Not Another Teen Love Story

Chapter 1: Letter from James

It was the summer before Lily’s seventh year and she could hardly wait. She had gotten many letters from friends in the Wizarding World but it just was not the same as being there. She had hoped her friend Leah would invite her over for a couple of weeks but that had not happened. She had just received her Hogwart’s letter a couple of days ago and, needless to say, something great had arrived along with it.

Her Head Girl Badge!

She had somehow known that she would make Head Girl. Of course, she never would have admitted that to anyone. ‘I’m not as arrogant as James Potter’, she thought. ‘Oh my gosh, did I just think of him again?’

Lily had thought a lot about James that summer, which was extremely unusual for her. She had hated him ever since second year. At first, she thought he was downright cute until he started acting like an arrogant prat.

Of course, she still thought he was cute, downright gorgeous actually. But she would never have admitted that to anyone either. That was part of the reason she loathed him so much. She did not like the feeling that he gave her. It was like anger and admiration balled up into one. So, she overcame that abnormal feeling by screaming at him every time he talked to her.

She had noticed last year that he had matured quite a bit but she still stood her ground around him. She would not allow him to break her heart like he did every other girl he had ever gone out with.

She was brought out of her reverie when she heard a pecking at the window. She smiled. It was Remus’ owl. Although, he was one of the Marauders along with James, she had become very good friends with him when they were both Prefects in fifth year.

When she untied the envelope, it felt rather heavy. ‘He must have written a lot’, she thought. She was hoping he would disclose in this letter that he had made Head Boy. She could not think of anyone else who would have gotten the position, except maybe Frank Longbottom.

When she opened the envelope, she realized there wasn’t one, but two letters, contained in it. She opened the first one and saw that it was from Remus.

Lily,
Hey, how are you? I’m doing okay. Full moon was a week ago. Lucky me, huh??

Remus had revealed to her in one of their many conversations in fifth year that he was indeed a werewolf. When Lily asked where James, Sirius, and Peter went those full moons, however, he refused to tell her. She grimaced when she thought of poor Remus having to go through those awful transformations.

Anyway, how has Petunia been treating you? I hope well. Next year you will be moved out, and she’ll regret never talking to you. James says hi. Yes, I am at James house. He knows you probably won’t say hi back but he says it doesn’t matter.

The Head Boy badge is sitting next to me.

‘Good, the Head Boy is someone I know,’ Lily thought gratefully. However, her happiness turned into some weird feeling she could not describe when she read the next words.

It’s not mine, though. James got Head Boy. I know, quite a shock, huh?

About James… I know you don’t like him, but he has been extremely happy knowing he will be Head Boy along with you. How does he know you’re Head Girl? Well, it was extremely obvious who would get the position. Anyway, he says he wouldn’t have it any other way. A word of advice: Please be nice to him. I know you “loathe him” (the quotations are necessary because I, Remus, don’t believe them) but it will make both your years more bearable if you are civil to one another.

Well, hope to see you soon. If not before, I will see you at school in a week.

Your friend,
Remus

Lily could not believe what she had just read. ‘James? Head Boy?? It’s impossible’, she thought. Although, Lily knew it wasn’t. He was top of their class, tied with her. It’s just with all the Marauder’s pranking, she didn’t see him as responsible enough, however much he had changed last year. She then remembered there was another letter enclosed in that envelope, and she had a feeling she knew who it was from.

She reluctantly opened it and saw that it was indeed from James.

Lily,

I didn’t call you Evans, that’s a start, huh? I wanted to let you know that I’m really sorry for how immature I’ve been in the past. I hope you can find it in your heart of gold to forgive me. You don’t seem like you’re the type of person to judge on one’s past, but just in case.

Anyway, I also wanted to let you know that although I want you to go out with me and give me a chance, I’m willing to not ask you out this year if that will make you be friends with me. Just don’t expect me to go out with anyone else, you hear? I also promise I will stop hexing any guy who says “Hi” to you if that will make you happy. All I want is for you to be happy. If this is not enough to allow you to at least be friends with me, just tell me what else I have to do and I will willingly do it. I’ve realized I’ve wasted all this time trying to get you to go out with me when you obviously don’t want to and you could’ve been my friend all along. If that’s what I have to settle for until you want to give me a chance (if ever), I will.

As Remus told you, I am Head Boy. I believe we should be friends not just for the sake of my feelings for you, but also for the Gryffindors. Please write me back.

Anxiously awaiting your reply,
James

A wave of guilt swept over Lily when she thought of how rude she had been to James in the past. Another feeling came over when she read the words “I’m willing not to ask you out this year…” She at first thought that this feeling was happiness. This was what she wanted, right? She was surprised to almost feel hurt when she read these words. ‘What is wrong with me? Does he not think I’m beautiful anymore?’, she thought helplessly. She immediately mentally slapped herself. She had never been one to have vanity issues.

She realized that it was probably for the best that she become friends with James. She believed it would make her year better. Oh, if she only knew how right she was…

She sat down at her desk and began to write out a reply to James. She had mistakenly forgotten all about Remus’ letter.
________________________________________________________________________

“Sirius, stop snoring!” Remus yelled while throwing a pillow at Sirius’ sleeping form.

Sirius just grunted in reply.

“You know he never stops, Remus. Just get earplugs. like me,” James said, pointing at two Styrofoam green earplugs in his ears.

Remus looked almost disgusted. “I’m not into that Muggle stuff, James,” Remus said. James had become strangely fascinated with Muggles ever since he had met Lily. Although Lily was a witch, she lived in the Muggle world and her family was Muggles as well,

Just as James and Remus had begun to drift off (Peter was off vacationing in France with his parents, or so he said) they heard a pecking at the window. Remus recognized it as Lily’s owl. James jumped out of bed and ran to the window and untied the letter from the owl’s leg. However, when he picked the envelope up, his heart dropped. There was only one letter in here, and James knew it had to be Remus’.

He gave the letter to Remus and plopped back into his own bed. A minute later, though, Remus dropped the letter back next to James.

“Prongs, buddy, it’s for you,” Remus said, shocked.

A/N: Very minor cliffy, although Lily’s letter is of course important. This is my first fanfic, I hope you like it. Be as blunt in your reviews as you wish to be, just taking into account that I have never written one of these before. Please, please review. 

Not Another Teen Love Story



Chapter 2: Hidden Feelings

Lily was extremely anxious about the letter she had sent back to James. What if he thinks I like him or something? she thought. Maybe that’s because you do, that ever-present voice inside her head said. No, I don’t, she argued back. Yet, she wasn’t sure anymore. Maybe she did. But even as she thought it, her mind told her how wrong it was.



She had hated James ever since she could remember. But what accounted for the mixed feelings she always felt when she was around him? She could not answer that.



She was scared to answer that.

____________________________________________________________________________________



James looked up at Remus from his sleeping position with a look of pure shock on his face. It can’t be, he thought. Only one letter from Lily and it wasn’t to Remus?? It was impossible.



“Don’t play around with me, Remus. You know my feelings are fragile when it comes to Lily,” James said.



“I’m not playing with you, Prongs. It’s for you,” Remus said.



“Alright, Moony, give it here,” James said. The Marauders had always called Remus “Moony” because of his once-a-month transformation into a werewolf. The other Marauders nicknames’ came from their Animagus form. It was illegal to be an unregistered Animagus like Sirius, Peter, and James were. But for the sake of their friend, they took the risk.



James slowly unfolded the letter, afraid that something bad would happen to him upon opening it. Lily was smart enough to have figured out some way to include a hex in her letter. However, nothing happened to him. His eyes grew wider by the second as he read what Lily had written.



James,



I am, of course, shocked that you have become Head Boy over Remus, but it will be something I will have to live with. Mainly because we will have to work side by side all year long do I agree to be friends with you. That is, under a few conditions.



Yes, I would appreciate it if you stopped asking me out and stopped hexing boys when they so much as talk to me. I am grateful that you are willing to give up those things. Also, stop hexing Snape for no good reason, or any Slytherin for that matter. If you agree to those conditions, we will both have a more enjoyable year.



Anyway, since we are now friends, maybe we can all meet up in Diagon Alley tomorrow. You know, you, the Marauders (of course), and me and my friends. If not, that’s okay, too. Well, I guess I will either see you tomorrow or at school in a week.



Sincerely,

Lily



James was shocked. Of course, she hadn’t got to the stage where she would sign her letters “With Love” but it was a start! Of course he and the Marauders would meet her tomorrow. He would tell them in the morning. He had a feeling that even if he had already gotten his school stuff, he still would have gone if it would mean getting to see Lily.



A smile played across his face when he fell back onto his pillow and fell asleep, dreaming of Lily.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Lily walked into The Leaky Cauldron, the entrance to Diagon Alley right outside said pub. She was afraid that James and his friends would not come. She knew Leah, Alice, Rachel, and Kimmy would show up. They were her best friends, after all.



As Lily went into Diagon Alley, she saw the faces of her four friends waiting for her. Leah was a very pretty blonde, about five feet nine inches tall. She was the tallest out of the group. Alice was much shorter, even a little shorter than Lily herself. She had a long-time boyfriend of three years, Frank Longbottom. Everyone knew that they would end up together. Rachel had long, beautiful, jet-black hair and was a little taller than Lily. Kimmy was the most beautiful girl in school and was almost like a female Sirius Black. She was very flirtatious and almost always got the guy she wanted. The girls had realized that Rachel had an eye on a certain Marauder, but she would never admit it.



“Lily, over here,” Kimmy called with a huge smile on her face. However, Lily was stuck in the process of looking for someone. “What’s with her?” Kimmy asked the others when Lily continued looking around. They all shrugged and walked over to her.



“Lily, are you alright?” Alice asked, waving a hand in front of her face.



Lily snapped out of her reverie. “Yes, I’m fine…Just looking for someone,” she mumbled.



“Would it be a certain James Potter?” Rachel asked cheekily. She knew this would get Lily riled up. However, today it didn’t.



“Actually, yes, that is who I’m looking for…I guess he just didn’t want to meet me here,” Lily said semi-sadly.



“Lily, would you like to explain to us what is going on? Usually when we mention James, you jump down our throats. Today, it seems like you actually want to see him,” Alice asked.



“Alright, let’s go to Florean Fortescue’s and I’ll tell you all about it,” Lily said, directing the girls toward the ice cream parlor. After they were seated, she spilled out the whole story to them.



“So, you’re saying you and James are friends now?!” Kimmy asked, amazed.



“We’re gonna try it out, I guess. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?” Lily replied. You could fall for him. That voice in her head would just not leave her alone these days. She was so preoccupied with arguing with this voice that she did not notice the astonished, yet happy looks her friends were exchanging. They had always known Lily and James would be perfect for each other. It was just a matter of time before Lily would realize that herself.

____________________________________________________________________________________



James, Sirius and Remus piled into Diagon Alley the next day. Little did they know, they were standing in the exact same spot Lily and her friends had been standing in just a few minutes ago. James immediately began searching for Lily.



James had explained to Remus and Sirius what had been contained in Lily’s letter. They were so disbelieving that they had to read it for themselves. Remus gave Sirius a look that plainly said, Have you ever seen James this happy? The guys had always been a little annoyed at James’ constant gushing about Lily, but now they were extremely glad to see their friend so happy. Peter had not been able to join them because he was vacationing with his parents in France (or so he said). Peter had been distancing himself from the group more and more over the past year. Although the other three were sad to see him go, it was becoming something that they were getting used to.



James’ joyous look began to change into a crestfallen one as his fruitless search for Lily went on and Remus and Sirius noticed it right away.



“Maybe some ice cream will cheer you up, Prongs,” Sirius said to James reassuringly. Remus and Sirius were almost convinced that Lily had stood James up, however much they didn’t want to believe it.



“Yea, alright,” James mumbled, letting his friends guide him into the same ice cream shop the girls had entered shortly before. James’ eyes lit up when he saw a flash of red hair. He did not even notice the other girls sitting with her.



As they drew closer, they heard Lily say, “What’s the worst that could happen?”



“What’s the worst that could happen with what, Evans?” Sirius asked Lily. When the girls heard him, they all turned to look at him. They had noticed Kimmy’s eyes get a glazed look over them when she looked at Sirius. Even though his question had been directed toward Lily, he was staring at Kimmy, which everyone noticed, also. Remus came up behind Sirius and whispered in his ear, “Padfoot, you might want to wipe your mouth…you’re drooling,” Remus joked. Rachel heard him and giggled. When Remus gave her an almost quizzical look, she blushed and turned away. Remus’ quizzical look turned into a satisfied one as he looked over at James. I made her blush, he thought. Oh, yea that’s a great accomplishment, Moony, he thought. Nevertheless, he still wore a bright smile on his face.



Lily had not answered Sirius’ question yet, seeing as she was watching the hidden feelings emerge from her friends toward the Marauders. She smiled to herself when she the exchange between Remus and Rachel. They balance each other out so well, she thought. She then could feel holes boring into her face from someone’s eyes on her. James.



She turned to him and smiled. He almost fell back from the shock. Yes, the letter was shocking. But that was Lily in writing. This was Lily in person. He believed that this was the first time that she had ever genuinely smiled at him, except for when they were friends in first year. This was the moment that he realized he was in love with Lily Evans.



A/N: I know, not the best chapter ever. But this was mainly just to introduce all the characters into the story instead of just throwing them in there. Also, I wanted to show Lily’s feelings beginning to emerge. As you can tell, there’s also going to be some romance for Sirius and Remus, too. Please, please review. 

Chapter 3

An Eventful Day in Diagon Alley

James was still in a state of shock as Lily continued to smile at him. Gosh, she is so gorgeous, he thought. Kimmy was still staring at Sirius and Sirius, her. Remus was still looking questioningly at Rachel and Rachel had her head down, blushing. Leah felt like an outsider, but she didn't care. She was happy to see her friends happy.

Well,we all knew this would happen in 7th year....hormones running rampant, unusual couples, but perfect ones she thought, as she thought of James and Lily.

Remus was the first one to snap out of it, Leah noticed. He looked around at Sirius and James, who were on either side of him. So, Remus elbowed both of them in the ribs with his elbows at the same time. Sirius snapped out of it, but, unsurprisingly, James did not. As Lily realized that he was still gazing at her, she looked down, blushing.

"James," Remus said softly. When James still did not look up, Remus decided to say it louder...much louder. "JAMES!!!" Remus screamed so loudly, everyone in the ice cream shop looked up, even James, fortunately. When James realized what he had been doing, a blush traveled over his cheeks. No one had ever seen James blush before and they all thought it was quite funny, even Lily.

As they all laughed, James said, "Alright, you guys can knock it off. It’s not like I haven’t been staring at Lily for years now," he said, winking at Lily. Then he turned to the whole shop and said, "I know I'm dead sexy, but you don't have to stare so openly," James said, cockily.

Everyone began to laugh, even Lily. Wait…Lily? It seemed like they all thought this at the same time and abruptly stopped laughing and stared at her, especially James.

"What? It was funny," Lily said, casually, beginning to finish her ice cream. The others looked at each other, amused, except for James, who had a large smile on his face. Remus did not think he had ever seen James smile like that.

As the others thought about how weird Lily was acting, she began to think to herself again. She had been doing that a lot often.

She had no idea what had brought on the weird behavior with James. She had hated him since second year when he grew to be what she called an “insufferable git”. But now she realized that he had obviously changed over the summer. Or, maybe he hadn’t changed.

Maybe she had.
____________________________________________________________________________

A few hours later, Lily was on her way to Leah’s house from Diagon Alley with all her friends. They could all see that she was stuck in some sort of daze, but they were too afraid to mention it to her. They had all, unfortunately, been on the end of Lily’s fiery temper before and they were not about to wander into it willingly right now.

James had been the perfect gentleman all afternoon and Lily found it hard not to flirt with him. She could feel herself liking him more and more even though she was continuously fighting it.

“So, Lily,” asked Rachel cautiously. “How was your day? None of us really got to talk to you since you were hanging out with James.”

They all gasped and held their breath waiting for her inevitable, impending wrath. However, what happened next completely surprised them.

“It was…great. James really wasn’t all that bad today. In fact, he acted almost…perfect,” Lily replied, somewhat dreamily.

“Well, FINALLY! You actually notice what we have noticed all along. He really is a nice guy, Lils. I think you should give him a chance,” Leah said, exasperatedly.

“You know, I might just do that,” Lily said. She then proceeded to tell her four closest friends all that had went on that day.
___________________________________________________________________________________


Earlier that day, Lily and James had wandered off from the group a little bit to talk about some ideas that they had for the upcoming year. Being Heads, they were responsible for planning most of the year’s events.

“Well, we’re definitely going to need a lot of Hogsmeade weekends,” James said. “I also thought that we could have some sort of banquet…not necessarily with dancing, but just a nice dinner for the seventh years. It could an end-of-the-year social event for us,” James offered, lost in thought. He had found that talking to Lily was easier than he had imagined. He had thought he would be nervous and he would trip over his own words. Maybe she’s not any different than other girls, James thought. Then he sneaked a glance in her direction. No, she’s different…much different.

Lily had started blushing as she realized James was staring at her. “James, what are you looking at?” Lily asked tentatively.

“The most beautiful girl in the world,” James replied without hesitation.

Lily rolled her eyes, but at the same time felt a weird swooping sensation in her stomach. It was times like these that it was hard to tell if James was joking.

As if he had read her mind, he said, “I’m serious…you really are very beautiful.”

Lily began to blush furiously. As if sensing Lily was feeling uncomfortable, James changed the subject hastily. “So, what do you think of the banquet idea?”

Lily looked like she had just snapped out of a daze. “Oh, yeah…that. I think it sounds like a great idea. It could be formal as well so everyone can get dressed up. Instead of making it an end-of-the-year celebration, it could be more like a Valentine’s Day banquet. We could have hearts for decoration and tables for two and…” Lily then trailed off and blushed again as she realized she was rambling.

“That sounds great, Lily,” James said, trying to reassure her that she had not just embarrassed herself.

As Lily looked at James, she realized how brown his eyes were. They’re such a beautiful brown…I could look into those eyes all day. Lily thought. She was so deep in thought, in fact, that she almost ran into an overly large man carrying a pile of books.

“Look where you’re going, wench!” the man screamed as Lily stumbled backward.

James was almost shaking in anger and would have gone after the man if Lily was not almost falling. With his Quidditch reflexes, he managed to grab her around the waist before she fell. A sort of electric shock went between them as he grabbed her. This did not go unnoticed to either of them.

“Are you alright?” James asked, almost breathlessly. He noticed how bright Lily’s green eyes were while he was still holding her around the waist.

“Yes, I’m fine, thanks,” Lily replied. Then noticing that James still had a hold of her, she said, “Umm…James?” looking down at the hand wrapped around her.

James brought his arm off of her hastily and instantly brought his hand to his hair. “Oh, sorry,” he mumbled while rumpling his already messy hair.

Lily just smiled at him as she realized that she had grown to love how he rumpled his hair like that. She was about to tell him that when they both heard Sirius yelling.

“Hey, you two! You’ve had enough time to snog, get back here!”

James shrugged at Lily and Lily laughed as they turned to go back to their friends.
____________________________________________________________________________________

Remus and Sirius had both been trying to get James to talk ever since they had left Diagon Alley but all they got in response was a few mumbled replies. They could tell something had happened with Lily but James would not budge.

“James, snap out of it,” Sirius said, waving his hand in front of James’ face. He was just about to bring his hand back to slap James in the head but that was when James chose to come out of his daze.

“He’s alive, Remus!” Sirius yelled, cheerfully. Sirius winked at two girls passing on the street to James’ house and they erupted into giggles. “I’ve still got it,” Sirius said smugly.

“So, James, how’d everything go with Lily?” Remus asked tentatively.

“Great, just great,” James replied, dreamily. He then realized he sounded like a lovestruck puppy, so he then replied, “Oh, it went alright.”

Remus could tell he was trying to regain his dignity, but Remus knew James had lost it ever since he had gotten stuck on Lily.

“I’m so glad that you tell us all the details of your love life, James, because if you didn’t, I think we would go insane,” Sirius said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Well, we talked about some stuff we want to do this year and…” James’ voice trailed off as he realized Sirius giving him a quizzical look. “Not that kind of stuff, Padfoot,” James said, exasperatedly and continued. “Anyway, we’re thinking of having a Valentine’s Banquet and we’re still trying to decide what else to do,” James said evasively. He did not want to reveal that they had not talked a lot, but decided to spend most of their time sneaking glances at each other. He then remembered how his arm had felt around Lily’s waist and that dazed look came over his face again. Remus knew this time they should probably let James enjoy reliving the day. He could tell them later. But then Remus remembered whenever anyone mentioned Lily, James forgot all else, even Quidditch.

Well, maybe not Quidditch…Lily played that too.

Chapter 4
A Duel and a "Date"

It had been two days since the gang had met up at Diagon Alley. The girls had all tried to get Lily to talk about what happened between her and James, but it seemed that she was permanently spaced out. It was now the morning of September first and they were all making last preparations to go to Kings Cross. They were all very excited to go back to school, but all for different reasons...

"C'mon, boys! The train isn't going to wait all day for you!" James' mom yelled back at the three sleep-deprived boys. They were all walking very slowly and they basically had to lean on each other to stand upright. They had stayed up all night planning their beginning-of-the-year prank. It, of course, involved the Slytherins and they all believed it would be their best one yet. Peter wasn't there to help plan it, but they figured it was just as well. He tended to slow down the process.

"Geez, Prongs. Has it always been this early when we get on the train?" Sirius asked, stifling a large yawn. However, James had not answered and when Sirius looked around, he saw why. Apparently, James had seen a flash of red hair and that always left him fully incapacitated for at least 5 minutes. Sirius figured he'd play around with James' head a little, just for fun.

"Well, James, I figured something out last night. I realized I'm not really attracted to girls all that much anymore. But guess what? I've found a replacement. Did anyone tell you that you have beautiful brown eyes?" Sirius hoped James wouldn't come out of his little trance while he was talking, but he was disappointed. Apparently, at the shock of hearing Sirius saying that to him, James snapped out of it right away.

James shot Sirius a disgusted look and took a few steps away. "What did you just say?" Meanwhile, Remus was sniggering in the background.

"I was just messing around with you, Prongs. I figured I'd mess with you since you were currently incapable of speaking," Sirius said, looking in the direction of Lily and back to James and winked at him.

"Shut up, Padfoot," James said while hitting him around the head but with a huge grin on his face. They all bade goodbye to Mrs. Potter and then filed on the train. James then apologized to Sirius and Remus and walked towards the Heads Compartment. He really wasn't sorry at all, however, seeing as he got to spend this morning with Lily. Although the other boys were sleepy, after seeing Lily he was wide awake. So, he joyfully made his way to the compartment, overjoyed to be seeing Lily for the second time in three days.
_______________________________________________
Lily and her friends had just clambered through the barrier for Platform nine-and-three-quarters, when Leah said, "Hey, Lily. Look who it is...James," she said slyly with a knowing glint in her eye.

Lily looked over in the direction that Leah was glancing and saw the familiar black messy hair. He was currently staring at her and she could see his miraculous brown eyes...Stop, Lily! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you like him. Lily then shook herself and said, "So?" in a unconvincing impassive voice.

Leah wanted to tell her how unconvincing she sounded but decided against it. She didn't want Lily to start the morning off in a bad mood, especially since she was supposed to meet James on the train. So, she just said, "C'mon girls, let's go get on the train."

All five girls stepped on the train. Then Lily said goodbye to them all a little too eagerly and practically ran off.

"This is extremely weird," Alice said but laughing all the while.

Lily ran into the Heads compartment to find that James had not arrived yet. She was secretly relieved that he wasn't there because she didn't want him to think that she was too eager to see him. But it isn't because you are...is it? She hastily pushed that thought aside. She knew she would be happy to see James again but to think that she was actually eager was scary to her. Then, she heard the compartment door slide open. She looked up hesitantly but instead of seeing James, she saw...

"Severus?" Lily asked, a little frightened.

"There's no need to be scared of me, Mudblood. I'm not going to hurt you," he said without a trace of gentleness. She shivered as he sat down next to her and attempted to put his arm around her but some kind of invisible barrier had been set around her. But by who?

"Snivellus, how unpleasant it is to see you again."
________________________________________________
James had walked on to the train, eager to see Lily so started right towards the Head compartment. However, when he got there, he witnessed a sight that made his blood boil. Snape was trying to touch his Lily. Your Lily? Not even close, bud. James pushed that thought away as he channeled his anger into a shielding spell. Snape hit an invisible wall with his arm and then looked up angrily at the compartment door to spot James. James also noticed Lily looked up and had grinned thankfully at him. James tried not to look her because he knew his anger at Snape would then fade away. Snape saw the exchange between the two and was about to say something when James cut him off.

"Snivellus, if you know what's good for you, you'll leave this compartment right now," James spat vehemently.

Snape looked like he was about to say something obnoxious but he couldn't deny he wasn't a little afraid of James.

"Alright, you win this time, Potter. Just remember, Evans, your Potter won't be here to protect you forever," he spat back just as vehemently.

As he made to walk out, James stepped in front of him and said, "You're wrong there, Snape. As long as I'm alive, Lily will be protected," James said angrily. He could hear Lily gasp slightly in the background at his declaration but she had obviously decided against commenting on it.

When Snape had left, all the Prefects filed in to get their instructions leaving James and Lily no time to disuss anything. James looked over at Lily and winked. Lily blushed a little but smiled all the same.

After meeting with the Prefects, James and Lily walked back to find their friends. They were having a great time just joking and laughing that they didn't even discuss the encounter with Snape. They were currently discussing how excited they were when they had received their Heads badges.

"Well, everyone knows I would be top of the class if it weren't for you, so I guess the Heads badge wasn't as big a shock for me," James said.

"Not trying to sound conceited but I kind of expected to get it,"Lily said, a little hesitantly.

"I know you're not conceited, Lily," James said, looking at her. She could not deny that she loved the way he said her name. She could also not deny that he was handsome. His messy black hair was very endearing and his brown eyes were so deep that you could get lost in them. He had acquired a lot of muscle from playing Quidditch for such a long time and it definitely showed.

"You're definitely smart, Lil, but we all know I'm better than you at Defense Against the Dark Arts," James said, knowing this would set her off.

"Oh, really?" Lily replied, with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Do you want to place a bet on that?"

"Sure," James countered just as mischievously. "Let's have a duel right here, right now. If I win, you have to go on date with me."

"Okay," Lily said. James was astounded that she had agreed to that but he hid his astonishment. "If I win, you have to be my slave for a week."

James smiled and agreed because either way he would get to spend time with Lily.

"Alright, we have to perform the niceities." So they bowed and then started their duel. At first, it was repetitive because they were so equal in talent, they either blocked everything or jumped out of the way. They did not notice that in the midst of the duel, more and more students were coming out and watching, including their friends.

Their friends were laughing because they all knew that it was the beginning of a very wonderful friendship. They could tell Lily no longer "hated" James because she was laughing and smiling the whole time.

"Tarantallegra!" Lily shouted at James. He did not step out of the way in time and proceeded to dance like an idiot.

They both realized that Lily could easily disarm James at this very moment and Lily would have been joyous if James didn't look so crestfallen. He realized that he would not get the date that he always hoped for. Lily noticed this and muttered the countercurse. He stopped dancing, looking astonished and Lily made a show of falling for no apparent reason and dropping her wand. When she grabbed it, James saw his chance and disarmed her.

"It looks like I get my date, Lily," James pronounced triumphantly and began to dance around like a monkey.

Lily tried to look defeated but she could not help but smile.

Chapter 5
A Surprise and a Talk
Lily and her friends found empty seats along the Gryffindor table right upon entering Great Hall, due mainly to the fact that Lily had a liberal amount of authority. As the girls all sat down, Lily searched around the spacious hall for James.


He had disappeared with the Marauders right after departing for the carriages, only leaving Lily with a flirtatious smile and wink. She had rolled her eyes but felt herself blush despite her apparent reluctance to. She decided against asking where he was going since she would probably end up scolding him anyway. She then gave up on her search and turned to talk to her friends.

At that precise moment, they all heard the echoing sound of the doors to the Great Hall opening. Lily turned, expecting to see James and she was not disappointed. He practically sauntered in with the other three Marauders flanking him. She could not deny how sexy he looked when he was acting authoritative seeing as he was just a natural-born leader. That's one of the things I lo-...Whoa! Wait a minute. Lily, what are you doing to yourself? You're going to end up falling for him if you keep thinking like this.

Lily could not help but agree with this voice and tried to search out the bad in James. She used to be extremely good at this but it was becoming increasingly hard to do these days. She knew that since she would be spending more and more time with James it would soon become impossible to find the bad in him. I should savor the time I do have to do it, then. However, no matter how long she thought, she could not think of one bad thing.
______________________________________________

Sirius, Remus and James had just walked into the Great Hall from Dumbledore's office when Filch caught them.

"Where were you three?" he asked wheezily and stared at them through his beady little eyes.

"What does it matter to you?" James asked testily. He had never liked Filch at all since the first time he had caught him out after curfew in first year.

"Well, everyone else is already here...except you three hoodlums. Isn't that just a bit suspicious?" he asked with a maniacal glint in his eye.

"Ummm, let me think about it...no," Sirius said cheekily and with that the three went and sat at the Gryffindor table.

"Well, let's hope that worked out the way we wanted it. Remus, are you sure you had the right charm?" James asked.

"Yes, I am absolutely sure. Now, we wait," Remus replied reassuringly.

James decided he would spend the time he could have been worrying about their success by studying Lily. She was currently laughing at a joke Leah had just told. He could distinguish her melodic laughter anywhere. He smiled dreamily as he stared at how her hair glinted in the light of the chandeliers. He hadn't even realized he had spaced out until he heard Professor McGonagall's stern voice silencing everyone.

"Now it is time to sort the first years into their houses," she said to the students and then turned to the scared-looking first years. "I will place this hat onto your head and it will shout out the name of the house that you are to be sorted into."

James, Remus and Sirius looked at each other expectantly as they awaited the execution of their prank. As all the second to seventh year students awaited the hat to sing its song, Sirius was practically jumping up onto the bench in his anticipation.

"Sirius, are you a bloody moron? Don't make it obvious. If Lily finds out who did this, she'll-" but James was then cut off by the Hat singing. However, what Sirius was awaiting never came. The hat sang its usual song about the “houses uniting” and “settling their differences” instead of the song the Marauders had charmed it to sing. It had been singing this ever since the beginning of the war against Voldemort. Sirius shot Remus a death glare.

"I thought you said you had the correct spell," James muttered venomously to Remus out of the corner of his mouth.

"I thought I did, I'm sorry," Remus muttered back apologetically. The charm was supposed to make the hat sing an obscene song in front of the whole school, but apparently that hadn't worked. James looked up at Dumbledore and he looked back at him with a glint in his eye.

"Remus, I think that you did have the correct spell. However, it looks like there was the matter of a minor interference," James said with a slight smile, all the while looking up at Dumbledore. Sirius and Remus followed his glance and understood perfectly what James was implying.

"Well, James, if you think about it, you could have gotten your Heads privileges taken away by McGonagall because of this prank; maybe it's for the better," Remus said, reassuringly. However, James found that he wasn't exactly disappointed. There were some apparent advantages, such as the fact that he wouldn't have to face Lily's wrath. And he would get to stay Head Boy alongside Lily. He surprised himself at his newfound maturity. However, looking at Sirius' glum expression, he realized they all hadn't matured as much as they may have hoped.
______________________________________________

By the end of the feast, all the students were glancing at the Marauders expectantly, obviously wanting to know why they hadn't performed their start-of-the-year prank. This angered Sirius but James found he could really care less about his soiled troublemaker reputation. He realized that he wanted to live up to his new Head Boy reputation.
James and Lily met up outside the doors of the Great Hall on their way to Dumbledore’s office for their instructions and duties.

“You ready to go, Lily?” James asked.

“Sure,” Lily said, smiling as she remembered what had happened after their “duel” on the train.

After James had stopped dancing like an idiot, they had made their way to the compartment that all their friends were sharing.

“Okay you two, what just happened out there?” Sirius asked, very curiously.

“Yeah, and what date was James talking about, Lils?” Leah asked, just as curiously.

James and Lily began to tell them all about their discussion on their way back to the compartment and they had challenged each other to a duel.

“We agreed that if James won, then he would get a date with me,” Lily said and was about to continue before Kimmy cut her off.

“’We?’ You agreed to that, Lily?” Kimmy asked incredulously.

“Yes…anyway,” Lily continued, obviously trying to change the subject to avoid and potentially embarrassing questions, “If I won, then James would have to be my slave for a week.”

“I’m sure that would have been so unpleasant for you, James. Following Lily around like a dog…oh, wait, you already do,” Sirius said, cheekily.

Since James had nothing to throw at Sirius, he resorted to just throwing him a nasty look. Sirius shrugged it off and Lily went on.

“Well, then you saw what happened…James obviously won,” Lily said, even though she knew his victory wasn’t fair, but she couldn’t blame him. She let him win. She still didn’t know what came over her. Apparently, none of the others did either. Apparently, Remus and Rachel both wanted to question Lily on this because they both began to speak at the same time.

“Lily, you looked like you were about to beat James, but-”

“I don’t know if I was imagining things, but-”

When Remus and Rachel realized they were talking at the same time, they began to blush. They started telling the other one to go on, but they obviously couldn’t find the right words, seeing as they were currently staring at each other. James figured they would save them from their embarrassment by challenging someone to Exploding Snap. He desperately hoped Lily wouldn’t accept because he knew he would definitely be too distracted by her to play properly.

They had arrived in Hogsmeade about twenty minutes later and took separate carriages up to the school. The boys had most likely wanted to firm up plans for their prank. Lily looked over at James to ask him why there was no prank this year, when she realized they were already at the gargoyle leading to Dumbledore’s office and James was staring intently at her. She started to blush and turned her head away.

“We’re early, Lily and I don’t know the password, so I guess we’re just going to have to wait for Dumbledore,” James said tentatively. It definitely looked like he wanted to say something because he began to stare at his feet and shuffle them around.

“James, do you need to talk about something?” Lily asked, concerned.

James was astonished at just how sweetly she said his name. I could really get used to that. “Actually, yeah Lily. I do want to talk about something. I just want to know…umm…when do you want to…you know…go on that date?” He mentally slapped himself for sounding so stupid. Lily was the only girl that made him stumble over his words.

“Oh, well, umm…I was kind of hoping we could get to know each other before we go on an actual date,” Lily replied apprehensively. She knew the real reason she was putting it off is that she was scared of falling in love with James.

“Oh, well, okay,” James said, crestfallen. However, then he seemed to realize something. “Lily, if we get to know each other before we date, then dating each other won’t be much fun, will it? I mean, most of the fun of the date is actually getting to know each other. I’m not the kind of guy who takes a girl out and won’t talk to her just because all I want to do is snog. I hope you don’t think I’m like that,” James said and noticed Lily began to blush profusely. His heart sunk into his stomach as he realized she thought he was a playboy. So, to fix things up, he said, “Lily, I understand if you really don’t want to go on a date with me. I’m not going to force you to do anything you don’t want to do. So, if you don’t want to go out with me, just tell me and I’ll leave you alone, okay?” No matter how much those words hurt him to say, he knew he had to say them.

Lily looked up at his face and searched his eyes. She could find no ulterior motives there and knew that there never would be any. She decided something right then and there: to give James a chance.

“James, I’ll give you more than that,” Lily said and James’ eyes lit up. She stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. She then placed her hand on his cheek. As she looked into his face, she knew that she was looking at a man who would never let anything happen to her and she liked that feeling. She realized she didn’t know what she would do to survive if James wasn’t by her side. She began to feel a little apprehensive that these feelings were coming so fast. However, she then realized that those weird feelings she was getting when she read the letters were showing her that she had never hated James. She never really disliked James either. She wanted to so badly, however, that she had always pushed him away. The way he had made her feel scared her. But not anymore.

“James, will you be my boyfriend?” Lily asked tentatively. She would not blame him if he said no after how mean she had been to him in the past. However, she watched as his whole face lit up and his eyes filled with an enormous amount of joy that she had never seen before.

“Lily, I thought you’d never ask,” he replied, beaming.

As she looked at him, she knew that this was the moment that she realized she was in love with James Potter.

Chapter 6
Six Wasted Years

Lily found it was easier being James’ girlfriend then she thought it would be. They hadn’t even kissed yet but it was okay with her. She enjoyed just getting to know him first. If they didn’t kiss and ended up breaking up, she believed it wouldn’t hurt as bad. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to kiss him, but she was still a little hesitant. She was still having a little bit of doubts. It wasn’t everyday that she went out with the guy she had hated for six years.

Much of the first weeks of school contained James and Lily sitting next to each other in classes and at meals. They also had night patrols on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. James and Lily were getting to know each other so well that they could practically finish each other’s sentences after the first month of school. Their friends had taken to giving them their time alone together so as to make up for six lost years. It seemed that everyday Lily’s doubts were starting to continually fade away.

James did not even notice that Lily was still having some doubts about going out with him. He was extremely ecstatic about their relationship; he didn’t think he had been this happy in years.

One day in NEWT Transfiguration, James and Lily were passing notes back and forth, trying their best not to let McGonagall see.

James: Hey, Lils. What’s up?

Lily: Ummmm…what do you think is up? I’m bored to death…what’s McGonagall even talking about?

James: Oh, something about Animagi.

James still had not told Lily about where Sirius, Peter, and himself went on full moons and knew right now would be the right time either. However, she knew just about everything else about him. When Lily had told him about her sister Petunia, he just could not fathom how anyone could hate Lily. This past month had been the best month of his life and it was all because of her. He wasn’t sure if Lily liked him as much as he liked her, but he didn’t care. She was his and that was all that mattered.

He looked over at her and was surprised at how she could captivate him every time he looked at her. He had looked at her so much, he thought the shock of how beautiful she was would wear off after a while but it seemed the shock seemed to grow each time.

He watched as she took notes furiously. He loved how her brow furrowed slightly when she was writing. He watched how her hair turned different shades of red as it reflected the lights. Suddenly, she looked over and their eyes locked. He could not get over how beautiful her green eyes were. It was all he could do not to reach over, grab her chin and kiss her right there in class. But so far he had respected her wishes. He could see that she was still a little bit hesitant and he didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable. Just as quick as she had turned towards him, she turned back to her notes but grabbed their note instead.

Lily: Why are you staring at me like that, James?

She couldn’t deny she wasn’t flattered by his stare, but she wasn’t used to it being so intense. She had almost wanted to kiss him when he stared at her like that. Why shouldn’t you, Lily? He is your boyfriend. She didn’t want to sound old-fashioned but she believed that if James wanted to kiss her, he would make the first move. However, just then James threw the letter back to her.

James: Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?

James enjoyed the slight blush that spread over Lily’s cheeks when he said things like that. He then realized Lily had written back rather quickly.

Lily: No, but thank you James.

James took that as the end of their conversation as she was hunched back over her notes. He smiled again. She’s mine. All mine.
_________________________________________________________________

As everyone was seated at lunch later, James leaned over to speak to Lily.

“Hey, Lils. Do you want to go out tonight?” James asked hopefully.

“James, we have patrol tonight, remember?” Lily replied.

James face broke out in a smile. “Exactly.”

Lily hated it when James spoke cryptically like that, but she loved it at the same time. She still had not told him her true feelings for him but she wanted to wait for the perfect opportunity. She didn’t want to pressure him into saying it back to her.
_________________________________________________________________

Later that night, Lily and James left their Head dorms and started on their patrol. Their patrols would have been unbearable if they had not had each other to talk to. They never found anyone in the corridors so it made their job pointless.

Tonight, Lily could see the mischievous glint in James’ eye. No matter how much she wanted to know what he was up to, she wouldn’t ask him. She’d just have to wait. She didn’t have to wait long.

He pulled out a silvery cloak which she knew was his Invisibility Cloak. He had told her sometime in the past month that he had one.

“C’mon, Lils,” James said.

She had told her friends that could no longer call her “Lils”. This was now James’ special nickname for her. Despite her reluctance to neglect her duties, she smiled and got under the cloak with him.

Lily and James found out just how small the cloak was when they both tried to fit under it. Lily’s heart rate started to increase rapidly. She could feel James’ breath on her neck. She looked over at him and smiled at the joyful look on his face. He looked over at her and as their gazes locked, they stopped right in the middle of the corridor. James lifted his hand to her face and then to her hair and stroked it with his hand. Her eyes fluttered closed at the touch of him.

When her eyes opened, James asked a silent question with his eyes. She nodded. He then did what he had been longing to do for a long time.

His lips touched hers briefly. Just as he was about to pull away, her hands went around his neck and began to play with the hair at the nape of his neck. A pleasant shiver ran down his spine and he felt a passion come over him that he had never felt before. He bent back down and kissed her more passionately. He was pleasantly surprised when her tongue traced his lips and he made entrance for her.

He began to realize that if he didn’t brace himself soon, his legs would weaken so much that he would fall. So, he took Lily’s waist in his hands and nudged her slightly towards the wall. He pushed her up against the wall and braced his hands on either sides of her.

They continued to kiss until Lily’s hands ended up wound through James’ hair and James felt like he was going to burst and start kissing her neck, they felt the urgent need to breathe. They broke apart and stared into each other’s eyes, searching for what the other was feeling.
Lily could see that James was shocked that Lily had let him kiss her like that but also that he was extremely happy that he got to kiss her like that. James could see that Lily was a little confused at what she was feeling but he was happy that she wasn’t mad at him. He saw something in her eyes that he could not place. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought that it was love. But it couldn’t be…could it? As James looked at Lily and saw just how blessed he was to have her, he regretted the six years that he had wasted without her. I’ll just have to make that up to her in the future…Whoa, slow down, James. You’re thinking like you’re going to end up marrying her or something. This led to thoughts about what their kids might look like and how he could spend the rest of his life with her. This made him so ecstatic that he didn’t even realize what words came out of his mouth until they were out.

“I love you, Lils.”

Chapter 7
A Never-Breaking Heart

”I love you, Lils.”

Lily was totally and utterly speechless. She could not believe he could say that with such surety. So, she proceeded to stare at him. Then, realizing they still had the Invisibility Cloak on, she pulled it off and let it fall to the ground. James looked at her quizzically before he said anything else.

“Ummm…now would be the time to reply, Lily,” he said hesitantly.

Lily just looked up at him and shook her head. James got so irritated that he didn’t even notice the tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

“Fine, Lily. I wasn’t asking you to say it back but you could have at least replied in some way. When you’re ready to talk, you know where to find me,” he said, testily. He turned on his heel and began to walk away when he heard a slight noise from Lily. He turned around and saw that tears were falling freely from Lily’s eyes. He could feel his resolve start to crumble but stopped himself from running to her and comforting her.

Why is it that one minute I can be so bloody irritated with her and the next I want to hold her?

Because you love her, you git.

Oh, yeah.

But it seemed to James that loving her is what got them in this mess in the first place. Trying to rebuild his crumbling resolve, he managed to mumble, “What’s wrong?”

Lily began to inch closer to James as she replied. “Don’t you see, James? How can you be so sure you love me? What if you like someone else in the next week?” She asked this last question knowing it would never happen from previous experience but she needed some excuse for her behavior.

“Love is a thing that is hard to explain, Lily. But I think it means wanting to be with that person for the rest of your life, protecting them and loving them. You may not always like the way the person you love is acting but you will always love them. Every time I look at you, Lily, I know I love you. I don’t know how but I do,” James replied, reciprocating her movement towards him.

When Lily heard these words, she knew she could not contain it any longer. She began to sob heart-wrenchingly and that is when James threw his arms around her tight.

“I’m sorry that you doubted me, Lily. But I really do love you,” James said. He then ran his fingers through her hair and kissed her temple.

“James, I wish I could say it back but I’m scared,” Lily said through her tears.

“What are you scared of, sweetheart?”

“Getting my heart broken,” Lily answered.

“Oh, Lils,” James said, squeezing her even tighter. “As long as you are with me, I promise I will never break your heart.”

Lily looked up into James’ eyes and saw at that moment that he was being completely honest with her.

“I love you, too James,” Lily said, strongly and with passion.

James bent down to kiss her again and when he tried to pull away, she made a small sound of protest and wrapped her arms around his neck to deepen the kiss.

I could definitely get used to this, both thought at the same time.
________________________________________________________________

Sirius and Remus were sitting in the common room chatting on this same night. As they were sitting, they heard the portrait hole open and two giggling people coming through. When they looked over, they saw Lily and James, acting like two lovesick puppies.

“They are pathetic,” Sirius said, but not without a hint of longing in his voice.

“Disgusting,” Remus said.

“Yet, somehow, we want to be like them, why?” Sirius asked.

“James was confident enough to chase after the girl he loves for six years, yet we can’t even chase after the ones that we’ve liked for a couple months,” Remus said. “How ironic.”
“Correction: I’ve liked Kimmy for a year, thank you,” Sirius said, gleefully.

“Wow, Padfoot, I don’t think you’ve ever liked a girl that long without getting bored before,” Remus said, jokingly.

“Well, Moony, it seems you’ve had your eye set on Rachel for a pretty long time, too. Why don’t you ask her out?” Sirius asked.

“Why don’t you ask Kimmy out?” Remus said.

“I’ve got an idea, Remus. The next Hogsmeade weekend is coming up soon on Halloween. I say we place a bet on who will get a date first,” Sirius said, with that “I-look-innocent-but-I’m-really-not” voice.

“We’ve got a deal. If I get a date first, you have to go to McGonagall and confess a ‘deep love’ that you’ve always felt for her…” Remus began.

“Oh, well, she’ll know I’m just trying to get good marks,” Sirius interrupted.

“But, in front of the whole school at breakfast in the Great Hall,” Remus finished, self-satisfactorily.

Sirius really wasn’t upset by this because he didn’t mind being the center of attention. In fact, he thrived on that. So, he acted upset for Remus’ benefit as he went on to say, “If I get a date first, you have to French Rachel.” He knew this would be a big deal for Remus. He was extremely shy and would hardly talk to a girl unless she said something to him first.

As suspected, Remus seemed a bit miffed by this but went along with it anyway.

“Alright, deal,” Remus said.

Neither knew how soon their bet would be resolved.
_________________________________________________________________

Lily and James walked back into the common room that night in extremelt good spirits. They had thought their declarations of love might make things a little awkward, but it didn’t at all. In fact, it made them closer.

As they walked in, Lily pointed out that Remus and Sirius were sitting by the fireplace.

“They look lonely…Maybe we should go sit with them,” Lily said, sympathetically.

“You’re so kind, Lils. But, alas, there is an empty seat by the window that needs to be filled with two lovers gazing into the midnight sky,” James said in a completely fake poetic and dramatic voice. Lily giggled and followed him over to the armchair that James had pointed out.

“But where am I going to sit?” Lily asked.

“With me,” James replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He sat down and then pulled Lily down to sit on his lap. He then wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled his face in her neck. Lily gasped and then relaxed because it just felt so…right.

“What are you thinking about, sweetheart?” James asked, softly.

“I’m thinking about Petunia,” Lily answered.

“Did she write you another nasty letter? Did that Vernon say anything about you again?” James asked, instantly angered.

“No, no, James, nothing like that,” Lily said, feeling James relax underneath her. “I just remember there was a time that Petunia and I would sit up all night and gaze at the stars together. And we would name them after people we loved or school crushes. Sometimes I miss her, James.”

James didn’t know how anyone could miss that snot Lily called a sister, but he didn’t say that out loud. “Well, look at that star, Lily,” James said, pointing to a bright star.

“Yeah, what about it?” Lily asked, skeptically.

“I am going to name that star Lily and every time we need comfort from bad dreams and thoughts at night, we will look at that star and think of each other,” James said.

Lily still marveled at how sweet and deep James could be, but she liked it…a lot.

“How will we tell it apart from all the other ones?” Lily asked. “There are so many.”

“Trust me, Lils, we’ll know,” James said, thoughtfully.

And as Lily fell asleep on James’ lap, she knew she would always be able to look out at the night sky and pick out that star right away.

Why?

Because James could, too. And that’s all that mattered.

Chapter 8
Rejected For the First Time

The weeks went on and Lily and James were as happy as could be. As time went on, however, James began to realize how little time he was spending with his friends. One Saturday, he decided to spend the day with Sirius and Remus (Peter just hadn’t been around a lot lately) and catch up.

So, the three walked out to the lake on a chilly October day and skipped rocks while chatting.

“How are you and Lily, James?” Remus asked.

“Wonderful. She’s more than I ever imagined she was, Remus. I mean, before, I looked at her imagining what it would be like to be her boyfriend but now I know how it really feels. It’s absolutely great, Remus,” James replied, softly and with a faraway look in his eyes. “But enough about me. What’s been going on with you two?”

“Nothing, really. Just excited about Hogsmeade…it’s coming up, you know,” Sirius replied, glancing at Remus.

“Oh, I totally forgot about that. I’ve been so busy with…stuff,” James said, blushing.

“Well, Moony and I set a little wager. We’re going to try and get dates to Hogsmeade this time instead of going stag. If I get one before he does, he has to French Rachel,” Sirius said, self-satisfactorily.

“And you agreed to that, Moony?” James asked, disbelievingly.

“Yea, I did. I knew Padfoot couldn’t come up with anything smarter than snogging, so…” Remus’ voice trailed off, waiting for Sirius to catch on to his insult.

James chuckled softly as they sat there and watched Sirius contemplating.

A full minute later, Sirius threw a stick at Remus’ head. “Gosh, Moony, I can’t believe you’d say something like that. That hurt,” Sirius said, mock painfully.

“Well, Moony, we all know you’ve had your eye set on Rachel for a long time,” James said while Remus flushed. Sirius tried to say something agreeably but James cut him off. “And, Padfoot, if you stared at Kimmy any harder, your eyes might pop out of your head and roll around on the floor.”

At first, Sirius began to get angry but then realized James was probably right. So, he resorted to looking passive and turned toward the lake to skip another rock.

“So, have you two had any luck so far?” James asked.

Sirius’ face got red and he began to stutter. “Uh…uh…ummm…well…uh…”

He would have gone on like this forever if James had not interrupted him. “That’s code for ‘I haven’t tried yet’, huh? Padfoot, I am astonished! I might have expected this from Moony but not from you,” James said, jokingly.

“Well, actually…” Sirius began but then broke off and began to stare off into space. James scrutinized Sirius’ face carefully and saw that he was a little sorrowful. This was incredibly weird for Sirius seeing as he was always the cheerful one no matter what the circumstances.

James turned to Remus. “Did I say something wrong?” James asked.

Remus first looked to Sirius and then back to James. He began to chucke lightly. James waited, slightly impatiently, for Remus to stop so he could tell him what was going on.

“Sorry, James,” Remus said. “It’s just that Sirius got rejected for the first time yesterday.”

“Why didn’t he tell me?” James said, now with a slight grin on his face at the way Sirius was reacting. Of course, he understood. Sirius always had luck with girls. Even if he asked a girl out who had a boyfriend, she would say yes and break up with said boyfriend just to go out with the “infamous” Sirius Black.

“Well, he was afraid you would laugh at him like I did,” Remus said, slightly ashamed. “I just couldn’t help it. He came into the dormitory, looking like he might be about to cry. I freaked out, thinking someone had died or something. Then, to find out he was so melancholic over a girl rejecting him…it was quite funny.”

“I’m sure it was, Moony, I’m sure it was,” James said, slightly perturbed that he had missed it, but all the while with a smile on his face. He then decided to turn back to see that Sirius’ face had slightly returned to its usual cheerfulness. “Alright, Padfoot. What happened?”

“I went to the common room to find Kimmy, of course, to ask her to Hogsmeade. When I saw her, I panicked. She looked so pretty and I was so afraid she would say no to me. I tried to shake it off and I continued to walk over to her. She was sitting with Leah and they were chatting about something. When I got there, I bloody lost it and ended up asking Leah out instead. She said no because she’s going out with some Muggle…Finnigan, I think his name is. But, it was an honest mistake. I guess I must really like Kimmy because I just could not ask her out for fear of rejection. Based on my prior luck, I don’t even know why I was worried. Anyway, I’m not interested in Leah that way in the least bit. Not that she isn’t pretty, but…I really like Kimmy, Prongs.”

The look on James’ face softened considerably as he could totally understand where Sirius was coming from. He was always nervous when he asked Lily out, with good reason. It seemed like she was never going to say yes. But then she asked him to be her boyfriend. I don’t deserve her, James thought, as he looked back on how nice and beautiful she was. He then realized he was straying from the subject at hand and snapped back to attention.

“I’m sorry, Padfoot. I know how it must feel. But you can’t give up. I never did and it worked out for me. Of course, it took six years, but Lils has always hated me. Kimmy doesn’t hate you, at least. Just give it a shot,” James said, encouragingly.

“You know what, Prongs? I think I will,” Sirius replied.
_________________________________________________________________

At the same time the guys were down at the lake talking about girls, the girls were in the common room talking about guys.

“So, how are you and James, Lily?” Leah asked, curiously.

“We’re great, Leah. He is such an awesome person…I can’t believe I used to be so mean to him. But he genuinely cares about me. Also, he’s a great kisser,” Lily added, mischievously. She figured she wouldn’t tell them she loved him yet. They might think it was a little too soon, but she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she loved him.

The girls squealed when they heard this with Alice adding, “I figured he would be.” Normally, this comment would be weird but Alice was always the blunt person of the group.

“Anyway, what about you, Rachel? Have you found a guy yet?” Lily asked, knowing full well that Rachel liked Remus. She could just tell.

Rachel flushed. “No, not yet. But tomorrow at breakfast, I plan on asking one to Hogsmeade,” she added, shyly.

“You? I’ve never known you to be a bold person,” Alice said, skeptically.

“Well, why wait? I’ve liked him for a long time. If I ask him now and he rejects me, then I can move on,” Rachel said, passively.

Yet Lily knew that Remus would never refuse Rachel. She had feelings that were usually right about these things. She turned to Leah but didn’t ask her how her and Robert Finnigan were doing. She had a radiant glow about her and you could tell they were doing just fine. Lily thought it was cute that she was going out with him. Lily had introduced the two; Robert was an extremely nice guy and not that bad-looking either. Not as cute as James…. Lily smiled at the thought. If she had any thoughts like that last year, she would have been scared out of her mind. But now they were a normal thing for her.

Lily then turned to Kimmy but the answer did not need to be asked. She knew what was going to be asked and answered before anyone said anything.

“Guys, I’ll tell you who I like but you can’t tell anyone,” Kimmy said, softly.

All of the girls looked at her eagerly even though they all knew who it was. They just wanted to hear her say it.

“Well…I like Sirius Black,” Kimmy said, blushing the whole time but smiling.

All the girls squealed and began talking about their crushes and boyfriends. They all realized that they needed to have this girl talk more often. But no matter what they talked about, Lily still could not get her mind off that messy haired boy sitting by the lake. No wonder she had a big smile on her face the whole time.

Chapter 9
Rachel and Remus?!

It was the morning after the day down at the lake and it seemed as if the Marauders were closer than ever.

“James, hunny, get up,” Sirius sang, sickly sweet and clearly sarcastic. “There’s a certain redhead waiting for you in the Common Room and I think she’s going to pee herself if you don’t get down there quick.”

Hearing this, James jumped up out of the bed extremely quick and dressed at lightning speed. The next thing Sirius knew, James rushed past him and out of the door.

“Wow, he really must have missed her yesterday,” Sirius said, chuckling. He then turned to Remus’ four-poster bed and smiled. “Remy poo, time to get up. Guess what? Hogsmeade is this Saturday and the bet has still not been resolved. Well, that will all change today,” he said mischievously, his plan forming in his mind.

“Yup, because I’m asking Rachel this morning,” Remus said with a little bravado. Sirius could tell he was unbearably nervous.

“Well, we’ll see. If you don’t crap yourself in the process,” Sirius muttered.
_________________________________________________________________

Lily stood down in the Common Room tapping her foot impatiently but with a smile on her face. She was staring up at the boys’ dormitory door waiting for James to emerge. She would never admit this to her friends, but she had missed James terribly the previous day. As she saw him run down the stairs breathless, she could tell he had missed her too.

Her smile got wider as he came closer. “Hey, sweetie,” Lily said flirtatiously. She didn’t know where these things came from, but since she had started going out with James, she had become a lot more flirtatious and vixen-like. She walked slowly up to him and began to trace the lines on his face with her finger. She heard his breath hitch slightly and enjoyed immensely the effect she had on him. “Miss me yesterday?” Lily muttered as she continued to trace his face and trailed down to his lips.

“Y-Y-Yea, a lot,” James said, trying desperately to keep his eyes open. He looked down at her face and studied it before realizing if he didn’t kiss her down, he might explode. He leaned down closer to her and enveloped her lips with his. They stood there for a few minutes with just their lips on each other, not really kissing, just touching. Then, the lack of movement became too little for James. He began to move his lips slightly against Lily’s until he felt her begin to kiss him back.

He traced her lips with his tongue until she allowed him in. When she felt him exploring her mouth, a slight moan escaped her involuntarily. It still amazed her how helpless and oblivious James made her feel when he kissed her. But she loved it.

James felt her tongue push back against his and realized that was the first time she had ever done that. A shiver ran down his spine and he began to kiss her harder and more passionately.

They stood there kissing for what seemed like hours until James began to hear warning bells in his head. If he didn’t stop soon, his hands would wander places that Lily would probably not appreciate and he would go farther than he knew him and Lily were ready for. He pulled back reluctantly, ignoring Lily’s sound of protest.

“I really missed you yesterday, Lils,” James said huskily, not really recognizing his own voice.

Lily began to blush and realized how much she had missed him, too. “I love you, James,” Lily whispered breathlessly. These words just came naturally to her now and as she said them, she saw a huge smile spread across James’ face. How she loved that smile. The smile that melted all the girls’ hearts.

“I love you, too Lily,” James replied and kissed her on the temple, sending an electric shock through Lily’s body. “Let’s go down to breakfast, I’m starving.”

So, the pair joined hands and walked down the stairs to the Great Hall, feeling as if they were floating on air.
_________________________________________________________________

Remus and Sirius were sitting at breakfast only a few minutes when Sirius got up to use the restroom. Remus saw this as his golden opportunity. He was about to get up and walk to the girls’ seats when he saw Rachel walking towards him. Wow, perfect timing, he thought as he realized just how beautiful Rachel really was. He didn’t even realize he was staring until Rachel waved her hand in his face, calling his name.

“Remus, are you alright?” she asked, concerned.

Remus smiled. “Yea, I’m fine,” he hesitated before asking, “Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?”

Rachel blushed when she saw the serious and sincerity in his eyes. “No, but thank you, Remus.” As she stood and looked at him, she realized it was now or never. “Umm, Remus, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure, Rachel,” Remus replied, smiling.

“Well…are you going with anyone to Hogsmeade this Saturday?” Rachel asked hesitantly, looking at the floor.

Remus’ heart began to pound. This isn’t the way it’s supposed to happen…I’m supposed to ask her! He then realized he hadn’t responded. “No. Why?” he asked politely.

“I was just wondering if you wanted to go with me,” Rachel asked, looking as if she could just die of embarrassment.

Remus smiled and realized he didn’t care that she asked. He still got to go with her and that’s all that mattered. “Of course. I would love to go with you, Rachel,” Remus replied, his smile a mile wide.

“Great!” she exclaimed and practically skipped back to her seat.

Remus turned back to his food, extremely ecstatic. He was so happy, in fact, he hadn’t realized Sirius had come back, looking extremely happy also.

“So, Moony, I just asked Kimmy to Hogsmeade and she said yes!” Sirius said, looking like he was about to burst with excitement.

“Yeah, I’m going with Rachel, too. It looks like we have a tie,” Remus said, self-satisfactorily.

“Yeah? What happened when you asked her?” Sirius asked, curious.

“Oh, I didn’t. She asked me,” Remus said, before he thought about the words coming out of his mouth.

“She asked you?” Sirius asked. “You’re such a coward,” Sirius said, but good naturedly.

“Am not!” Remus responded, indignantly.

“Okay, if you’re not, go kiss Rachel,” Sirius said.

“Alright, I will,” Remus responded, so desperate to prove himself, he hadn’t realized what he had just agreed to until he walked up to Rachel. “Umm…Rachel?”

She stood up and looked at Remus carefully. “Yes?” She tried to hide the fear from her voice, thinking that he was about to break the date off with her.

Remus looked at her for a minute and realized he really wanted to do this. He leaned down slowly, far too slowly for Rachel’s liking, and softly, but tenderly, kissed her.

Chapter 10
Hogsmeade

“This feels good, James,” Lily said wistfully as they strode down the street at Hogsmeade with linked hands.

Obviously, the Halloween Hogsmeade visit was finally here. Sirius and Kimmy had gone off on their own to “hang out”, or so they said. Rachel and Remus had also gone off on their own. James and Lily were so ecstatic to finally spend the day together that they didn’t even have time to feel happy for their friends.

“What does, sweetie?” James asked with a slightly glazed look in his eyes. He had been so busy paying attention to the way Lily’s thumb kept running over his hand to realize that she had been silent for a while.

She looked down at their hands. “It’s just that we haven’t been able to be together for a while…at least alone,” Lily said, looking up into James’ beautiful brown eyes.

He looked down at her and when he saw the loving look on her face, he thought he might melt.

“Come here,” James said, speeding up and dragging Lily with him.

“Where are we going?” Lily asked, excitedly.

James looked back, grinning, causing Lily’s heart to flip-flop. “You’ll see,” he said mischievously with a flirtatious wink.

Lily rolled her eyes while she felt a blush creep over her cheeks. That wink still had the same effect on Lily as it had when they first started going out and she felt it would have the same effect on her forever. Forever… Lily had been thinking about that word a lot lately and she hoped to talk to James about some things once they got wherever they were going.

She had been so lost in her thoughts, she did not realize they had reached their destination. They were at a tree on one of the many hills in the village of Hogsmeade. James had obviously made arrangements because there was a picnic blanket, basket with food and candles set up under the tree.

“Wow, James…When did you have time to do all this?” Lily asked, amazed at how romantic he could be sometimes.

“I have connections,” James said, sneakily.

Lily leaned up and kissed him on the cheek, watching his face light up as she did so. “Thank you, James. It’s beautiful.”

“So are you,” James said, staring at Lily.

Lily started to blush immensely and James, sensing she was uncomfortable, changed the subject abruptly.

“Well, let’s eat. I’m hungry,” James said, rubbing his belly.

Lily chuckled. “When are you not hungry?”

James looked at her with a look of mock hurt. “Are you calling me fat?”

Lily looked him up and down slowly causing him to want to tackle her and snog her senseless, but he controlled himself. “No, you’re far from it, hun,” Lily said with a flirtatious wink and a half smile.

James knew if he didn’t sit down soon, he would really jump on her and do something he could get in trouble for doing out in the open where the whole town of Hogsmeade could see them. “Well, let’s eat,” James said, trying to cover up his moment of weakness.

“Okay.”

So, Lily and James sat there for a while in a comfortable silence eating. Once they were done, Lily wanted to bring up what she had been thinking earlier but James had other plans.

“Want to dance, Lils?” James asked.

“There’s no music, James,” Lily replied.

James smiled and waved his wand and suddenly there was music playing from…somewhere. All Lily knew was that it was beautiful and slow. Lily liked to dance to slow songs; it seemed much more romantic that way.

“Okay.”

So, James approached Lily and wrapped his arms around her waist while Lily wrapped her hands around his neck. For a while they just swayed like that, a little awkwardly. Then, Lily sighed contentedly and laid her head on James’ shoulder.

“James?” Lily asked softly.

“Hm?” James mumbled through her hair.

* “Do you ever think about the future?” Lily asked hesitantly.

“Yeah, I guess,” James said, not really knowing where this was going.

“What do you see?” Lily asked.

“What do you see?” James asked, playfully.

“I’m being serious,” Lily replied, a tad bit abruptly.

James thought this over for a minute and then came up with the perfect answer that summed up everything he saw for his future.

“You, Lils. You.

Lily felt tears brim in her eyes from the sincerity she heard in his voice.

“What do you see?” James asked, seriously this time.

Lily looked up at him with a fiery look in her eyes. She began to run one hand through his hair and placed the other hand on his chest. She stood up on her tiptoes and pushed her lips onto his neck, hearing James’ breath hitch slightly. “I see you, James.” She then looked up into his face with a look of pure love and devotion in her eyes. “I see you,” she whispered this time as James’ face descended slowly on hers to kiss her lightly. When he broke off shortly, she didn’t protest seeing as there was more she wanted to talk about.

“Are you ever afraid, James?” Lily asked and continued before James could ask her what she was talking about. “I mean, with the war going on and all. I try to be strong but inside, I’m really scared. Not just for me but for my family and…you. I don’t think I would be able to live without you, James,” Lily admitted, unashamedly.

James looked at her upturned face and then crushed her against his chest. “I will never leave you, Lils. Never,” he whispered into her ear as he nuzzled his face in her neck.

Lily realized she could not hold her emotions in any longer and buried her face in his neck. She began to sob heart-wrenchingly and painstakingly.

James lifted her up in his arms and carried her to the tree where he sat down with his back up against it and her in his lap. “I’ll always protect you, Lily. You will never know a day without me,” James said to her.

For a moment, Lily’s sobs stopped. “Promise?” Lily asked shakily.

“I promise, love,” James replied, sweetly.

She lifted her lips to his and kissed him with all the passion and the love she could muster up. She put her hands on his chest and pushed his back further up against the back of the tree as she gave herself to the kiss. When they broke off, panting, she said, “I love you, James.”

“I love you, too, Lils,” James replied and he meant it from the very bottom of his heart.

Lily returned to her position in his lap with her head on his chest and fell asleep. James realized they would have to go back up soon, but he didn’t care if they got in trouble or not. All that mattered was that Lily was in his arms and they were together.
_________________________________________________________________

“Look at those two, Kimmy,” Sirius said, with his arm around her waist. “I’ve never seen James look so happy with anyone.”

“I’ve never seen Lily happy like she is with him, either,” Kimmy replied.

They watched as Lily fell limp against James’ body as she fell asleep and James stare off at the sun, stroking her red hair.

*A/N: These few quotes are from the “What Hurts the Most” music video from Rascal Flatts.

Chapter 11
Peter’s Back…Or Is He?

It was two hours later, and James and Lily were still sitting against the tree in Hogsmeade. James had completely lost track of time as he had fallen asleep also. Remus and Rachel realized they were missing their two friends as they walked back up to the school.

“Hey, where’s Lily?” asked Rachel.

Sirius had just sauntered up to them at this precise moment and answered her question before Remus could reply. “Last time we saw her, her and James were “cuddling” in front of a tree over by the Hog’s Head,” he said, smirking at James’ newfound sensitivity.

“Don’t you think we ought to go back and get them?” Rachel asked, worried.

“Nah, we’ll let the two lovebirds get in trouble. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind having detention together,” Kimmy replied, mischievously.
________________________________________________________________

The sound of a squirrel scurrying up the tree that Lily and James were slumbering against caused them both to stir. When Lily saw that the sun was almost down, she smiled. She surprised herself for not caring that they were already a couple of hours late for going back up to the school. She looked up at James’ face and decided that watching him sleep so peacefully was so much better than being at dinner with her friends. As she saw him sleep on, she got a mischievous gleam in her eyes and started to wake James up.

She lifted her lips to his collarbone and pressed them against it while nipping it slightly with her teeth. James emitted a groan and Lily smiled. She then glided her lips up his neck until she was at his jaw. She trailed her tongue over his jawbone and then proceeded to bring her lips to his. She could feel him smile against her lips and this encouraged her more.

She began to kiss him hungrily and James proceeded to push his tongue roughly into her mouth. After a few minutes, he moved his lips down to her neck. She threw her head back to allow him more access and began to run her hands through his hair continuously, muttering James’ name softly. This drove him crazy and thus, he sucked a piece of skin from her neck into his mouth. He heard her gasp and she moved her hands under his shirt to his stomach, tracing circles on his rather fine-toned abs. She felt him shudder and this excited her all the more. Her senses left her and her hands went farther down…too far down. James moaned and pulled back, panting.

“Lils, we should stop. Every time we do this, it leaves me wanting more. I know that neither of us are ready to cross that line, right?” James asked, his voice husky and slightly breathy.

Lily was still trying to calm her heart down as she replied. “No, I’m not ready yet. I’m sorry, James, I got carried away,” she looked down, blushing.

He lifted up her chin and gave her a chaste peck on the lips, ignoring her sound of protest as he broke off. “Hey, it’s not all your fault. I was the one giving you a bloody hickey,” he replied, winking.

Lily laughed as she lifted herself up from the ground. “We should really get back. We’re very late.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Let’s go,” James said as he jumped up.

They clasped hands and intertwined their fingers, Lily sighing contentedly. They walked back up to the castle, neither talking, just enjoying each other’s presence.
_________________________________________________________________

Remus, Rachel, Sirius, and Kimmy were all sitting in the common room, anxiously and worriedly waiting for James and Lily to return.

“I told you we should have gone back and got them. What if something’s happened to them?” Rachel asked, her eyes tearing up.

Remus was about to reassure her that everything would be okay when they heard two people coming through the portrait hole. James’ and Lily’s clothes were both extremely rumpled, Lily’s hair was all over the place and James was even messier than usual. Both of their lips were swollen and Kimmy swore she could see a spot forming on Lily’s neck that slightly looked like a hickey.

“Well, it looks we wouldn’t have wanted to go back, Rach. We may have been scarred for life,” Sirius said, chuckling. Usually James would have yelled at him for this but he was too busy settling him and Lily in the empty armchair. Sirius made a sound of mock disgust while Kimmy and Rachel looked at each other, smiling for Lily. She had really got herself a great boyfriend.

All six teenagers turned to the portrait hole as yet another person came in. Peter.

“Hey, guys, what’s up?” Peter asked.

“YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST WALTZ IN HERE LIKE THERE’S NOTHING WRONG AFTER YOU’VE ABANDONED US FOR FIVE MONTHS?! We know you weren’t in France like you said. We saw you in Diagon Alley, but you obviously didn’t want to talk to us because…” Sirius would have kept going if Remus hadn’t cut him off by covering his mouth with his hand.

“Sirius, let him explain,” Remus said, calmly, although he was mad himself. He had abandoned him, too. They had had to go through five full moons without Peter. “Go ahead, Peter.”

“I’m sorry I haven’t been around. But you don’t understand. Sirius, you don’t know how jealous I am of you, James and Remus. You three are so popular and good-looking and I’m nothing. So, I went to look for a group where I belonged,” and found one, he thought but didn’t dare say it. So he lied. “I couldn’t find one and decided I didn’t care how I looked, you guys accept me and that should have been enough. And I’ve realized it is enough now.”

As Peter finished, he noticed Sirius still looked very skeptical but Remus’ look had softened. James looked impartial but Peter knew he would have been yelling just as Sirius had been, if not for Lily sitting on his lap. How did he get her? Gosh, she’s beautiful. He shook that thought out of his head as she smiled at him. “Peter, you belong with us. You’re not nothing. You shouldn’t feel intimidated by these three. Just be yourself and people will like you better, despite your looks.”

Too bad you’ll be killed someday, Evans. You’re such a sweet girl. “Thank you, Lily. You’re too kind.” He looked to James, Sirius and then Remus. “So, can I hang out with you guys again?” He asked, putting on a convincing pitiful face.

“Sure you can, Peter,” Remus answered, smiling.

“Welcome back, Wormtail,” James said, winking.

Sirius remained silent but by the look on his face, Peter could tell he was willing to give him a second chance. Our plan is working, Peter thought. Severus will be so happy.
_________________________________________________________________

“So, phase one is complete. Good job, Peter,” Severus said that night to Peter in the Slytherin common room. “We’re one step closer to defeating that despicable Potter. But first, we must get Lily. But how?”

“Um, Severus? I’ve got an idea,” Peter said, smirking. He knew the perfect plan.
_________________________________________________________________

Back in the common room, Rachel, Remus, Sirius and Kimmy had left James and Lily alone so they could say goodnight.

“We talked about some deep stuff today, Lils. Did you mean everything you said? You know, about our future?” James could not help but be insecure sometimes about Lily.

“Of course, James. Don’t be so paranoid. I have no intentions of ever leaving you,” she replied, as if reading his mind.

“Well, I guess we’ve got to say goodnight,” James said, reluctantly, as Lily got up. He took her hand and led her to the girls’ staircase.

Lily stood up on her tiptoes and gave James a long, passionate kiss. She pulled away and whispered seductively in his ear, “Good night, Potter.” She proceeded to walk up the steps, swaying her hips all the way.

Now I’m never going to be able to sleep, James thought, watching her go.

Chapter 12
James’ Anger Unleashed

A week later, Severus and Peter were sitting in the Slytherin Common Room discussing the details of their plan. It was simple yet sure to work as long as they could keep James out of the picture for the night.

“Okay, Peter. We’re carrying this out tonight. Don’t get the letter to Lily until 15 minutes before she’s supposed to be at the Quidditch Pitch. Otherwise, she will talk to James about meeting him there and he will know something’s up,” Severus explained, Peter nodding the whole time.

“Got it,” Peter replied. “I’ll take care of keeping James out of the common room before I give Lily the note, too.” As Peter said this, Severus looked skeptical at Peter’s capability. “Trust me, I know what I’m doing.”
_________________________________________________________________

Later that night, Peter looked at his watch, waiting for the right time to give Lily the note. She was supposed to go down to the Quidditch Pitch at 7:00 p.m and it was now 6:45. Everything was working out perfectly: James was no where to be seen and Lily was alone.

Peter ran over to Lily with the counterfeit note in his hand. “Hey, Lily, how are you doing?” He proceeded to shake his head slightly as he realized how the fire made her hair turn a myriad of reds.

“Hi, Peter! I’m fine. Have you seen James by any chance?” Lily asked, a little concernedly. She hadn’t seen him since this morning.

Peter smiled. This plan was working out flawlessly. “Yes, I actually have. I met him in the hallway a few minutes ago. He asked me to give you this note,” Peter said, as he handed her the note. He looked down at his watch and realized it was time for him to look for James and distract him as Lily went down to the Pitch. “Well, I gotta run, Lily. I’ll see you later.”

She did not answer, however, because her eyes were lighting up in anticipation as she read the note. Peter felt a twinge of guilt at this but shook it off. He could not forget that going through with this meant he may have a better chance at becoming a Death Eater with Snape. The thought of all that power made Peter joyful, like nothing else ever had. Severus had never mentioned it but Peter suspected he had wanted help with this plan to see how competent Peter was in the art of deceiving.

So, Peter set out into the hallway to find James. Coincidentally, he was coming up the stairs at the same time Peter was going down. So, Peter assumed a false look of panic and hurried toward him. “James, James!” Peter yelled.

“What, Peter?” James asked, concerned.

“You’ve got to hurry. Snape is torturing some first year in the library. You’ve got to help!” Peter said, hurriedly.

He noticed that James’ face became suddenly darker when he heard Snape’s name. “Where in the library?” he asked in a quiet but deadly voice. Deadly enough to make Peter shiver.

“Near the Restricted Section. But you better hurry, he’s been doing it for a good 15 minutes now or at least it looked like it judging by how the kid was beat up,” Peter replied, lying easily.

James rushed off towards the library without another word. Peter looked down at his watch. 6:53. James would hopefully not be back until after 7. The plan was still going flawlessly. Peter smiled to himself at his success and sauntered towards the Slytherin Common Room to deliver the news so Snape could leave as soon as possible.
_________________________________________________________________

Lily,
I feel really bad that we haven’t gotten to spend much time together this past week. But you know how much homework we’ve been having. So, meet me down at the Quidditch Pitch at seven. I’ll be waiting.
I love you,
James

Lily smiled as she read the note as she grew antsy with anticipation. She was reading it again as she walked down to the Entrance Hall. She had not seen James all day and missed him terribly. They had grown to be quite inseparable. Their hormones were still raging considerably but one of them always stopped the other before going too far. She hoped she would be able to stop tonight, especially with how much she had missed him that day.

She was now outside and nearing the Quidditch Pitch. Once she arrived, she realized he was not there yet, but James was never very punctual. As she waited, she heard approaching footsteps behind her. Before she could turn around, she felt a rough hand cover her mouth. “Don’t scream, or else I’ll kill you immediately,” a low, gritty voice whispered. Snape.
_________________________________________________________________

James was making his way back up to the Common Room after going to the library in vain. He was quite angry; either Snape was done or Peter had been lying to him. No one was there. He had wasted precious time that he could have been spending time with Lily. As he neared the top step, he heard the door at the Entrance Hall open. He turned around and his eyes became wide as he saw something that made his heart twist in anger. Snape had his Lily. Luckily, Snape did not see him.

James rushed up the stairs. He needed the Marauders’ Map and quick.
_________________________________________________________________

Peter paced the Slytherin Common Room, anxiously awaiting Severus’ return, hoping everything went alright. Or else, his head would be on the line. A few minutes later, he heard the portrait hole open and then close.

He turned around and smiled nervously as he saw Severus enter with Lily. He immediately hid in the shadows so Lily could not see him. It would ruin his whole plan. The Marauders and Lily still had to believe he was being sincere.

“Well, Evans, do you know why I brought you here tonight?” Snape asked silkily.

“No, actually I don’t, Snivellus. But I would appreciate it if you told me so I could get back to the Quidditch Pitch and snog my boyfriend,” Lily answered back, sarcastically.

Snape chuckled at her bravado. “He won’t be there, Lily. That note was fake. Of course, stupid Peter didn’t know that. He was just trying to help out a friend. Looks like that didn’t happen, huh?” Snape asked, lying through his teeth. He could not let Lily know that Peter was not what she thought he was.

“Don’t blame Peter, Snape. It wasn’t his fault,” Lily answered, menacingly.

“Well, enough about him, anyway. Back to you,” Snape said, evilly. “I have you here for one reason and one reason only. Potter.”

Lily’s heart skipped a beat as she heard his name. His face flashed into her mind and realized that Snape wanted to hurt him. “What are you going to do to him?” Lily asked jumping up, her eyes flashing in anger. She even managed to hide the fear in her voice with her unmistakable amount of anger and contempt.

Snape jumped back at the look in her eyes but then smiled mischievously. “Ooh, looks like we hit a soft spot, huh, Lily? Trust me, he won’t be hurt physically, just emotionally. He’ll be so upset that he couldn’t get here in time to protect you from big, bad Snape. See, if I get rid of you, James loses all of his willpower. You may not know this, but you sustain him, Evans. The Dark Lord was very happy when he realized this because we finally had the solution to defeating Potter. Now, sit still, I want to torture you properly.”

Lily started shaking in suppressed anger but now that was overpowered by fear and other emotions, too. She somehow felt slightly happy hearing she sustained James but it was impossible to be happy when she thought about what she was going to have to endure. Before she could think anymore, she heard Snape yell, “Crucio!”

Lily crumpled to the floor where she was standing and started to writhe in pain. It felt like he was sticking needles in every part of her body over and over again. After what felt like forever, he lifted the curse and laughed. “You didn’t like that, Lily? I’m sorry. Let’s try again,” Snape said.

“Crucio!” he screamed again.

Lily decided this time was even worse than the first time. She screamed in agony and right before she felt like she would die, he lifted the curse.

Snape laughed dementedly. “Sectum…”

“Expelliarmus!” Lily heard someone whisper. However, there must have been great power in that whisper because Snape was thrown against the wall so forcefully that the wall around him cracked. She then heard him run to her shaking body and say, “I’ll get you out of here, love, just as soon as I have a little word with Snivellus.” She smiled as she figured out who this was. James. Before he walked away, she uttered something in little more than a whisper.

“James? Thank you. Remind me to snog you senseless later,” Lily said while James smiled at the fact that she could still be cheerful even after being tortured. He was glad, though that she was at least conscious and able to speak. He began to walk away when he heard something that empowered him mightily. “I love you, James,” Lily whispered.

James face set with anger as he saw her shaking body and knew that Snape had done that to her. “Snape, how dare you? I told you that I would always protect her but I guess you didn’t think I was telling the truth. Well, be prepared, Snivellus because your life is about to be turned into a nightmare. I swear, if you ever touch her again I will curse you into the next century or I might just kill you. I haven’t figured out what I’ll do yet, but trust me, you will regret ever doing this to her. I would hex you now but you’re not worth it. Just know this: next time you hurt Lily, you will have me and only me to answer to and it will not be pretty,” James said. He had whispered all this in the same whisper Peter had heard earlier that night but now his whole body was shaking in anger and his voice was even deadlier than before. So deadly in fact, that Peter was shaking and Snape had a look of complete fear on his face that Peter had never seen before.

James then walked to Lily, picked her up gingerly and carried her out of the Common Room and towards the Prefect Bathroom.

As soon as he left, Peter walked out of the corner he had been hiding in, sat down and cried. He could not believe what he had just done.
_________________________________________________________________

When James and Lily had entered the Prefects’ Bathroom, he laid her down carefully and removed her outer robe. He then went to get a washcloth and began to pat her face with it. He decided against going to the Hospital Wing. For one thing, he didn’t want a lot of questions and he desperately wanted to be the one to take care of her.

When he was done with the washcloth, he laid down next to her and enveloped her in his arms. That moment, something happened that was very unexpected. The love that he was feeling at the moment flowed through their embrace. Her pain melted away, her breathing came back to normal and she was perfectly well again. James, however, did not know this had happened until she sat up and he realized she was no longer shaking or sweating.

“What happened?” James asked, confused.

Lily looked down at him, ecstatic. “I’m not really sure, but I have a theory. Your love just healed me, James. Only deep, true love can do that.”

“You know I love you, Lils,” James said, although amazed that he had had the power to heal her.

“I know you do, James but this is different. This kind of power is extremely rare. I’ve read about it before. There have only been a few witches and wizards ever that have ever loved each other so much that their love can heal each other.” Lily looked down at him with a look of extreme adoration. “I love you so much, James.”

James did not respond but she could tell he was overwhelmed. He took her hand, led her out of the bathroom and toward the Gryffindor dormitories. When they had entered through the Portrait Hole, he looked at her, a pleading look in his eyes.

“Lily, will you stay with me tonight?” he asked, tears welling up in his eyes.

“James, I’m not ready,” Lily answered, nervously.

“No, we don’t have to do anything. Can I just hold you tonight, Lils?” James asked, now crying openly. “I need to know you’re there.”

She then saw the look of pure fear in his eyes. Fear of losing her.

“Of course, James. I would do anything for you,” Lily answered, now crying too.

He led her up the boys’ dormitories’ stairs. He gave her a big t-shirt of his and a pair of mesh shorts. She went to the bathroom to change as he took off his shirt and put on a pair of pajama bottoms. Lily then walked out of the bathroom and James had to admit that she looked very good in his clothes. Lily had to avert her eyes so she wouldn’t stare openly at his well-toned and tanned chest.

Shyly, they both crawled under his covers. However, once under them, they relaxed. He pulled her against him and wrapped his arms around her. He then kissed her temple and said, “I love you, Lils.”

Lily looked up at him and kissed him full on the lips. “I love you more,” she answered.

He pulled her against him tighter and before they both fell asleep, he whispered, “Impossible.”

Chapter 13
Their Second Date

“Lils?” James asked while stroking her hair one day in the Common Room. She was currently lying on the sofa with her head in his lap, turned toward the fire in the grate.

“Yes, James?” Lily replied dreamily. She had her eyes closed and was reveling in James’ touch, continuously learning just how much he meant to her.

“Do you realize we have only gone out on one date the whole two months, one week and three days we’ve been going out?” James asked casually.

Lily sat up abruptly and stared him in the eye. “You remember how long we’ve been going out down to the day?” James was shocked to see she was tearing up slightly.

“Umm…yea. Why wouldn’t I? I’ve been after you so long and now that I have finally got you, I’m savoring each moment I’m with you,” James replied in a tone that suggested it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Have I ever told you that you’re the sweetest guy I’ve ever met?” Lily asked, smiling. She then entwined her fingers in his hair and pulled his lips down to hers. The kiss was sweet and chaste but still succeeded in making them both breathless. When she pulled away, she noticed James was blushing furiously. She loved it when he showed his weaknesses around her.

“No, you haven’t. But if I’m going to get a reaction like that every time I say something sweet, I should do it more often,” James replied, winking.

Now it was Lily’s time to blush but she also giggled, laying her head back on his lap. It was then she realized that she hadn’t answered James’ question.

“No, I hadn’t realized that, James,” Lily said.

“Realized what?” James asked, confused. It took a few moments for him to realize what she was referring to. “Oh. Well, the reason I asked was because I wanted to ask if I could take you to Hogsmeade tonight.” James said, a little tentatively.

Lily smiled as she realized he was still a little afraid of rejection. “Of course, James. I would love to.”

James’ face lit up as he gently lifted her out of his lap and jumped up.

“Hey? Where are you going, James?” Lily asked, confused.

“I have to go get a few things ready. Meet me here in the Common Room tonight at 7:00,” he said as he started to walk away. Then, he stopped and turned around. “Oh, wait. I almost forgot something.” He walked towards Lily and stopped in front of her. He bent down and gave her a slow, passionate kiss that was over much too soon. “Something for you to look forward to. I love you, Lily,” James said, sweetly.

“I love you too, James,” she replied, a little grudgingly. He could tell she was peeved for the shortened kiss.

James smiled, satisfied and walked out of the Portrait Hole. He had tons to do.
_________________________________________________________________

That night, Lily was extremely nervous about her and James’ date. She wasn’t really sure why, seeing as they had been together for about two and a half months. She hadn’t been sure what to wear but she wanted to take James’ breath away. She opted for a pair of snug black gaucho pants with a beautiful green sequined top that matched her eyes. She made sure her hair was extra curly and left it down, as that was how James liked it. She wore white chandelier earrings and a matching necklace. She hoped it was a good enough outfit. She didn’t have to wait long to find out. She gasped as she saw James coming down from the boys’ dormitory.

It looked as if he hadn’t even bothered to do anything with his hair but she loved it like that, anyway. He wore a brown, well-fit sweater that brought out his beautiful brown eyes considerably. He wore a pair of jeans that slightly hung off his narrow hips. She was afraid if she kept looking at his body, she would start drooling. So, she forced herself to look at his face and decided it was almost as good as looking at the rest of him. By the look on his face, she could tell she was rendering him speechless as well.

Finally, Lily managed to get something out. “You look great, James,” Lily said, though knowing that was a large understatement. She moaned slightly as he continued to look her up and down. The sound made him look at her face and he smiled warmly, sending pleasurable shivers up and down her spine.

“You look more than great. You look beautiful, Lils. Completely angelic,” he said, dreamily.

Lily blushed furiously, managing to utter a soft “Thanks”.

“Shall we go?” James asked, after they were done ogling each other.

Lily’s face broke into a broad grin. “Sure.” She wasn’t sure what had happened, but her nervousness was completely gone now.
_________________________________________________________________

They had walked down to Hogsmeade in companionable silence, holding each other’s hand and occasionally stealing glances at each other. When they reached the Three Broomsticks, James led her to a secluded table in the corner where there were candles and a lily laid at her spot. She picked up the beautiful flower. “Thank you, James. It’s the most beautiful flower I’ve ever seen,” she gushed.

“I beg to differ,” James replied, enjoying the blush that crept over Lily’s cheeks.

Once they had settled in their seats and ordered, they both looked at each other. He reached across the table and took Lily’s hand. “I brought you here tonight Lily because I have a question to ask you,” he said, very nervously.

“Okay, I’m all ears,” she replied, although she was unbearably nervous about what he was about to ask her, also.

With his free hand, he ruffled his hair and looked over at a spot on the wall. “Well, you know I love you, Lily and I always will,” he said turning to lock gazes with her. He took his hand from her and reached into his pocket. “I know we’ve only been going out for a short time but I feel like I’ve loved you forever. There’s no one else for me, Lily.”

“There’s no one else for me either, James,” Lily replied, eyes filling with tears at his sincerity.

James smiled and wiped a tear off her cheek softly. “That’s what I was hoping you’d say.” He pulled a little black box out of his pocket and Lily’s heart started racing in anticipation of what was coming next. “Lily, I was wondering if you would wear this ring that I bought for you. I know we’re young and it’s not exactly an engagement ring. It’s a promise ring. It symbolizes that when we do get married, it will be to each other. If you don’t want it, I understand but-” He was then cut off by Lily practically jumping over the table and jumping in his arms.

“Of course I will, James. I love you,” she replied, sincerely.

James pulled back and opened up the box with a huge smile on his face. When Lily saw the ring, she gasped. It was beautiful. It was a silver band with a single diamond in the middle in the shape of a heart. “It was my grandmother’s wedding ring,” James explained.

Lily could tell by the look on James’ face that this ring meant a lot to him. She promised herself that she would always take very good care of this ring. “Thank you, James,” Lily said, tears of joy now rolling freely down her cheeks as he slid it onto her finger. He then looked up into her eyes and leaned over, kissing all the tears that were on her face. She trembled at the touch, though pleasantly.

He pulled away, his eyes darkened with absolute and complete love for her. She imagined hers reciprocated fully. She slowly leaned over, licking her lips. He watched mesmerized at her tongue flicking across her lips and memorized the movement. He placed his lips on hers softly and the kiss was initiated. This was unlike any kiss than they had ever shared before. They were both pouring all their feelings into it: lust, care, passion and the most dominant of all the emotions was pure, indescribable love. Neither had felt anything like that before. She slowly traced circles on the bare skin of his neck, not even caring that they were in a public place. He reluctantly broke off and stared at her lovingly.

For about five minutes, they sat there speechless just staring at each other. Finally, they both managed to utter a breathless, “Wow.”

James face broke out in a broad smile. “You just can’t keep yourself off me, can you?” James asked, cockily.

Lily blushed but then her lips curved into a devilish smile. She leaned over and whispered right against his ear, “You’ll pay for that one, Potter,” enjoying the low groan that James emitted.

Then, he smiled and winked. “I hope so.” They both laughed and spent the rest of the night talking, laughing and acting like hormonal teenagers. She still did not have the courage to bring up what she wanted to. I will later, she thought. However, later was sooner than she thought.

Chapter 14
Wait For Me

A/N: Sorry for the shortness of the chapter but I have been really busy recently with summer reading projects. I tried to keep fluff to a minimum as some readers were tiring of it. I’m sorry for the little bits of fluff at the beginning but it’s not that bad.

Lily and James had just finished their date and were now on their way back up to the castle. Lily was still worried about talking to James about what had been on her mind most of the evening. She hoped she wouldn’t have to bring it up tonight. What if he didn’t want to wait for her? The thought almost made her break out in tears. James noticed her nervousness and obvious discomfort.

“What’s wrong, Lils?” James asked concerned.

Lily shook herself and pasted on a fake smile. “Oh, nothing. I’m just great.”

James wanted to question further but decided against it. “Okay, whatever you say,” he answered, taking her hand as they were now entering the castle. They must have been past curfew because no one was about and the candles on the walls were dimming. A few minutes later, they were standing in front of the girls’ dormitory stairs in the Common Room. Lily started to grow even more nervous as James gave her a hug. He pulled her against him and held her there for an indeterminate amount of time. He felt her slight shiver and pulled back just enough to look at her face.

“Lily, will you please tell me what’s wrong?” James asked.

Lily looked up at him and realized that he was genuinely concerned for her. She softened and realized that she should just tell him and get it over with. “Can we sit down?” she asked, her voice shaking slightly.

“Sure, sweetheart,” James replied.

Once they were both settled on the couch, James glanced at Lily expectantly. Lily took a deep breath and realized she needed to get this out before she exploded. “Well, you know how recently when we kiss we tend to get a little…umm…randy?” she asked, blushing deeper and deeper as she continued.

James just chuckled and nodded, wondering where she was going with this.

“Well, I think we need to talk about it. Not that I don’t like kissing you or anything but I think we need to both agree that we’ll stop each other when we think we’re about to go too far,” Lily said, a little awkwardly.

James looked a little hurt at this statement, wondering if she didn’t want him but at the same time glad that she had brought the subject up. He never would have known how to even broach the subject. He nodded, agreeing.

“Which brings me to what’s been bothering me all night. All my life, I’ve been brought up knowing what was right and what was wrong. One of the things I’ve been taught is that before two people have sex, they need to be mature and able to handle it. I just don’t think we’re ready for that yet. I’ve always imagined my first time being on my wedding night and I hope to keep it that way,” Lily looked at James expectantly.

No matter how uncomfortable the conversation was making him, he forced himself to look at her and smile. He knew what was wrong with her now. “You were afraid that I wouldn’t want to wait until marriage to have sex, weren’t you?” James said, ignoring the blush that crept over his face when he said the three-letter word that had so much meaning behind it. She nodded and he continued. “You were afraid that I was going to break up with you because I would believe that you just didn’t want me like that.” This was more a statement than a question. As Lily nodded again fearfully, James smiled sweetly and pulled her into an embrace.

“You’ll wait for me then, James?” Lily asked, moving her lips against his sweater.

“Of course I’ll wait for you,” James answered. He gave her one final squeeze and eased them both down on the couch. He kissed her forehead and after a few minutes, both had drifted off to sleep.
_________________________________________________________________

In the morning, James woke up wondering where he was and what was on top of him. He then remembered the night before and that draining conversation. He was sure Lily felt the same way. He looked at her, stroking her face, deciding he could get used to waking up like this. He smiled as he let the thought slip in as Lily stirred awake also. She lifted her head up slightly and instead of looking up to see her headboard, she saw James’ face. She realized she could definitely get used to waking up like this, also.

She rolled off of him and pulled him up with her. “I think we both need to go get changed and get down to breakfast,” she said, reddening slightly at the thought that all of Gryffindor had seen the Head students sleeping on the couch together.

James chuckled as he realized what she was thinking and then let his gaze drift to the window. “Lily, I don’t think that anyone’s even up yet. It looks a little too early for that,” he said, nodding toward the window. It looked as if the sun had just come up minutes earlier. So, both snuck up to their dorms and began to hide the fact from their friends that they had not slept in their beds the previous night. However, both were very unsuccessful and realized that it was not as early as they had suspected. Their respective dorm mates were already up getting ready to go down to breakfast.

The girls were not as hard on Lily as the Marauders were on James, however.

“So, did you get lucky last night?” Sirius asked, winking. If it had been anyone else who had asked James this question, they would have been pounded to a pulp right away. Since it was Sirius, though, James just chuckled.

“No, me and Lily just slept on the couch last night,” James said, watching as the look of disbelief passed over Sirius’ face.

“You’re kidding, right? You haven’t shagged her yet?” Sirius asked incredulously. At this, James picked up a pillow and chucked it at his head.

“No, and if I had, it would be none of your business,” James answered.

“Fine,” Sirius countered with mock hurt. He then walked out of the dorm, James laughing at the giggles emitting from various girls in the Common Room at the sight of Sirius coming down the steps.

“Do they even know what they’re getting themselves into?” James asked himself, laughing.

Chapter 15
Christmastime is Here

The weeks went on and the couples became closer than ever. They were completely inseparable and many times, no one knew where they were exactly. But they didn’t care; they were together and that was all that mattered. One day before the Christmas holiday found them all sitting in the Common Room in front of the fire. This spot had long since been designated to the select seventh-years.

“So, what are you guys doing for the Christmas holidays?” Lily asked from her very comfortable spot on James’ lap. Everyone had long since decided they were the couple most likely to last forever.

“Well, all the guys are going to James’ house on Christmas night. What are you girls going to do?” Sirius replied, thinking he would be at James’ house the whole time anyway; he hated his family.

“Well, we weren’t exactly sure…” Rachel answered, who was cuddled up on the couch next to Remus.

“Why don’t you all come over to my house, too? We have plenty of room,” James asked, hoping they would say yes. His Christmas would be so much better with Lily at his side.

The girls all looked at each other excitedly. “What do you think, Leah?” Lily asked.

“Well, I’m going to my boyfriend’s house but you four are welcome to go. I wouldn’t mind,” Leah answered.

“Actually, I’m going to Frank’s house for Christmas. But Lily, Kimmy and Rachel can go without us,” Alice answered, hoping her friends would take James up on his offer. If not, she could imagine their Christmases would be miserable.

Rachel blushed at the thought of spending a week with Remus but also smiled mischievously. “I’ll go if you two will go,” Rachel said, looking pointedly at Lily and Kimmy. She gave them a desperate look, hoping they would agree to go.

“Of course I’ll go,” Lily said, causing James to want to throw her off his lap and jump for joy at her words. However, he restrained himself; he enjoyed their current position.

“And you know I will,” Kimmy answered, turning to kiss Sirius full on the mouth. All the guys wolf-whistled while the girls just smiled. When Kimmy and Sirius broke off, Sirius blushed. Wait, Sirius, blushing?

“Oh, is Sirius the Great blushing?” Lily said, teasingly.

“Shut up,” Sirius mumbled, while they all laughed.

After all the couples settled down, there was silence. However, it was very comfortable as they all stared into the fire thinking about how glorious their Christmases were going to turn out this year.
_________________________________________________________________

The next day was considerably less happy as all the friends were saying goodbye, even if it was only for a few days. Lily sincerely hoped her parents would let her go to James’ house on Christmas night. As she thought about it, she knew they would. They would do anything for her; just as long as she was there for Christmas day, they would be okay with it. As they were preparing to go onto the train, James pulled Lily aside.

“I want to say this before we get on the train. I don’t want to in front of everyone,” James said.

“Okay,” Lily answered, wondering what James wanted to talk about. She was answered when he pulled her into a tight hug. She immediately relaxed in his arms and let out a content sigh. “Can we just stay like this forever, James? I don’t want to leave you,” Lily said, her voice full of emotion.

James closed his eyes as the feeling of her in arms washed over him. It just felt so right. But he knew they’d have to break apart eventually. “I wish we could, sweetheart, but we can’t,” James answered and pulled back only enough to kiss her on the forehead.

Lily pouted and said, “You missed.”

It took James a second before he realized what she meant. He smiled and leaned his head down to meet her inviting lips. It had been so long since they kissed like this. They both poured all their emotions into that kiss because they knew it was going to have to last them a few days. She moaned slightly as his tongue slipped into her mouth and explored her mouth. She reciprocated and they were so lost in each other that they did not notice the train was beginning to prepare to leave. It was only when they heard the train start up that they pulled apart. They sprinted into the train right before the door closed. As they were still alone, James pushed her on the wall gently. “Do you think we could find an empty compartment,” he asked, huskily.

Lily placed both her hands on his chest and pushed him away slightly. “James, what did we talk about?” Lily asked, referring to their draining conversation a couple weeks ago.

James shook his head, as if coming out of a reverie. “Oh, yeah. I’m so sorry, Lils,” James replied, apologetically, backing away.

Lily laughed. “That doesn’t mean you can’t touch me at all, James.”

James took this as an invitation. “Where did we leave off?”

Lily snaked her arms around his neck and he placed his around her waist. “I believe we were right here,” Lily answered, moving her lips closer and closer to his.

James glanced down at her lips for a second before hers came crashing down on his. He pulled back for a second just to say, “You just can’t get enough of me, can you?”

Lily threw her head back, laughing. James took this opportunity to kiss down her throat and neck. Lily gasped as she was not prepared for that. When he hit a particularly sensitive spot, she thrust her fingers into his hair to keep him there. After an indeterminate amount of time, he pulled back. Looking into her eyes, he gave her one last chaste kiss and said, “I think we need to stop.”

It was then that she noticed the lust in James’ eyes and imagined hers held the same look. She ran her hand through her tousled hair and nodded her head, agreeing.

She then grinned, taking his hand and leading them to their friends’ compartment. When they walked in, the whole gang grinned.

“You do realize we are halfway to King’s Cross already, right?” Sirius asked.

“Of course. We were just fulfilling Head’s duties,” Lily lied, winking at James.

“With each other,” Kimmy said, smirking. Lily looked down, blushing while James smiled cheekily.

“Yeah, actually we were,” James said and Lily looked at him, surprised. She then laughed when she saw the look on their friends’ faces.

“Yeah, we saw you at Hogsmeade station. These windows aren’t tinted, you know,” Sirius said, grinning. “I imagine you continued in an empty compartment…”

“No, in the hallway,” Lily said, shocking her friends.

“You two aren’t ones to keep your relationship private, are you?” Rachel asked.

To answer, Lily pulled James in for a kiss. When they broke off, James ran a hand through his hair and looked down at the ground, embarrassed. “No, we really aren’t,” Lily replied, smiling. She then grabbed James’ hand and led him to an empty seat next to Leah. He sat down and she joined him on his lap. They stayed like this the rest of the train ride, no one even bothering to say anything to them. They were enjoying being in their own little worlds, as the rest of them were. They decided to cherish the moments they had left together before arriving at King’s Cross.

When they finally did arrive, the couples shared affectionate goodbyes, but not too much, seeing as their parents were present. However, as usual, James and Lily didn’t care. They kissed for a full three minutes before pulling apart and hugging. “I’ll see you in a few days, James,” Lily said, sadly. However, she began blushing as she realized her parents were staring at her after her obvious public display of affection.

“I love you, Lils,” James said, with complete sincerity.

“I love you more,” Lily answered.

James pulled her into a hug and kissed her temple. “How many times do I have to tell you that that’s impossible?”

“As many times as you have to, James. I never tire of hearing it,” Lily answered. She gave him a peck on the cheek and walked over to depart with her parents. When she approached them, she apologized for her rather passionate kiss in public. They both smiled.

“It’s okay, Lily. We’re glad to see you so happy and he seems like a good match for you,” Mr. Evans answered. He wasn’t overly protective like most fathers were.

As they walked away, Mrs. Evans whispered discreetly to Lily, “He’s also quite a looker, too.” This made Lily blush but also giggle. It was good to share moments like this with her mother, even if they made her slightly uncomfortable.

James watched Lily walk away, forcing himself to think that he would see her in a few days. He walked over to his parents with Sirius following. He was coming home with James for the holidays.

Mr. Potter looked at James and said, “You were right, James. She is very beautiful.”

“Yes, she is. And guess what, Dad? She’s going to be Mrs. Potter someday. I guarantee it,” James answered, confidently.

Mr. Potter smiled and the family walked away, all thinking that by the looks of things, James was right.

Chapter 16
Christmas at the Potters'

It was finally Christmas, the day everyone had been waiting for. James was ecstatic and Sirius was trying his hardest not to show his excitement. Sirius wasn't just excited that his girlfriend and Remus were coming over but also because James would hopefully come out of his stupor. Ever since they had gotten home from Kings' Cross, James had been extremely depressed. Sirius didn't understand what the big deal was about a few days, but guessed that that was what happened when you were whipped. James was completely in love with Lily; everyone could see that.

Around 5:30 that night, a half hour before the girls and Remus would arrive, James was standing in front of a mirror trying to flatten his hair. As Sirius sauntered by the bathroom door, he stopped abruptly, hoping he hadn't seen what he thought he saw.

"Look at you," Sirius said, disgusted.

"What?" James asked with a puzzled look.

"You're primping like a girl. Have you lost all your dignity?!" Sirius exclaimed with mock exasperation.

"Well I figured I would try to look nice. It's been a few days since I've last seen Lily; I want her to look at me and want to snog me senseless," James said, jokingly but with a roguish grin on his face.

"Prongs, you dog!" Sirius exclaimed. "Anyway, I think she has a thing for your messy hair; I wouldn't try to fix it."

"You really think so?" James asked, hopefully. It was obvious that he was having a hard time flattening his hair in the first place.

James' voice was so hopeful and desperate that Sirius had to bite back his
laughter. "Yes, James. I know so. Now, let's go," Sirius said, dragging James to the fireplace where their friends would floo in.
Meanwhile...

Lily was looking frantically through her closet for something to wear. It seemed she had packed practically everything she had in her trunk for when she would travel to school from James' house at the end of break.

As she was looking through her closet, she gasped as she came upon something that she had forgotten she had. It was a beautiful light brown peasant skirt that ended right under her knee that had little sequins along the side. It was dressy but casual enough to wear for hanging out. She then remembered the dark brown shirt she had that matched perfectly with it. It was sort of see through, so she had to wear a tank top under it; she didn't want to look like a slut. After she dressed, she admired herself in the mirror. At this point, she didn't even care if her friends questioned why she was dressed up. They should know by now. She smiled as she thought of James. The thought of him made her grab shoes that matched and slip into them as fast as she could. She grabbed her trunk, ran down to their sitting room where the fireplace was located and pulled out her little bag of floo powder. Dumbledore had pulled strings to get her house connected to the floo network, which she never fully appreciated until this point. She ran to tell her parents goodbye and then ran back to the fireplace.

She took a deep breath as she forced herself to calm down. She didn't want to seem too eager and desperate to see James; after all, it had only been a few days. She jumped into the fireplace and dropped the powder. As the green flames surrounded her, she yelled out clearly, "Potter Manor!" and was immediately whisked away.

James and Sirius were sitting in the manor's parlor where the main fireplace was located when they saw a green light appear. James jumped up, hoping it was Lily. Right when he saw the flash of red hair, he ran to her, all thoughts of telling himself not to appear too eager thrown away. He threw his arms around her and squeezed her as hard as he could, wanting to stay like this forever. Wow, Sirius was right. Where has my dignity gone? To show he wasn't completely desperate, he pulled back to let go, but Lily would have none of it. She pulled him back in and kissed him soundly on the lips. When James began to get carried away, Lily broke off.

"James, not in front of Sirius," Lily said, mischievously. They both looked over to see Sirius cowered in a ball on the couch covering his eyes.

"He's not looking," James said, eagerly pulling Lily back in as fast as he could. After he had done this, he realized it was probably not the best idea. Her chest was brought flush against his and this caused his hormones to go wild. He could feel all of her curves distinctly and knew if he didn't back away soon, he would get more carried away than he had previously. Lily looked up to see James' brown eyes clouded in lust. Lily leaned in to kiss him again and did not even stop when she heard Remus come through the fireplace. However, when he dropped his trunk in pure shock of seeing them in full make-out mode they pulled back reluctantly.

James looked at Lily and said, "You know, we really gotta find a better place for this."

Lily laughed and pulled away to hug Remus. James looked resentful but knew they couldn't carry on in front of his friends.

"Moony, be glad you weren't here a few minutes ago. It was even worse," Sirius said. When Remus looked over to see Sirius in the fetal position on the couch, he burst out laughing.

"Padfoot, what in the bloody heck are you doing?" Remus asked, amidst his laughter.

"I'm scarred for life, Remus. Those two are animals," Sirius replied, sitting up and pointing an accusatory finger at James and Lily who were still standing relatively close to each other. They all laughed but were interrupted by another arrival. This time, it was Sirius who jumped up and sprinted toward the fireplace. As he greeted Kimmy and Remus sat down in front of the fireplace, James and Lily went over to the other side of the room to talk. James sat down on a couch which Lily joined him on seconds later.

Once they got settled on the couch, Lily turned to James and hugged him tightly. "I missed you, James."

James shivered at the feel of Lily's breath on his ear and replied, "I missed you too, Lils."

They were interrupted by the arrival of Rachel, who Lily went over to hug. As the girls went over to talk amongst themselves, the boys came and joined James on the couch that was previously occupied by Lily and James.

Before Sirius sat down, he looked at the couch skeptically. "What did you and Lily do, James? I need to know before I sit down on this couch."

James threw back his head and laughed. "Nothing, Padfoot, I promise."

Sirius sat down after placing a blanket down on the couch, causing James and Remus to break into laughter again. As the friends sat, laughing and having a good time, they were not aware of the tragedy taking place a town away.

After dinner that night, Mrs. Potter threw the kids out of the kitchen as Mr. Potter's head had appeared in the kitchen fireplace wanting to speak with her about something urgent. Naturally, they stood outside the door, attempting to eavesdrop. However, what they heard made their jaws drop.

"Aurors spotted the Dark Mark floating above the Evans' house an hour ago," they heard Mr. Potter say, gravely.

"Any survivors, dear?" Mrs. Potter asked.

"Well, the other daughter was not at home so she survived. Both parents were gone, however," Mr. Potter said.

As Mr. Potter said this, they heard a gasp and footsteps running up the stairs. They turned around to see Lily gone.

"I'll go," Rachel said.

"No, Rache, I think James should go," Remus said. However, James was already gone.

Lily was sitting in her surrogate room with her head in her hands. Tears had not come yet but she could feel them building. She heard a light knock at the door but was too overwhelmed to even answer. The visitor did not wait for a response, however, and stepped into the room. As soon as he walked into the room, Lily knew exactly who he was.

James came over to her and picked her up, resettling her on his lap. "Just let it go, sweetheart, let it go."

As if she was waiting for permission, she began to sob, breaking James' heart over and over again with each heave. "Maybe if I had stayed home, this wouldn't have happened," Lily said, between sobs.

James pulled away slightly to look at her. He wiped away her tears with his thumbs, saying, "Lily, do not blame yourself. If you had been there, you may have died, too and..." James cleared his throat, seeing as his voice had broken as he was talking. "I don't think I could've lived after that, Lily." Lily looked at him, seeing the heartbroken look in his eyes. As she realized that her pain was causing him as much pain, she vowed to move on and get on with life. After all, James was her life now.

"James, I have a question," Lily said, tentatively.

"Anything, Lils."

"I know we're still really young, but... you're all I'm living for now, James. I would be willing to get married after we graduate if you are," Lily said, her lips moving against his shirt.

As he heard the utter desperation in her voice, he decided right then and there. "Yes, of course, Lils. Whatever you want, I'll give it to you."

Lily looked at him, smiling her first genuine smile since she had heard the news. "Thank you, James. I love you."

"I love you, too Lils." As she smiled that smile at him, he vowed to forever give her anything she wanted.

Lily's breathing soon became deep and even and James knew she was asleep. He gently laid her down and was about to leave when she wrapped her arms around him tightly, silently begging him to stay. James smiled and laid down next to her, wrapping his arms around her. As he watched her sleep, he decided he could definitely do this for the rest of their lives.

A/n: Well, two more chapters to go!!! R&R!

Chapter 17
A New Year and a New Beginning

The days went on and everyone marveled at how quick Lily had gotten back into the swing of things. However, despite her convincing mask, the way she felt inside was drastically different than what she conveyed to others. No matter how much she told herself to get over it for her and James’ sake, she continued to cry herself to sleep every night.

If Lily had not had James, she was convinced that she would have given up on life until she wasted away into nothing. His presence continually reminded her that she still had something to live for. During the day, the wedding plans were the only thing that kept her from breaking down and crying.

One such day, James came in and sat down next to her on the couch. Despite the cavernous size of it, he managed to get as close to her as he could. Lily hastily looked away and wiped her eyes quickly. She had let her mind wander while sitting, thinking that her mom should be with her to plan her wedding but knowing that was not possible.

“You okay?” James asked, concerned.

Lily turned back to him quickly and pasted on a smile. “I’m fine. Just had some dust in my eye,” she answered, a little too cheerfully. James was not convinced but let it slide, not wanting to stir up her quick temper, especially since her sensitivity was heightened because of the events that had occurred that week.

“Okay. What’cha working on?” James asked, looking down at the bridal books.

Lily grabbed them off of the table quickly before James could see the dress she was contemplating getting. “Nothing,” she said, with a sly grin. “You know you’re not supposed to see the bride’s dress before the wedding.”

“Well, no matter what it looks like, you better plan on spending the week after the wedding in bed,” James said, with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Unless you’ve changed your mind about waiting…” he trailed off while moving his eyebrows up and down suggestively.

Lily threw her head back, laughing. James was so happy to see her laughing but still knew something was up by the reserved look she held in her eyes. “You know you don’t have to act cheerful if you’re not. I can tell something’s bothering you. Let it go; I’m here for you.”

Lily looked up at him and James was afraid she was going to blow up at him. “I just think it would be much easier if my mom was here to help plan the wedding. That’s what mothers are supposed to do. Never mind the fact that my own dad won’t be there to walk me down the aisle,” she gasped as this fact hit her fully. She imagined walking down the aisle to meet James, alone. The thought made her eyes well up. She got up and walked over to the window, hiding her tears. She could see the snow falling down outside and remembered when she, Petunia and her father would build a snowman on days like these. The memory made her cry even harder.

James came up behind her and she was suddenly aware of two strong arms coming around her waist. She grabbed on to one of his hands and was grateful that he didn’t try to comfort her with words at the moment; she wasn’t sure if she could handle that. That was something she loved about James; he always seemed to know what she needed and when was the right time. When her crying calmed down, he began to speak.

“Lils, I have an idea,” James said, tentatively. “What if I walked you down the aisle?” Lily turned around and stared at him blankly. “Of course, I don’t have to. I just thought maybe you would prefer that rather than walking down alone,” he added sheepishly. When she continued to stay silent, he gave up. “Just forget I said anything, Lily. We’ll work something out.” He then turned around and began to walk to the kitchen until he heard her voice, soft and quiet.

“James?”

When James heard her speak, sounding more like a plea than anything, he spun around on the spot. When he saw the look of anguish on her face, he ran to her, wrapping her in his arms and kissing the top of her head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you cry. I just thought it would be a good idea. Just forget about it.”

Lily pulled away slightly so she could look him full in the face. “James, I’m not crying because I don’t want you to. It’s just, that was the sweetest thing you’ve ever said. I’m so lucky to be the future Mrs. James Potter,” she said, passionately.

If James was with anyone else, he never would have let slip what he did next. A lone tear ran down his cheek and he glanced to her lips, silently asking for permission. When Lily nodded slightly, he moved his lips toward hers painfully slow. So slow in fact, Lily felt as if a day had passed when his lips finally met hers. As quick as they met, he pulled back, his lips still touching hers. “I love you, Lily,” he whispered, both of them shivering at the contact of their lips.

“I love you too, James. More than you could ever know,” Lily replied, and then pressed her lips to his again. When she felt James take her lower lip in his mouth, she moaned, giving James even more confidence. He nibbled slightly on her lip which caused her to grab a hold of his hair pushing their faces even closer together. She felt him smile and then she felt him move his mouth to the area where the neck meets the shoulder. He began kissing and nibbling on said area and move over the length of her collarbone and then up her throat. Lily had long since had her head thrown back, enjoying the feeling of his lips and teeth on the sensitized skin of her neck. With every kiss and nibble, she moaned even more causing shivers to travel through James every time. When he finally moved up her neck, he heard the thing that set him over the edge. In an impassioned whisper, she uttered, “James.”

He had dreams like this before but never imagined his name coming out of her mouth in that manner. He then began a brutal assault on her earlobes, running his tongue and then teeth over the shell outline of the ear. “You don’t play fair,” she managed to get out.

James pulled back and laughed. “All’s fair in love and war.” He then pulled her to him, just holding her, enjoying the feel of her breath on his throat and his chin atop her head. They stood like that for a long time before she pulled back, kissed him on the cheek and walked back to the couch.

When she saw his disappointed look at her miniscule peck on the cheek, she giggled. “I can’t show you all my moves yet. You have to wait for the wedding night for that,” she said, slyly.

James got a look on his face that clearly said he wished they were getting married tomorrow, but he reluctantly obliged. He then heard Sirius call his name, most likely wanting him to come out and play Quidditch. He ran over to swiftly kiss Lily before saying, “Love you, sweetheart. See you at dinner.”

“Love you too. Make sure to wrap up, it’s cold outside,” Lily said, in her most mother-like tone, but he had already run out the door. She shook her head and looked down to continue looking at the bridal magazines. She could not believe James had offered to walk her down the aisle. She smiled wistfully as she imagined them walking together, her in a white bridal gown and him in a tux. She just could not wait for this wedding.
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The next day was New Year’s and all the teenagers rushed around, preparing for a celebration later that night. At five ‘o clock, the girls rushed upstairs, saying they had to get ready. The party wasn’t even going to start until nine. How could they possibly need four hours to get ready? They boys looked at each other with a look that obviously said, Girls.

Up in Lily’s room, the girls were taking turns getting showers so they would smell fresh and clean for the night. After Lily took hers, Rachel jumped in. Lily looked through her wardrobe, trying to decide what to wear. It definitely wasn’t formal or anything but she wanted to look nice for James. She decided on a simple green strapless dress she owned that perfectly matched her eyes. It came to right below her knees, a length that she liked. She then contemplated on what to do with her hair. She knew James liked it down so he could run his fingers through it. So, she decided on making it extra curly and put half of it up using bobby pins. She felt daring so she used a highlighting charm on it a friend at school taught her. She gasped in delight when she saw light blonde highlights placed strategically all over her hair.

When Kimmy saw Lily, she gasped. The dress showed the curve of her breasts and looked like it had been poured on her, it hugged so tightly. But she could not deny that Lily looked magnificent. She then looked up to her hair and noticed how great it looked halfway up. It was then she noticed the blond streaks. “Lily, you look absolutely beautiful.”

“Really? You don’t think the dress is too formal?” she asked, concernedly.

“No, it’s not, Lily. Don’t worry; James will positively drool when he sees you,” Kimmy replied, winking.

Lily blushed and could not wait to see James’ reaction. When she looked at what Kimmy was wearing, she knew her dress was not too formal. She was wearing a turquoise halter dress that showed off her slender neck. It was obvious she had to put on a lot of foundation to hide the hickies there, courtesy of Sirius. She decided not to mention it but instead told her she looked great. When Rachel came out in a simple white dress and her hair piled on her head, they all decided they looked good enough. They ventured out to find the boys sitting around the table in the sitting room, waiting for them. When James looked up at Lily, his breath caught and he started coughing.

Lily blushed and decided James looked great as well. He was wearing a jet black sweater that matched his hair and khakis that hung low on his hips. It was then she realized he looked great in anything. Remus and Sirius went to their respective dates and found spots to dance in. Funny, Lily hadn’t even noticed the slow music until now. It was then that James looked up and locked gazes with her. He wondered if this was how he reacted now, who knew what he would do at their wedding. He walked to her slowly, holding out his hand.

“Can I have this dance?” he asked.

“Of course,” Lily answered, smiling.

They found a spot and Lily wrapped her arms around his neck while he wrapped his around her waist.

“You look incredible, Lily,” James said, never taking his eyes off her.

“You don’t look too bad yourself,” she replied, not being able to think of anything else to say. Her mind had become scrambled due to the intensity of his gaze.

She laid her head on his shoulder with a contented sigh and he pulled her closer. As they swayed slowly to the music, something popped into Lily’s mind.

“James, how come you waited for me all those years? You could have had anyone you wanted,” she asked.

James was startled by the randomness of her question, but thought about how he should respond. After a minute, he spoke. “Well, since second year, I knew I loved you. I know I was young but I was completely sure of it. I can’t deny that every time you rejected me it didn’t hurt. But I can say this: Love doesn’t give up like that. Love doesn’t just walk away, no matter how irritated I became with constant rejection. Every time I look at you, I fall deeper, Lily. That’s how it was then, too. I just never gave up on you.”

Lily just stared up at him, completely at a loss for what to say. “That was beautiful, James.” She kissed him, long and hard and then settled her head back on his shoulder. She couldn’t think of anything except she was so glad he had waited.

At that moment, she vowed to herself to become the kind of wife James deserved. She made it her New Year’s Vow to love him with all that she had and never stop, no matter what. And when she looked at him, she knew she never could stop, even if she tried.

A/N: Okay, one more chapter to go. I hope you enjoyed!!

Chapter 18
Epilogue
A Wedding to Remember

“O my gosh, Rache. I’m so scared to do this,” Lily said, her hands trembling with nervousness as she stared at herself in her beautiful white wedding dress.

Rachel turned to Lily after applying her own makeup, letting out a huge gasp and dropping everything to the floor. She stood there with her mouth gaping open before she could form coherent speech. “Lily, you look…extremely beautiful.”

Lily blushed crimson. “Do you really think so? What if James doesn’t like it?”

Rachel then burst out laughing. “Honey, trust me, James will LOVE it. In fact, he probably won’t be able to wait to get you out of it.”

Lily blushed again but smiled. They had waited so long for this night and it was almost here. She was unbearably nervous but also overwhelmingly excited at the same time. James had been so impatient about this for a long time (well, they both had been actually) but he had always respected her wishes. Sometimes they came close to crossing the line but James, ever the gentleman, always stopped them.

Lily turned and took another look in the mirror. She had to admit, Rachel was right. She did look wonderful. She had minimal makeup on, as usual, except for a slight gloss to her lips that made them look fuller. Her hair was piled on top of her head with some pieces completely straightened and some pieces curly. Lily had been afraid that this hair style would look too messy for her wedding but they had controlled it enough to look elegant.

Lily became lost in her thoughts about her future. They had planned to go into Auror training together so having children would definitely have to wait. Lily was slightly disappointed but excited to be going into a career that had always intrigued her. But still, she could not get the image out of her head of little messy-haired children running through the house. She imagined the boys looking exactly like James and being the heartthrobs of school, just like their father. She imagined the girls looking like her and being natural beauties. She imagined James and her watching their children play in the yard as they sat on a bench, cuddling. She hoped that they stayed as much in love as they were now for the rest of their lives. As she thought about it, she didn’t doubt that that would be true for a second.

She was brought out of her reverie by the sound of wedding music and she knew it was time to go down. As she walked down the stairs to the sanctuary of the church, she spotted James at the doors to the aisle. Her heart stopped and her breath caught in her chest. He looked so wonderful she felt like swooning right there on the spot. But she restrained herself and continued to walk down the stairs. When James heard her step onto the floor at the foot of the stairs, he turned to spot her. Now it was his turn to become temporarily incapacitated. He could not believe how beautiful Lily looked…well, he could, but this was extraordinary. When he was able to speak, he said, “Lily, you look so beautiful. Did I ever tell you I am the luckiest person in the world?”

Lily blushed, but replied, “I beg to differ, James. I’m the one that is lucky.” She leaned up to whisper in his ear, “You don’t look to bad yourself.”

James chuckled but felt his whole body turn warm. The feel of her body against his and her breath against his ear made him wish that the ceremony was over so he could have her all to himself. He had waited so long, but he knew Lily wanted this wedding to be perfect. It would be better not to rush things. Lily linked his arm through his and he knew it was time to go. Rachel opened the double doors for them to walk through. There was a collective gasp as all realized that the groom was walking the bride down the aisle. Then, everyone started crying silently at the sweetness and sadness of it. Lily could hear many women murmuring and she knew they were telling each other why her father wasn’t walking her down. She bit back tears but became happy again when she looked over at James. A smile spread across her face as she realized what was happening…she was getting married…to James Potter!
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After the wedding ceremony, the ecstatic couple and all the guests made their way out to the makeshift reception hall. It was held outside, seeing as it was a beautiful day in the beginning of July. Sticking to their promise to each other, they had gotten married two weeks after graduating and they couldn’t be happier. As they sat down at the bridal party table, they did not notice anyone else around them. They were extremely happy to be together and Lily was even happier that she was now Mrs. James Potter. As they sat staring at each other, not even eating, they were aware of the DJ speaking. They, as one, turned to look and noticed that he was calling for them to go out to the dance floor for their first dance as man and wife.

James stood up, gallantly reaching for Lily’s hand. “May I have this dance, Mrs. Potter?”

Lily, still in a happy daze, said dreamily, “Of course you can, James.” She stood up and followed him out to the wooden dance floor. When they got there, James wrapped his arm around her waist as she wrapped hers around his neck. She had no idea what the song would be, seeing as James had insisted upon picking it. When the song started, she still did not know what it was but it was beautiful. As they swayed to the music, James sang the song in her ear, but only loud enough for her to hear.

Every time our eyes meet
This feeling inside me
Is almost more than I can take
And baby when you touch me
I can feel how much you love me
And it just blows me away

I’ve never been this close to anyone
Or anything
I can hear your thoughts
I can feel your dreams

I don’t know how you do what you do
I’m so in love with you
And it just keeps getting better
I wanna spend the rest of my life with you by my side
Forever and ever
Every little thing that you do
Baby I’m amazed by you

As the next section of the song played, shivers went up and down her back as James sang it to her.

The smell of your skin
The taste of your kiss
The way you whisper
In the dark
Your hair all around me
Baby you surround me
You touch everyplace in my heart
Oh it feels like the first time
Everytime
I wanna spent the whole night
In your eyes

I don’t know how you do what you do
I’m so in love with you
And it just keeps getting better
I wanna spend the rest of my life
With you by my side
Forever and ever
Every little thing that you do
Baby I’m amazed by you

Now at the end of the song, they stopped swaying and James pulled back to see Lily with tears in her eyes. “Lily, I’m amazed by you.” Then, he pulled her into a kiss. Unaware of everyone watching them, they allowed the kiss to go deeper and deeper until James was about to throw her onto the dance floor and make love to her there. Then, everyone started cheering and clapping and they realized where they were. When they pulled back, they stared at each other for a few minutes, reveling in their love for each other. However, they were interrupted when they heard Sirius yell, “See, Remus? I told you they were animals.” James and Lily just threw back their heads and laughed.

After dancing to a few more songs, the couple was getting more and more impatient. When at last they could take it more, James made an announcement. “Well, everyone, it has been nice visiting with everyone but we really must go now. We’ll be gone for a week, so do not try to contact us,” James said, staring pointedly at Sirius.

The moment he was done, Lily grabbed his arm and ran with him out of the tent to their limousine. “Well now they have no doubt why we left early, Lils,” James said, but chuckled at the same time.

Lily turned to him with a seductive look on her face and walked closer to him. “And they’ll be right, right?”

James began to stutter, making Lily happy with the effect she undoubtedly had on him. “I-I-I guess, y-y-yeah,” James managed to utter.

Lily smiled and said, “Good.” She pulled him into the car with her and their chauffeur drove them to the Floo Network they would be traveling from.
_________________________________________________________________

When they arrived in Paris, Lily’s dream honeymoon spot (James could really care less where they went), they ran to the hotel, got their key and ran to their room. When they reached their door, James couldn’t take it anymore. Lily was pushed up against the door and James began to kiss her heatedly. The moment his tongue went in her mouth, all protests she had thought of went out the window. The kiss began to get more passionate and James’ jacket was soon discarded. When James started kissing Lily’s neck, she realized where they were. “Ummm, James, I think we should go into the room to continue this,” she managed to get out through the stupor she was currently in. James managed to get the key in the hole as quick as possible and ran into the room. Their luggage was already there and James turned to Lily and smiled. Right before he kissed her, she made him wait. “I have something for you.” And before he could protest, she grabbed a bag and ran into the bathroom. James sat down on the bed, trying his best to calm his heart. His attempts failed, especially when the bathroom door swung open and he saw what Lily had for him.

She had on an emerald green gown that went down mid-thigh. It hardly had any top to it (not that he was complaining) and it was completely silk. He could not wait to feel what the gown was like under his hands. He reached for her, kissing her even more heatedly than he had in the hall and his pants, shirt and shoes were thrown away in the process. Then, he decided he wanted to take things slow. It was their first time and he wanted to savor the moment. He laid Lily on the bed gently, climbing on top of her. Before kissing her again, he said, “I’m so in love with you, Lils.”
_________________________________________________________________

After they were done an hour later, James was cradling Lily in his arms. “Was it worth the wait, James?” Lily asked, breathlessly.

James smiled and recalled the best time he had ever had in his life. “Yes, it was, Lils. Definitely. It felt better than flying.”

Lily laughed. “So, you’re glad we waited?”

“Of course I am, Lily. I think it was better this way. What do you think?” James asked.

“James, I’ve never felt more loved in my life,” she said, recalling the things he whispered to her over the past hour. “I am so glad we waited. I don’t think our wedding night would have felt like this if we had done it before, you know?”

“Yeah. I’m glad we didn’t fall for the temptation all those times that we got so close, Lils. This was definitely a special thing; it’s not something that should just be done in the heat of the moment.”

Before they both drifted off to sleep, Lily said, “I love you with all of my heart, James.”

“I love you more,” he replied.

“Impossible,” Lily whispered.
_________________________________________________________________

James and Lily really did love each other as much as they did when they were married until their deaths. Even though they died at such a young age, their relationship was not an ordinary one. They were not like a lot of teenagers, getting caught up in the moment and throwing away their purity when they got the chance. They waited and were much happier because of it. Take a lesson from them: that moment should be savored, not seen as just another thing to do. The choice that they made separated them from most teenagers and that is why this is…
not another teen love story.

A/N: Song credit goes to LoneStar "Amazed"