Hey guys I'm sorry this took a month to get up but I had my exams! Don't talk to me about them, I so know I failed! Oh I just realised that I started 'The Magic Charm' this time last year. Wow how time flies!!!! Anyway I'll let you guys get on with reading this.

Disclaimer: I own nothing that you find familiar from the Harry Potter books as that is all JK Rowlings creation not mine. The only thing that is mine is the story idea.

Chapter 2

Lily snuggled closer into the warm chest hoping that some of that warmth could rub off on her but to no avail. She sighed as she opened her eyes and looked towards the window. The curtains had not been closed and she could see clearly out of the window. It must have been late afternoon as the sun was low in the sky. She sighed heavily once again and looked at the figure lying beside her. James was asleep and Lily desperately envied him for being so, but she couldn't sleep any longer. She kissed his chest, causing him to let out a soft moan from the back of his throat. She chuckled as she got out of the bed, but winced as her feet touched the cold floor. What were you thinking getting wooden floors instead of carpet? Lily thought as she stood up and stretched letting the afternoon sun wash over her. She located her clothes and put them on then left the room after a desirous look at James and headed to her own room to have a shower.

After 30 minutes of showering and drying Lily headed down stairs to the kitchen. She smiled as she saw James leaning against the breakfast bar reading the Daily Prophet.

"You're up." Lily said as she walked towards the kettle to make herself a cup of tea.

"You're finally out of the shower." James said with a smirk as he turned to look at her.

"Well some of us actually take pride in our appearance." Lily said as her eyes travelled along James's tall frame. His hair was the usual pile of mess that lay atop is head. His dark hazel eyes were hidden behind his wire-framed glasses he used for reading and his lips were turned up in an amused smile. Her eyes travelled further down to look at his perfectly tanned chest that was untouched by clothing. She bit her lips as her eyes travelled further down to see that he was wearing a pair of navy sweat pants. He wore nothing on his feet. Her eyes travelled back up to his face to see that he had been watching her with a smile upon his face. She blushed and turned around to grab two mugs from the cupboard. She grinned as she felt his arms wrap around her. She giggled as she felt him kiss a sensitive spot on her neck. "That tickles." Lily said as she tried to push James away.

"Well it's not supposed to hurt." James laughed. Lily rolled her eyes and pushed him away giving him a satisfied smile.

"Go read your paper." Lily said playfully as James pouted. He did as he was told and turned back round to the paper. "You want some tea?" Lily asked.

"Please." James said as he turned the page of the Prophet. "They've added a new wing to the hospital." James said as he read one of the articles. "It's called the Bosgrowth wing, named after Daisy Bosgrowth. She donated money to the hospital after having wings removed from her back." James said with a chuckle.

"I wonder how she got the wings in the first place?" Lily said thoughtfully as she set a mug of tea in front of James and stood beside him with her own mug. She held it in her hands for a while as she blew on it to cool it down. James looked at her with an eyebrow raised and an odd smile across his lips.

"You think of the strangest things. Normal people would have pondered how much money she donated." James said with a shake of his head.

"Well it is my job to notice things out of the ordinary." Lily said with a smile as she finally sipped at her tea.

"Which reminds me. If you're gonna be staying here, which I'm very glad you'll be doing." James said with a grin. "Then we need to find you a job." Lily was about to say something but James interrupted her. "Now I know I'm probably not much help but I will help." James said as he put an arm around Lily's waist. Lily grinned as she tilted her head.

"I don't need help in finding a job." Lily said with a smile.

"I agree. You shouldn't get a job at all." James said with a smile and a shake of his head. Lily looked at him oddly. "You could stay at home all day and wait for me to come home. Once I arrive home we can have sex all night long. Then you won't be too tired the next night when we make mad passionate love again because you have from nine to five to rest. But I just might come home at lunch time to fuel your thirst for me." James said with a grin. The grin remained as Lily went into peels of laughter. After a few moments James spoke again. "I didn't think you'd go for it." He said with an innocent shrug and a smile.

"And you say I think of strange things." Lily said as her laughter slowly subsided.

"That's why we're meant to be." James said with a corny grin. "But we still need to find you a job." James said as he took one arm from Lily's waist to pick up his mug of tea.

"I don't need to find a job. I already have one." Lily said with a smile. James looked at her questioningly as he put down his mug after drinking from it.

"Since when?" James asked.

"This morning. Well actually Saturday, that's when it was offered to me." Lily said as she sipped at her tea that remained in her hands.

"It's gonna be a bit tiring for you if you apparate back and forth between here and America." James said seriously as he looked down at her. Lily chuckled lightly as she put down her mug beside James'.

"It's not in America. It's right here at the Ministry. They offered me the position of Head of International Magical office of Law." Lily said with a shrug. "And I accepted it." She added slowly as James looked at her in shock.

"You're the one who got the job?" He asked, as his face remained neutral.

"Yeah, is that a problem?" Lily asked quietly as she looked at James worriedly. A grin covered his face though.

"Is that a problem? Of course not! That's great news! We'll be able to see each other whenever we want – when we aren't bogged down with work that is. And I can keep a close eye on you to make sure you don't get into trouble." James said excitedly.

"Hey, I don't need to be watched." Lily said indignantly. James grinned, however, and leaned down towards her.

"We could even have lunch in your office." James said with a mischievous look.

"Lunch? Depends on how good you are first." Lily said with a grin before she kissed James passionately. As James was getting very into the kiss a sharp ringing sound interrupted the pair. James pulled away from Lily and looked at her oddly.

"What is that?" He asked as he began to look around for where the sound was coming from. Lily bit her lip as she tried not to laugh and pulled out of James' embrace.

"That would be the telephone." Lily said as she pointed towards a small black box that was pinned against the wall. James looked at Lily curiously as she picked up the phone.

"Hello." Lily asked into the receiver.

"Lily?" A male voice asked.

"Hey Philippe." Lily smiled as she heard his familiar voice.

"Hi ya honey. You're a hard woman to get in touch with you know that?" Philippe said causing Lily to laugh. James walked towards the cupboards to see if there was any food as he felt a tad bit hungry. He opened a few cupboard doors to see the normal array of products like beans, chocolate biscuits and canned soup. He wasn't in the mood for anything he saw. He turned his attention back to Lily and waved his hands to get her attention.

"Hold on a minute Philippe." Lily said into the phone. "What's wrong?" Lily asked as she turned to James.

"Are you hungry, because I'm gonna head down to the chip shop." James said. He then looked down at what he was wearing. "Once I get changed that is." He added with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I'm starving. Do you need muggle money?" Lily asked. James looked at the phone then back up to Lily. "Oh he knows." Lily said with a wave of her hand.

"Oh. I've got muggle money." James said with a smile. James went to kiss Lily's cheek but she moved her head causing him to kiss her lips instead, not that he minded. The pair stood kissing for a few minutes before a faint voice could be heard.

"Lily? Are you still there? Lily?" Philippe called down the phone. Lily chuckled and pulled away from James and put the phone to her ear again. James kissed Lily on the cheek before walking out of the kitchen with a smile on his face.

"Umm sorry about that. What were you saying?" Lily asked.

"You sound very happy. You had sex." Philippe said.

"Philippe!" Lily said with a laugh.

"You did! Who is he? It's that guy that you're living with isn't it?" Philippe asked. Lily could hear James walk down the stairs and open the front door.

"I'll not be long!" James called before leaving. Lily grinned then pulled a chair from the table over to where the phone was and sat down.

"Oh Philippe, he is amazing. He is so kind and caring and he loves me. And do you wanna know the best thing? I love him too." Lily said in a dreamy voice. Philippe laughed down the phone.

"About time too!" He said. "I want to know everything."

"I don't know where to begin." Lily laughed. She sighed happily into the receiver. "Remember how I told you that the time James and I met up was the best you know that I'd ever had?" Lily asked. Philippe mumbled a yes. "Well last night definitely topped it by at least a thousand. Todd never even came close." Lily said with a smile on her face.

"Speaking of Todd, does lover boy know about him?" Philippe asked curiously.

"I don't know if James knows. I know I didn't tell him." Lily said with a shrug even though Philippe could see her.

"Don't you think you should tell him just in case? I mean your engagement ended because of him." Philippe said.

"It did not end because of James, it ended because Todd was shagging Tiffany." Lily said.

"But Lily he had an idea, why do you think he was with Tiffany?" Philippe said.

"Whose side are you on? He cheated on me, remember? I was the one who was faithful." Lily said a tad angrily.

"You stayed faithful physically but I know you played that night with James over and over in your head. And before you ask I'm on your side but you have to feel bad for the guy. He knew he was second best, even before he proposed." Philippe said.

"I never meant to make him feel like that, in fact I never even realised it until he had told me." Lily paused as she looked out through the kitchen window. Storm clouds had appeared in the sky and seemed as if it was going to start raining at any moment. "When he asked me to marry him," Lily continued, "I thought I was in love with him. I thought that there was no one else in the world that could make me happy but there was always this nagging feeling in my mind when I said the three words to Todd. They always screamed 'No you don't. Why are you lying?' It never went away."

"You never told me this." Philippe said quietly.

"You're the only person who knows." Lily said thoughtfully. Philippe was quiet as he thought about what she said. "You just had to make me act serious." Lily joked.

"I'm sorry for bringing it up. Just Todd is my lawyer and he was here the other day and he was talking about you." Philippe said.

"Why is Todd your lawyer? And what was he saying about me?" Lily asked curiously.

"I needed a lawyer for buying the Magic Charm." Philippe said. "He wasn't saying much. He just said that he hoped you were a lot happier in England than you had been here in New York. I told him you were and that there was someone special in your life."

"Why did you say that? Now he probably feels bad." Lily said worriedly.

"Why would he feel bad?" Philippe asked curiously.

"You know for a gay person you can be so male." Lily said huffily.

"That made no sense. Anyway he didn't act as if he felt bad, he just smiled and hoped that it was the guy you were crazy about." Philippe said. Lily smiled.

"How did-?" Lily began.

"Lily we all knew there was someone else. We just didn't know who – well I did because you told me but I mean Kelly and Mandy didn't know." Philippe said.

"You know I think I would have busted if I hadn't told you." Lily chuckled. "Remember that night? We got really drunk and we spilled our guts to each other."

"If it wasn't for that night I never would have married Derek." Philippe said.

"And if it wasn't for that night I never would have came home." Lily said thoughtfully.

"Do you ever regret going back to England?" Philippe asked. Lily thought about it. At that moment she never regretted it but she knew there would be times when she would especially because of Voldemort. She knew that bad times were still a head. But she knew that she would get through them because she was with James. She just knew.

"No I don't." Lily said with a smile. "I miss you and everyone else of course, but this is my home and this is where I will stay."

"The sex must be great." Philippe laughed.

"Mind-blowing." Lily said as she also laughed.

A while later Lily was sitting on the couch in the living room. It had got very dark and had started to rain very heavily. James had been away quiet a long time and she was beginning to get a tad worried especially in the bad weather. She never liked storms.

Lily started to think about her conversation with Philippe, especially the bits regarding Todd. Todd and Lily would have been married 5 months 3 weeks and 6 days if she had stayed with him. That was nearly a full six months of marriage. Lily shivered at the thought. It had been hard to image being Todd's wife when she was engaged to the man but now it seemed down right impossible.

He was a good guy but he just wasn't Lily's type of guy. He wasn't very adventurous, as he didn't like things out of the ordinary. He preferred to live by a schedule rather than to just do things spontaneously. If he and Lily were going to go out for dinner it had to be booked a full week in advance. Lily had hated this, sure she liked to be organised but not this organised. He also didn't have a sense of humour; Lily needed a fun guy who would make her laugh not ask her to explain why a chicken would cross a road in the first place.

Todd did have a good side though. He was kind and caring. He did love her and she knew this but she just never felt the same way and she could understand why he cheated on her. Not many ex-girlfriends could say that! But Lily knew in her heart that Todd had done the right thing by cheating on her. If he hadn't she would be in a loveless marriage instead of falling madly in love with her dream guy.

The front door opened and then so did the living room door. James stood in the doorway soaking wet from head to toe.

"It's freezing out there." James said as he took off his jacket and producing what looked like a ball of newspaper. Lily chuckled as she stood up and waved her wand towards the kitchen. A few moments later plates and cutlery came flying into the room followed by two bottles of butterbeer. They landed on the coffee table graciously as Lily took the bundle of newspaper away from James.

"What took you so long?" Lily asked as she unwrapped the newspaper to reveal fish and chips. She set the food out onto the plates then handed James one. He had been standing in front of the fireplace – which he had started himself – trying to warm himself up.

"Thanks." James said as he took the plate and sat on the ground with his back against the couch that Lily was sitting on. "The chippy was packed and then some guy started talking to me about football. Didn't have a clue what he was saying but I couldn't exactly tell him to shut up cause he looked really excited about it." James said with a chuckle. Lily laughed and rolled her eyes. "So how was your chat with Philippe?" James asked. Lily shrugged as her foot rubbed at James's shoulder.

"Okay. He wants us to go visit, he really wants to meet you." Lily said with a grin.

"Should I be worried?" James asked turning to look at her. Lily laughed and shook her head.

"No, Philippe and I have a rule about stealing each others boyfriends; we don't." Lily said.

"Good." James said with a smile. The pair finished of their food in a comfortable silence. When James finished he put his empty plate on the coffee table and uncorked both bottles of butterbeer. Lily then put her plate on top of James' and took the remaining bottle from the coffee table and drank from it.

"We should go to Hogsmeade tomorrow. These butterbeers are no where near as good as Rosmerta's." Lily said as she put her empty bottle back on the coffee table. She then picked up her wand and pointed it at the dirty dishes and rubbish. They immediately flew off to the kitchen. She then sat back on the couch and lay her head down on a cushion and closed her eyes. James lolled his head back on the seat of the couch and closed his eyes too. Lily opened her eyes again and looked at James. He looked so peaceful and handsome and Lily couldn't help but smile, but there was something bugging her since she had got of the phone from Philippe.

"James?" Lily said as she stared at the fire.

"Umm?" He said as he opened his eyes and looked at her thoughtful face.

"Do you know about … Todd?" Lily asked tentatively. James looked away from her and looked at the fire as he took a drink from his butterbeer.

"The guy you were engaged to?" James asked.

"Yeah. So you do know about that then. Who told you?" Lily asked curiously.

"Hestia." James replied as he continued to stare at the fire.

"Did she tell you why it was called off?" Lily asked. James shook his head. "He cheated on me with one of the girls I worked with." Lily said.

"I'm sorry." James said.

"Don't be. He did the right thing." Lily said with a shrug. James looked at Lily oddly. "I never really loved him." Lily said elaborating. "I thought it was love but I always had a feeling it wasn't. I always had a feeling he wasn't the right guy. My heart is very good at telling me things like that." Lily said as she looked at James who gazed back at her.

"What does your heart tell you now?" James asked quietly.

"I can't tell you that, you might get egotistical." Lily laughed. James smiled and entwined one of his hands with hers.

"I'll take that as a good thing then." James said.

"You better 'cause if I ever catch you cheating on me you're a dead man." Lily said with a smile. James laughed causing Lily to smile because when he laughed it seemed to spread to his eyes and make him look even more handsome.

"And the same rule applies to you." James said with a grin.

"That's a deal." Lily said with a grin. James leaned over and kissed her on the lips gently.

"Sealed with a kiss." He said with a soft smile. Lily grinned then pulled him into a passionate kiss. Soon he was lying on top of her on the couch.

"Your clothes are wet." Lily giggled as James kissed at her neck.

"Then we'll just have to take them off." He said with a grin, which very much matched Lily's.

Later that evening James opened his eyes to the sound of someone calling his name.

"James!" The voice called. He took a deep breath and looked at the figure sleeping beside him. She looked beautiful with her long red locks sprawled across the white pillow and her beautiful body wrapped up in his duvet. James rubbed his eyes and got out of bed as the voice called again. He pulled on his boxers then a pair of sweat pants and walked quickly down the stairs before the voice could call again and wake Lily up. He walked into his kitchen and saw Sirius standing there with a letter in his and staring at two red feathers, which were sitting on the tabletop.

"What's with the shouting? Some people are trying to sleep." James said as he rubbed his face. Sirius looked at James then up at the clock.

"Didn't think you'd be sleeping at 9.30 in the evening, sorry mate." Sirius said with a shrug.

"I'm up now what's wrong?" James asked, as there was the sound of popping coming from the hallway. Then two figures were standing in the kitchen. James looked at the Hestia and Remus oddly. "That was strange, you guys did that at the same time." James said.

"You all right mate? You look a bit tired." Remus said looking James up and down.

"This git woke me up." James said as he walked towards the kettle. "Tea?" James asked. Hestia and Remus nodded their heads but Sirius shook his. Remus noticed the feathers on the tabletop.

"So you guys have been asked as well." Remus remarked. James looked at Remus oddly.

"Asked what?" James asked.

"Pick up the feather and you'll see." Sirius said.

"You've been on the firewhiskey haven't you?" James said as he looked at Sirius and tried to decipher if he was drunk or not.

"Just pick up the bloody feather." Sirius said agitatedly. James picked up one of the feathers just to humour Sirius but nothing happened. "That most be Lily's. Pick up the other one." Sirius said. James did as he was told and just as soon as the red feather touched his fingers it instantly transformed into a sheet of parchment. James looked at his friends then picked up the parchment.

Dear James

I am sure that this seems a strange way to send a letter but what I am about to ask you must be kept secret. You, as well as others, have been asked to join a secret operation known as the Order of the Phoenix. It will be much like the 'Magic Charm' operation that had been set up. Minister Bagnold told me a lot about it and it gave me the inspiration to set up the order. The only difference is that the order will be on a larger scale and a lot more secret. I don't want to say too much but I do hope that you will meet with me tomorrow evening at 9 p.m. at Hogwarts to discuss this further. I hope to see you soon.

Albus Dumbledore

James looked at his friends then back at the letter in concentration. He didn't know quiet what to think except that it should have been set up a lot earlier.

"He signed it Albus." James said with a chuckle.

"You going?" Sirius asked. James nodded.

"Might as well. Should be fun." James said with a smile causing Sirius to smile. "Are you going?" James asked his friend.

"Of course can't let you have all the fun." Sirius laughed. "What do you think Remus?" Sirius asked turning to him.

"Sounds like a good idea, I'll go." Remus said as he pulled out a chair from the kitchen table and sat down.

"What about you, Hes?" Sirius asked softly. The pair hadn't had a chance to talk since they came back from the mission and Sirius was feeling a bit cowardly for not talking to her sooner.

"Yeah." She said as she kept eye contact with him.

"I wonder if Peter got asked?" Remus questioned.

"Of course he did, he's one of us." James said as he went to pour the tea. There was a sound of someone walking down the stairs and James immediately looked at the other red feather sitting on the tabletop. He didn't want Lily to have anything to do with this. He wanted to keep her safe from all this hardship but he knew she wouldn't go for it. And he knew that she was a valuable asset, but he loved her. He could lose her if she was part of the order, and that was one thing he wouldn't be able to live through.

Lily walked through the kitchen door and was taken back to see her friends there. She was standing in a long T-shirt, which was obviously James', that barely covered her tiny hot pants.

"What're you all doing here?" Lily asked as she walked into the room a little further.

"Umm you got a feather." Sirius said. Lily looked at him oddly.

"What? Is this a joke?" Lily asked cautiously.

"Just pick up the feather." Sirius said. Lily looked at Hestia who nodded and Lily did so. The same thing happened to the feather as it had done when James touched it. She read the letter then looked up at her friends.

"So that's what Bagnold was on about this morning." Lily said.

"I forgot about that." James said as he handed Hestia and Remus their tea.

"I take it everyone else got asked." Lily said as she looked at her friends. They all nodded. James kept his eyes on his mug. "Good, as long as I won't be the only person there."

"So you're going then." Hestia stated.

"What would make you think otherwise?" Lily asked as she walked towards the kettle that James was standing beside. He moved out of her way so that she could get to it easier. "Thanks." Lily muttered. For some reason Lily felt odd towards James now that their friends were there. She felt like she had to keep her feelings about James secret, even though they pretty much knew how James and Lily felt about the other.

"I just thought that after what happened-" Hestia began.

"The Harbour families death weren't my fault." Lily said as she turned to Hestia who smiled at her.

"Good as long as you aren't blaming yourself anymore." Hestia said. "So what're we doing tomorrow?" Hestia asked as she changed the subject.

"Don't you guys have work?" Remus asked as he sipped at his tea.

"We got the day off." Sirius explained.

"You wanna have lunch, Lily?" Hestia asked thoughtfully. "We haven't done that in weeks. Not since you admitted your feelings about James." Hestia said with a grin. Lily looked at her friend alarmed as James grinned at Lily.

"Hestia!" Lily scolded.

"What? We all know you guys are shagging." Hestia said as Sirius and Remus turned to the pair with amused grins.

"So is it official yet?" Sirius asked with a corny grin. James and Lily blushed and looked at the ground. "I take that as a yes. Now if you both had only realised this back at Hogwarts, life might have been a tiny bit more bearable." Sirius said.

"I think I remember telling you not to come near here at all today." Lily said as she looked at Sirius warningly.

"Yeah but that was so you could shag, and I'm guessing you guys were at it all day." Sirius said beaming.

"Piss off." James said as he threw a tea towel at Sirius, who caught it in his hand.

"You guys are worse than rabbits." Sirius said as he chuckled.

"James I hope you're at least using protection. Rabbits reproduce a lot." Remus said with a smirk.

"You're worse than him." James scolded causing Sirius and Remus to laugh.

"Lily we so have to have lunch tomorrow. We can compare sex notes about the Marauders." Hestia laughed, as did Lily. Sirius looked at Hestia alarmingly; it was the first time that either had openly admitted it. This had caused Remus' eyebrow to raise.

"Did I miss something?" Remus asked.

"That's private stuff." Sirius said looking at Hestia warningly.

"My lips are sealed." Hestia said with a wink.

"I think you and I need to talk." Sirius said to Hestia.

"I agree." Hestia said. "You have me in a good mood, so I won't shout at you for taking advantage of me. Meet you at the pub." Hestia said with a smile before disapparating.

"You took advantage of me." Sirius said but she had already left. "Bloody woman!" Sirius said before he too disapparated. Remus was left looking a little perplexed.

"I better go, I left Jenny alone at my apartment. See you guys later." Remus said before he disapparated also. James looked at Lily; he walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"You guys aren't really going to compare us, are you?" James asked. Lily smiled and looked up at him.

"Of course not. But don't worry you have nothing to be ashamed off." Lily smiled before pulling him closer to her and kissing him lightly. "Let's go back to bed." Lily said as she took James' hand and led him out of the kitchen.

Hey guys I hope you liked. I know there wasn't much going on but I kinda needed this chapter especially for future chapters.

Please review!!!

Now on to my thank you's!!!!

Iris – Thank you so much! You have really boosted my confidence!!!

Missers – a lot more lovey dovey stiff as you can see! Hope you like it, I tried to end this chapter the same as the 1st, but I'm not sure I managed to. Lol

Bread and Cheese – An epilogue huh? Dunno if I agree with you there. I'm glad you like it though!

Waytoomuchtime – Which other story? Forever and Beyond?

Jessie – Hey ya great to see ya back!!!!!

ALI – Do you need help writing the story or just putting it on the site? Sorry I haven't emailed, I've been real busy!

Taiyourshoes – Hey I'm glad you like the stories. You were on hp? I know school can make you get lost very easily!!!!

Gurty – Of course that's not all! Lol Hope you like!!!

Shamrock13 – I'm glad you like both stories!!!!!

Samantha Kensington – I love Lily and James stories as well, I'm a sucker for the romance!!!!

Divaleah – Glad you like the sequel, I was a bit worried that no one would!

Emmy – Hey girl, hows u? So glad ya like it!!!!

Secondatbat9 – Hey ya! Did ya ever get finished reading the stories??? Lol

Courtney – I'm glad you like it

James and Lily 4eva – I'm so sorry I took forever to update. I'm glad you like this though

Anyway I want to thank everyone who read this even if you don't review … but please do!!! Lol

Eimear