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Chapter Eleven – So close yet so far

Over the next few weeks Lily's attitude towards James was still and polite. The fire in her voice was gone and her eyes didn't dance when she spoke to him. James would tease her and instead of a glared and a sharp remark he received only a listless smile or nod.

"She changed alright, Moony, but I think I liked the old Lily better," James remarked as they watched her talking to Rose across the room.

"Has Rose said anything?" Remus asked.

James shook his head, "Lily asks normal around her so she doesn't see it."

"Why do you call her Lily when you talk about her, but Evans when you talk to her?"

"If I called her Lily to her face before the contract she would have died in shock. Plus she calls me Potter either way."

"Hey guys, what are you whispering about?" Peter flopped on to the chair opposite the boys.

"Not much," Remus shifted position nervously. They hadn't told Peter or Sirius about the contract because James hadn't wanted everyone knowing how he felt about Lily.

"We were, uh, planning the next full moon. It's in a week, just before Halloween," James filled in.

"Oh, right. Did you decide where we're going this time?"

"Nah, just brainstorming; I think Padfoot wanted to go exploring in the mountains. He's so sick of the forest."

"Too right I am, we always go into that bloody forest. And this is our first full moon this term; Dumbledore was watching Remus to closely last month, we need to do something good," Sirius exclaimed, dropping on to the couch opposite James as Remus sat back in his chair.

"We'll plan later, the girls are coming."

And sure enough Rose landed on Sirius two seconds later.

"Ouch," he glared at Rose, who laughed.

"Well, if you weren't taking up the whole couch it wouldn't happen." Sirius moved his legs so Rose could sit down, grumbling as he did. Lily sat down on the empty seat next to James, who noticed she seemed a bit more relaxed than she had been all week.

"So, what were you four boys talking about before we got here?" Rose asked.

"Oh, noth-" Sirius was cut off by Lily.

"They were planning the next full moon."

James looked at her in surprise, "How did you know?"

"Because you all looked so guilty when we came up and Remus was glancing around before, making sure no one could hear you."

"So you are smarter than you look."

"Amazingly; yes."

Remus shook his head, why couldn't they see the sparks that flew between them? He wasn't Cupid or anything but even he could see the chemistry.

"So, Evans, how's Malfoy?"

"Oh, he's great. I had a date with him just before lunch as a matter of fact."

James' teasing smile turned serious, "What happened?"

Lily shook her head, "Nothing."

"Yes, something did; what did he do?" Everyone was watching Lily now.

"It was nothing really," she nervously touched her face and Rose caught on to what she'd done.

"Hey Lily," se said, causing Lily to face her.

"Yeah?"

"Finite Incantment," Rose pointed her wand at Lily's face.

Instantly Lily's flawless skin developed blue and purple patterns which James realised where bruises. There was a cut across one eyebrow and her bottom lip puffed up and swollen.

"Holy shit," Sirius sat straight up. Peter's eyes widened and Remus leaned forward. Only Rose looked unfazed.

"Rose," Lily whined. "Why did you do that?"

"Because you need to show them what Malfoy is capable of."

James gently reached out and touched Lily's cheek, "What the hell did you use to hide it?" Lily flinched away from his fingers.

"It's a glamour charm. For some reason I can't do face healing charms on myself to clear up the cuts and my lip. Even if I could, the bruises have to heal on their own. The charm would have lasted until the marks were gone."

James pulled out his wand, "Want me to?"

Lily nodded and James quickly healed her lip and eyebrow. As she'd already said he couldn't do anything about the bruises that lined her face.

"Here," Lily pulled out her own wand. "I'll teach you how to do the glamour charm, I'd do it myself but I don't want to have to go find a mirror and give everyone the opportunity to see this."

Quickly she taught James the glamour charm, turning Rose's hair a shocking pink. Then James in turn transformed Lily's face back to what it had been.

"Lily, can I ask something?" Remus asked.

"About the charm?"

"About the attack."

"Oh, yeah, I guess."

"How come he can hurt you so easily, you know enough defensive charms to fill the Mediterranean?"

Lily blinked at Remus, "He doesn't use magic, Remus."

Sirius stared at her, "You mean he does it physically?"

Lily nodded, "It's why he can do it – he's a lot physically stronger than me. In a wizard's duel he knows I'd win."

"That's it boys, I think we need to deal with this once and for all. And I don't mean a prank," James looked from one Marauder to another, they all nodded.

"Don't Potter, you'll lose you badge."

"So?"

"It's not worth it – being expelled because a Muggle born got a little beaten up."

"A little? Lily, one day they'll kill you."

"And when that happens then and only then will one of you tell Dumbledore."

James stared at her, "Why are you so reluctant to do anything?"

"That's a story I'll tell another time. Good night."

Lily walked off up the stairs, not looking back.

"She's hopeless," Sirius shook his head.

"Are you going to do anything or do what she wants?" Rose looked at James.

"Oh there is no way we aren't doing anything, just give us a few days."

"That doesn't comfort me in the slightest."

"It's not meant too."

Lily sighed as she lay in herbed, curtains drawn, staring up at the ceiling. What was up with Potter? He was being so nice, not in a forced way, but in a caring, protective way. It just didn't fit with her mental image of him; usually he was so arrogant and could wait to tease her. Tonight when he had touched her cheek he had been so gentle.

Stop it! she ordered herself. James Potter is not gentle or sweet or caring, he was an arrogant bully that couldn't be trusted and that's the way it always would be.

"Head meeting tonight Evans, McGonagall told me after breakfast," James said, turning in his seat.

It was History of Magic and the boys were sitting in front of Lily and Rose at the back of the class.

Lily nodded and continued to sketch on the parchment she had been previously using for her notes. Now it was covered in a Quidditch scene; the stands, players bearing the Gryffindor Lion. She'd bewitched the quill to colour the objects according to their real life counterparts.

The ref was dressed in black robes; the Gryffindor players were in red and gold while the Slytherins in green. A black bludger hit by the Gryffindor beater that resembled Sirius was headed straight for the Slytherin Seeker; a boy with a twisted smile and long pale hair. Just ahead of him was the Gryffindor Seeker, his arm stretched out toward the Golden Snitch. On the rest of the pitch six chasers battled with the bright red Quaffle as the Keepers defended the white hoops. The crowd below them was a sea of red with a puddle of green at one end.

"Remus," she hissed when she'd finished and pulled out her wand. Remus turned and looked at her. "What's the spell to animate something?"

"Realimate."

"Thanks," Remus turned around and Lily whispered the charm to the page. Instantly the game started to move; the bludger hit the Slytherin seeker, the chaser flew back and forth, the red ones occasionally scoring goals and the Gryffindor seeker chased the Snitch around and around.

Rose leaned over and looked at the picture, "Wow, Lily that is really good."

"Thanks," Lily smiled.

The bell rang and she stuffed the picture into her bad along with the rest of her books and quills. They headed out of the class towards the Great Hall for lunch. AS they reached the doors Lily stopped.

"I'm not that hungry; I think I'll go sit by the lake."

Rose smiled, "Let me grab a something and I'll join you, I'm not exactly starving."

Lily moved across the Entrance hall and waited for Rose. Students passed by, quite a few smiled or waved to their Head Girl.

"Not eating Evans?" a familiar voice rang out across the. Lily groaned.

"Lost my appetite when I saw your face," she grinned. The Marauders laughed with the exception of James, who frowned.

"Seriously Evans, I haven't seen you eat anything much lately."

Lily shrugged, "Don't eat when I'm not hungry, Potter. Ah, there's Rose."

Sure enough Rose was weaving her way through the crowd towards them. "Hey guys," she smiled.

"Not eating either?" James asked as the others returned her greeting.

"Yup, I grabbed a sandwich so Lily and I can go down by the lake," Rose grinned. "Hey Peter, they have your favourite – that chicken teriyaki."

Peter smiled back, "Cool."

"Are you ready to go Rose?" Lily interrupted impatiently.

Rose nodded and waved good bye as Lily dragged her out into the grounds.

As they settled on the grass Rose smiled slyly at Lily. "So what's up with you and Potter?"

"Nothing, we've just decided to be polite," Lily didn't think they'd acted much differently since the contract.

"Last night you looked pretty comfortable."

"When?"

"Well you let him touch you for starters. Then you let him heal your face, you taught him the glamour char so he could do it."

"Do you think you could do a glamour charm?" Lily asked pointedly.

Rose shook her head, "They're way too complicated for me."

"Well I knew James would be able to do it, he is Head Boy and he's top in Transfiguration and third in Charms. That's why I let him."

"Third in Charms?"

"Remus is second but he really should be first," Lily smiled.

"You deserve that first; you're the best by far."

"Thank you."

"So, you've got your eye on someone then?' Rose pestered.

"No, I'm quite happy being single."

"There must be someone."

"Well, maybe there is."

"Tell me please please please ple-"

"What are we talking about?" Sirius plopped down next to them and the rest of the Marauders quickly followed, forming a circle.

"Well," Rose said before Lily could stop her, "Lily was just about to tell me who she likes."

"Oooh, do tell Evans," James grinned.

"I'm not telling you of all people. Before I'd even have finished my sentence the whole of Hogwarts would know," Lily scowled. James looked hurt for a second but then Lily blinked and the old smile was back.

"Hey Prongs, maybe its Snivellus and she's too afraid to admit it," Sirius chimed. Everyone burst out laughing but Lily looked quite serious.

"Oh, alright, so you found out. Now I suppose your going to tell him," Lily stood up and glared at the boys before stalking back up to the castle. The Marauders stared after her in shock, they didn't notice Rose silently shaking until she collapsed against Sirius and burst into fits of laughter. The boys stared at her until she finally regaimed control.

"Ah, sweetie?" Sirius asked uncertainly.

"Yes?" Rose looked like she was about to laugh again.

"What's so funny?"

Rose let out a giggle but quickly suppressed it, "Your faces when you thought Lily was serious."

"You mean she was joking?" James asked faintly.

Rose nodded vigorously, "Of course. Ew, Severus Snape, how gross." The boys all looked so relieved that Rose broke out into peels of laughter again.

Sirius looked down at her and shook his head, "Girls."

"Come in Mister Potter, you're early," Dumbledore said without looking up as James entered his office that evening and sat down in front of his.

"Yes sir, I wanted to talk to you before Evans, er, Lily came."

Dumbledore looked up, "Miss Evans, what about her?"

James looked hesitant, "I'm worried about her safety."

Dumbledore raised his eyes brows and James continued quickly, "Well there was the attack on her on the train ride and every second day she seems to be attacked physically by the Slytherins. They attack her without magic so that she can't use spells to repel them. She gets beaten up quite bad, sir," James looked up at him.

"When was the last time you know of?"

"Yesterday, Lucius Malfoy attacked her before lunch in a corridor. He cut into her face, bruised it and caused her lip to swell. She's using a glamour charm to hide the bruises I couldn't heal."

Dumbledore sighed, "You do know why they attack only Miss Evans, and not any other Muggle borns to that degree?" James shook his head. "Miss Evans is a Muggle born – like many students here, but because she is powerful and is recognised for her achievements her attackers have singled her out. Those students have been brought up to believe pureblood is the best and only acceptable people. Miss Evans is the opposite of everything they have been taught to believe. "

James nodded slowly, "Can you do anything about it?"

Dumbledore shook his head, "Things must run there course. And I need Miss Evans to report the attacks for the students to be punished."

"But she won't do that!" James cried.

"Then there is nothing I can do," Dumbledore sighed. "I know your disappointed Mister Potter and to be honest I disappoint myself, but the only thing you can do is help Miss Evans in anyway she will let you."

James nodded just as Lily walked in. She paused when she was James already there. "I'm not late am I?" she asked worriedly.

"No Miss Evans, Mister Potter was just exceptionally early," Dumbledore assured her and motioned for her to sit down. "Now I have called this Head meeting to ask you're advice on something. Should we have a Christmas Eve Ball?"

James had been expecting something serious and was quite shocked, "Err, sorry?"

Dumbledore chuckled, "No, I am sorry Mister Potter. I should explain myself. Darker times than now are approaching us and with the threat of the rise of Lord Voldemort I think it best that we try to keep as many students as possible at Hogwarts, where they will be more safely protected. A subtle way to do this would be to hold a ball, would it not?"

Lily nodded "It would sir; I know a lot of girls who have been complaining that no balls are held ever at Hogwarts; unless there is a tournament."

"Excellent," Dumbledore clapped his hands together. "Well now that that is agreed I should tell you that you two will be in charge of organising everything."

Lily and James stared at him in shock, "Everything?" James echoed.

"I will pay for everything of course, and you can use the Prefects but you have the last word in everything," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled with excitement. "That should be all. Oh, Miss Evans I'd like a word. Mister Potter you can wait for her outside if you'd like. "

Lily looked nervously at Dumbledore as James left, "Is there something wrong sir?"

"There could be Miss Evans," he said, pulling out his wand. "Finite Incantment," he said before Lily could react. She knew by the expression on his face; the pity, that her face had returned to it's blue and purple patterns. "Do you care to explain this Miss Evans?"

"Uh," Lily though quickly. "Rose and I were practising hexes and she accidentally knocked me out and I did this when I fell."

Dumbledore nodded slowly, "I see, Miss Evans, do you have anything to tell me?"

Lily looked up at him, into his blue eyes. "No, sir," she said as steadily as she could.

"Alright Miss Evans, I think you can go."

Lily started to get up but paused, "Sir, how did you know?"

"Well, you must promise not to get mad at my ways." She nodded. "Mister Potter was very worried. He's taken quite a liking to you I believe."

"Potter?" Lily could feel her blood boiling.

"Remember what you just promised me and I believe, what you have promised Mister Lupin," Dumbledore said quickly, causing Lily to blush. The old wizard really did know everything.

She left the office to find James patiently waiting for her.

"Are you alright?" he asked when he saw her face.

She nodded and they started to walk back to the Gryffindor Tower.

"You told him," Lily said quietly.

James looked at her, surprised, "You're not mad?"

"I was at first but then I realised you only did it because of the contract."

James looked at her again, "I did it because I care. Lily I care about you what happens to you. You heard what I said with Remus,. I meant every word of it."

Lily smiled slightly, "You said my name."

"What?" James was taken back.

"You called me Lily instead of Evans."

"Oh," James smiled. "It's a beautiful name, it suits you."

They had stopped walking now. Lily blushed but then looked up at James seriously.

"Why are you so good to me?" she whispered. "I'm so horrible to you."

James shrugged, "I guess I don't want to give up on you yet. You're the one girl who doesn't like me just because I'm good at Quidditch or because you think I'm hot. Hell, you don't even like me."

Lily smiled, "You're not that bad I guess."

James grinned back, "Thanks. Now, are we putting the Glamour charm back on?"

"Please."

"Of course," Lily closed her eyes as James cast the spell. She kept them closed a few seconds after it was finished. James reached up and touched her cheek, gently brushing his fingertips across the now flawless skin. Lily winced slightly and opened her eyes. She reached up and placed her hand over James'.

"I'm sorry," James whispered, but Lily shook her head and dripped his hand.

"Thank you," she said.

They continued back to the Tower, Lily deep in thought. 'What the hell just happened?' she wondered. 'What the hell is with me? I'm being nice to Potter, not because of the contract, but because I actually want to be.'

Lily turned to James as they reached the portrait. "Potter," she took a deep breath as James looked at her.

"Yeah," his eyes had turned cold at the mention of his last name.

But the question froze on Lily's lips. She couldn't do it – she couldn't betray herself and ask Potter to be friends.

"Nothing," she muttered and pushed past him into the common room.

James stared at her and shook his head, "Girls."

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