There was a party in her house…a room filled with what looked to be hundreds of people, and they were partying. This was a major problem.
Lily clutched at her heart, watching as the party blasted inside the once tiny room. Her eyes were bulging at the mere size of the event. She had never been one to break the rules, and this occurrence went against every rule her parents had laid down once she had become a teenager. She could hear her father’s voice echoing in her ears.
“Unless we, your parents, invited them, there will be no boys.” She didn’t even have to look around to know how many times that rule had been broken.
“No loud music.” The music was shaking the walls, it was so obnoxious. How had she not heard it before? There was a loud shout of “Silencio” before rambunctious laughter broke out. Lily hit herself on the forehead. A stupid Silencing Charm would work on any room, she realized.
“No beer.” She could practically taste the Firewhiskey from where she was standing.
“No throwing things.” She heard her father say, just as the antique lamp undeniably went flying across the room followed by hoots and hollers.
“Finally, NO PARTIES!”
Lily groaned to herself, feeling as if she wanted to cry. Why? Oh in Merlin’s name, why had she left James and Sirius by themselves in a room that could easily have a Silencing Charm placed over it? Was she really that much of a bloody idiot? A pig shot across the room followed by a red and blue firecracker and the sound of breaking glass. Yes, that just confirmed it. Lily Marie Evans was officially the stupidest person ever to walk the planet.
Suddenly, she was grabbed by the arms and pulled into the mass huddle in the middle of the room. She screeched in surprise. Sirius was looking at her with a big puppy dog grin spread across his face. A cup was in his hands.
“Evans! What ‘cho you doin’?” he babbled, before suddenly laughing hysterically.
“Sirius!” Lily cried. Just as quickly, she wrinkled her nose at the odor coming from Sirius’s mouth. “You’re drunk!”
“I’m no drunk! ‘Cho drunk. No, you’re a skunk! He He! Evans smells! Evans smells! Evans smells like a skunk!” He said this extremely fast before bursting into giggles. The contents of his drink were sloshing around dangerously. He was swaying back and forth, looking completely and utterly mad.
“Why can nothing go right tonight?” Lily moaned to herself, grabbing her hair and pulling it.
Sirius answered her. “‘Cause ‘cho not right in the head, Skunk. ‘Cho just like a…like a”what are ‘cho like, Skunk? I can’t think of the word!” Sirius scratched his head, thinking.
“Give me that!” Lily reached for his cup irritably. “You’ve had more than enough to drink tonight!”
Sirius pulled back from her, bumping into the people behind him. Firewhiskey bounced over the rim. “Don’t ‘cho you take my cup, Skunk! It won’t make ‘cho smell nice like a flower if that’s why ‘cho you want it. Hee Hee! ‘Cho name is Lily but ‘cho don’t smell like a flower!” Sirius cracked up, tears streaming from his eyes. “‘Cho smell like a skunk!” He was giggling like crazy. His entire face was lit up in entertainment.
“I do not smell! Now, give me your cup, Black!” She swiped at it again.
She jumped back in surprise as Sirius began shouting at the top of his lungs. “THIEF! THIEF! WATCH YOUR CUP! WATCH YOUR WHISKEY! THE SKUNK WANTS TO SMELL PRETTY! SHE’S TRYING TO BE A THIEF! AHHH!” Lily had tackled him. Firewhiskey went everywhere as she pinned Sirius’s hands down to the floor so that they were above his head. She succeeded in wrenched the now empty cup out from his fingers.
“Didn’t know ‘cho wanted to play dirty, Skunk.” Sirius grinned wickedly at her, looking more like his own self.
“UGH!” Lily yelled, disgusted. She hurriedly shrank back from Sirius, but he snatched her wrists, yanking them so that she was lying on top of him again. The other partiers barely spared them a second glance. They swayed to the beat, their cups reeking of alcohol and their eyes slightly dazed.
“BLACK! GET THE HELL OFF OF ME!” Lily shrieked; her face red with both anger and embarrassment.
“I believe ‘cho are the one on me, Skunk.”
“UGH!” Lily screamed again, before jerking her hands out of Sirius’s grasp and punching him on the nose.
“OWWWWW!” Sirius screeched, letting out a stream of curse words. Lily quickly jumped to her feet, smoothing her clothes as if she was dusting herself off.
“You and Potter better go into hiding after tonight, Black, because I am so going to murder you two!” She shot him a dirty look before pushing her way through the crowd, trying to spot James.
She heard shouts of her name and nodded at the familiar faces around her, but her mission was set. She was going to kill James. Abruptly, she was almost thrown to the ground as two of her very best friends leapt on her, screaming.
“We thought we’d never find you!” Adrianna exclaimed, her hair a bright blue today.
“Yeah! We’ve looked everywhere!” Alice added, throwing her arms around the room dramatically.
“This is the best party yet! I was so surprised when the invitation came”” started Adrianna.
“Invitation?” Lily said sharply. “What invitation?”
“This one,” Alice said, confused, and she pulled out the invite.
Lily snatched it from her and began to read.
Hogwarts’ Number One Hottie (NOT JAMES!!)
Sirius Black
“I am not a stuffy, follow-the-rules-professor-pet!”
“Yeah, we disagreed with Black there””
“And with the fact that he invited Professor McGonagall,” Alice input, “well, I don’t think he actually invited her, but you never know with Sirius…” she trailed off, thinking.
“But still, it’s a party, and you know what that means!” Adrianna continued excitedly.
“BOYS!” yelled Mary, the last of Lily’s best friends. She came sauntering over; her black hair bouncing, though not one strand came out of its place.
“Well, I was going to say Firewhiskey, but yes, boys are definitely a close second!” Adrianna reasoned.
“What are you doing here?” Lily gaped, putting her hand on top of her forehead exasperatedly. She looked around her as if she was asking some unknown person for help. This party was definitely out of control if Mary was here.
“Well, hello to you, too!” snapped Mary defensively. She folded her arms and glared at the red-head.
Lily shook her head. “You know that’s not what I meant. I’m happy every time I see you, but if you’re here”” She looked Mary up and down, taking in her tight pants and sequenced party top.
“”then this party must be filled with boys, alcohol, and other unmentionable things,” Alice finished for Lily, smirking at Mary.
Mary sniffed, lifting her nose up. “So what if I only go to the good parties””
Lily groaned, putting her head in her hands.
“”that doesn’t mean anything about me except that I’m a wild thing!” Mary finished, throwing her hands up into the air and shaking her hips. “Besides, you’re the one who’s hosting it! Why shouldn’t I come to my best friend’s house?”
“WATCH IT!”
Another object”a vase this time”went shooting across the room. It would have hit the group of girls if they hadn’t ducked in time. Lily watched as it shattered on the ground, porcelain going everywhere. It was her mother’s favorite vase. Of course.
“THAT’S IT! PARTY’S OVER! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! NOW!” she screamed over the music. A few people glanced over but went back to dancing as soon as they saw who was shouting. Lily’s face was getting steadily redder and blotchier as her anger grew. “I SAID MM”” A hand had appeared over her mouth, muffling her yells.
“Do you want people to think you really are a quote stuffy, follow-the-rules-professor-pet unquote?” Mary fumed; her hands now on her hips after successfully shutting Lily up.
“I don’t e-ffing care!”
“Well, Skunk. It looks like your mouth is as dirty as your actions!” Sirius Black meandered over, pushing his way between a snogging couple. They shot him a dirty look but he just stumbled a bit, laughing to himself.
“Reparo,” Sirius whispered, pointing his wand at the broken vase on the ground. It immediately righted itself, but then someone stepped backwards, and it went crashing to the floor again.
“BLACK!” Lily lunged forward but was suddenly stopped by a very big stomach. She looked up and all she could focus on was the moustache and the quivering vein in Vernon’s forehead.
“You. Get. Me. Out. Of. Here.” He managed through clenched teeth. The bodies suddenly swarmed closer, making a tight circle around Vernon. Before Lily could speak, Vernon was whisked away as the circle of students moved to a brand new song. Lily just stared at the spot where Vernon had just been standing. Then, suddenly, a pair of hands covered her eyes.
She made to turn around but the hands tightened.
“Now before you kill me, Lils, my love, the only girl my heart beats for”” Lily tensed up, steam already building up inside of her, ready to explode at the last second. “”just know that this was not my idea. Kill Sirius, ok? Not me.” Lily’s jaw was working furiously.
James continued, “So, let’s just take a deep breath. Nice and steady now. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Now repeat after me. It was Sirius’s idea, not James’s idea. I’m going to murder Sirius. Not James. Ok, now let’s go back to out breathing exercises. Breathe in”” But James never got to finish. The group of girls in front of him was counting down on their hands. 5…4...3…2…One finger was left, but then it too vanished, and Lily flew into her infamous rages.
“JAMES POTTER OF ALL THE THINGS YOU HAVE EVER DONE TO ME WHY IN MERLIN’S NAME DID YOU HAVE TO ADD THIS TO THE I HAVE TO MURDER JAMES LIST?!”
“It was Sirius’s idea, remember?” James tried weakly. Lily rounded on him and though James was almost a whole foot taller, he cowered at the red head’s intimidating form.
“I DON’T CARE WHOSE IDEA IT WAS YOU MORON! THERE IS A PARTY GOING ON IN MY HOUSE. MY HOUSE! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?”
The girls were sniggering at the two. James was cringing at each word while Lily was gesturing wildly.
Suddenly, Vernon reappeared back at Lily’s side, tapping her on the shoulder.
“WHAT?” she screamed at him, twisting around.
“Just get me out of here!” He was pulling at his moustache frantically.
But then another group of students appeared at his side, made a circle around him, and he was, once again, whisked away.
Lily turned back to James.
“AND WHY DO THEY KEEP DOING THAT!?” Lily yelled at James, demanding an explanation.
James’s chest swelled proudly. “Now that was my idea actually. You see, the whale was getting pretty annoying so when the people started showing up,” He paused, checking to make sure Lily wasn’t going to slap him before continuing. “Sirius and I said the only way they could get in was if they made sure Vernon didn’t get near you, me, or Sirius. They agreed of course.”
“WELL”” Lily began before suddenly a song stopped her dead in her upcoming rant. She turned towards James, her eyes wide. He hesitated for a couple of seconds, making sure once again that he wasn’t going to be injured by Lily, before smiling cautiously at her and taking her hand.
“It’s our song, James,” Lily whispered. She seemed to have forgotten that she had been furious just moments ago. Mary rolled her eyes at the other two girls, muttering something about “bipolar friends.”
“You bet, Love,” James answered. He grabbed her around the waist and she placed her hand on his shoulder and they began swaying to the music. She laid her head on his chest, sighing contently. James chuckled softly.
“What?” she asked, looking up at James.
“You have the most radical mood swings. One minute you’re about to become a murderer and the next you’re in love with me.” Lily hit him lightly on the chest before placing her hand back on his shoulder.
“Shh, you’re ruining the mood!” Lily tsked at him. “And just wait until this song is over! Then you’re dead meat!” James chuckled one more time before putting his head on top of Lily’s.
“Do you remember the day we heard this?” Lily asked softly, her eyes distant.
“Do I remember it?” James asked incredulously. “It was the first time you said yes to me! You agreed to go on a date with me! Of course I remember it!”
Lily laughed. “That was the worst day of my life.”
James made a small noise of disagreement. “It was the best day of my life…except for that whole stomping foot thing. I think my foot still has bruises on it.”
Lily laughed again. “I forgot about that. Why don’t you tell me about it so I can remember.”
“Well, I believe it started like this…” James leaned in so that his lips met Lily’s for a kiss.
-Flashback-
Lily was storming down the hallway. It was nine thirty in the morning, and she was already in a bad mood. She had known, from the moment she had woken up, that it would be one of those days. The kind of day that seemed like world was ending and hell was coming up to consume her. In general terms, Lily was having a bad day and it had all started with bloody James Potter as usual. She had woken up from a nightmare (well for some girls it would have been a great dream, but for her it was a regular nightmare.) James had been in it, like he had been for the last couple of weeks, and he had been protecting her. From what, she had no idea whatsoever. All Lily knew was that when she woke up, all she could remember was the feel of James Potter’s arms around her.
And it had felt good…right almost…that feeling all by itself had annoyed the crap out of her. The day had hardly had gotten better from there. She had missed breakfast because Mary had a dramatic breakdown, was late to her first class, and now had to go to another one of Slughorn’s stupid Slug Club parties.
“Stupid, fat man, with his stupid parties. Why did he have to pick me to be in his club? Because I have no luck at all. My life”” Lily’s muttering abruptly came to a complete halt because, as she turned the corner, Lily collided into something. She would have fallen backwards if someone’s hands hadn’t caught her. They were very familiar hands. In fact, she had just been dreaming about those same hands last night.
Why? Oh why did the gods or whoever was up there hate her so much?
“Lily, my love, how are you on this beautiful day?” James asked, his eyes twinkling. Lily straightened up but James did not let go of her.
“Oh, bugger off,” she muttered, trying to push James away. He just tightened his hold.
“Well Love, it looks like someone has a bit of a potty mouth. Do you need me to wash it for you?” Before Lily could refuse, before she could even comprehend what was happening, James had leaned down and kissed Lily straight on the lips. Lily’s eyes opened wide; her mind was strangely blank. James was kissing her. Kissing her and suddenly, she was kissing him back. Then, time caught up with her brain again, and she remembered where she was and what she was doing.
“OWWWW!” James yelped, pushing back from Lily in pain, and reaching down for his foot. He hopped up and down, his hand frantically clutching his right foot. “Why did you do that?” James panted, still hopping. Lily hastily leapt backwards. Yep, the whole stomping foot thing always worked.
“You are seriously asking me that?” Lily raised her eyebrows, her eyes narrowed in distain. James just glared back at her, massaging his foot. Lily harrumphed. “Are you mental? You kissed me! Kissed me! This day is definitely a day from hell.”
She was glaring at him angrily, her hands on her hips. She made to turn on her heel when suddenly, to top everything off, her bag split right down the side. Books, parchment, and ink went everywhere. She watched a bottle of scarlet ink roll down the hallway in shock. How could this day get any worse? She turned to look at James with an almost helpless expression printed on her face. He was ignoring her now, sitting on the floor with his shoe and sock off. His foot was bright red and a small bruise was already appearing. Lily was looking at her stuff, spread just about everywhere, and exhaustion overcame her. She shuffled over to where James was sitting and slouched down, putting her head in her hands. James looked up at her in surprise which quickly changed to concern.
“Are you ok?” he asked worriedly, still rubbing his foot.
“No.” Lily said; her voice muffled because of her arms.
“Well I’m not either so I guess that makes us two peas in a pod.”
Lily snorted. Snorting was good. No one could tell that you wanted to cry if you snorted. Lily kept her head in her arms with her knees curled up, fighting against tears. Everything was just too much to handle right now. Between the upcoming war Dumbledore kept talking about, her Head Girl Duties, and her conflicting love life, she was becoming drained.
“So, what are we going to do about it?” James asked.
Lily looked up at James. He looked so cute when he was hopeful. Lily eyes widened in alarm at the thought in her head. Stupid, influencing nightmares making her think crazy thoughts. Great, now she was losing her mind. This day really was the worst day ever.
“Lily?” James asked. She shook her head, focusing on the words coming out of James’s mouth and not on his actual mouth. “Lily?”
“What?” she snapped.
“What are we going to do about it?”
“Do about what?” Lily said testily, her patience had long since disappeared.
“How are we going to make each other ok?”
“I don’t know, James. Stop bothering me.” Lily glared at him before putting her head back into her hands. She wanted to go back to bed. Maybe she’d do a Mary and skip her next classes.
“Sorry,” James murmured submissively. Lily automatically felt guilty. He had just been trying to help.
Sighing, Lily turned to him. “Is”er”your foot okay?”
James looked at her, scanning her face, before answering. “Umm..kinda…but you really stomp hard.”
“It’s from footbol, I’d bet.”
“From what?” James asked, bemused.
“Footbol.”
“And what is…footbol?”
“You don’t know what footbol is?” Lily exclaimed. She was now sitting on her knees, her feet folded under her, and looking at James in shock.
“No?” James tried.
“Footbol, or soccer as it is called in the United States, is a muggle sport,” Lily began explaining fervently. “It’s like Quidditch, I guess, except you play it on the ground, can only use your feet, and there is only one goal on opposite sides to score in. Actually, it’s nothing like Quidditch,” Lily added as an after thought. “But the entire muggle world participates in it; it’s like the Quidditch of our world. So in that regard, it is like Quidditch.”
“So you played this footbol.”
“My dad was really into it. Both Tuney and I did it, though she hated it. I had to stop when I came here though…” Lily trailed off, her eyes distant.
“I see,” James lied. Lily opened her mouth to say something when, out of the blue, a voice came bouncing off the walls.
“Ladies and Gentlemen! I have an announcement to make!”
Lily stared at James who had begun to smile.
“Why can I hear Sirius’s voice?” Lily demanded.
James seemed to shrink into himself, looking at Lily hesitantly. “It’s our”umm”newest prank…”
“James Potter! You are Head Boy! You can’t keep these pranks up”” She was interrupted, however, by Sirius’s echoing voice.
“Now as we all know, Minnie, or as lots of you call her, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Dumbledore have always been madly in love. So here’s to you two. May you have a long and loving relationship.” Sirius’s voice stopped and instead was replaced by music.
“Elvis Presley?” Lily asked in awe. She had stood up, glancing around her as the music began playing.
“Is that who sings this? I don’t know; Moony found it.”
Lily smiled slightly as the words began.
Love me tender,
Love me sweet,
Never let me go.
You have made my life complete,
And I love you so.
“I take it you like this song?” James said, standing up and watching Lily.
Lily nodded yes. James had come over to Lily, holding out his hand.
“Well, may I have this dance then?” Lily hesitated before agreeing. What the heck? She hadn’t danced in a while and it was something she had always loved to do.
Love me tender,
Love me true,
All my dreams fulfilled.
For my darlin I love you,
And I always will.
Love me tender,
Love me long,
Take me to your heart.
For its there that I belong,
And well never part.
They swayed back and forth. Lily was singing the song softly. James was watching her, a small smile on his face. God did he love her…
Love me tender,
Love me dear,
Tell me you are mine.
Ill be yours through all the years,
Till the end of time.
When at last my dreams come true
Darling this I know
Happiness will follow you
Everywhere you go.
As the song ended, Lily and James just kept swaying, not wanting to leave their fantasy.
James reluctantly let go of her as the bell rang.
“We’re late for class,” he whispered to her.
“Well, I’ve already been late once; another time isn’t going to hurt me.” Lily sighed. She quickly mended her bag with a swish of her wand. James had collected her belongings.
“Thanks,” She said, her face red. She had just danced with James Potter! Was she losing her mind? She’d never live this down!
She began to walk away when suddenly James grabbed her arm.
“Hey Lily.” He sounded nervous. He cleared his throat twice before continuing. “I know that this is probably going to just mess everything up, but what the hell. Will you go out with me?”
Lily stared at him. He wasn’t looking at her. He shuffled his feet, his right one was bare. She stifled a laugh.
After what seemed like hours, Lily finally answered. “James, this has been probably this worst day of my life.”
James groaned softly, muttering to himself. “Why do I ruin everything?”
Lily ignored him, still talking. “But you kinda made it better. So I guess…Yeah…I mean yes, I’ll go out with you.” Lily eyes widened. She had said yes. Oh Merlin, she really had lost her mind!
“I know Lily, I’ll just go,” James had started talking but then he stopped. He looked at her in shock; it seemed that he had stopped breathing.
“What did you just say?”
“I said yes, James.”
“Huh?”
“YES! God, do I have to slap you to get this across? Yes, I’ll go out with you! YES!” Lily yelled exasperatedly.
James’s face now had a stupid looking grin on it. “Yes?”
“YES!” Lily yelled, annoyance for the boy now returning. “But only because of the whole foot stomping thing. I feel bad.” She lied. It wasn’t good to give him an even bigger head yet.
“HALLELUJAH!” James screamed, before lifting Lily off her feet and spinning her around. Lily laughed slightly as he put her down. “You said yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!
“Yes,” Lily giggled.
When suddenly, a voice interrupted them.
“What are you two doing out of class? Detention!”
Lily twisted around to see the professor glaring at them. Yes, today was the worst day of her life.
-Flashback Ends-
The song ended but just like last time, James and Lily continued swaying. They would have stayed like that for a very long time if something hadn’t interrupted them.
“OH MY GOD! LILY!” A scream, so loud that it actually drowned out the music, had sounded by the door.
“Oh no,” Lily groaned. “Petunia.” Then she narrowed her eyes when she saw that James seemed to be trying to make himself disappear.
“LILY EVANS!” Petunia screeched again. “OH MY GOD!”
“Get back here,” Lily snapped at James. “If I’m going down, you’re going down with me.” She grabbed him by the arm before marching towards the door. After this was all over, she was officially going to murder James and Sirius, song or no song.