Lucky in Love
Disclaimer: I don't own anything!
A/N: Enjoy!
"I miss you already," James murmured softly.
Lily sighed, but there was a small smile in her voice. "James, we haven't even left yet."
James ignored her, instead nuzzling his nose into her hair. She giggled and swatted him away. They were just wrapping up their patrols for that night, the Friday before winter holidays started. It had been a busy evening of rounds; couples were insistent on stealing last moments before heading off for home the next morning.
Kind of like the two Heads at the moment, somewhere along a first floor corridor.
"Four whole days, Lil," James whined, his breath hitting right below her ear.
"Really, James?" Lily scolded softly, putting her hand on his shoulder and pushing him away gently until their eyes met. He was pouting at her, his lower lip jutting out slightly. His hazel eyes widened adorably.
"What?" he asked innocently.
"We're not going to be one of those couples. We're not one of those couples."
James cocked a questioning eyebrow at her.
"You know, the ones who are right depressed without each other. Who don't have lives outside of their relationshippy bubble," Lily explained, putting her hands on her hips.
James grinned. "'Relationshippy?' That's a word now, is it?" Lily hit his shoulder, but not nearly hard enough.
"And anyway," Lily pressed on, ignoring the goofy smile that always made her heart flutter, "four days is nothing. In fact, I don't even think it will be nearly enough time for me to prepare to meet your parents." She was joking, of course, but James noticed how the left corner of her smile dropped down a little. It was endearing; she really was nervous.
He put his arm around her waist and pulled her closer, carrying her a few inches away from the stone wall behind her and right against his body.
"Lily, my parents already love you," James said with a small smile.
"They haven't ever met me," Lily argued.
"Mmm. Minor technicality." James leaned forward and kissed her on the tip of her nose. She scrunched it up distastefully.
"What, are we an old married couple now?" Lily teased, her eyes twinkling, but her smile dropped once she saw the suddenly serious look on James's face. His eyes were suddenly dark with emotion.
This, more than anything, was one of the things she loved about him. It was random moments like these when all the raw, earnest sincerity became etched across his face, and she knew that she meant the same to him as he did to her. His eyes still sparkled mischievously, but in an entirely different way—a way that was only for Lily.
He leaned forward, closing the gap of a few centimeters between their lips, and kissed her slowly and thoroughly, so she felt it right to the tips of her toes. The kiss lasted many long seconds before Lily had to break away, as air became more of a necessity.
"We're being a bit hypocritical, wouldn't you agree?" she asked in a whisper, breathing deeply. Her eyes fluttered open slowly.
James hummed contentedly. "How so?"
"Well, considering we just scolded Marianne Nevers and Holden Badgewood and sent them off with ten less house points, I'd say we're acting downright sanctimonious."
"Ah—" he pressed a quick kiss to her lips "But you see—" another kiss "we, as Heads, are allowed to be out after curfew." Another, and then, "We're making our rounds you see."
"Oh, yes, you certainly are," Lily commented sarcastically as James kissed her cheek.
"We're going to have to tell them, you know."
"Tell who, what?" Lily asked, but she had a feeling she knew what he was talking about.
"Our friends. About us. Or at least, we'll have to tell Sirius," James said, kissing her again in hopes to appease her.
"And why is that?" Lily asked, not altogether resistant but rather curious.
"Padfoot comes around for Christmas every year. I reckon there won't be much to hide when he finds you at my house," James said, dropping his forehead to hers. She slid her hands from where they lay on his chest to around his neck.
"Yeah, I reckon you're right," Lily admitted, and James eyes lit in delight.
It wasn't that either of them had particularly wanted to keep their relationship a secret, but they had both agreed that, for the first couple of months at least, it was hard enough to just deal with working out the kinks. Especially since it was James and Lily, whose relationship had been somewhat hostile in the past.
Recently, though, they had just been putting off the inevitable, trying to enjoy the simplicity of their "relationshippy bubble," as Lily apparently called it.
"They'll be furious though," Lily reminded him. James cocked his head to the side, considering.
"True," he conceded.
"Especially Marlene," she told him. "Merlin, the number of times she's tried to make a pair of us in the past few months adds up to a level of pathetic I'd rather not think about."
James smiled. "Remember that one time in November when she 'accidentally' let it slip to me that you always stole my Quidditch jersey because you loved the smell of it so much?"
"When, really, you had given it to me when our dormitory flooded with rain, thus ruining all my clothes—" here, she shot him a glare, which he accepted sheepishly. "And she only just barely caught me in it before I went to bed? Yeah, I remember."
James chuckled softly, tucking a piece of red hair behind Lily's ear and letting his hand drift to cup her cheek. "You know, we could just…" he trailed off suggestively.
"No, James, you're right. It's time that we tell them. We should do it tonight, even. That way, they'll have all of Christmas hols to get over how fuming they'll be."
"Yeah, you're right."
"Aren't I always?"
"Look at you," James mused. "I reckon my ego's rubbing off a bit."
"It was bound to eventually," Lily quipped. "Clearly too much for you to handle."
James's grinned and shook his head as he dipped down and captured her lips in a heated kiss, pushing her gently back against the wall for support so he could tangle his hands in her hair.
Absorbed in their promiscuous activities as they were, neither Head Girl nor Boy heard the approaching footsteps coming around the corner to their left. Perhaps if they had been paying less attention to each other and more to their location, they would have cared to be more vigilant.
Because the only corridor to their left was a dead end, and it was the hallway that contained the professors' quarters.
"Mr. Potter!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed quite shrilly. She was still fully dressed, her hair up in a tight bun, showing that she had most likely been working late. Her eyes were only focused on James as he jumped away, startled, from his activities.
"Pardon me," the professor reprimanded immediately, "but I believe you are supposed to be patrolling the castle with Ms. E—Evans?" Her eyes had finally shifted from the notorious troublemaker to his guilty counterpart. For a brief moment, it was almost as if the professor forgot to look furious. Her angered expression disappeared and was replaced with pure and unadulterated surprise.
Lily blushed a deep red, trying to hastily smooth down her hair and shirt while pushing away from the wall. "We…we were just…" Lily attempted. James just pressed his lips together guiltily, but said nothing.
"It's…well…" the Transfiguration teacher stuttered.
Overall, it was quite a disappointing moment for James Potter. Throughout seven years, he had pulled prank after prank and not once—not one single time—had he rendered Professor McGonagall speechless. If he had known all it took was a snog with Lily Evans in a corridor to accomplish this, he would have upped his efforts.
If that had been possible.
McGonagall cleared her throat as James and Lily stood by awkwardly, with so much distance between them it only confirmed their guilty partaking in such unsuitable actions.
James finally said something, because as things went, James Potter also tried never to be speechless.
"What Lily was trying to explain, Professor, is that our Head Girl here had been mysteriously glued to the corridor wall with a Sticking Charm by a stealthy and undisclosed culprit. Responsibly patrolling as I was, I came across her in this position and I was only trying to pry her free," he explained, with no trace of embarrassment or guilt in his voice. There wasn't even a bit of revealing color in his face.
Lily had seen this expression a million times, but somehow she was all the more impressed at this particular moment. And amused. She mimicked her boyfriend and kept the straightest, most innocent face possible, even if a little bit of a blush still crept up her cheeks.
She tucked her hands behind her back and glanced at Professor McGonagall, who was looking between the two students with a clenched jaw and strangely twinkling eyes, as if struggling between yelling and…laughing?
"You two are to report to your dormitories…separate dormitories…immediately. Do not pause or take detours," she commanded. When James opened his mouth she immediately cut in. "I don't care if you run into a thousand unjustly glued students along the way, Potter. Consider yourselves lucky I'm not docking points. Really, from the two we expect to set an example…"
Lily looked at her with wide eyes. James was just smirking.
"Thank you, Professor," he said sweetly. The professor threw him a quick look.
"Yes, well, happy Christmas," she said curtly, before turning on her heel and stalking back around the corner. The two students stayed completely frozen until, a minute later, Professor McGonagall's footsteps faded and the resolute sound of a shut door resounded quietly between the stone walls.
James turned to Lily, expecting to have to ease her frantic worries, only to find his girlfriend doubled over in laughter.
"Lily…what?" He asked.
"I'm sorry," she gasped. "It's just…it's just…the first person to know about us is…is…"
"McGonagall," James finished, grinning now, too, and running a hand through his hair as Lily finally straightened up and smiled breathlessly. "C'mon, I reckon we should go back, anyway." He caught her fingers in his and swung their linked hands between them. He twirled the redhead down the hallway, earning a tinkling laughter from her.
"Lucky McGonagall loves the both of us?" Lily asked, her face bright and happy.
James pulled her in sideways against his chest and wrapped an arm tightly around her shoulders. He pressed a kiss to her temple.
"Extremely."
Lily was quiet for a time before speaking again. "I still think that we should tell them tonight. Sirius and Marlene and the lot of them, I mean."
James stayed silent for a moment, thinking, before quickly pressing a kiss to her hair. "I think you're right. The world didn't end when McGonagall saw—"
Lily snorted. "Maybe not for you."
"So perhaps it's time."
xXx
They arrived in the common room around midnight, just as their rounds were supposed to be ending anyway. Normally, the room would be nearly deserted, but there had been a small end-of-midterm party going on ever since dinner was dismissed. When the couple arrived, only the seventh years and a few sixth years were left, lazing around with mugs of butterbeer.
The other three Marauders as well as Marlene McKinnon, Alice Prewitt, and Mary MacDonald were gathered around the table by the fire, playing a rather rambunctious game of Exploding Snap. Apparently, it had transformed into a drinking game many rounds ago.
"Prongs! Evans! You're back! Patrols were successful, then?" Sirius exclaimed loudly at their entrance, drawing attention to James and Lily.
"Er…yeah, successful," James responded, rolling his eyes. He gave Lily a meaningful look before walking over to stand by the circle of their friends. Lily followed. They wanted to get this over as quickly as possible.
"Look," Lily started, and all eyes turned towards her, albeit somewhat slowly. "There's something that we—James and I, that is—need to tell you all."
Some nervous looks were exchanged, followed by inexplicable drunken giggles.
"Yes? Well, what is it?" Alice asked eagerly.
James was looking mainly at Sirius. "We're…we—Lily and I…have been seeing each other. Since October."
"November," Lily countered suddenly. James looked at her, smiling slightly.
"Well that really depends on what your definition of 'seeing'—"
"Shut it, Pot—"
"Yes!" Sirius shouted belatedly, jumping up from his spot and swaying dangerously. Marlene was likewise looking ecstatic. "Fork it over, Moony, Wormtail," Sirius demanded, holding out his hand.
"You two, as well," Marlene added, looking expectantly at Alice and Mary.
"What? No way!" Remus said, looking at Peter, Alice and Mary for support. "You only said you thought…we never officially made a bet…"
Sirius threw an exasperated look at James and Lily, who were currently exchanging bewildered looks. "He always does this. You know how it goes, Prongs," Sirius reminded the Head Boy, slurring his words slightly. "Says our wagering was never 'official'. But I reckon that when we—that is, McKinnon and I—said two months ago: 'Hey, we bet five galleons Prongs and Evans are shagging,' and Moony and the other three replied 'There's no way they are. They've only just become mates,' it was made official."
"So that's five galleons from each of you," Marlene added, looking smug. "Brilliant. I needed more money to finish my Christmas shopping anyway."
Mary looked sour. "Yes, well, don't expect a gift from me."
"Wait just a bit," James demanded. "You knew about this? About us?"
Sirius looked at James pityingly. "Prongs, no bloke like you goes three months without shagging and doesn't complain," he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. James just rolled his eyes and had the decency to look a bit disgusted with his best mate.
"And Lily," Marlene started, looking at the redhead, "who changes into their best knickers for patrols?"
"Marlene!" Lily yelled as the color rose to her cheeks. She glared at her best friend. Marlene, along with the other two girls, just chuckled.
"To be fair," Mary added, "Remus, Alice, and I didn't believe it."
"Yes, rather hung up on the notion that 'Lily has better taste,' as I recall," Alice confirmed.
"Apparently that's not the case," Remus mumbled grudgingly. James shot them all a look.
Lily looked around at all her friends. "So…you're not mad? That we didn't tell you?"
Peter swung an empty mug dangerously around his index finger. "S'pose we should be rather angry." Remus nodded drunkenly in agreement.
"Who wants another round?" Sirius bust out. There were choruses of affirmation from everyone.
Lily slowly turned to look at James, who was returning her stare of amazement.
"Lucky our friends are drunken fools more than half the time?" she offered.
James snatched her hand and pulled her towards a couch so that they could watch their friends' antics a safe distance away from the sloshing alcohol.
"Extremely."
A/N: Please review and tell me what you think! Thanks for reading!
- TLGN