CHAPTER TWENTY SIX: In The Rain

Remus held Lily beside him until she couldn't cry any more. There reached a point when both of them were just staring blankly at the water. And they just sat beside each other… not saying anything. It seemed like silence had communicated more words than when they were trying to talk – when Lily was trying to talk.

"Aren't we breaking school rules?" Lily whispered as she cautiously sat down at a table. After her crying fest by the lake, Remus decided to take her to the kitchen and offer her some late night snack. She looked cautiously around the dark empty kitchen as she waited for him to finish lifting some leftovers from the oven and cupboards and the pots and wherever possible food could be.

"Yes," Remus replied casually, as he walked back to her with a plate of food in his hands. "But you've officially broken them only if you get caught," he added with a smile as he put the plate on the table and sat on a stool next to her.

With the aid of the faint light coming from Remus' wand, which he put a spell of 'Lumos' on and enchanted to float just above their heads, Lily was able to decipher the presence of a piece of bread from the plate. "Yeah," she muttered, as she grabbed the food from the table and started eating. "But Filch wouldn't let something like this just pass," she said sounding so much like a goody-two-shoes that Remus had to smile at her mischievously.

"What?" she demanded in a defensive tone, seeing Remus' face. "Hey, I'm the one who needs comforting here."

Remus shook his head like he couldn't believe her. "And I thought I was afraid to break school rules," he said, teasingly.

Lily snorted. What was that again? "You're kidding right?" she said, rolling her eyes at him. Too bad it was still dark enough to miss those minor actions. "You've been sneaking around late at night for the past years…"

"I know," Remus admitted with a nod. "But if I wasn't there, James could've ended up turning someone into a nonliving thing for eternity."

Ooh!

That name again…

Lily suddenly fell silent. James. When would she ever stop thinking about that name – person?

Remus apparently noticed the change in her mood that he felt like he had just swerved the conversation in the very wrong direction. "I – I – didn't mean… nonliving thing as in… as in…" he stuttered, wondering if Lily would've wanted to kill him for talking about James instead. "As in dead… you know. It's just… you know – someone wouldn't really like to spend eternity as a… bench and—"

"I know," Lily interrupted with a soft chuckle, realizing that Remus had been quite struggling in trying to make her feel better again.

"He even saved Snape once when the guy tried to follow me down the Whomping Willow the night I—" Remus stopped again when Lily knew what he was talking about.

"Full moon?"

He nodded.

Lily smiled weakly. The thought of James saving someone's life wasn't really something that she could easily imagine… especially when that someone was one of the people he wasn't exactly fond of. "And I thought James was this selfish… vain… superficial… immature—"

"Childish, hard-headed, stubborn person you couldn't stand?" Remus joked, finishing Lily's statement, as he eagerly nodded in agreement.

Lily gave out an exasperated sigh. The 'James' conversation had started again and after every little thing that she told Remus about James by the lake, she wasn't exactly up to some more talk about this childish, hard-headed, stubborn guy. "Can we talk about something el—"

"Shshsh…" Remus interrupted, holding a hand up to shush Lily.

"What?"

"Someone's coming," Remus replied, now in a whisper.

Lily froze in her seat as she listened to the sound. Then she realized that indeed there were footsteps approaching the room. "Filch!" she declared in a whisper, looking at Remus with wide eyes of panic. "What's he doing in the kitchen?"

"He probably heard us," Remus muttered as he took his wand that was floating in midair. Then, he grabbed Lily's hand and said, "C'mon."

* * * * *

"He's early," Remus uttered as he was dragging Lily along with him through the hallways. He was walking fairly fast but it didn't look like he was in panic. In fact, to Lily, he appeared to be actually looking for something.

"Wow. You've really spent so much time at night around here," Lily commented, referring to Remus' knowledge of even the time when Filch was supposed to be in the hallways – or the kitchen for that matter.

Both of them were looking behind them to make sure that they weren't being followed. But then, from out of nowhere, a loud meowing sounded before them.

And slowly, they turned their heads and faced forward, realizing where the sound just came from.

Oh my, it was Mrs. Norris.

"Remus," Lily turned to him with a confused look. "If Filch is in the kitchen… what is Mrs. Norris doing here?"

Remus opened his mouth to answer Lily's question. It was probably an 'I don't know' but again, something else showed up unexpected. Just then, they both looked up and saw the glowing lamplight just near about twenty feet in front of them.

It was Filch.

"You kids!" they heard Filch called to them. "What are you still doing loitering around school this late?"

Fortunately, the light from Filch's lamp couldn't reach them enough in order for him to recognize them. So, Remus, still holding onto Lily's hand, pulled her again and both of them ran toward the other direction.

"You realize running will just make it worse…" Filch called out to them, as he himself walked faster to catch up.

* * * * *

"What are you doing?" Lily asked impatiently when Remus stopped by a statue on the wall and started tickling its ear. They were being chased by the worst nightmare of late night loiterers and he was there tickling a statue's ear?!

"We can hide here," Remus replied when the statue moved forward and a low opening appeared before them. "Get in," he said as he led Lily into the opening.

As the statue went back in its place, Remus stayed peeking outside and saw Filch almost catching up with them. When the opening finally closed, he again, put a spell on his wand and a luminous light faintly brightened the dark space they were in. "Maybe it was one of the elves that was in the kitchen," he said, after he was able to breathe normally again.

"Yeah," Lily replied absent-mindedly. She was more engrossed with the fact that they weren't really in a room or a closet. She realized that they were in a tunnel, a passageway. "Where does this lead to?" she asked, turning to Remus.

"Hogsmeade," Remus answered, glancing toward the seemingly endless tunnel. "It's a really long way but it's worth it."

"Hogsmeade?"

Remus nodded. "Under a rock in one hidden corner of the village to be exact," he said, as he sat down, leaning against the wall.

"Oh…" Lily muttered, apparently amused of her recent find. "Is Hogwarts full of these?" she asked, with a renewed energy in her voice. "Tunnels, I mean. Is Hogwarts full of tunnels like this?" she said, as she herself sat on the ground across where Remus was sitting. But her gaze was still toward the passageway.

"I suppose."

Another period of silence arose between them. Remus realized that Lily started to be lost in thought again. And he very well knew what she was thinking about.

"I'm sorry," Remus uttered, bowing his head slightly as if he just said something wrong.

Lily suddenly turned her head to face him. "For what?" she asked honestly with eyes under knitted brows.

Remus gave out a shy smile and shrugged while saying, "Well, it seems like I've been taking you to places where you're reminded of James…" he trailed when he saw Lily did the same thing – a smile and a shrug.

"I was just thinking," Lily began, changing the subject. "One of these days, when I just want to be alone… can I use this tunnel to Hogsmeade?" she asked, looking at Remus expectantly.

He looked at her and smiled accordingly. Maybe she meant one of those days when she just wanted to escape from having James around… "Sure," he still answered, nodding accordingly.

* * * * *

"Lily!"

A scolding female voice rose in the air the moment Lily and Remus walked into the common room. They both looked up in surprise to see who it was and found Kiara standing there with her hands on her waist, looking at them with narrow eyes like a mother who just found out that her daughter was missing in the middle of the night.

Toni stood up from her seat by the corner of the room and stood next to Kiara. That was when Lily and Remus realized that it wasn't only Kiara who seemed to be waiting for them.

At the left side of the room, Peter, who was sitting in a chair, smiled and waved a hand to them. While Sirius was sitting on the arm of the chair Peter was in. Sirius was facing toward the entrance of the common room but he didn't see Lily and Remus when they came in because he was obviously having a hard time in keeping his eyes open.

On the other side of the common room was Vince who was sitting comfortably in the chair across Sirius and Peter. He leaned forward when Kiara cried out 'Lily!' since Kiara was blocking his view of what was happening.

"Uh…" Lily muttered, quite confused but with a smile forming on her lips. "Hi… everyone?" she said, with a slight wave of a hand.

Kiara didn't answer but only let out an audible sigh. So, Sirius stood up and mocking Kiara's tone a while ago, he said, "Where have you been?" as he walked toward Lily and Remus.

Lily stifled a laugh as she looked at Sirius who appeared to be possessed with a worried-sick father. "I'm… sorry?" she replied with knitted brows. "But… what exactly is it to you?" she questioned while trying to sound as polite as possible.

Sirius bobbed his head back in mock surprise at Lily's statement. Then, he looked at Remus with the same expression. But unfortunately, Remus just shrugged at him.

Sirius walked nearer until he was about a foot away from Lily. And with wide-eyes like saying 'understand?', he whispered, "Do you know that when Toni feels hopeless and worried, she has a tendency to vent it out on people? And by people I mean—"

"You mean you," Lily finished his sentence with a nod saying 'I know.'

"Hey, I heard that," Toni uttered from behind him.

Sirius turned around with an apologetic expression. "Alright, you were panicking," he told her.

Toni put her hands on her waist and looked at Sirius incredulously. "I was worried," she insisted.

"I'm okay," Lily said with a shrug as she looked at everyone in the room. It was quite a sight seeing all the people there in the common room waiting for her. "Remus and I just took a stroll around Hogwarts," she added, explaining her whereabouts earlier.

"Huh!" Kiara let out an exasperated sigh. She rolled her eyes and then looked at Lily with a disbelieving face. "It's past midnight and the last time we saw you was in Hogsmeade this afternoon. We were worried," she said matter-of-factly.

"I'm fine," Lily insisted, forcing a wide fake smile across her face.

"See, she's fine," Sirius said, turning to Toni. "Can we all go to sleep now?" Ah, that long awaited activity he was dying to do since Toni dragged him out of his dormitory to look for Lily.

"So," Remus uttered upon all the commotion. "You're all here just waiting for us?"

No one spoke.

"Well," Peter began, raising a hand to catch Remus' attention. "Actually, for Lily. But since you're with her, okay, yeah," he joked in a tone of 'whatever you want,' as he nodded in agreement.

Lily smiled and looked at Remus' mock dejected reaction. She even laughed when Sirius walked to him and put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Oh, I worried about you…" with pouting lips, taunting him.

Remus rolled his eyes. "You know, if I didn't need to talk to you right now, I'd kick you," he said.

"Hey," Sirius said, pointing a finger. "I worried about you. You don't kick people when they do that!" he exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Hey," Peter suddenly said, tapping Sirius' back. "Go to sleep. You're already acting weird… even for yourself."

* * * * *

"Goooood Mooooorniiiiing!!"

A sudden voice that sounded like a drum roll and a bunch of irritating tapping everywhere woke up James. He opened his eyes to see who and what the heck they were but he just as quickly closed them when he saw Sirius, obviously the owner of the voice, opened up the curtains that let a stream of light flow into the room.

James threw his blanket over his face and in a muffled but still annoyed voice, he said, "What in God's name are you doing here, Sirius?"

"Hey, is that the way you treat your guests?" James heard Sirius say.

"Guests?" James uttered in surprise. He quickly surfaced from under his blanket and saw the reality before him.

No!

It wasn't only Sirius who disturbed his sleep early in the morning. He looked up and turned to the other side, his left, of the bed. And sure as it was, he saw Remus and Peter grinning sheepishly at him.

James rubbed his face to wake himself. He was still feeling weak but he managed to grab his glasses from the bedside table and then sat up on his bed. "How did you get past the school nurse?" he demanded, his voice groggy. He looked at his friends with eyes still half-closed as he waited for an answer.

But just then, Madam Prenny came in through the door, carrying a pile of bed sheets with her. She walked across the room humming a tune, without even looking at them.

What?!

James suddenly had his eyes completely open with surprise. He looked at the school nurse make her way straight into her office and didn't even look at them. "I don't believe it," James muttered with an exasperated sigh. He would've shaken his head but then again, he was still feeling dizzy. "Whatever you're up to, she's apparently with you," he concluded, scratching his head.

"Up to?" Sirius abruptly said in defense. "Who says we're up to something?" he questioned as he looked around the vicinity of James' bed, as if trying to find something.

James watched as Sirius almost searched frantically, even under his mattress. "What are you doi—?"

"James!" Sirius exclaimed. The tone in his voice sounded as if he was disappointed with something. Then, he walked toward the foot of the bed as he looked down to the floor. "What are these doing on the floor?" he demanded, as he knelt down.

Curiosity got the better of James that he watched what in the world Sirius was talking about. He looked to the side of his bed where Sirius was and watched as his best friend picked up the letters on the floor one by one as if searching for something specific.

"I must've kicked them when I was sleeping," James uttered with a shrug. He was definitely sending the kind of air that he wasn't in the mood to mind whatever those letters were doing on the floor. "Why do you care so much? Keep them if you want to," he said with arrogance.

Sirius sighed audibly. He picked up one of the envelopes on the floor and stood up. "James, if you weren't feeling dizzy and groggy right now, I'd hit on the head with a Bludger," he said quite frankly, as he tossed the envelope he had in his hand to Remus.

James watched as Remus took the envelope from Sirius but he couldn't care less. Instead, he slouched and pouted and said, "I'm going to throw them out anyway."

Everyone in the room chuckled. "You're being pathetic again," Remus commented as a matter of fact. "C'mon!" he said, as he walked to one of the windows near James' bed. "It's a really nice morning out…" He trailed when he realized that dark clouds were already hovering the sky. "Although I think there's going to be a downpour any minute now."

James rolled his eyes and looked at his friends. What really were they doing early in the morning in the Hospital Wing? "Is this—?" he stopped, realizing his friends' purpose in being there. "Are you here about Lily again? God! You people are relentless!"

Okaaay… that got his friends' complete attention for a minute.

It was as if on cue, the three gathered around James. But they weren't looking at him, they were looking at each other as if they were talking with their minds.

"What?" James asked looking at his friends in confusion. When no one answered him, he raised his voice. "What?" he asked again, but again no answer. So, he shook Peter, who was standing just beside him. "What? You haven't said anything. What's going on?"

Apparently, the three of them were playing on James again just like what they did during the Christmas break when he refused to go with them to Diagon Alley.

Peter ignored James and looked across to Sirius. "Why don't you tell him?"

"What?!" James whined, starting to die softly of curiosity.

"Okay," Sirius shrugged. "James," he began, as he sat on the bed, beside James. "Let me tell you about kindergarten psychology," he said, pushing James aside as he made himself comfortable on the bed.

"What?" James asked again in total confusion.

Sirius cleared his throat and began his speech. "Remember when Lily had a crush on you when we were in first year?"

James didn't answer but when he rolled his eyes at Sirius, it was implied that he indeed could remember.

"But she hated you so much that she wanted to kill you?" Sirius continued.

James looked beside him with eyes demanding that if Sirius wouldn't get to it in a minute, he would strangle him. "What's your point?"

"But she liked you still," Sirius said, ignoring James' ranting. "Remember when you would pull her hair and her sleeves and then – anyway, you enjoyed teasing her."

"Yeah. Because he liked her too," Peter joined in. But James threw him a stabbing look that he had to add, "Kind of," with a shrug.

"Sure you did!" Sirius insisted, agreeing with Peter.

James opened his mouth to speak or possibly retaliate everything that his friends were saying but Remus spoke up before he could. "But then there came a time you finally earned a smack on the head…"

"Alright then!" James suddenly burst in annoyance. If no one would tell him what was going on in a minute, he would definitely explode. "What the hell is the point in all these?"

However, before anyone could make up an answer, Madam Prenny came out of her office carrying a bottle of medicine and a glass.

"'Mornin'." Sirius, Remus, and Peter greeted her in chorus as she walked to James' Hospital bed.

"Good morning," the school nurse greeted them back, as she set the medicine on the table beside James.

"There you are," James muttered, actually sounding relieved that the school nurse had finally appeared. "Can you please tell them to go?"

Madam Prenny only glanced at him as she poured the medicine into a glass. "It's a beautiful day!" she answered cheerfully instead. "They just want to share it with you," she said, handing him the glass.

"Great," James grunted, taking the glass from the nurse. "I'm stuck with four lunatics who don't seem to notice it's getting darker and darker outside and still calls it a beautiful day," he muttered, this time talking to no one in particular. He drank the medicine that the school nurse handed him and then flashed a foul face before handing the glass back.

"Oh… don't be such a whiner," Madam Prenny said as she took the glass from James and the bottle from the table. She stood up and before walking back to her office, she said, "Alright boys… good luck—"

"What?" James suddenly looked up. Good luck?!

"Day," Madam Prenny took back what she said all of a sudden. "Good day," she said before she walked to her office in a hurry.

"Alright, what's going on?" James demanded, really starting to lose his nerve this time. "If you're here to talk about Lily just stop it," he said raising his voice.

"C'mon!" Sirius insisted.

"I'm over it," James said firmly, not letting Sirius utter another word.

"You're over it?" Peter muttered.

"I'm over her," James replied, just to make things crystal clear. "Okay? I am over her. I don't care where she is. I don't care what she's doing. And I don't care about those letters lying on the floor because I AM over her," he said with finality.

Remus snorted in disbelief. "Do you know what's this?" he said, as he raised the envelope that Sirius picked up from the floor a while ago. His voice was starting to match his friend's angry tone.

James looked at what Remus was holding. "That's a letter," he replied, raising an eyebrow and looking like he was about to pounce on his friend. "Do you think I'm blind?"

"Do you remember the letters you sent her?" Remus started, looking straight into James' eyes. "She wrote this. She was going to send this back to you after you owl her again. But you stopped writing, didn't you? So you never got this," he said, as he tossed the envelope on James' lap.

James' angry face suddenly relaxed. He just stared at the letter sitting on his lap and realized that it was a Muggle envelope with Lily's handwriting of his name.

"Maybe she thinks you hate her and maybe you think you're over her. But we all know you're both wrong," Remus declared with much confidence, before he walked out of the room.

Sirius looked at Remus and then turned back to James and shook his head in disappointment.

"What?" James demanded irately again. "I'm going back to sleep," he said as he lay back down to sleep and covered himself with his blanket. He didn't even touch the envelope Remus tossed him. He just hid under his sheets and wished that everyone would go away.

* * * * *

"They're gone now," James heard a female voice say after a while.

He opened his eyes and then turned around in his bed to look at the owner of the voice. He saw Madam Prenny standing by her office door with a tray of food in her hands. Lazily, he sat up and looked at her as she walked toward him.

"I'm not really hungry," he said, not meeting her eyes.

"Oh, but you are," Madam Prenny insisted, smiling mischievously at James. She put the tray on the table beside his bed and sat beside him on the bed.

"Wait. I've been here since Friday night. Am I not supposed to be getting out now?" James asked with a hint of tone like he was starting to suspect something.

"Do you feel normal?"

"Yes."

"Well, you don't look normal," Madam Prenny replied just as fast as James said 'yes.'

"What?" James started to protest.

"Have you read the letter?"

"What letter?"

"From the girl you want to obliviate to love you," the school nurse replied.

James rolled his eyes. He saw the letter was still sitting on the bed. But of all people, why did he have to be stuck talking with the school nurse about it? And unfortunately, she seemed to be mocking him about everything. "Why do I need to?" he groaned.

Madam Prenny opened her mouth to speak again but James didn't let her as he realized where the conversation might probably be going. "And wait," he interrupted even before a sound came out from the school nurse's lips. "What is it to you?"

But Madam Prenny didn't answer him. She just leaned toward him and felt his forehead with the back of her hand. "You still have a temperature," she said, as she removed her hand and went back to the food on the table.

"Because the Hospital Wing is already making me sick," James declared as he lethargically watched her lift the bowl of soup – again? – from the tray.

"No. You can't heal completely because you're thinking too much."

Thinking too much? James looked at her like she was being ridiculous.

"I heard what your friend, Remus, was saying—"

"You were listening to us?" James asked in disbelief, interrupting whatever it was the school nurse was about to say next.

"Tsk," Madam Prenny grunted, shaking her head in disappointment. "James Potter, your so hard-headed," she said, as she handed him the bowl of food.

James reluctantly took his breakfast from her hands. "For what it's worth, I'm really over her," he insisted. He felt that no one of his friends had actually believed him earlier that was why he thought of convincing Madam Prenny instead. Kind of pathetic, but then again, he had no one else to talk to – or convince. "So you don't need to do any Memory Charm," he added, flashing a wide smile so fake he almost looked unrecognizable.

Madam Prenny gave out a deep, frustrated sigh. She looked straight into his eyes and this time, she was serious. "James, take it from me," she began. She sounded like a grandmother talking to her teenage grandson – someone wise and knowledgeable that James involuntarily looked back at her and listened. "It's so easy to fall for someone. But it takes time before you forget. And more so when it comes to love… time doesn't pass by so quickly." She paused; making sure that every word had sunk in him. "It took you, what, almost forever to realize that you love this girl. And I'm telling you, it will take you longer to completely erase what's in there," she said, pointing to James' chest at the word, 'there.'

James didn't say anything. He wanted to retaliate whatever was said. But for some reason, he didn't want to. He bowed his head to avoid Madam Prenny's eyes. And although his breakfast didn't actually look enticing, somehow he suddenly felt like eating just to put an end to the conversation.

Sensing that James wanted to be alone, the school nurse left the room and walked back into her office.

James ate his breakfast slowly and quietly. Madam Prenny was right. He was thinking too much. He wanted to just empty his mind but no matter what he did, he couldn't help but wonder what was written in that piece of paper sitting before him. And as he ate, he just looked at the white bed sheet, at the envelope, at his name. It seemed to be calling him.

And after an agonizing battle with himself, he put down his food back on the table beside his bed and slowly, he picked up the letter. With nervous hands, he tore the side of the envelope and took out the piece of paper neatly folded in it. A pang of familiarity hit him. He didn't realize how much he missed seeing that handwriting – Lily's handwriting.

James couldn't help but smile. He could imagine Lily saying those words like she was standing right in front of him. Heck, he could even hear her sarcastic tone, mocking him.

James' smile slowly faded. That was it. That was the part of the letter that he didn't want to see. That was one of the many reasons why he didn't dare touch it when Remus tossed it to him. But once and for all, he read it.

* * * * *

After a while, Madam Prenny decided to come out of her office to take the dishes James had eaten off of. But when she stepped into the room…

She crossed her arms on her chest and shook her head.

James wasn't anywhere in sight.

* * * * *

"Where's Lily?"

Kiara was going down the stairs from the girls' dormitory when someone grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to face him. She looked up and recognized James… barely recognized James under his totally riot of a hair and in his crumpled clothes. If it weren't for his glasses, she would've screamed in panic thinking a crazy person had somehow managed his way into Hogwarts.

"Sh-she-she's… she's missing again," Kiara stuttered, still quite stunned. When she finally got back to her senses, James was already running down the stairs. "Hey, aren't you supposed in the Hospital Wing? You look terrible," she called after him.

James ran hurriedly down the stairs and ran across the common room. But just then, he saw Toni came in through the portrait hole. He stopped on his tracks and this time, demanded Toni of Lily's whereabouts.

"She said she just wants to be alone," Toni answered him. She was looking at James with knitted eyebrows wondering what in the world was up with him.

"Where?"

"Don't know," Toni replied with a shrug. "She's probably just around. It's raining cats and dogs outside," she called after James left her in a flash and ran to the stairs leading to the boys' dormitories.

James barged in their dormitory. He was feeling weak and he suddenly felt his head ache again but he still had the energy to slam the door open and asked each one in the room.

"I dunno," Sirius replied when James turned to him. "Wait a minute. What are you doing here?" But no answer came back to Sirius when James left him to ask his question to Peter.

"No idea," Peter said, shaking his head.

"Then where's she? Is she missing?" James blurted out, frustrated that in the very moment that he wanted to find someone, no one knew where that someone was. He turned to the other side of the room and found Remus.

Remus had this calm and collected expression on his face, as he sat by the window while watching the angry rain fell incessantly outside. And he probably felt James' eyes gazing at him. He looked away from the window and turned to where James was standing. A smile played around his lips when he saw his friend looking like a lost puppy. No one knew where Lily went. And her friends kept saying that she just wanted to be alone. And everyone might start to think she was missing but Remus knew… "She's not missing."

* * * * *

Go on. I'm tired of crying. Maybe you can do it for me, Lily thought as she watched the downpour outside. She was sitting in Three Broomsticks, beside the glass window on her right, looking through the streets.

Although the rain had been pouring for over half an hour now, people were still coming in for some hot drinks. Sometimes, she found herself looking in front of her when the door would open and the tinkling of the bell would sound, signaling new customers had just come in.

Then she would turn back to stare outside the window. She hardly could see anything through the rain, but somehow, it kept her busy.

I guess it'll be like this for quite some time, she thought as she took a sip of her hot chocolate. Dark. Gloomy. But at least I can be alone here.

She sighed as she continued staring blankly out the window. But then, slowly, she recognized a figure that was standing in the middle of the street, amidst the heavy rain. She narrowed her eyes to decipher what it was… or who it was.

What are you doing there? Do you want to die? she thought to herself, taking another sip of her drink. Then, out of curiosity, she put down her cup on the table, and then leaned closer to the window until the glass was almost touching her face – as if that could help clear up the figure that was blurred by the rain.

J-James? She was almost afraid to think it. But, in any case… No. It can't be.

It was almost a minute she was staring outside that she only got out of her trance when someone passed by the window and blocked her view for a second. Her attention was switched as she now watched the man walked up to the entrance of Three Broomsticks.

The door opened, the bell tinkled, and the man walking down the sidewalk entered. "Anyone here named Lily?" he asked in a chuckle, as he took off his trench coat and hanged it on the rack by the door.

Lily's eyes suddenly widened. No. Is he talking about me?

And as if the man had read her mind…

"A mad man is soaking in the rain outside," the man said as he sat by the counter, "calling someone named Lily Evans."

Lily's heart jumped. Okay, there's a small chance of having more than one Lily Evans around here…

She looked back outside the window and still saw the 'mad man' standing in the middle of the street. And without taking her eyes off that figure, she stood up and went for the door.

* * * * *

The door closed behind Lily but she decided to stay out of the rain by standing put under the ledge of the roof of Three Broomsticks. The figure was still a blur but then again, the 'mad man' had his back turned towards her. She didn't say anything to call his attention. She just stared at him.

Then, like feeling someone was looking behind him, mad man turned around towards Three Broomsticks and in a split second recognized Lily.

Lily's eyes widened as she was finally sure that it was James. She recognized that he was still in his pajamas under his cloak. She realized that he had escaped straight from the Hospital Wing and had somehow got himself a cloak. "James?!" she had to shout because of the heavy rain. "What are you doing?! You're going to get sick all over again!"

James laughed with contentment and satisfaction when he heard her voice. "I read your letter, Lily!" he declared, not taking any step toward anywhere. He just stayed put where he was. "And I'm not going anywhere until you hear me!"

"James, you're soaking!" Lily stated the obvious. She wanted to pull James out of the rain but then again, she had to soak, too, if she were to do that. So, maybe she could persuade him to walk to her instead.

James took a few steps towards her but he was still under the rain. "Lily can we talk now? It lasted – what I said to you. And you promised in your letter we'd talk."

"Yeah, but can you please don't… stand there?" Lily begged. At least this time, she didn't need to yell.

James chuckled. "I love you," he said. And he would say it over and over again even until he collapsed on the ground. "I've thought about it. I tried to forget it, but it doesn't go away." He paused and flashed a smile across his face, like he was glad with even just looking at her from where he was standing. "So I guess that means it's for sure, right?" If not for the rain, he would've looked at her straight in the eyes. But maybe, it was a blessing because his knees were starting to get weak even only thinking of what he was about to say. "Remember… the time… you said you want someone cunning… intelligent… and you thought I wasn't up to your standards?"

"I didn't say that," Lily denied, shaking her head.

"Exactly," James uttered, as he took one step forward. "Cause what you said was that I wasn't sweet enough."

Lily rolled her eyes but a smile was playing on her lips although she was trying very hard to hide it. "James, can you please get out of the rain?"

"Actually, that's what I wanna ask you," James started again, trying to see Lily through his glasses and the rain. "Does standing amidst this mad rain while my head is throbbing like hell 'cause of a fever just to be able to tell you that I love you can be considered as part of your criteria?"

Lily shook her head at James' ridiculousness. "I don't have any criteria," she said, crossing her arms on her chest.

"Alright then, and, uh, now I'm thinking… what can I do to make you love me back?"

"James…" Lily groaned, pleading so hard. "Please get out of the rain."

"Twice!" James exclaimed. He was getting incessant and probably delirious but he would never get out of the rain. "You said that twice. Does that mean you care about me?"

Lily paused. She looked at James' eager face as she realized something. She had completely forgotten about those things she said to him. And only then when he told her again that she remembered saying them in the past.

Cunning? Intelligent? Sweet? She laughed at herself for even thinking those things. And of all people, it was James, the last person she thought listened to her, who actually remembered them.

"James…" Lily groaned again. "Get ou—" she stopped. She had said it twice, as he pointed out earlier, and he wasn't budging. So, there was no choice but to give in. She rolled her eyes and finally walked under the downpour and neared him.

Lily's first instinct was to feel his forehead and as sure as it was… "James, you're burning," she said, her tone more worried than reprimanding.

"I know that," James chuckled. "But I wanted to do this now. I know Madam Prenny would kill me after this but it's worth it."

"Worth it?!" Lily exclaimed. "Are you very much delirious? How can it be worth it when you're killing yourself?"

They were standing one foot apart from each other but James took one step closer. "Because I know that by the time I make you smile I'm getting out of this mad rain knowing that you're feeling the same way too."

Lily knitted her brows and looked at him. And because of what he said… now, she was definitely trying her best to hold back a smile. "What?" she said while attempting hard to sound like she thought he was being ridiculous.

James looked at her straight in the eye. And slowly, he reached for Lily's hand, at the same time, scared that she might pull away suddenly. A wide grin flashed across his face when he realized that she just let him take her hand. "I love you, Lily… And remember when you said that you'd never emerge out of a cloak if ever you go out with me? I don't mind if you'd never come out from under a cloak again."

A second passed.

And Lily finally couldn't help but break into a smile. "James, you're crazy."

"A smile," James muttered, as he pulled her closer to him until they were only inches apart. "I told you. Well worth it."

Lily scrunched up her nose and chuckled at James' silliness. "You're not gonna give up, are you?"

"Uh—no?"

Lily sighed. James would probably be just as relentless even if he were dying. "I'm not carrying you back to school if you pass out again," she joked, shaking her head.

James smiled reassuringly. He had her in his arms. He wasn't about to pass out anytime soon. "Don't worry," was all he said.

To Lily, it sent several different messages. And one of them was probably related to what he was going to do next…

James never took his eyes off her. And even if they were so closely standing there together, he tugged her even closer. Yes, the height was just perfectly fine when it came to teasing her, or touching her face just like what he was doing or kissing – wait… Yeah, or kissing her. And without another word, he slowly leaned down and met her lips. His heart was starting to skip beats all the while nervous of what her reaction would be. There was a point when he thought that what he was doing was completely insane but then again… his heart shifted from skipping beats and started doing jumping jacks because he realized…

Lily was kissing him back.

In the rain they stayed entwined in each other's arms. It poured harder but they didn't care. The streets were bare from pedestrians where no one dared to walk even under their reliable umbrellas. People kept to the sidewalks where they could shelter themselves under the stores' roof ledges.

"Hey! You kids are crazy! Get out of the rain!"

That was probably the only time James and Lily let go of each other… for a second.

Lily recognized the voice and sure as it was, they saw the man, who went in Three Broomsticks earlier, came out of the pub fully covered in his trench coat.

James and Lily chuckled as the man shook his head and went along his way. "He called you a mad man, you know?" Lily muttered turning to look back at James, as she smiled while biting her lower lip.

James opened his mouth and inhaled, probably thinking of responding to what Lily had just said. But instead, he opted to just smile back at her amused expression, ignore the man in trench coat, ignore the rain pouring even harder, ignore his head throbbing like hell… and this time, he leaned even closer and kissed her… ignoring everything else in the world.

~~THE END~~

June 19, 2003

October 4, 2003