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Hopelessly Addicted
Chapter 2
"Against All Odds"
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We shared the laughter and the pain, and even shared the tears
You're the only one who really knew me at all
So take a look at me now, there's just an empty space
There's nothing left here to remind me, just the memory of your face
Take a look at me now, there's just an empty space
And you coming back to me is against all odds, and that's what I've got to face…
Mariah Carey, "Against All Odds"
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James Potter liked being an Auror. It was the perfect profession, really: making big bucks for doing the right thing. Okay, so maybe the salary wasn't that big. And they didn't really get any credit for their successes - and were always criticized for their failures. But that didn't matter; James liked it anyway.
Unlike most of his colleagues, he didn't complain about the size of the Auror headquarters. In truth, James didn't work there, so he couldn't care less. He even liked to visit those crowded, tiny cubicles every once in a while - like, once a month or something.
But staff meetings… those, he disliked. So much that he had considered turning down his promotion to Chief Auror just because he would have to attend those damned monthly meetings. What was the point? He didn't agree with most of the other Chiefs - no one agreed with each other, actually. They hardly ever decided anything, James always left with a headache… and, of course, he had to meet Kate Malshirn.
Even now - six years after his break-up with Lily -, he still couldn't bear to look at Kate's face without feeling angry and frustrated. And, to his utter misery, she was an Auror, too. And she had been chosen as the secretary for the Chief Aurors' meetings, since she wasn't part of any team yet.
James honestly hoped someone would call the girl to a team soon. Of course he wouldn't, but… Well, even though he didn't really have any more hopes regarding Lily (whom he hadn't seen in six years), that didn't mean he had forgiven Kate for being the reason they'd broken up.
Naturally, he hadn't forgiven himself, either. James knew perfectly well that he, not Kate, had been the real reason.
It was routine for James to scold himself whenever he started to complain about any of his girlfriends since then. He'd lost the perfect girl because of his stupidity; he couldn't possibly hope to find any other one who'd be as good as Lily. They were perfect for each other, but now there was no way she'd ever return to him.
'Of course she'll never return! She's not stupid!'
Indeed, Lily wasn't stupid. The very first thing she had done after Graduation was to enter Healer training. What a wonderful, brilliant way to avoid being stuck with James during Auror training! By the time she entered Auror training, he was already one year ahead, so they never met. She was certainly too busy equilibrating the two hardest vocations in the wizarding world to attend the endless parties thrown by Aurors. Obviously, they hadn't met after training, either. She had practically gone straight to France, and had been working there since.
Was she happy? James honestly couldn't imagine the answer to that question. He wholeheartedly wanted to believe that she wasn't - that she still missed him; that she wanted to come back to him… But in truth, James was quite sure that she had moved on. Why shouldn't she have? James had, even though he had no idea of how he would feel when they met again. If they ever did, that is - Lily had done a pretty good job of avoiding him so far.
Whenever James mustered the courage to ask Remus for news, Moony was always a bit evasive. James quickly concluded that Lily had a boyfriend and his friend didn't want to hurt him.
But would it hurt, to know that Lily had moved on? Probably not. It was strange to think that his deep feelings for her had disappeared so quickly… Well, it had actually taken him a few months to suppress them and get back on his feet, but still! He had always thought that he'd love her forever… Apparently, that had not been the case. Their 'forever' had barely lasted for two years…
Maybe Lily already had a boyfriend who had been with her for more than two years… But she couldn't have forgotten James completely… could she?
All right, James had moved on, but… he hadn't forgotten her. How could he forget? She had meant too much for him to forget her this easily.
But he didn't… love her anymore - not after all this time.
"Have you got anything to add, Mr. Potter?"
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Someone told me love would all save us, but how can that be?
Look what love gave us: a world full of killing and blood spilling
That world never came…
And they said that a hero can save us; I'm not gonna stand here and wait
I'll hold on to the wings of the eagles, watch as they all fly away…
Chad Kroeger and Josey Scott, "Hero"
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James looked up at the Minister, startled. He hadn't been paying any attention to the discussion… But somehow he was sure that he would regret it deeply if he answered 'no' -
"I'm not… quite sure, sir."
'Oh, yeah, very smooth, James Potter.'
"You should make up your mind! The continued existence of groups like your own is what is at stake here! Do you or do you not agree with the maintenance of undercover Auror groups?"
"Of course I do! But - well, I believe we all understand the importance of these groups… Despite all the budget issues, they mustn't cease to exist."
"I think they're absolutely essential," Kate Malshirn piped up, beaming at James. "They're the best Aurors, after all."
James tried very hard not to wince; the atmosphere in the room suddenly seemed very glacial. Most of the fourteen Chief Aurors were glaring at Kate - the few who weren't had politely tried to focus on the Minister.
"Well -" began Alastor Moody hotly.
"Not all of us agree with you, Miss Malshirn," interrupted Frank Longbottom, one of the ones who worked in Headquarters. "Your - er - partial opinion of who are the best Aurors should not cloud your judgement. The existence of these groups is making the financial resources deficient for other teams."
Frank looked at James pointedly. Their behaviour towards each other at work was mostly civil, but in truth they were on excellent terms - James had even been best man at Frank's wedding.
"But they are important, Frank!" James intervened predictably. "We can do stuff you can't - the Ministry doesn't recognise our existence entirely, so we're allowed to face more -"
"Danger? What, James, you think us regular Aurors don't face as much danger as you guys do?" demanded Ralph Cyrus, Frank's colleague. "Oh, honestly!"
Gideon Prewett let out an amused whistle. He also had an undercover group, and found this discussion as annoying as James did. Of course the Ministry wasn't going to end the groups! They had more than once helped the regular Aurors with tricky, off-the-record missions…
"Listen, guys," he said conciliatorily, "obviously, we all face a lot of equally dangerous situations. It's what we do. And… well, if we have to survive budget reductions - we undercover groups, I mean -, then we'll have to survive. Because we're as necessary as you are - and everybody here knows that. Merlin knows we have enough to worry about - we don't need money problems to top it off… But if it's necessary, then so be it."
James nodded, and so did Frank.
"So you'd be willing to maintain your groups with one third of your current budget?" asked the Minister. "Mr. Potter? Mr. Prewett? Miss Rutilia?"
"One third?" moaned Julia Rutilia, running her hands through her dark brown hair. "One third? That's too little! Our workload gets bigger every day!"
"And so does ours!" exclaimed Ralph heatedly.
James raised his hand to stop the imminent arguing. "We'll work it out between the three of us. What do you think, Gideon?"
"Fine by me."
Julia turned to look at James, curious. Oh, what was he up to this time?
He smiled at her. "Jules?"
How could she possibly resist that smile? How could she ever say 'no' to him? James obviously still had quite an effect on her… even though they had already been together for almost a year.
"Yeah, okay."
James turned to look at the Minister. It was very rare for him to attend these meetings, for he was a busy man. But every once in a while he showed up… James couldn't understand why anyone would come to these meetings willingly.
"Anything else, sir?"
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For what it's worth, I think there's nobody like you
You've got grace, got a heart beating and despite you're fun (…)
Now we're alone, gonna show how much I need you
Kiss you so you won't ever wanna leave me…
The Corrs, "Even If"
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The meeting was shorter than usual; the Minister had a meeting at eight o'clock. The Chief Aurors weren't willing to continue after he'd left - most of them enjoyed the discussions as little as James did -, and were now returning to their teams.
The staff meetings were always held at different places in the Ministry to avoid any sort of assault by Death Eaters, striking all the Chief Aurors at once. So now they were all leaving a room inside the Department of Magical Creatures, far away from Auror headquarters.
James walked leisurely to the Ministry exit. He was thankful for the wrapping up of that boring, pointless meeting; now he could go back to work - real work, not the sickening diplomacy and politics involved in dealing with the Minister…
"Hey," said a voice behind him.
James turned and embraced Julia, kissing her softly.
"Merlin, that meeting was boring!" he muttered with a sigh.
"It was! Thank goodness it's over - but what on earth was that all about? What are you and Gideon up to?"
James smiled that secretive, gorgeous smile of his. "Never mind that - you'll get the resources you need. We don't spend that much money, Gideon and I. We'll be able to give you more than one third of your current budget."
"This funding reduction doesn't include salaries, right?"
"No, just operational costs."
"Still, it's so not fair… The other groups don't have to pay electricity bills or rent; their Aurors don't have to buy Muggle clothes all the time or anything!"
"Don't worry, Jules," he said, lifting her chin a little. "You'll get the money you need, no matter what they say."
She sighed and put her arms around his neck, giving in to his kiss. How could he always make everything seem all right so swiftly? How could he have such a disturbing effect on her? And how had she managed to find such a perfect guy?
Julia was an exuberant brunette who tended to have really bad luck in her relationships. She always managed to pick the wrong guys somehow - James was beyond any doubt her best boyfriend so far. Everybody thought she was beautiful and lovely; it was very hard to get on her bad side. In fact, being an Auror didn't really match her personality; her choice had been a result of her older sister's murder by Death Eaters, six years ago.
It hadn't been hard for her to achieve the much-coveted position of Chief Auror in one of the undercover teams. She was naturally gentle, meek, and conciliatory. James, on the other hand, was extremely dynamic and sharp - a bit autocratic, even. He had an irresistibly magnetic personality, and she found it almost impossible to deny him anything.
They hardly ever had arguments. Whenever they did, James was always the first to apologise and admit he was wrong. But, obviously, things were done his way most of the time, since she disliked arguing with him and wasn't nearly as stubborn as James was. Other than that little flaw, however, he was wonderful.
Julia checked her watch. "Oh, Merlin, I really should get going. My team's leaving in ten minutes."
He kissed her once more. "Good luck, and be careful," he said, looking into her eyes.
"Bye, James - I love you."
He hesitated for a few milliseconds, like always.
'Oh, come on,' he scolded himself. 'Jules is leaving on an extremely dangerous mission - and even now you still can't say you love her? Your Lily-caused traumas have nothing to do with this adorable, gentle girl! Why can't you just say it?'
"Me too," he said at last.
This seemed to please Julia; her beautiful dark green eyes twinkled. She knew nothing of his inner struggle, and had never complained about the fact that he had never said the actual words 'I love you'; it was always 'me too.'
She grinned and walked away.
James stared after her, feeling a bit guilty. But how could he tell Julia spontaneously that he loved her if he wasn't sure he did?
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Ton adieu, je n'y crois pas du tout
C'est un au revoir, presqu'un rendez-vous
Ça va pas changer le monde, il a trop tourné sans nous
Il pleura toujours sur Londres, ça va rien changer du tout
Qu'est-ce que ça peut bien lui faire une porte qui s'est refermée?
On s'est aimé, n'en parlons plus, et la vie continue...
Joe Dassin, "Ça va pas changer le monde"
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On her first day at the job, Lily arrived at the office at seven-thirty sharp. Marlene opened the door for her; when they entered, both Amelia and Dorcas were waiting anxiously to talk to Lily.
"Why don't you like James?" asked Dorcas. "I've never seen him as angry as he was yesterday, arguing with you."
"I remember you guys used to date," intervened Marlene. "But then you broke up, right?"
"Yeah," Lily replied dully. Well, she knew they were bound to ask her these questions… but she didn't like thinking about the past. James had broken her heart, and it had taken her a long time to mend: now she knew fully well that he was a jerk, period. There was no more need to think about it. "We broke up, because he cheated on me… with Kate Malshirn."
Comprehension slowly dawned on their faces.
Amelia frowned. "So you took this job because you didn't want her to get it?"
"Yeah."
"So… are you still in love with him?"
Lily's eyes flashed. "No! I hate him now."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course! After everything he's done… I'll never forgive him."
The girls looked at Lily curiously. It seemed strange that a girl should hate James so passionately… In fact, none of them had ever met a girl who didn't like him.
"He's upstairs," said Marlene. "He has your key."
"I'll get it later, then."
They suddenly seemed a bit uncomfortable.
"What's wrong?"
"It - it's just -" stuttered Dorcas. "Well… you're going to work upstairs, too."
"What?"
"You're going to work with James, upstairs."
"Why?"
"You're a Chief Auror… You guys have to work together."
Lily buried her face in her hands. Merlin, this just kept getting worse… After taking a deep breath, she faced them again.
"I hope that door is soundproof," she said with a slight grin. "There's going to be a lot of yelling and duelling in that office."
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It's you I hoped for, us I prayed for, and me that I believed was wrong
Now my anger is my best friend - be careful, I may bite your head off!
So call me a bitch in heat and I'll call you a liar; we'll throw stones until we're dead
So call me a bitch in heat and I'll call you a motherfucker
And we'll throw stones until we're dead…
Paula Cole, "Throwing Stones"
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"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too! Admit it! You were wrong!"
"I didn't say the camp would be -"
"Of course you did! Several times!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
On the first floor, Marlene and Dorcas listened to the Chief Aurors' yelling upstairs. Lily hadn't exaggerated when she'd said that the two of them would argue a lot… She and James had already had five very loud rows in the three hours since she'd arrived.
"I think it's only going to get worse," said Marlene with a sigh.
"They'll tire… eventually! They have to!"
"Oh, no, I don't think so. They bickered for six whole years!"
"Really? I wish I remembered them from Hogwarts. But I was a few years older, and I didn't pay much attention to the Marauders. Sure, they were cute, but they were way too young for me to care that much. Plus, I've never liked Quidditch."
Dorcas stared at the closed door pensively. The did-not-did-too was still going on. "Merlin, they sound like two little kids."
"They bring out the worst in each other… I'm sure neither of them is like this around anyone else."
"Do you reckon they're still in love with each other?"
Marlene shrugged.
"I don't think so. I already know how to recognise the signs by now… No, she definitely doesn't have a crush on him."
"Yeah, I agree."
"Wouldn't it be romantic if they were still in love, though? I mean, after all this time… Maybe James still likes her."
James' deafening "FINE!" from upstairs interrupted their conversation.
"Fine!" Lily shrieked, even louder than him. She then stormed out of their office, slammed the door and descended the stairs quickly, visibly furious.
Marlene threw Dorcas a meaningful look. "I really don't think so," she muttered.
Lily walked to the girls. Marlene gave her a glass of water; after drinking it and taking a few deep breaths, Lily was calm enough to begin a normal conversation. "Oh, James Potter is the most irritating man on Earth!"
"Today is your first day, Lily," said Dorcas. "Maybe things will get better as time goes by."
"They won't!"
"Maybe you two -"
"We don't get along, period," she explained irritably. "But we'll get the work done despite all the arguing, there's no doubt about that."
"Well… That's good, I guess."
"No, it's not," Lily replied, still annoyed. "If we didn't get the work done, one of us would be fired. That would be better - well, anything is better than working with that man."
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If you wanna be my lover, you've got to get with my friends
Make it last forever - friendship never ends
If you wanna be my lover, you have got to give
Taking is too easy, but that's the way it is…
Spice Girls, "Wannabe"
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The door to the hall opened suddenly, and Lily turned.
Remus entered; his skin was even paler than usual, and his eyes were tired. She remembered that Sirius had mentioned something about the approaching full moon.
"Moony!" she squealed, grinning.
Lily ran to him and they hugged.
"Wow," he said, smiling. "You look absolutely gorgeous, Lil."
"Thank you!"
"Are you going to keep on pretending we're not here?" asked Sirius, who had just entered. "I know you love Moony to death, but come on…"
She beamed playfully. "Oh, Padfoot, you know I'll always love you, too."
He gave her a kiss on the cheek, and walked away, making way for the fourth Marauder to cross the threshold.
Sirius greeted Marlene and Dorcas in his usual, charming way, and rushed back to Lily, curious. Why was she there?
"What about me?" Peter complained.
Lily threw him a sympathetic look and hugged him. "Aw, Wormtail… you know you have a special place in my heart."
He smiled.
"So… What are you doing here?" asked Remus curiously. "Padfoot mentioned you had come yesterday - and I thought you were going to stop by, but you never came."
"Well, I work here now."
Silence.
"Here?" spurted Peter at last. "You mean… here?"
"In this office? With James?"
"That's what the Minister wanted to talk to you about?"
She nodded. "Unfortunately."
The three Marauders stared at Lily, stupefied.
"But… why did you agree?" demanded Sirius. "I'm sure he wouldn't force you…"
She hesitated before answering. Indeed, why had she agreed?
Well… because of Kate, of course. But if she told them that, they'd automatically conclude that she was still in love with James - which she wasn't.
"Does Dumbledore want you here?" asked Remus all of a sudden.
Her eyes widened, and darted towards Marlene and Dorcas.
He understood her shock, and added hastily, "We're all members of the Order, don't worry."
Lily raised her eyebrows and glanced at the girls, surprised. "In that case… yes, he does."
Marlene and Dorcas were also watching her with renewed interest. "You're in the Order, too? You've never come to the meetings!"
"Well, I'm going to start now… I was in France, so I didn't attend them, but I worked for the Order nonetheless."
"Amelia isn't part of the Order," warned Dorcas. "But that's just because of Gus. Her brother Edgar's already part of it, and they're all the family the kid's got."
"But she does all sorts of office work - she helps in whatever ways she can. She's even done some things for the Order, even though she's not officially involved," clarified Marlene.
Sirius was still having a hard time believing the situation. "So you quit your job as a Chief Auror in France to work under Prongs' supervision?"
"No! First, I didn't quit my job in France - I'll try to juggle both of them for as long as I can handle it. And second, I'm not working under James' supervision. We're both Chief Aurors, and Co-Heads of Strategy."
"You're joking," said Remus, beaming. "You two are going to… not only work together, but also depend on each other's consent to get anything done?"
She grinned, a bit ruefully.
"If you don't mind me saying so, that sounds impossible," mused Peter.
"It is."
"You're crazy," stated Sirius.
"No, Dumbledore's crazy. He's the one who wanted me here in first place. Actually," she checked her watch. "I think I'm going to Hogwarts and talk to him now. Try and make him change his mind, you know."
"You do that."
"Bye, everyone."
She left in a hurry, and the others were silent for a few seconds, pondering what just had happened.
"Do you reckon James is going to fall for her again?" asked Sirius.
"I think she's moved on," offered Peter. "But I don't think he'll fail to notice she's much more attractive than Julia."
"Except for the minor detail that she hates Prongs' guts."
"When has that ever stopped him?" asked Remus with a slight grin. He cast a sideways glance at Marlene and Dorcas. "Well, I'm glad we won't be caught in the crossfire this time."
"Oh, yeah," said Sirius, smiling at them. "Good luck with that, girls."
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Don't hide away, 'cause I know that you've got what it takes
I believe you can be what you wanna be
Let yourself go, don't you worry about a thing (…)
You think that you're ok, but it's not good, good enough for you…
The Corrs, "Hideaway"
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There was a black cab stopped right in front of the building, and Lily entered.
"King's Cross Station, please."
The driver started the car.
She took a deep breath and looked outside the window. The boys were right; it was impossible for Lily and James to work together.
How did James manage to get under her skin so fast? She shouldn't have let him! After all that self-control training, she surely should've been able to ignore his taunts. Well… they hadn't really been taunts. After all, he hadn't irritated her on purpose - the first two times, that is. The other three had been deliberate, no doubt about it.
The driver said something, but Lily was too caught up in her own thoughts to hear. Why was she taking a cab, after all? She could've easily Apparated to Hogsmeade and gotten a horseless carriage there! Oh, James was already messing with her mind somehow…
"Pardon, what did you say?"
"Which platform are you going to use, ma'am? If you don't mind me asking…"
"Er… nine."
After a few seconds, Lily frowned. Why was he asking her that? It didn't make any sense.
She observed the driver with more attention now. He had long grey hair and beard, and his blue eyes looked vaguely familiar. Was he someone she knew disguised or something? But why would a wizard be undercover in a cab?
"And three quarters, naturally. Oh, yes," he said softly, looking straight into her eyes through the mirror. "Hogwarts is very pleasant at this time of the year… Miss Evans, is it?"
"I'm - I'm sorry," she stuttered. "Do I know you?"
He smiled broadly, and for a second Lily realised why she'd recognised him. Not - Dumbledore?
"My name is Aberforth," he replied.
"Are you in any way related to -"
"I'm his brother."
Lily was startled. She had never realised that Dumbledore had a family. Well, he obviously had to have a family, but… it seemed weird somehow.
"Why are you driving -"
"I assist other Order members whenever I can."
"Oh. And you were told I was joining the team?"
"Yes. Albus told me, and - well, he seemed happy you had decided to stay."
"Oh, I'm glad he's happy! Honestly, working in that office will be a nightmare!"
"You know very well that's where you're supposed to be," he replied sympathetically. "That little team has the best Aurors in the Ministry, and some of the most active members of the Order. Except for the Prewetts and the Longottoms, that is."
"But I don't like him," she said miserably. "James Potter, that is. I can't stand him!"
"You've always worked well together, even when you hated each other."
"I guess," Lily muttered. "You're probably right."
"Oh, I'm just the messenger."
He looked at her piercingly - oh, he and Dumbledore had the same annoyingly omniscient, twinkling blue eyes!
"Are you still going to King's Cross, miss?"
Admitting defeat, Lily shook her head.
Aberforth - or rather, Dumbledore, who had asked him to deliver that message, was right. She would have to stay in James' team. It was undoubtedly the right place for her…
And she would definitely have to learn how to work with James.
"No," she answered. "No, back to the office."
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Today is gonna be the day that they're gonna throw it back to you
By now you should've somehow realized what you gotta do
Backbeat the word was on the street that the fire in your heart is out
I'm sure you've heard it all before, but you never really had a doubt
I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now
And all the roads we have to walk are winding…
Oasis, "Wonderwall"
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Julia paced around the office, staring absent-mindedly at the papers on Dorcas' desk. James was taking longer than usual to come down for lunch, and she had been waiting for him for over ten minutes.
Unbeknownst to her, Lily and James were having another argument in the office upstairs. They'd already made the door soundproof, so not a word of it reached Julia's ears.
After a few minutes, he came downstairs. James was upset, but hid that fact well. "Hey!" he greeted, pecking his girlfriend on the lips. "How was the mission?"
"It went just fine; we got what we went for."
"Great. We should go, baby - I don't have too much time. There's an incredible amount of work today."
Julia nodded; suddenly, she remembered she had something to ask him. "I've just received a mission scenario - I'd sent it here, but that wasn't your handwriting on the parchment."
"Oh." Well, he would have to tell her sometime soon… It was better to deal with it already. "We have a new strategist - a new Chief Auror, actually. She started working today."
"Really?" she asked, smiling. "You're sharing power now? Wow… Who's the unlucky girl? - Because no men will ever join your team, of course."
"I do prefer working with women," he admitted with a grin that quickly disappeared from his face. "But this one's… different from the others. I think she likes to annoy me - in fact, I'm pretty sure she hates me. But she's a great strategist, so I kind of have to live with it."
"Oh, baby, you just like to control everything. It must be killing you to have to let someone else have as much authority as you. But you're right about one thing - she did send me a brilliant strategy. When can I meet her?"
He grimaced. "Well -"
"Julia?" said a new voice, coming from the top of the stairs.
She wheeled around, and, barely believing her eyes, asked, "Lily?"
James watched, stunned, as the two girls embraced, laughing.
"Merlin, I haven't heard from you for yonks! How are you?" asked Julia, grinning.
"I'm fine… How about you? Where are you working?"
"I have a group just like this one."
"Chief Auror?"
"Yeah."
Lily smiled. "Always knew you had it in you."
"What about you? Still working in France?"
"She's -" James began.
Julia realised how his sentence was going to finish and interrupted him. "You're the new Chief Auror here?" she squealed, delighted. "You're the unlucky girl with whom James has to share the command?"
"Ah… yes. Yes, very unlucky indeed."
"Poor you."
"I'll live," Lily said with a resigned sigh.
"Wow. That's just - wow, great!"
Lily was about to ask what Julia was doing there when she noticed James' facial expression. He was obviously ill at ease…
Then it dawned on her. They were dating! James was dating Julia Rutilia… But of course, the two of them had a lot in common, now that Lily thought about it. Their extraordinary gift for Transfiguration was one thing. They even had matching sun signs…
"But you and James aren't getting along, huh? I remember your duels when we were at Hogwarts…"
"We're not that extreme anymore," Lily explained. "We're just too stubborn for our own good, that's all."
Julia's eyes widened. "You'll never get anything done if you oppose James stubbornly - you just have to accept his decisions."
Lily laughed. "Sorry, Jules, but I do oppose James stubbornly and I will get things done my way most of the time."
"You two know each other from where?" James asked all of a sudden.
His ex-girlfriend smiled sweetly. "She was one year younger than us at Hogwarts, James. Unlike you, I actually attended all those boring Prefects' meetings - and Jules was a Ravenclaw prefect since our sixth year. Plus, we went through Auror training together."
"Lily was absolutely crazy! She was doing Auror and Healer training at the same time for three years! She barely had time to breathe… How did you manage to do that?" Julia asked, grinning broadly. "Oh, never mind. I know you're a genius."
"Not in Transfiguration… You're much better than me."
"Oh, but James is way better than me."
Lily shrugged.
"So… you're friends," said James slowly.
"Do you want to go out one of these days? Me, you, and Leylann, just like old times?" asked Lily, ignoring James completely.
"Sure! Just in case you don't remember - I won't go anywhere that has anything to do with Quidditch."
"You still hate it?"
"It's so… boring!"
"It's the best sport ever, and it's fun, and - oh, Merlin, we've had this discussion before. Okay, whatever. No Quidditch."
"I still live in the same flat… Send me an owl, and we'll get together. Boy, I haven't talked to Leylann in a year or so… Are you still dating that hot French guy?"
Lily laughed. "Which one? I've dated a few hot French guys…"
Julia giggled. "Oh, I don't think I can remember his name. Let me see… Albert? I think it was Albert."
"Ah… Alain, actually. Yes, I'm still dating him."
"So you guys have been together for… almost two years then, is that it?"
"Yeah."
"Wow, that's a long time."
"It is," Lily agreed, grinned. "What about you two? How long have you been together?"
James stared at Lily for a few seconds. So she was with someone - well, of course she was; he couldn't have expected her not to move on. But she and this Alain had already been dating for longer than James and Lily ever had. Was she in love with him?
"Almost a year," he answered quickly. "Sorry to interrupt, girls, but we really have to go, Jules."
"I've just noticed!" she squealed, giggling. "You two are the only people I know who call me 'Jules'! That's so weird! Okay, bye, Lil."
Lily grinned slightly. "Bye, Julia."
"Oh no, 'Jules' is fine… Aren't you going to say goodbye, James?" she demanded.
James blinked for a few times. "Yeah - bye, Lily."
"Bye, James."
The couple left, and Lily stared after them. Was this going to be weird? She didn't want to spend any more time than strictly necessary around James, but she didn't want to lose a friend, either. She and Julia had become very close during Auror training, and Julia had even visited Lily in France a few times.
Julia seemed to have forgotten that Lily and James had dated… Wasn't she afraid of losing her boyfriend?
Of course not. Julia trusted people. She was friendly - too friendly.
That was why, for example, she would never enter the Order of the Phoenix. She believed that people were essentially good, and trustworthy. In such dark times, people like her were rare… But Lily liked Julia, naïve as the girl was.
James had found the perfect girlfriend. Julia would hardly ever disagree with him; she wouldn't mind him controlling her all the time - they'd live blissfully…
Yes, James was probably going to marry this girl, and they'd be happy together.
Lily grinned. Why, it was likely that she'd be the bridesmaid at James' wedding! How perfectly ironic!
Strangely enough, the prospect didn't bother her at all.
'I think I did it,' she thought cheerfully. 'I'm over him, for good!'
Well, now she could hate him in peace, without worrying about whether or not she was going to fall for him again. If thinking about James' wedding to another woman didn't upset Lily, then surely nothing else would.
She was finally over James.
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