The Love That Transcended Time

Chapter 6: Times are a' Changing

Lily Evans lay in bed quite pensive her first night in the new suite. She had a lot on her mind. James came to mind on many levels...as a friend, as a coworker, as fellow snogger-extraordinaire, and now as a roommate. She had seen (and experienced) quite a bit of James in the last month. She wondered if it was too hasty to have given James an ultimatum when they were just getting to know one another. After all, she had seen many girls around Hogwarts use their 'womanly perks' to get them what they wanted, so why couldn't Lily do the same? Though Lily only wanted a truthful answer about some fishy happenings, she still felt a little guilty. She was in her room, her door shut securely, her belongings safely put away, but yet James' presence seemed to follow her everywhere. Boys sure were complicated.

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Lily slept in quite late, as it was Sunday. She was usually quite the morning person, but she figured James would have been off doing something earlier than her, and she was being extremely cautious about avoiding one of the rooms they shared...the bathroom. She didn't know why she was so shy. It had a lock, she could hang a tie on the door if she wanted or something...but just as she had felt in the private quarters of her room, James was everywhere, even when he wasn't there in the flesh.

Lily crawled out of bed, searching for her bathrobe. The air was cool, and her short and sheer little nightie was doing a poor job of keeping her warm. She remembered then, of course, that the bathrobe was hanging on the back of the bathroom door, where she usually hung it. She had done it almost by habit, not realizing that she would actually have the risk of being seen in less than appropriate 'everyday wear' on the journey from her room to the bathroom.

Like a spy, she opened the door a crack, and peeked through. Her door was directly across the hall from James, and his door was wide open. The bed was unmade, but empty. She peered to the door closer to her, the door to the bathroom, and saw that it was open, and the light was off. She opened the door wider, and then peeked over the banister to the common area below. Everything was quiet, and she deemed everything safe. She walked into the bathroom, closing the door firmly behind her, and locking it. The bathtub looked very inviting, and she decided her first activity of the morning would be to take a nice bubble bath.

Meanwhile, the portrait guarding the entrance to their suite swung open downstairs, and then closed again. A mysterious scent of breakfast seemed to waft through the suite. Suddenly, a person seemed to appear out of thin air in James' room. It was the man himself, with a large plate of muffins. He was still wearing his pajamas, and was looking extremely tired. James had never been much of a morning person. The familiar path to the kitchens was so ridiculously engrained into his brain that he could have (and probably had already) walked down there in his sleep.

He took a lazy bite of one of the muffins and then scratched himself in a most graceful manner before walking sleepily to the bathroom. He reached the door, fumbling with the handle for a few minutes before realizing it was locked. He muttered 'alohomora' nonverbally without even considering that the door might be locked for a reason. After all, it had never stopped James from entering plenty of 'forbidden' locked doors before.

He walked in the bathroom; his eyes barely open still, as he positioned himself in front of the toilet and started relieving himself. Lily had been relaxing in the tub, her eyes closed, hardly hearing the commotion until the door was open, and James was already more than half way in.

She wanted to scream, but no words or sounds seemed able to escape her lips. Her wand was in her bedroom as she could never remember a time when she had needed her wand with her that badly. She seemed, however, to have found a situation that would merit the need. She watched in shock as James (in all his glory) stood before her. After what seemed like a very long 30 seconds, she seemed to find her voice.

"Um...James...excuse me?" James grunted something incoherently, and continued attending to his business.

"JAMES!" Lily screamed, and he snorted loudly, his eyes wide open. He looked around, looked at himself, and the situation started slowly coming to him. He quickly made himself decent, looking quite awkward and nervous.

"Oh ...my...God...did you see? You were in here? I mean..." he slowly backed out of the bathroom, reaching for the door handle, but having trouble opening it.

"James, pull, don't push." Lily sounded slightly impatient.

He nodded. "Right you are, Lily. So smart too...so beautiful there. I wouldn't mind joining you in fact."

"OUT! NOW!" She blushed, covering herself bashfully, even though there were plenty of bubbles doing the job. Good Heavens! thought Lily to herself. What good is forbidding kissing when he's practically seen me naked? I'll never find out what the hell is going on!

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James stayed as far out of Lily's way as possible that day, distancing himself from her by hanging out at the Quidditch pitch with Peter, Sirius, and Remus. He, of course, was giving them a play by play of the action this morning.

"Best morning I've had in a long time really," James said, a proud look on his face.

"James...the door was locked. You ought to be more careful." Remus had a slightly disapproving look on his face. "You're lucky she didn't have her wand..."

"Or else you might not be enjoying this so much," remarked Sirius, a grin on his face. "After all, you were kind of..."

"Oh please don't finish that sentence, Sirius. None of us want to know what's going on down there," said Peter quickly, contorting his face disgustingly. They all joined each other in hearty laughter. They all stopped immediately as Sirius leaned forward, looking as though he had something solemn to say, then his face broke into a quite impertinent smile.

"Get any good views...?"

"Sirius! Give me a break. You know how awake I am in the morning."

"Well excuuuuse me. But if there was a girl in my bathtub, I'd turn into a morning person very quickly." The rest of the day went on much like this and James hung out with his friends until sunset, enjoying the last of the beautiful autumn weather that would come to Hogwarts this year. At about seven o'clock that evening, he decided he should probably head to the common room to meet Lily for their meeting with Dumbledore.

After the long walk, he made it up to their suite at about 7:30, looking around at the dark atmosphere. He lit a few lanterns, looking around the suite for her. He ran upstairs, to find her bedroom door locked. He knocked a few times but there was no answer. He turned around and saw a note taped to his door.

"James, I'm in the Library, then heading to Dumbledore's office after I finish some reading. I hope you aren't too busy barging into locked doors to forget that we have a meeting. ~Lily"

James cringed. He would have to find some way to sincerely apologize to her. He felt pretty bad, and after having spent an entire day with his fellow marauders, he hadn't really been able to live it down. James Potter wasn't looking so smug these days...

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James headed up to Dumbledore's office for their scheduled meeting at about five minutes to eight. When he got there, Lily was already there, sitting in a chair, her legs crossed, with a scroll of parchment and quill ready to take notes. She didn't turn her head to acknowledge James' entrance into the room.

Dumbledore however, smiled and greeted him warmly, offering him a seat. "Welcome you two. Lily, I'm afraid you won't be needing writing materials for what I want to discuss with you. What we are dealing with this year is beyond the control of all of us.

"Many moons ago, I taught a student by the name of Tom Riddle." James shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Tom Riddle is better known by the name of Lord Voldemort." Lily's eyes widened in understanding. "Potter, Evans, I must speak openly. A war is starting. It may not seem like it now, but the signs are there. There are those that wish to keep everything of a pure blood, and those that realize that effort is futile. Voldemort is currently gathering followers, with the intention of 'cleansing' the wizarding world, most certainly. He will probably mark those as allies that obviously are outspoken about their wishes for all things to be pure-blooded. My only request of you this year is to keep people safe, and of course keep me informed of anything strange. You two have excellent judgment, and the both of you together have a power that is stronger than any evil Lord Voldemort can bring."

"Sir, what would that power be?" inquired Lily smartly. Dumbledore only smiled.

"In time, I think you'll realize just what that power is. Right now, perhaps, the best thing you can do is watch yourself, Miss Evans. As a witch of Muggle-born decent, you are a potential target of these people's dark aims. You are also very talented and in a position of power here at school, and I fear you might be in even more danger because of this. I know James will keep an eye on you though, as well as the staff and I. Professor Slughorn would be distraught to lose his favorite student." Lily's present appearance could not exactly hide the fact that this news frightened her a little bit.

"Not to worry, Miss Evans, I would have never put you in this position if I didn't think you were the best suited for the job, and quite safe. That is all for our meeting tonight. If I don't need you before this, I'll be seeing you next month at the same time, same place." They both stood up and exited the room, when Dumbledore called Lily back quickly. James paused, politely waiting for her before returning to the suite.

Lily leaned in close to Dumbledore as he whispered, "James thinks he's protecting you, but I'm not so sure he grasps who he's dealing with. Take it easy on him, Miss Evans... I assure you, he means well." Lily sighed softly, thanking Professor Dumbledore and joining James on the walk back.

Dumbledore's words had touched her. There was something he trusted in not each of them as individuals, but as each of them as part of a team. Life is too short, thought Lily calmly to herself.

"Race you back to the common room! Loser has to use the bathroom second every morning!" She dashed off down the hall, her black robes and shiny sheet of dark red hair flowing behind her.

"Hey now, no fair! You got a head start!" James dashed to catch up with her. He was, however, pretty pleased with himself. She seemed to have forgiven him for this morning. What he didn't know, was that she needed to run back and take the curse off of his toothbrush she had placed there earlier this afternoon.