The Best Night Ever

By HPOD Sufferer

James is going on his first date with Lily, and he's pretty sure it'll be the best night he's ever had. He doesn't know just how wrong he is.

Author's Note: There is a small bit of drug use in this story, but definately a minor factor, and characters warn others against it. But if you can't stand any drug use, then maybe this story isn't for you. Thank you for reading.

April 21st 1979

It was a Friday, and the middle of the Easter Holidays at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Many of the students had gone home for a brief holiday with their family, but there were several exceptions to that rule. Down in the dungeons was a boy with greasy hair, reading a book as if it were the last book on the planet. In the Ravenclaw dorms, a girl sobbed over a letter. In the Great Hall, a group of young Hufflepuffs were finishing their dinner. And in the Gryffindor Tower were three boys laying about doing rather illicit things while their best friend worried himself sick.

"James," said Sirius, sitting up in his bed and grinning stupidly, "you can't go out like that."

At the mirror, James fiddled with his hair once before turning to face his friend. "Why not?"

Sirius chuckled, the bottle in his hand swaying ominously. "Because - hic -" Sirius stopped to giggle, "- you look stupid." Sirius waved at the nice clean shirt and ironed trousers James had opted to wear. He also cast his eyes down to where he knew James was wearing a pair of black ironed socks.

James glanced down at his outfit. "But I'm going on a date!" He twitched the flower in his buttonhole nervously.

Sirius frowned, as if this information was new to him. "A - hic - date? Who'd want a date with you?"

Remus lifted his head from his own bed, the tie placed on his head clashing with his pale face, and his fair hair sticking up. "Lots of girls, Padfoot -" he said "- McKinnon, Smith, Evans ..."

Sirius turned to Remus, eyes trying to focus, but ended up going cross - eyed. "I didn't ask you Moony! I was asking ... I was asking ... Who was I asking?"

James, who'd only downed half a bottle (to calm his nerves), answered in a tired tone. "You were asking me, Sirius. You were asking James."

Sirius fell back on his bed, hiccupping and holding his bottle up in the air. "Yeah," he managed. "That guy."

Peter shook his head, dug under his pillow and pulled out something. "You're drunk Padfoot," he said, shaking his head and turning to James. "Want a joint?" He asked, extending the drug to James, "I heard it makes you act better around girls."

"Tosh," Remus said with a fierce frown, standing up and pulling the joint from Peter's fingers, "it just makes you - what was that word James?" He looked over his shoulder at James, an eyebrow raised.

"Stupid? Comatose? Dead?" James suggested weakly, trying vainly to get his hair to stick flat, watching as his drugged friends rolled about on their beds. "Stoned?"

"Yeah," said Remus, raising an eyebrow at Peter. Remus had an amazing ability to hold his alcohol (mainly due to the fact that he would often hide the bottles his friends forced into his hands under the table), of which James was envious at times. Remus continued to talk, giving off only minor signs that he'd drunk his way through two bottles of Firewhiskey. "That stuff messes with you, Peter. You should know that - didn't you see Rupert from Ravenclaw the other week? He's still in the hospital wing. Where'd you get it?"

Peter shrugged. "Ackleberry - they owed me a favour. Plus, he needed to get rid of his stash after Rupert acted so stupidly." He snatched the joint back and took a drag from it, his eyes closing. "Muggles are wonderful things, you know?"

James shared a glanced with Remus, who snatched the item back. "No more for you Peter - didn't you listen before? That stuff messes with you." Remus grinned and bounced back onto his bed. "But not with me!" And with that the seventeen year old took a drag. James ran a hand over his eyes in a disbelieving manner.

"What about me?" complained Sirius, staggering to his feet, and trying to walk across the room. He tried - but ended up on his back staring at the ceiling. Lifting a hand to his head he said, "How'd I get here?"

"The long or the short version Padfoot?"

Sirius sat up, and squinted at James, "Why are you dressed like that?"

James sighed in exasperation before answering. "The date that I'm going on in ten minutes time. The date I've been waiting to have for like, forever. The date with the girl of my dreams. THE DATE WITH LILY!"

Sirius rested his head back on the cold floor. "Why are you going on a date with her?"

James threw his hands into the air. "Look at you guys. You're drunk, you're stoned, and you're single! I'm leaving!"

He almost ran to the door, snatching the joint from Remus on his way and went out, slamming the door behind him. Once out, he dropped the drug and ground it into the flagstones with his shoe, glaring. Sirius groaned on the floor, muttering something about his head. Peter glared reproachfully at Remus, who was wheezing away the after affects of the drug on his bed. "Maybe he's right," Peter suggested.

"Yeah," Sirius said mournfully from his place on the floor. "I really need a hug."

Both of his friends turned to him. "Get yourself a girlfriend Padfoot -" Peter began.

"Because we're not going to hug you," Remus finished.

Sirius groaned again, and took another gulp from his sixth bottle of Firewhiskey. The three boys sat in silence, all moping. A few minutes later Sirius's voice came from the floor, echoing in the quiet.

"Where's James?"

James stood in the common room, smoothing down his shirt and jacket and shuffling his feet. He stared balefully at his grey sneakers, wishing he'd worn a better pair. His hands were sweating - not to mention other parts of him. She was late. A couple of fifth years were glancing at him nervously every so often and a first year seemed to be petrified in her chair.

James was just licking his hand and running it over his fringe when he heard a sound, a faint clip, clip, clip. He looked up to see Lily peering shyly down the last flight of stairs, and seeing him, entering the common room. She walked up to him and looked up at his face through her lashes, which were bigger than he could remember them ever being.

"Hey," she said softly, smoothing her dress. James gazed at her in shock.

"You look ... beautiful," James said at last. Indeed she was, dressed nicely in a red number that reached her knees, a shawl and a pair of heels. James didn't know much about makeup (why should he) but whatever she'd done had worked - her eyes looked huge, her green irises framed by dark lashes, and her lips pouted and red. "Wow."

She giggled nervously, "Thanks. You look ..." she surveyed him, her eyes resting on his sneakers a couple of seconds too long for comfort, "nice."

James cleared his throat, determined to look cool. "Shall we?" he suggested, sticking out his elbow for her to hold, and ushered her out the portrait hole. He had a nice view of her bum, after insisting, "Ladies first."

Once out, Lily looked nervously around. "How do you plan on getting us there without getting caught?" she asked, her voice higher than normal, and James grinned, pulling out a silverly item from his pocket.

"Invisibility cloak?" he asked, handing it to her, "We'll have to share."

She didn't look entirely pleased with this, but allowed for herself to be hidden under the cloak. Because of James's height, they were forced to walk inconceivably close. It took a while, but soon James had shown her a secret passage into Hogsmeade and they were standing in the small village's main street with James stuffing the cloak into his pocket once again. "Where are we going?" Lily asked, and James could tell that she wished she'd asked him sooner.

"Somewhere in London - hold my hand and I'll guide you there," he said, extending his hand.

Lily glanced at it, but finally gave in, resting her dainty palm on his. He noticed how big his hands suddenly looked, and hoped she wouldn't notice how sweaty they were. James closed his eyes and the pair twisted on the spot, stepping into oblivion.

Lily opened her eyes to find herself in a rather dark alleyway, and her heart sped up. Her fear was not necessary however - James pulled her out onto a bustling, brightly lit London street dotted with restaurants and cafes. Lily gasped a tiny gasp, and James grinned, pulling her out of the alley proper and walking her along the footpath, talking. "I didn't decide on going anywhere definitely - you choose."

Lily looked at him, and he could tell she'd been surprised by how considerate he was. She looked up and down the street and finally decided on a small Italian place, and James walked in determinedly, and got them a table for two by the window which over - looked the street. A single red rose in a vase sat between them, and James pulled it out, offering it to her. "For the prettiest girl in the world," James said, feeling slightly silly.

Lily blushed, and took it. "I think it belongs in the vase," she said, putting it back and opening her menu, "What are you going to have?"

James had no experience with Italian food and chose one at random. "Um, Spaghetti Bolognaise sounds nice."

Lily nodded, "I think I'll have that too," she glanced around them, and spotting a surly looking youth leaning against the wall nearest them, called "... waiter!"

The waiter came over, looking bored. "What does your appetite ache for tonight?" they said in a distinctively practised tone.

"Spaghetti," James answered in a confident voice. "And wine. Nice red wine, the best you got."

Lily gave him a curious look, but it passed quickly. She probably thought he was trying to impress her, but the truth was that James really needed a drink. His father had once told him that expensive wine had a higher alcohol content, or at least, Wizarding wine did. He felt sick with the desperate need to impress her and what better to do than to drown his fears? It wasn't a healthy or even reasonable way to do it, but James didn't see any other choice ...

The wine hardly effected him. The food came, and the pair ate, drank and talked small talk. James gave his last meat ball to Lily. He payed the bill, and made sure she didn't see how big it was. He had a faint memory of Remus telling him once that it's impolite to let a girl pay the bill.

Out on the street again James checked his watch. Remus had also told him that checking your watch is impolite because it suggests that a person isn't enjoying themselves. James really wanted to know the time ... and admittedly, he was too nervous that he was going to stuff the date up to enjoy himself. He turned to her, noticing just how much shorter than him Lily was and said, "It's ten ... do you want to go home? I mean, back to Hogwarts?"

Lily looked at him as if he'd grown a couple of extra heads, and he watched with morbid fascination as her hands ended up on her shapely hips, and one of her eyebrows raised. "Are you going to tell me that you, James Potter took me out to London, breaking most of the school rules just to get here, are going to get back to school before Head curfew is even imposed?" she demanded.

James shrugged, squirming inside. Why couldn't he have said something really witty and whisked her away to ... where? He didn't know, and that was his problem. "Is there a place you have in mind?"

In answer she stepped out onto the road, making his heart stop, and hailed down a taxi. James slid in after her, clutching at her arm. "Don't do that! I thought you were going to get run over by -" he inspected a burn mark on the back of the seat in front of him "- what is this thing?"

The taxi driver was old and crusty, a cigarette hanging from his bottom lip and a cap hanging off one ear. James felt tempted to offer the man a razor and a bar of soap, but he didn't have any on him and he wasn't sure whether Lily would approve of his charity. "Where you headed?" the man grumbled, and Lily answered, completely cool.

"Take us to the ... Lumos Club," she said, winking at James.

The taxi driver looked Lily up and down, pausing a moment at certain places (James put an arm around her shoulder and glared at the man), and the driver grunted, speeding off, making James grip his seat for dear life. Lily placed a hand on his leg, which helped him take his mind off the fear of his first ever ride in a muggle car. Soon she was laughing like a lunatic. James didn't see the joke and gave her a grimace - like smile.

Within minutes he was tumbling gratefully from the vehicle in front of a night club, flashing lights and a long queue.

"It's founded by wizards, not that the muggles know," Lily said into his ear, "None of my muggle friends can figure out what's makes the cocktails so good - it's a euphoric potion," she giggled, "we could queue up or ..." she dragged him to the pair of heavyset men guarding the door. The one on the right glared down at James, and he gulped. James wasn't exactly short but this man was huge.

"Shouldn't you kids be in bed?" he growled.

In answer Lily stuck out her chest (James scratched the back of his neck) and said to him, "Let me in."

She got a laugh in response, and she narrowed her eyes. "Fine, you want my bloody invitation?" The man kept a carefully controlled blank face, but James caught the twinge of recognition. "It's here, right here," and from the front of her dress (James tried to keep his eyes averted) she pulled out her wand.

"Now, I could do two things with this," she hissed, "I could stick this up your arse or I could just, oh, I don't know -"

"Get in and put that thing away before some muggle sees," hissed the man, shoving her and James past his companion. Lily placed her wand back inside her dress and smiled.

"I've been here a million times - even danced with that guy and still he pretends he doesn't know me," she said airily, heading for the bar. James couldn't help but watch this strange new girl, whose dress seemed have gotten shorter in the leg department and lower near her chest. Her hair had been mussed up by the chaotic cab ride and James had no idea what had happened to her shawl, although there had been some dodgy looking people standing at the entrance to the club ... He followed like a lovesick puppy, accepting the blue (was it a drink?) glass from her hand.

It didn't taste like wine, beer, ale, mead or Firewhiskey. James didn't know how to describe it, except he liked it and it went to his head like nothing else, (except Firewhiskey) making the strobe lighting even more bright. A wave of confidence seemed to crash over him, and he turned to Lily, grinning lopsidedly.

"Dance with me?" he asked.

Later he found himself lip locked with the girl of his fantasies for at least three years, praying this night would never end. Both of them were in the stage of drunkenness that comes just after being tipsy, and James wondered in what way exactly had the alcohol intake worked to make Lily seem even more attractive ... was her skirt shorter or was he just wanting to touch her more? One of the DJs had announced that it was two in the morning at some point, but it could have been the end of the earth and still James wouldn't notice.

Suddenly she broke the kiss off and leaned into his ear. "We should go now, it's three - thirty."

In answer he moaned and kissed her, but for all his efforts he was dragged from the club, down the street and into a dark alleyway so they could Apparate back. Lily gripped his hand, and then ...

"Come back here!" James cried as Lily started making her way to Honeydukes. "I'm not done kissing you!"

She didn't answer - but merely unlocked the shop, and they made their way to the secret passage and started to walk. Five minutes passed, and Lily stopped, leaning down to clutch her feet. "Ow, my feet really hurt!"

James peered through the dark at her red feet, swollen from dancing in the pair of heels she was wearing. He scratched his head, thinking of a solution. When it came to him, he slipped his sneakers off and handed them to her. "Wear these until we get back then," he said. As he leaned towards her he noticed the goose bumps on her bare arms, and slipped his jacket off as well. "And this."

She looked at him. "But what will you wear?"

James shrugged, the alcohol which had been clouding his very vision before fading away, making the world clear. He didn't feel cold, in fact the cool breeze blowing through the tunnel was pleasant on his burning skin. Lily pulled the jacket on and double tied the shoelaces of his sneakers, which were huge on her dainty feet.

James draped his arm over her shoulders as they headed off again, comfortable in each other's silence. They meandered due to the drinks running through them, and it took longer than usual to get to the end and crawl into the castle. Lily wrapped her arms around James's waist as he placed the cloak over them. Soon, they found themselves in the shadowy common room.

Lily turned to him, her eyes shiny. "Thanks, for tonight, I mean," she said, louder than she needed too.

James shushed her, putting his finger on her lips. "Thank you, Lily. I waited for so long for this. A bit too long ..."

Lily giggled nervously, brushing her wild auburn hair from her face, "Yeah, I guess I did take a while," she said, quieter this time. "Why don't we do this again so I can make it up to you?"

James let his hand trail down from her lips to her neck, to her shoulders, coming to a rest on her upper arms. "I'd like that, sometime."

"Well, erm, goodnight." Lily reached up and gave him a soft kiss, and turned, disappearing off to her dorm, and her bed.

At the top she paused, bending down to look at him, "oh, and James? This was the best night I've ever had." She disappeared, the soft clip, clip, clip of her shoes fading away.

James mussed his hair, his grin growing and growing. "Yeah ..."

When he arrived in his dorm, Sirius was still on the floor, snoring, and Peter was on Remus's bed with a long trail of drool leaking from his lip. James suppressed a laugh at the picture his friends made, undressing and getting into bed.

It had been the best night of his life too.

"Mmmmm, it's time to get up sweetie," someone whispered in James's ear, their voice husky, their breath tickling his neck.

"Erg, five more minutes Lils," James moaned into his pillow, "I've got a hang over."

"Mmmm? I can smell it," the voice murmured, a hand running up his arm. "You stink."

James mumbled incoherently at this, and reached out to grab the owner of the voice, pulling them onto him. "Yeah, well, I'll have a shower soon. But first -" James puckered his lips and leaned, with his eyes still closed, towards where he knew the face to be.

"BERGH, JAMES!" screamed Sirius's voice, and James opened his eyes to see his best mate struggling to get out of his grip, obviously disgusted by the idea of getitng kissed by his best mate. James let go immediately, his face flushing red in mortification.

"Sorry Sirius, I thought you were -"

"Don't bother," said Remus's voice from his bed. A groan signified the werewolf also had a hang-over. "He brought it upon himself, he was teasing you in your sleep - Peter, what are you doing in my bed?"

A squeak, a thump, and James saw a blurry figure scurrying over to their rightful bed. James struggled to sit up, putting his glasses on as he did so. "Wow, make the stop room moving Sirius." He said as he clutched his aching head.

"The stop not room moving, as you so eloquently put it," Sirius said with a rogue grin, pulling a sweater over his shoulders.

James groaned, trying to figure out the already jumbled sentence, and remember why his head hurt so much. "I kissed Lily," he said at last, inspecting his suddenly fascinating bedspread.

Sirius sat down on his bed slowly, apparently very interested. "Was it good?"

"More than. We went clubbing, and there was these awesome drinks -" James stopped at the envious look on Sirius's face. "If you got yourself a girl, maybe you could come with us next time ..."

Sirius rolled off the bed, avoiding eye contact with James. "Yeah, maybe."

James got out of bed, confused by his friend's behaviour. "Sirius, did I say something? To upset you, I mean?" he asked, pulling on his pants. Sirius shook his head, busying himself with getting dressed. James shot a confused look at Remus, who shrugged in a 'it's your problem' way, turning away. James noticed that nobody was looking at him. He flung his hands into the air and stood up, swaying only slightly.

"Alright, what did I do? I've dated before, you guys know what! You've all had flings! What's the big deal?!"

Sirius shot a look at him before slipping through the door, Peter and Remus following quickly. Peter paused in the door, looking back. "But you're serious about this one, aren't you James?"

And then they were gone, and James wasn't sure if this was the best day of his life anymore.

December 20th 1979

"Move up everyone, move up! Lily darling, hold them down a bit, yes, no, no - yes, like that - Mr Black, if you would please stop making gestures - hey, control that kid - i No/i Diggle, we don't need sparks - everyone ready?" The photographer looked up at the expectant crowd. "Say 'cheese!'" Snowflakes floated down on the small gathering, making sparkles in their hair.

"Cheeeeeeeeeeese!" chorused the crowed, and the camera flashed blinding the wedding party.

"Ok, all done," the photographer said, wearily. The page boy and the two flower girls looked delighted; running off to molest what was left of the cake. Lily turned to James, and kissed him.

"Come on, it's customary that we mingle," she said, her eyes dancing with repressed laughter. James smirked cheekily, his arm around her waist guiding her. "Oh, wait a sec," Lily said as she noticed that none of the women gathered had moved. "The bouquet!"

James frowned - the bouquet went flying. Lily peeked over her shoulder to see it land in the arms of a very surprised looking school friend of theirs, Alice, who had been trying to walk away. The woman blushed, her eyes casting around, no doubt looking for her suitor, and the new weds giggled, heading off.

It was one in the morning when James managed to convince Lily to stop dancing, stop talking and come with him to do the last of the marriage ceremonies. Wolf whistles broke through the crowd, and Lily smiled as James basked in the attention. "Get your sexy arse into the bedroom," she ordered, and he turned, smirking, to sweep her off her feet and carry her away from the celebrations.

"Oh come on, put me - James - put me down!" Lily gasped with laughter, only to be gently laid on the huge bed that was now ... dare she say it ... theirs.

James had started to kiss her enthusiastically, and although she was enjoying it (immensely, she might add) her stomach squirmed, and not only from fear of what was about to happen. "James," she said. He moaned, pressing himself against her, propping his knees on the bed, "James," she said louder, pushing him back. "We need to talk."

The alarm in his face was clear, making Lily giggle. "It not that serious ... I mean, well it is ..."

She bit her lip. "I haven't been entirely honest with you."

James's face had grown paler.

"I didn't just marry you for love -" she began, and his fingers trembled "-although that's most of it. And when I said I wanted it immediately, it wasn't because I was impatient ... well, it sort of was ..." Lily took a deep breath; looking into her - he was her husband now - eyes. "I'm pregnant James. That's why I wanted us to get married so quickly - get it done before it showed so no one would think I was just doing it for the baby, even though I sort of was. I wanted people to think I was doing it because I love you, because I do. And I read somewhere that being pregnant before marriage is wrong in wizarding law and even though I wasn't sure if this law was still in place I was scared and oh, James. James, we're going to have a baby!" She took a deep breath, glad that she'd finally gotten that weight off her chest.

James mind refused to register the information she'd just given him. On his wedding night no less. Maybe it would have been easier if she'd told him she was cheating on him, with his best friend or even his father, but this ... finally the words hit home. "What!"

Lily's face clouded with worry. "You're not ... angry, are you? I could get it - I mean, it's not to late, if you don't want it this early - I made sure with he Mediwitches -"

"Stop," James said. "Did you just say that ... a baby ... you - and me ... it there -" he pointed at her perfectly flat stomach in disbelief. "Aren't you supposed to get fat?"

Lily smacked him on the arm, relieved. "Not for another few months you moron! Merlin you scared me there!"

"So, when? I mean ... we kind of ..." James scratched his head, not wanting to tell Lily that she had indeed broken the wizarding law by becoming pregnant before a marriage proposal was put to her, even though many had done it before them ...

"October, or November, I think. We um ... you know, a few times around then ..." she blushed, casting her eyes down.

James gave her a smirk, but then his face fell. "Does this mean we can't ... because of the baby ...?"

In answer Lily pulled him on top of her, kissing him harder than he could remember, and he was suddenly aware of how ridiculously long wedding dresses were ... in fact, how much clothes were involved in the whole thing, and how annoying those clothes were, and were in his way ...

Lily paused a moment to breathe in his ear, "This is the best night of my life."

"Me too."