Where Life Leads

Chapter Seventeen

Lily was not in a very good mood.

Patrolling the night before had been a nightmare. It seemed as though every couple was trying to squeeze in as much time as they could, since it was the last week of classes before the holidays. And since exams had started today, the Library was crammed full of students studying at all hours, making it almost impossible for Lily find the books she needed.

Then, on her way to Potions this morning, Julia Wilkes (a seventh year Slytherin, who was about as intelligent as a brick wall) had decided it would be funny to jinx Lily with Jelly-Legs and spell a rip in her bag, causing all of her school things to spill out over the floor. Lily was even misfortunate enough to have been standing near the stairs at that point in time. So of course, several of her inkpots had decided to tumble down the stairs where Peeves had just happened to find them and carry them off to who knows where.

It didn't help matters that she had had a horrible night's sleep. She rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on.

When she had finally made it to class, she was nearly fifteen minutes late and Slughorn had been forced to take points off – not that that mattered much, since Lily had been able to earn them all back by the end of class.

Slughorn then reminded them that they should be on the final stages of their Polyjuice potion. Lily's, unsurprisingly, was perfect and she wasn't worried about Slughorn testing them on Friday, unlike several of her classmates, who had been panicking until Slughorn told them that they wouldn't be testing them on themselves. Instead, they would just add one of their hairs to a small portion of their potion to make sure it reacted properly. Then Slughorn would send the approved potions to the Magical Law Enforcement department at the Ministry so that the Aurors could make use of them.

After Potions, Lily had had a grueling review session in both Transfiguration and Arithmancy. And now she sat in the Heads' Common Room working through the problems Professor Vector had assigned – all of which she had easily done before. However, now it was not going well at all.

She cross-referenced her answer for the third time before irritably scratching it out and reviewing the equation again. She screamed in irritation and reached for her class notes, trying to find exactly what she was doing wrong, but they were pulled out of her grasp.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Lily said furiously, standing up to grab her notes back from James. She hadn't even noticed him enter the room.

"Dragging you out for a trip to the Kitchen," James said with a cheeky grin. "You missed dinner."

"I don't care much right now, so give me back my notes. I need to study – my Arithmancy exam is Wednesday!"

James ignored her and began gathering up the rest of her work. "Lily, you've been in a foul mood all day," he said, effectively blocking her attempts to get to her things back. "You can study Arithmancy to your heart's content tomorrow. Besides, we were snowed in yesterday and you spent all that time studying for Charms. Which, frankly, doesn't make much sense since it's one of your best subjects and that exam isn't until Thursday."

"Bugger Charms!" Lily swore. "It's Arithmancy I'm worried about now. I need to figure out that problem – because I've done it right before, only this time I keep getting it wrong and I can't figure out why. It's driving me mad!" She turned to him beseechingly, "Will you look it over? I know you don't take the course, but maybe you'll see something I missed. They say another set of eyes is alw–"

"Yeah, sure, give it here," James gave in with a sigh. He flopped down on the sofa and thumbed through Lily's class notes, referring back to the problem she was stuck on. After several minutes he handed them back to her with an amused snort.

"What?"

"You copied the problem down wrong," James told her grinning. "The eight, see here–" he pointed to the offending number, "it's supposed to be a three. At least that's what you have down in your original notes."

"You're joking," Lily said unbelievingly, grabbing her notes back and squinting at the page. "Of all the stupid things to have done. Copying the problem down wrong...."

"See? You've been studying so long that your eyes are going wonky. Maybe you need glasses," James joked, reaching for her notes again and tucking them into her Arithmancy book.

Lily huffed and snatched her book back, standing up to place it on her desk. "The day I need glasses will be the day Sirius gets gelded."

James winced. "Remind me not to tease you when you have an empty stomach." He grabbed her cloak from its hook and draped it over her shoulders. "Now, we're going down to the Kitchens," he told her, pushing her out the door. "You redheads get cranky when you haven't eaten."

"We do not," Lily said grumpily.

James ignored her. "And then we're going outside to the courtyard. Sirius has it all set up."

Lily shot him a confused look. "Has what set up? The curfew for outdoors is in an hour."

James grinned at her. "The snowball fight, of course. He flirted with McGonagall -– and probably hit her with a Confundus Charm for good measure. Something about the courtyard technically being inside the castle, since it has castle walls on all four sides. I think he threw our names in there as well a time or two."

"Or twelve," Lily laughingly added.

"Yeah. At least being Head Boy has been good for something."

"James! You know it's good for other stuff too," Lily admonished.

"True. The whole common room thing is brilliant."

Lily smacked his arm as James laughed. They reached the Kitchens shortly thereafter and Lily ate her dinner while James sipped a glass of juice and occasionally snitched something off of her plate.

When Lily had finished eating, she and James made their way down the first floor corridor to the door leading out to the courtyard. The others were already outside waiting.

"Oh good, you're here. I'm already freezing and we haven't even started yet," Linda said while Sirius bounded over to them, grinning widely. He handed each of them a pair of gloves.

"They're charmed to show how many people you hit and how many hit you," he told Lily, seeing her questioning glance, before saying to Linda, "One of the reasons to have a snowball fight is to freeze your arse off. It's no fun if you don't. And no warming charms – that would be considered cheating."

Linda rolled her eyes at him. "You're such an idiot, Black. Can we start already?"

"Yes," Remus rushed to say before the two of them could get into an argument. "The rules are simple. No magic, if you hit someone you gain five points and if you get hit you loose two points. All agreed?"

There were nods and murmurs of consent all around.

"All right then." Sirius rubbed his hands together. "We have five minutes to gather supplies. The game will last for an hour." He pointed his wand at one of the castle walls and a glowing clock appeared to count down the time.

Lily headed to a corner that had a tree and looked like a promising place to find protection from being hit. She knew she would eventually venture out into the middle where all of the action was guaranteed to be

Forty-five minutes later Lily was losing miserably, freezing cold and thoroughly wet. Snowball fights were clearly not her forte. She made a mental note to herself to get revenge on James for roping her into this.

"Lily, behind you!"

Splat.

Lily grimaced and ran for cover for what seemed like the hundredth time, wiping the wet snow that had just hit her off of her cloak.

"Sorry, I tried to warn you!" Linda called from somewhere on her left.

Lily ducked behind her tree in the corner of the courtyard and gathered a handful of snow to pack into a ball. She peered around the trunk and carefully took aim at Sirius before letting the snowball fly. He yelled when her snowball hit his back and she smiled widely.

"Good shot." Linda told her breathlessly as she joined her.

"What happened to you?" Lily asked, sparing a glance at her friend. Linda was covered with snow and just as soaking wet as Lily was.

Linda made a face. "Peter happened. I swear he's cheating somehow. One minute there's no one behind me and then the next thing I know, I'm getting plastered! Screw Sirius for not letting us use magic. There're a few choice jinxes I'd like to use on that twitchy git."

"Which one? Peter or Sirius?

Linda snorted. "Doesn't matter. Peter deserves it for hitting me so many times, and Sirius for planning this whole thing in the first place. I mean, who wouldn't want to get walloped with snow by a load of Gryffindor barbarians?"

Lily grinned. "You agreed to play."

"Only through bribery," Linda said sourly. "Next time I'll know better, no matter how much chocolate Janice promises to buy me. I'm freezing and my teeth are going to start chattering any minute now."

Lily stifled a laugh and glanced at the back of her glove. "I'm in fourth place," she announced. "James is first, but he does have an advantage being a chaser and all. Remus is in second, then Sirius and Peter's after me."

"Remus?" Linda exclaimed, shocked.

"Yeah, it's always the quiet ones, you know." She and Linda looked at each other for a moment before they both broke out laughing at the implication.

"Oi, Evans!" Sirius yell caused both girls to start. "Are you going to hide all day?"

"Just you wait, Black!" Lily turned to Linda, "Get ready to pummel him." The two of them started packing snowballs feverishly.

"On the count of three, then!" Sirius was yelling. "One! Two! Three!"

Lily leapt from behind the rock and immediately threw a snowball in the direction Sirius' voice had be coming from. She missed, but Linda's snowball hit its mark. The three of them furiously exchanged snowballs, ducking and throwing in turns as they tried not to get hit.

She was so focused on trying to hit Sirius that Lily didn't notice James sneaking up behind her until he grabbed her by the waist and tackled her to the ground. She went down with a shocked scream and got a mouthful of snow.

She pushed a laughing James off of her and rolled over, sputtering and wiping the snow from her face. "That was completely uncalled for, Potter!"

James pushed himself to his knees and took off a glove to help her get her tangled hair out of her face. Lily slapped his hand away and glared at him.

James grinned down at her unperturbed. "You can't say I didn't warn you," he said with an innocent shrug.

Lily grabbed a fistful of snow and shoved it into his face, laughing.

"Bugger! That's cold! You're–"

Something thudded against James' back and he whipped around only to get pummeled with more snow. He pushed Lily to the ground again in attempt to shield her from the onslaught as their friends hit them with one snowball after another.

When they finally relented, Lily and James were half buried under a mound of snow. Lily didn't even have to look at her glove to know that she and James had been demoted to last place in the game.

James flopped onto his back, exhausted. "I'm done in," he said. "What say we declare Sirius the winner and call it quits?"

"Er, actually, Remus is the winner," Marlene countered, waving her glove that showed the score.

Sirius stared in shock as Remus smiled widely and gave a sheepish shrug. "I think you owe me five bars of Honeyduke's best, Sirius."

Sirius grimaced. "Yeah, alright. I'll get it for you tomorrow."

Janice clapped him sympathetically on the shoulder. "You never should have made that bet with him. Remus and Linda – wave chocolate in their faces and you can get them to do just about anything."

Linda glared at her. "That's a load of dragon dung!"

Janice raised an eyebrow. "Remember that time last year, just before Christmas, when I said I'd buy you a box of raspberry truffles if you could get Betram Aub–"

"All right!" Linda interrupted frantically. "You've proved your point."

"And then in fifth year," Janice snickered, "when you pulled Doreen Simmons into a broom closet and she came out with–"

"Yes, all right! I think that we can determine that chocolate can get me to do... er... unseemly things. Sometimes. But only under dire circumstances!"

Janice choked back a laugh while Sirius looked at Linda with something close to respect. Remus, on the other hand, was nodding thoughtfully.

"I can think of a time or two when I was convinced to go through with a prank because of chocolate," he told Linda seriously. "It's the truffles that get me every time. The filling is just...." He trailed off, a rapturous look on his face.

James shook his head and got to his feet, then held out a hand to pull Lily up as well. Clumps of snow fell off their cloaks and Lily took great pleasure in casting a warming charm over everyone.

A gust of wind blew over the group and, now that the euphoria of the game was wearing off, they all began to feel the cold seeping into their bones. Lily's charm did little to help.

"Back to the tower then?" James asked, slinging an arm over Lily's shoulder and planting a kiss on her cheek.

"You're lips are cold," Lily complained.

"And yours have turned a most becoming shade of blue."

"That's because I'm freezing."

"Same here," Linda agreed. "I'll have to stand in the shower for at least an hour before I'll start to warm up."

Lily shook her head. "Not me. I'm going to submerge myself in a tub of hot water. With a bubble-headed charm," she added for good measure.

"Er... isn't that a bit... extreme?"

"Not at all," Lily sniffed, doing a noteworthy impression of her sister, and removed James' arm from her shoulder. He smiled good-naturedly at her and fell back to walk with his friends.

Marlene immediately took his place, chatting happily about Jonathan and the fact that she would get to see him soon.

"You're all so lucky," Linda sighed. "It must be wonderful having someone to spend the Holidays with. I mean you'll be with Jonathan, Janice has plans to meet up with Roland Brown, and James is going with Lily...."

"It's not like that," Lily tried to argue.

Marlene gave Lily a look. "Please, Lily. You've never brought a boy home before. You're mum's probably ecstatic."

Lily shrugged and glanced behind her at James. He was smiling and joking with Remus, while Sirius and Peter walked a pace behind, perusing what Lily assumed was their Map.

He caught her glance and winked at her, smiling suggestively. Janice must have noticed, because she elbowed Lily hard in the side, causing her to nearly loose her balance on the stairs as they started moving.

It didn't take them much longer to reach Gryffindor Tower. James waylaid Lily before she could climb the stairs.

"Stay with me in our common room tonight?" he asked, pulling her close. "We don't have to patrol tonight and we have a free period tomorrow morning."

Lily bit her bottom lip as she traced a finger over his chest, debating whether or not she should use the extra time tomorrow morning to study instead of sleeping in.

As though reading her thoughts, James said, "I promise to study with you all you want after class. Even Arithmancy. I haven't had you to myself since last week."

Lily opened her mouth to disagree but James cut her off. "Without having to patrol or study or there being some other distraction."

"Yes, all right. I suppose one night won't hurt." She gave him a small smile.

James grinned. "Meet you back down here in five minutes." He kissed her quickly before bounding up the stairs to his dorm.

Lily laughed quietly at his antics and walked up to her dorm at a more sedated pace and once she had arrived she crossed the room to her chest of drawers to find her warmest pyjamas.

"Off to join Mr. Potter for a little slap and tickle?" Linda questioned slyly, causing Lily to spin around with a glare and Janice to let out a loud snort.

"You sound like my Great Aunt Gertrude," Marlene laughed before eyeing Lily speculatively. "Is she right?"

Lily fought back a blush. "I don't know about the whole 'slap and tickle' part, but the chances that I will be returning after my bath are very slim." She paused before adding reluctantly, "He asked me to stay the night with him."

"Oooo! In his dorm?" Linda squealed.

"Of course not in his dorm. In the Heads' common room."

"Well, that's even better."

"Oh honestly! Nothing life changing is going to happen."

"Don't be so sure," Marlene sung out the words. "James has only been eyeing you all night."

Lily wrinkled her brow. "What do you mean?"

"She means," Linda put in knowingly, "that he's been giving you looks."

"The kind of looks that make your fingers tingle and give you Jelly Legs," Janice added.

"I don't have to listen to this," Lily huffed. It unnerved her that her friends had noticed his odd glances too. James was either being obvious on purpose or... well, Lily didn't want to think about what else the looks might imply. As easygoing and lighthearted as James usually was, when he looked at her so seriously it scared her. For reasons she didn't want to think about.

She pulled open a draw and grabbed the first set of pyjamas she saw, not bothering to check if they were warm or not, and left the room, leaving the sounds of her friends teasing behind her.

James was already waiting for her; his book bag slung over one shoulder. He gave Lily a searching glance. "All right?"

Lily managed a smile for him. "I'm fine. Ready to go?"

Upon reaching their common room, she headed straight for the bathroom and immediately starting running the bath. The tub filled quickly with thick foamy water and curls of steam drifted into the air.

There was a knock on the door. "Come in," she said, and James poked his head in.

"Want me to scrub your back?" he teased.

"Bugger off, Potter."

"Well, do you mind if I shower while you're in the tub then? My hair feels like I haven't washed it in a week."

"That's disgusting."

"Yeah, it is rather."

"All right then. Who am I to keep you from washing your hair?"

He grinned cheekily. "Call for me once you get in," he said before shutting the door once more.

Lily shook her head in bemusement and tested the water. Finding it to be the right temperature, she quickly stripped, throwing her clothes in the laundry. After making sure there was a towel nearby for when she was finished, and that the bath foam covered her completely, she called for James to come back in.

He paused in the doorway upon seeing her. "What?" she asked, self-consciously smoothing her hair down.

"Nothing," he said quickly. "Just a bit jealous of those bubbles is all."

Lily waved her hand at him. "Oh, go wash your hair, Potter."

With one last grin at her, he stepped into the shower stall and disappeared from view. A second later his clothes started flying haphazardly over the door and a moment after that the water turned on.

Lily ducked her head under the water and set about shampooing her hair. It was a very odd experience knowing that she was washing at the same time he was. It was very different than drying her hair while James showered or showering while he brushed his teeth. That they had done on multiple occasions when they were running late for class – something that was beginning to happen more and more frequently when they had stayed up late talking.

But this... this was very different. It was almost as if– Lily shook her head, refusing to finish the thought. Instead she forced herself to concentrate on washing away all the cold, wet traces of the snowball fight.

Five minutes later, as Lily was soaping up her arms after having washed her hair for a second time, the shower turned off and James stepped out, a towel wrapped around his waist. She watched as he gathered his snow soaked clothes from the floor and put them in the laundry. A quick glance at the water in the tub showed Lily that she was still safely covered with foam.

James walked over to her, vigorously toweling his hair dry, and sat on the edge of the tub. "Feeling warmer? I know that I can feel my toes again."

Lily quirked her lips. "Much warmer," she answered.

"Sure you don't want me to wash your back?"

She scowled and hit him with her washcloth. "Yes, I'm sure. Now go and get dressed. I'll be out in another few minutes."

"Yes, dear." He grinned cheekily at her and grabbed pyjamas from the wardrobe.

It didn't take Lily long to finish up, and she drained the tub while she dried off and dressed. Not wanting to bother drying her hair, she pulled it back into two braids instead so that it would be wavy the next day.

James had sprawled out on the sofa and when he saw that Lily was done he moved so that Lily could sit down, allowing him to lay his head comfortably in her lap. He smiled up at her. "This is nice."

"What is?"

"Sitting here, doing nothing."

Lily laughed quietly and ran her fingers though his hair. "Hmm, yes, I suppose it is. The next few days are going to be busy."

"Yeah, and Slughorn's party is on Friday, don't forget."

"I doubt I could. He's only mentioned it every time he's seen me. 'Lily, my dear," she mimicked, "'I've invited so many people you just have to meet!'"

"You can't deny that you enjoy them."

"I love his parties. I've met some really interesting witches and wizards at them. It's the excessive fawning that bothers me. Though, in the end, I suppose it's worth it."

James sighed and reached up to play with the end of one of her braids. "Well, I'm ready for this term to be over. Just think – we'll have more than two weeks off from patrolling. And this time next week we could be watching tellyfision."

She forced back a laugh. "It's television, James. And yes, we have one. I'll take you to the cinema too. You'll love that, I'm sure. There're all kinds of Muggle candy that you can buy to snack on."

"Sounds brilliant."

They stayed in comfortable silence until Lily summoned over a book on holiday charms that she had got from the Library. For the next hour she and James had competed to see who could conjure the most elaborate decorations. By the time they were tired enough to go to sleep, their common room looked as though it had been attacked by Christmas elves.

"My parents will be pleased that they won't have to put up the decorations this year," Lily told James as she cast a modest enlargement charm on the sofa to ensure that they could lay comfortably on it side by side.

"Oh yeah?" He turned from where he had been adding another log to the fire.

"Mm hmm." She burrowed under the blankets. "They argue about them every year. And since my birthday is just after the Holiday I wasn't able to use magic for them last year."

"You're just forgetting one thing."

"What's that?"

"I'm supposed to be acting like a Muggle for a week – which means no magic."

Lily scoffed. "Just because you can't use magic doesn't mean I'm not allowed to as well. But if you insist on doing the decorations the Muggle way, I'll just sit back and tell you where to put everything."

"Well then, I guess if I have to do all the hard work, you'll just have to make it up to me later."

Lily raised her eyebrows at him as he settled down next to her. "Oh?"

"Mm hmm. Either that or you can give me some incentives to cooperate now." He bent his head to trail light kisses down her neck.

Lily laughed. "You think rather highly of yourself."

James lifted his head, grinning. "I'm in good company then." He rolled onto his back, pulling Lily with him so that she was now leaning over him. "You're the best girl a bloke could ask for."

Lily kissed him then and for the next hour proceeded to give him all the incentive he could possibly need for a week of letting her order him around. James didn't seem to mind being bribed – in fact he participated quite enthusiastically – and Lily decided that she would have to remember this method for when she wanted him to do something that he really didn't want to do.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

True to his word, James had diligently helped Lily study – even though he thought it was a waste of time since they both knew the material – and the rest of the week had flown by in a flurry of exams and last minute preparations for the upcoming holiday.

Lily had wrapped her presents the previous night after returning from helping Professor Flitwick charm the suits of armour to sing carols when someone walked passed. James had spent the evening with Hagrid decorating the usual dozen Christmas trees for the Entrance Hall.

Now they were making their way to Slughorn's Christmas party. Their way was lit with tiny fairy lights along the dungeon corridor and the noise from the event reached them even before they made it to Slughorn's rooms.

"Have I mentioned that you look marvelous?" James told Lily as they resumed walking after having stopped under one of the many sprigs of mistletoe. Neither of them had hesitated to take advantage of the plant.

Lily rolled her eyes and threaded her hand through his arm. "Only about eleven times so far."

"You're keeping count?"

"Mm hmm... That way I can make sure you live up to your previous standards the next time I get dressed up for you."

"Oh, well, er... Just make sure you give me the final tally at the end of the evening, yeah?"

"Of course," Lily agreed, eyes glinting mischievously.

"And don't even think about fudging the results."

"I'd never! I'm not Sirius. Honestly, James."

James snorted. "Thank Merlin for that. It would make things incredibly awkward – especially if you consider what we were doing under the mistletoe a moment ago."

"Oh, gross!" Lily's face screwed up half in amusement and half in disgust and James snickered.

They were still laughing when they walked into Slughorn's party, making it easy for their professor to spot them. He hurried over, a wide smile across his walrus face.

"Lily! My dear girl, I was wondering when you would arrive! And, Mr. Potter! You should consider yourself very lucky indeed to be escorting such a fine flower."

James choked back a laugh at Slughorn's blatant favoritism and managed to say, "I do, sir. I've been waiting years to come to one of your parties with her."

"Oh course you have, my boy!" Slughorn boomed. "Now, go fetch Lily some refreshments while I introduce her to Miranda Goshawk. You'll recognize her name – Professor Flitwick started using her spell books several years ago."

James wandered off and Lily allowed Slughorn to lead her across the room. He bowed before a voluptuous, middle-aged witch with intelligent brown eyes wearing emerald green dress robes.

"Ms. Goshawk, this is Lily Evans, the young witch I was speaking of earlier."

Miranda Goshawk nodded at Slughorn and stood to shake Lily's hand. "Miss Evans, it is a pleasure. I've been hearing your name for a few years now, and your Professor has done nothing but laud your potions skills since I arrived."

"The pleasure is mine," Lily replied, wondering from whom this witch had been hearing her name. Slughorn always made a point to speak of his contacts and he had never mentioned Miranda Goshawk before. "I can't imagine writing one textbook, let alone seven. And please, call me Lily."

"I hoped," Slughorn said to Ms. Goshawk, "you would enlighten Lily about the world of publishing. She has always written the most remarkable essays and nothing would be better than giving her a chance to share her skills with the rest of the Wizarding world."

Lily looked at Slughorn curiously. "Sir?" This was the first time he had mentioned anything to her about writing a potions book.

"Don't play coy with me, my dear. I have seen the notes you scribble in the margins of your books."

"They're just experiments and ideas on how to prepare the potions more quickly," she explained bashfully.

"Nonsense!" Slughorn waved her clarification off. "They work more often than not. Why, I'd wager you could teach my class better than I."

Lily grinned. "Only because you taught me so well."

Slughorn chortled delightedly. "Do you see?" he said to Goshawk. "She's everything I said and more."

Goshawk was smiling amusedly. "Indeed she is. Though I have never known you to be wrong about a student before, Horace."

"You are very modest." Slughorn turned to Lily. "Ms. Goshawk was one of my first students and has since become a good friend of mine. It was in her seventh year that I created this club. It is one of my greatest accomplishments–" The two witches nodded their agreement. "– and I have been thankful everyday for the opportunities it has presented."

He wandered off after several more minutes, leaving Miranda Goshawk and Lily to become acquainted.

"If you are going to write a book, I would be only too thrilled to assist you," Goshawk told Lily. "Especially if it would be for educational purposes."

"I-I don't know. I've never really thought about it. I've always considered going into Charm development or Healing. It's what I talked about at my career meeting with Professor McGonagall in fifth year."

"Hmm. You are Head Girl, correct?" At Lily's nod, she continued, "That will help you if you decide to write. Do not be afraid to brag about your accomplishments. If what Slughorn says is true, about your notations in your potions book, you are already well on your way to producing something worthwhile. It's the same way I began."

"That's- I'm not sure what... That is, it's an entirely new idea..."

Goshawk smiled kindly. "It can be rather daunting at your age. You have your whole life ahead of you."

"Yes, and there's just so much–" She was interrupted by James returning with a plate of food and a glass of punch.

He pressed the glass into her hand and kissed her cheek. "I love your hair," he told her cheerfully. "It makes it so easy to find you in a crowded room. Ms. Goshawk, it's wonderful to see you again."

Lily blinked at him in surprise. "You've met?"

"Several times," Goshawk answered. "I am well acquainted with his father." She turned to James. "I am glad to see you finally succeeded in your pursuit."

Lily suddenly understood her comment from before and could only imagine what the witch had heard about her from James or his father.

The two spend a minute catching each other up on mutual family acquaintances. Then Goshawk announced that she was going to see if Slughorn had anyone else for her to meet. Before she left, she conjured a quill and parchment and wrote out her direction and handed it to Lily.

"Think seriously about writing that book and owl me if you have any questions. It's always good to know someone who has connections to a reputable publisher."

Lily thanked her sincerely and they parted ways. Lily and James drifted through the room, greeting everyone they knew and meeting some different faces. After a half hour or so they retreated to a quiet corner of the room to nibble off the plate of food James has collected earlier.

Lily leaned against the wall. "You're up to twelve now."

"Twelve?"

"Compliments, of course."

"That's all? Hmm... your hair smells of sunshine and glows like fire. It draws me to you like a moth to a flame."

"Just my hair?" Lily inquired jokingly. "You mean you don't feel some divine pull towards me because our hearts were made for each other?"

James looked thoughtful. "I suppose that could be true. Although, I think you need to work on your delivery..." He grinned. "I could only detect the slightest hint of sarcasm."

"How interesting. And here I thought even a deaf flobberworm would have been able to perceive it."

"Perhaps a blind flobberworm, but definitely not a–"

An amused cough interrupted their banter and they turned to see a short wizard with thick black hair and an extremely long nose dressed in deep burgundy robes.

"I am trying to decide if the two of you are dating or just very good friends."

"Er..." Lily had no idea how to reply to that statement because, in truth, they were both – and she was bewildered to realize that. She looked over at James only to see him gaping at the wizard.

"You're--–you're... Nimbus brooms – Devlin Whitehorn!" he finally managed to get out.

The wizard – Devlin Whitehorn and founder of Nimbus brooms, Lily assumed – laughed loudly. "And you are?"

"Dating."

Lily rolled her eyes and smacked James' arm. "I'm Lily Evans and he's James Potter. And if you're really Devlin Whitehorn, than it's no surprised he's speechless. He's obsessed with Quidditch and, by extension, brooms," Lily explained.

Whitehorn shook their hands and exchanged pleasantries with Lily. By that point James managed to get his brain back and joined the conversation enthusiastically. They spoke with him for quite some time and at the end of the party James was still rambling on about meeting him.

"I can't believe I got to meet him! And Jucunda Sykes! I mean, she flew across the Atlantic! I heard that muggles did that in one of those aeroplanes, but those are probably more comfortable over distances than brooms are. And I got her autograph!"

He pulled out the parchment that Jucunda Sykes had signed (for the tenth time) and she smiled at him in bemusement. "Sirius is going to be wickedly jealous," James told her. "To think he turned down a chance to go."

"I'm glad you had a good time."

"It was brilliant. I mean, there were moments – like when that ministry bloke came over with Lucius Malfoy." James lip curled in disgust. "I heard from Sirius that he's a Death Eater."

Lily frowned. "I did notice him rubbing his arm as though it was sore. Do you think-–"

"That's where the Dark Mark is? Yeah." James seemed to consider his next sentence carefully. "He was talking to Snape too. No surprise that Snivellus wants to join up."

"I wish you wouldn't call him that," Lily sighed. James shrugged but didn't say anything more on the subject. Severus Snape was never a topic they would ever agree upon and it was best to avoid discussing him whenever possible.

Lily still remembered the quiet friendship that had formed over a shared interest in potions. But the years of school and beliefs of others had interfered frequently, and even though both Lily and Snape were members of the Slug Club, neither of them had been able to ignore what was happening around them.

And then, inevitably, the memory of that fateful day in Fifth year came to her mind. That day had changed everything. As much as Lily had wanted to forgive Snape for the words he had said, she knew if would be impossible for her to ever forget them. The crowd he hung around with had too much influence on him and his actions – and Lily would never have been able to look passed what they represented.

They walked the rest of way in comfortable silence and when they entered the Gryffindor Common Room, Sirius immediately bounded over to them, inquiring enthusiastically about their evening.

The parchment that Jucunda Sykes had signed was once again pulled out and Lily left them to wax lyrical over it and joined her friends in front of the fireplace. They, too, wanted to know how the evening had gone and Lily relished in telling them about all of the people she had met. Marlene, in particular, wanted to know all about her meeting with Miranda Goshawk.

James and his friends joined them sometime later, and the eight of them stayed up late into the night talking about the upcoming holiday, what they thought the next two terms would be like, N.E.W.T.s and, unavoidably, the burgeoning war that was quickly taking over their world.

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A/N: And that was chapter seventeen! I really hope you enjoyed it - don't forget to leave a review with your thoughts. The next chapter is the start of the Christmas Holiday and the long-awaited visit to Lily's house. Hopefully it won't take me too long to get it posted. Until next time!