'Remind me why are you here?' James asked.

'Stop bothering me. I am just here for a drink.' Sarah said.
'I meant as in why did you follow me?' James said irritated.

'Oh, I thought you were going somewhere cool. Bingo.' She said.

James shrugged, then sipped his firewhiskey a bit.

'Okay, not getting personal, didn't you throw Evans the party?' Sarah asked.

'How's that not getting personal?' James asked.
'Oh, that I just added for fun.'

James sighed.
***
'Ugh.' Lily said coming to where Marlene were sitting.

'Lily, where were you?' Marlene asked.
'Dylan Starc just hit on me.' Lily said. 'It was creepy.'

'Really? You could do worse than Dylan.' Marlene said.
'Thanks for that compliment.' Said Lily. 'You have really boosted my self esteem.'
***
'I am in love with you, Evans. Marry me.' Mimicked Sarah, laughing out at the end.
'Okay.' James snorted. 'That is so not me.'

'Evans rejected me. Maybe she wants to play hard to get.' Sarah mimicked James.
'Ha Ha. Nope.' James denied.

'Evans is so in love with me. She just doesn't realize it.' Sarah laughed.
'I am out of here.' James said.

'Wait. Don't leave. I am just kidding.'
Reluctantly James sat.

'Do you ever think that you only like Evans because you can't get her?' Sarah asked.
'That's bogus.' James said.

'Really? Think about it.'
Sarah slid off her chair and got up.
'See ya. Don't kill yourself, sweetheart.' She smirked.

Then slowly, left the bar after paying the bartender.

James just sipped the drink he had.
***
'Okay, I need some fresh air. I just don't feel like it.' Lily said.

'Are you sure?' Dorcas said.
Lily nodded. 'Relax, I will be gone for a while.'
***
'Hey.' Remus said occupying the chair next to Dorcas, leaving the dance floor.

'Hey.' Dorcas said.
'Boy, it's been a long time since we talked, huh? Apart from potions, I mean.' Remus asked.

'Yeah, sure has.' Dorcas said.
'So, how's life?' Remus asked.

Dorcas laughed. 'What kind of a question is that?'

'Yeah, just forget I asked that.' Remus smirked. 'Listen, I gotta check up on James.' Remus said.

'Remus.' Dorcas said.

Remus turned around.
'I just wanted to say, no hard feelings. I am happy with Luke and you are happy with Mary. And we both deserve happiness.' Dorcas said.

Remus did a silent nod, with the hint of a smile.

Then he went his path.
***
Lily was walking in a hogsmeade lane she didn't know.

Suddenly she heard footsteps.

A cloaked person was behind her.
She ignored whoever it was.

And suddenly there were two.

And two in front of her.

Those silver masks rung a bell.
'Little mud blood, thought she could roam around like a princess did she?' One of them said.

He opened the mask to reveal his face.
It was Lucius Malfoy.

'Evans.' He grinned.

Lily had lost her voice in a sense of panic.

'Incarcerous.' He grinned and within a flick, lily was bound in ropes, the other death eaters snatching her wand in a second.

'I didn't think this would be fun, but hey I was wrong.' Lucius grinned.

'Sectumsempra' A furious voice called out and Lucius got thrown out with blood gushing out of his chest.

'I will have to thank Snape for teaching me that one.' James muttered.

'Expelliarmus.' James shouted as he got another wand in his hand.

'Don't move or I won't hesitate to use the killing curse.' James said.

The three death eaters opened their masks, a grin on their face.
The front one laughed. 'This childish display of courage is hilarious.' He said.

In a moment he hit two of them with multiple stunners ducking their spells left and right, aiming for their chest.

James sighed and turned around.

The last death eater had his wand over Lily's neck.
'Another word and the girl dies.' He grinned like a maniac.

He recognized the guy as Nott.

'Things are not in school anymore, potter. This is life. You can't win with your little pranks. In life, you are a filthy blood traitor and she is a mudblood.' He grinned.

James didn't reply.

'Drop the wand or she's dead.' Nott said viciously.

The whole world crashed upon James.
He thought he had things under control.
He always had.

Even denying it didn't help it. His ego had deflated to have his heart crushed into pieces.

He looked into Evans's eyes.

She was scared, he could tell. So was he.

With the weight of the seriousness of the matter falling upon his shoulders, he let go of his wand.
His ego.
And his love for Lily won over all.

For if he couldn't win her in life, he hoped he would have a chance in death.

Suddenly a red bolt of light hit the death eater from behind and he collapsed within a second.

James looked to see Snape standing with his wand arm raised.

Then with a second he muttered the counter curse.

And went to kneel in front of Lily.
'Are you okay?' He asked, Lily seeing emotion in him for the first time.

'Y-yeah.' Lily said shaken up by the whole thing.

James walked away looking at the four lying bodies.
He could hear Snape comforting Lily faintly from behind.

Lily looked at her side to see James, but all she saw was his fluttering coat, walking away.

***