The Countdown
A special New Year's fic by yours truly.
Disclaimer: The Countdown is an episode from the first season of The O.C. The dialogue is mostly from that, the characters are J. K. Rowlings', and all I did was some adaptation. Enjoy!
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Lily and James were heading back to the Gryffindor common room after spending the evening together. They'd been dating for about two months, and were practically inseparable.
The common room was empty as they kissed each other good night. "Hey," Lily said thoughtfully. "Only one more day left in 1977."
"It's been a good year," James said.
"I don't know about that..."
"I meant, for me."
"I know," she said, smiling. "I can't wait to celebrate the New Year with you." She kissed him again. "So, what do you wanna do? I heard of some parties over..."
"I would be happy just hanging out with you," he said, giving her another gentle kiss.
"Are you sure? Sirius isn't planning anything?"
"I don't care. We'll stay in."
Lily smiled and kissed him again. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she whispered, "I love you."
James' eyes popped open in shock. Lily was taken by surprise as well. Pulling away she stuttered, "I mean..."
"Uh..."
"I - I didn't mean... I..."
"Thank you," he said, nearly as a question.
Lily looked at her boyfriend, confused. "You're welcome? I gotta go, curfew," she said, giving him a final awkward peck on the cheek. Then she rushed up to her dorm.
James slowly walked up to his room, mentally kicking himself. Just outside the door he leaned against the wall dejectedly, whispering to himself, "I love you. I love you. How hard is that to say?"
"Saying it's easy. Meaning it? That's the hard part." A familiar girl walked up the stairs with a bag slung over her shoulder.
"Andromeda?"
"Hey James. Long time no see."
"What are you doing here?"
"Visiting," she said, walking into the dorm room where James' roommates were sleeping. "Oh, and... love you too."
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The next morning, Sirius awoke to find James' bed curtains closed tightly. Assuming his best friend was still asleep, he headed down to the common room only to find James asleep on the couch.
James woke up and waved a hand in greeting to Sirius. "What happened? Lady kick you to the curb?"
Sleepily, James replied, "My bed was occupied. Your cousin."
"Andy's here?"
"Yeah, she's..."
"Awesome," Sirius said, rushing upstairs.
Up in the room, Remus and Peter were just waking up. As Sirius walked in, Andy got out of James' bed. "Hey guys, guess who's here!"
"Andy!" Sirius said, excited. "Later, when you're dressed, we'll hug."
"Happy New Year everyone!" Andromeda said cheerfully.
"Happy New Year," Peter said sleepily.
"We're gonna head down to breakfast," Sirius said, dragging James and Andromeda with him. "See you later."
As they sat down at the practically empty Gryffindor table, Andy said, "Looking good, cousin Sirius."
"Thank you. Puberty happened."
"Its been that long?"
"It sure has. Be glad you missed. Oh, check this out, though," he said, tugging at the collar of his shirt.
"Ooh, chest hair. And you and James are still friends, I see."
"Of course we are," Sirius said, throwing his arm around James' shoulders for emphasis. James was only half paying attention as he poured cereal into a bowl.
"So," Andy turned her attention back to her younger cousin, "Now that you're a man, what are the New Year's Eve plans? Got any girls to kiss?"
"Well, I had two... And now I have none. But it's cool, cause I swore off women." Sirius was referring to the fact that earlier that month, two girls had both shown an interest in him. However, not wanting to hurt either of their feelings, he had turned both of them down.
"Right."
"I took myself off the market," Sirius remarked, acting selfless. "I'll do whatever James and Lily do."
"Sounds like James and Lily won't be doing much because of three little words James couldn't say." She started searching around the table. "Where's the Frosted Flakes?"
"That's four words."
Andy turned to Sirius and said slowly, as if talking to a child, "I - love - you."
"Shut up." Sirius turned to James. "James, did Lily really say that to you?"
Over his cup of coffee, James nodded solemnly.
"Okay, what'd you say?"
Quietly, James whispered, "Thank you." Sirius looked shocked, while Andy had a pained expression on her face.
Sirius looked down at his breakfast. "Well, I guess we'll be staying in tonight."
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Lily was sitting at a table in the library, finishing up an essay, when Oliver, a sixth year Hufflepuff that she sometimes tutored in potions, approached her.
"It was nice of Madame Pince to keep the library open today."
"Yeah, it was," she said, glancing up with a small smile.
"Last minute work, or a list of resolutions?"
"An essay for Transfiguration."
"Oh. So do you have any?"
Without looking up from her work, she asked, "Any what?"
"Resolutions, that you're never gonna keep. Give me one, at least."
Jokingly, she answered, "I'm gonna eat more green vegetables."
He laughed. "Wow, that's deep. And what about dairy, grains?"
"Actually, I feel good about the grains."
"And tonight is New Year's Eve, you're head girl. I'm sure you've got plenty of places to be." Lily didn't answer, so he asked, "So what's the deal."
She put down her quill, having finished her essay. "You ask a lot of questions."
"One of us has to."
She started gathering up her books. "What are you doing?"
"Well, now that you've asked..." he said, pulling a piece of parchment out of his pocket, "I'm having a party in the astronomy tower. It's completely legal, don't worry. Come by?"
She thought about it for a second, and said, "Yeah, maybe we will."
"We, as in, you and your... friend?"
"My boyfriend, James. He wants to stay in."
"My girlfriend's the same way. Natalie," he said. "But she'll be there. I can meet him, you can meet her. It's a party."
"Yeah, hopefully I'll see you there," she said, standing up.
"There'll be vegetables. Some celery, dip."
"Well as long as there's dip," Lily joked, leaving the library.
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When Lily got upstairs, she found James in his dorm room. "We're not going to a party. We made plans."
"To do nothing," she said.
"Who's Oliver?"
"A guy I tutor." She paused for a moment. "Hey, there'll be dip." James gave her a look, and she said, "Sorry, I guess it's more of an inside joke."
"Between you and Oliver? You guys have inside jokes?"
She tried again to convince him. "It'll be fun. There'll be people."
"As opposed to here, where it will just be you and me. I thought you wanted to do nothing."
"Yeah, well that was before-" Lily suddenly stopped.
James looked up, embarrassed. "Right. Before I... uh..."
Lily smiled innocently, "What?"
"Because I didn't say..."
"What?"
"When you said..." he tried again.
She continued to smile. "What?"
"Never mind," he said dejectedly.
"So are you going?"
James sighed. "I'm staying here, like we agreed."
"Okay, well, if you change your mind..." she said, handing him the invitation.
"So you're going?"
"Like I said: Yup." She kissed him on the cheek quickly. "Happy New Year."
He watched unhappily as she left the room. "Happy New Year."
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Later that evening, James and Sirius were in the common room, playing a game of chess. "So you know what you did?" Sirius asked James. James didn't answer, but Sirius continued on anyway. "You know what you did? You blew it, buddy. Almost as bad as I did. But you know what? We're both single now, it's a new year. We should... I don't know, meet new people."
James angrily said, "We didn't break up, we're just not spending New Year's Eve together."
"Only the most important chick holiday, besides Valentine's Day." Sirius moved his chess piece, then looked up at his best friend. "Why didn't you just go to this party? I don't understand it."
He looked very exasperated. "Because we had plans, and... Because, I mean, who's Oliver?"
"Okay. As long as your clear on your motivation."
Remus, who'd been nearby reading a book, got up and said, "I think I'm gonna head down to the kitchens. You guys need anything?"
"Yeah, James needs a tear in the space-time continuum so he can go back and say "I love you" to Lily."
Remus looked at James in shock. She said 'I love you?'"
Both of them nodded, Sirius excitedly, James somewhat sadly.
"So what did you say back?"
Sirius spoke up before James could, with a smug smile. "Thank you."
"Thank you," James said to Sirius.
Remus was appalled. "Well... that was polite."
"That's what I said." Remus left behind a very unhappy looking James.
As they were playing, Andy came by and was surprised to find the two boys lounging around the common room. "What are you guys doing here? You're not even dressed."
Sirius didn't even look up. "I know. I told you, we're not going out."
"I thought you were being sarcastic."
"That's usually a safe assumption."
She turned to James, who was contemplating his next move. "Where's your lady friend?"
"Out at a party," he answered.
"Your girlfriend's at New Year's Eve party alone?"
Sirius, looking almost cheerful, told her, "She's not alone. She's with some guy named Oliver."
James looked over at him. "You've gotten really glib."
"You guys broke up" Andy said.
"We didn't break up, we're just not spending New Year's Eve together," he said, exasperated with both Andromeda and Sirius.
"You know what they say. The way you spend New Year's Eve is the same way you'll spend the rest of the year." James shook his head and moved his chess piece, trying to ignore her. She continued, "So, at the countdown to midnight, when she's looking for someone to kiss, and you're here doing whatever... And it's like 10, 9, 8, and she's all alone, when she sees this guy Oliver." Andy's voice became very dramatic. "7, 6, 5... Fireworks start, music swells. 4, 3..." James' eyes were widening, becoming fearful of Andy's prediction. "People are pairing off. Who's she gonna kiss? 2, 1."
James and Sirius gave each other a look, both panicked.
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As the two walked down the steps from their dorm, Andy spotted them and smiled. "You guys look hot."
"Too hot? Cause I'm trying to keep a low profile these days."
"Thanks for getting me out," James said to her.
"Hey, you're part of the exiled family, and we look out for our own. Now let's go, come on," she said, ushering them to the portrait hole. "Out."
"You wanna come?" Sirius asked.
"Nah. I'm gonna hang out here. Take it easy, lay low."
"All right. See you later..."
Suddenly, the portrait hole burst open, and people of all ages rushed in. One guy had a bottle of champagne, and sprayed it all over James and Sirius.
James looked at her and yelled over the din, "Taking it easy?"
"Laying low?" Sirius added.
"It's just a couple of people," she said over the sound of a lamp breaking in the background.
James led Sirius to a slightly quieter side of the common room. "We should go."
"We can't go."
"What about the Lily-Oliver countdown thing!"
"Yeah, I know. That was before I took a face full of Dom. I can't leave Andy here, the place will get trashed. She's insane."
"I thought you said she was awesome."
"Insanely awesome."
"So tell her. Party's over."
"Right." Sirius started to walk away, then turned around. "Except, I don't wanna be the dad." James rolled his eyes at him. "Look, telling my cousin she can't have a party is embarrassing. You do it."
"She's your cousin."
"Right. And it's your girlfriend with some dude named Oliver." James glared at him. "Just trying to help you track your motivation."
"She's part of your family."
"Right," Sirius started, "And the Blacks are notorious for conflict avoidance. But the Potters, they thrive on it. You're the man for this."
James looked down for a second. "I'm not gonna win this argument."
"No."
"Right," he said, heading off to look for Andy.
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"Hey, this is a pretty cool place to have a party."
"Yeah, I thought it would be a nice spot," Oliver said, taking a sip of his drink.
"I've never had one of these before," Lily told him, referring to the beverage he'd given her.
"Oh, they are excellent. Of course, these are virgins, but they're still fun to say. Mojito."
"Mojito," Lily tried.
"Mojito!" Oliver demonstrated again, this time with much more enthusiasm.
"Mojito!" she mimicked.
Once they were done laughing, he asked, "So, where's James?"
Lily looked uncomfortable. "He's... not here."
"I can see that."
Desperate for a change of subject, she asked, "So, when do I get to meet Natalie?"
"Yeah, um, she's not here."
"What happened?" Lily asked, concerned.
"Long story. I don't think she wants to be in a serious relationship anymore."
Lily looked at him sympathetically. "And you love her?" He nodded. "Have you told her?"
"Of course. All the time." He raised his glass. "To James?"
"To Natalie."
"We can have fun without them, right?"
Lily looked less sure. "I hope so."
"Not the inspiring answer I was looking for, but I'll take it." They toasted and took a drink.
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In the Gryffindor common room, loud music was playing and people seemed to be having a good time. Except for James Potter. He was searching for Sirius' cousin Andromeda. Finally, he spotted her in a secluded corner talking quietly with another girl he didn't recognize.
"Look, I get it. I get that you're upset, okay?"
"I need to talk to you," James said.
"One minute!" Andy snapped. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"
The other girl stalked off angrily. James looked at Andy. "You think maybe it's time we end this thing?"
"No, I don't."
"Well maybe the professors will."
"So what, you're like a prefect now?" James glared at her. She changed her tone, suddenly sounding very sweet. "Let's just talk about this."
She grabbed Sirius and led them both up to their dorm room. "Let's just go somewhere private to talk. Without getting the teachers involved." She opened the door, beckoning them in. "I'm really sorry, but..." As James and Sirius entered the room, she slammed the door on them and locked it magically. "It's New Years Eve. And we're having a party."
Sirius grabbed the doorknob, while James banged on the door frantically. "Hey!" Sirius shouted, but Andy was already heading downstairs.
"Great. This is just great," James said, sitting down on his bed.
"Alohomora!" Sirius tried. Unfortunately, Andy had prevented them from being able to open the door. "Oh, Merlin. This isn't good?"
"You think?"
Sirius grabbed James' shoulder, panicking. "I can't breathe."
"What?"
"I"m claustrophobic."
James shook off his best friend's hand impatiently. "Sirius, this place is huge! It has four beds and its own bathroom."
"Shh! James, do not use up all the oxygen."
"You want to take a nap? A shower? We got all that here!"
Sirius laughed nervously, "We're gonna die and I'm the glib one?"
"We sleep here every night. There are seven windows!"
"Yes, which are atop one of the highest towers at Hogwarts, man! We're trapped like rats!"
"Rats in an enormous dormitory!" James added sarcastically, "By the way, your cousin's really cool!"
"Yeah, I know. She's a little unpredictable sometimes." He started tugging at his shirt collar. "My shirt's strangling me."
James put his head in his hands. "Great. My girlfriend's kissing some guy, and I'm stuck here with a lunatic."
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The party in the astronomy tower was still going on. Oliver was taking Lily towards the food table. "And we have crudites... as promised."
"Oh, so now I have to eat them?" she asked.
"Not until midnight."
"Good," she laughed.
"So, question. When you asked me if I ever told Natalie I loved her... It struck me as an interesting question. Revealing."
"You should be a therapist."
"So, what... you said it to him, and he didn't say it back?"
She sighed. "He said... 'Thank you.'"
"At least he's polite," Oliver said uneasily. "I'm gonna get another mojito. You want one?"
"Sure." She followed him across the room. "Maybe I just overreacted, you know? I mean, maybe he didn't say because he just wasn't ready."
"Yeah, or because, you know."
Suddenly, Lily looked panic stricken. "Because he doesn't love me."
"Oh, hey, no. No. I mean, what do I know? I don't even know the guy. Don't listen to me." Lily nodded absently, doubt written on her face.
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In the boys dormitory, James was lying on his bed. Sirius was on the floor, hyperventilating in a paper bag. James checked his watch. "45 minutes to midnight. If I ever get out of here, your cousin is dead."
Between breaths in the bag, Sirius said, "Hey, James?"
"Yeah."
"I have to ask you," he said, propping himself up on one elbow. "Why didn't you just say it?"
James looked at him. "I don't know." He sat up and stared at the ground. "Because I never have."
"But you do, right?"
"I guess. I don't know. How do you know?"
"I just think you know. I dunno."
James thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, I do." He turned to Sirius, who was still breathing in the bag, though much more steadily now. "Why didn't you choose? I mean, you had to like one more than the other, right?"
"But now I don't deserve either cause I blew it."
"Me too."
They both lay back down. Suddenly, Sirius said, "I'm optimistic about this friendster thing, though."
"43 minutes," James said, checking his watch.
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Just downstairs, Andy was mingling among the partygoers. Soon, a very angry looking girl showed up at the door, and stopped to talk to the girl Andy had been talking with earlier. "Where is she?"
"I don't know, okay," the girl said, walking away.
Andy, who had noticed the angry newcomer, rushed upstairs to the dorm where she'd trapped James and Sirius.
"I need help," she said.
Seeing the open door, Sirius lunged for it. "Fresh oxygen!" Andy, however, wasn't paying attention to him and shut the door. His face slammed up against it.
"So you lock us in our dormitory, and now you want our help?" James asked.
"Pretty much, yes."
"No. I'm leaving." He headed for the door, but Andromeda blocked it.
"Wait! There's a girl out there that wants to kill me."
"Just one?" She gave James a look, and he sighed. "Look, there's a girl who's gonna wanna kill me if I don't get to her in 34 minutes."
"Okay, but please, help me shut this thing down," she begged.
"I'm not helping you."
"Fine! But she's gonna tear this place apart." James just rolled his eyes and tried again to leave. "Do it for your head girl girlfriend," she said with a pleading look.
James sighed, defeated. "Let's go, we gotta clear this party out."
Sirius, who was still on the floor, said, "It's what I do best."
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Later, James and Sirius were ushering everyone out of the portrait hole.
"Good night."
"Thanks for coming."
Andy strolled over to them. "What'd you do?"
"Set off a dungbomb," Sirius said.
"Told'em a professor was coming." James looked down at his watch. "I gotta go."
"Go ahead. I'll clean up," Sirius said, shooing him out the door.
"You sure?"
"Yes, go!"
"26 minutes. Let's hope I can get to her on time," he said, jogging off.
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While James was heading upstairs, he was becoming extremely frustrated. There were several secret passages he would have used, but the people in the portraits covering them all seemed to be out at their own party.
Lily, at her party, was standing alone. Her friend Anna walked up to her. "Hey, I'm leaving."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I can't be here. It's too depressing. Happy New Year."
As Anna left, Oliver walked over to Lily. "Hey, how're you doing?"
"I know it sounds stupid, but I... I keep looking back at the door thinking mabye he'll show up in time."
"Yeah. I keep hoping to see Natalie. Sadly, I think it's just us tonight. But hey, at least we have each other."
She smiled and nodded, but looked back at the door again.
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Sirius was dragging a bag full of trash out of the common room, hoping a house elf would find it in the hallway. Then he noticed someone walking up.
"Anna? Hey." Anna was one of the two girls Sirius hadn't been able to decide between a few weeks earlier.
She smiled. "I didn't want you to be alone on New Years..." She paused, then said, "Actually... I didn't want to alone on New Years."
"Well I'm not alone."
"Oh..." she looked down, embarrassed.
"Peter and Remus are around here somewhere, I think."
"Wow, that's an unbeatable combination, I'll go."
"Wait, wait." Sirius realized that he probably shouldn't screw things up again with her. "Peter had too much firewhiskey, and Remus isn't nearly as pretty as you. So I could use the company."
Anna smiled and put her hand behind his head, pulling him in for a kiss.
Still lip-locked, he guided them upstairs to his room.
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James was racing as fast as he could through Hogwarts, hoping to get to Lily on time.
Meanwhile, Lily was at the party, still staring at the door. She desperately wanted James to come in.
"20 seconds," Oliver said.
James was still heading up the long, winding stairs up the astronomy tower, and checked his watch frantically.
At the party, the countdown had begun. "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5..."
Then, James burst through the door, and looked around the room, searching for Lily.
Lily, who was still standing with Oliver, spotted James, and started to smile. "4, 3..."
As the countdown continued, the ran up to each other, and Lily happily wrapped her arms around James' neck. "2, 1!"
As confetti that had been charmed to come down at midnight surrounded them, they began kissing, surrounded by other couples.
James pulled away. Still out of breath from running all the way to the tower, he whispered "I love you."
"What?" Lily asked, unsure if she'd heard him.
Louder this time, James said, "I love you."
Lily looked as if she was about to say something, then smiled mischievously. She said, "Thank you."
He smiled at her and leaned down to kiss her again.
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A/N: Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! How cute! I love this episode, it's definitely one of the top 3 O. C. kisses. BTW- if you weren't sure, mojito is pronounced mo-hee-toe. Also, I know this is going to sound random, but does anyone know how to make your dividers (between sections of writing, I mean) look nice, because nothing seems to show up on Fanfiction and I'm getting really frustrated.
Thanks to Prongsmate for pointing out my small mistake, which I have fixed now.
Anyway, hope you liked it, and Happy New Year!