sleeve pushed up slightly to reveal the edge of a deep, black skull-shaped tattoo, gave it away immediately. Voldemort had finally come for her.