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!
Not Another Teen Love Story by 365 letters_ryan gosling 20
Chapter Notes: Well, everyone has arrived at the Potters', completely oblivious to the tragedy occuring a town away. After this chapter, two more to go!!