Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own. Damn.
A/N: Yes, I'm still alive. Sorry the update is so awfully late, I wasn't planning on doing more, then when I did decide to do more, I got writer's block, then I've been busy with school and stuff ... but I have finally managed to update. The next chapter will not arrive three months later, I will ensure I update sooner. I am very sorry. Hope you enjoy, please review and tell me what you think!!
Chapter Two – Happy New Year
Half an hour into the New Year, Lily and James returned to the common room, where the party was still going. They were holding hands.
Lily and James walked towards the drinks table, where Remus and Peter were stood, drinking Firewhisky. Sirius was in the thick of the party, still surrounded by his fan club. Remus was the first to notice that Lily and James' fingers were intertwined.
"Hey!" he cried, pointing at their hands. For once, Remus seemed lost for words. It probably had something to do with the many drinks he had consumed that night. "You – you're – wow!" Remus spluttered. Lily giggled. "At last!" Remus sighed, finally managing to make a sentence, even though it was a very short one. Lily and James blushed slightly as Remus pointed out to Peter that they were holding hands.
"Ooh!" squealed Peter, grinning. "Sirius! SIRIUS! Get over here!" He beckoned to the fourth Marauder, and Sirius left the girls, staggering, quite drunk, towards his best friends.
"Look, Sirius, they're finally going out!" Remus beamed, gesturing towards Lily and James.
"Aw!" Sirius cooed. Then he looked suspiciously at James. "Did you cast a spell on her or something?"
"No!" James said indignantly. Lily laughed. "I didn't need to, did I, Lilykins?"
"Never call me Lilykins ever again if you want to live, James Potter," warned Lily. Remus, Sirius and Peter laughed, but James just leaned towards Lily and kissed her again. The three Marauders laughed harder and cheered. A lot of people looked towards them, wanting to see why they were making such a racket, and everyone stared when they saw Lily and James kissing. They were all waiting for Lily to push away and slap James, but she didn't. Instead, she wound her arms around his neck and reciprocated.
This seemed to upset a lot of girls. A couple actually burst into tears and ran into their dorm, and a few shot evil glares at Lily. But Lily and James were still kissing, and they didn't notice.
"Alright, break it up you two slobberworms," Sirius teased. Lily reluctantly pulled away from James, her cheeks pink. She unhooked her arms from around James' neck and suddenly became aware that she was receiving many cold looks from James' fan club. James noticed the glares too.
The next thing Lily knew, she was being pulled onto a table by James, who had already leapt up.
"Excuse me! Excuse me!" bellowed James. The common room fell silent. "I'd just like you all to know that I am going out with the beautiful Lily Evans! And if anyone attempts to sabotage our relationship in any way, then they will suffer the wrath of the four angry Marauders, who will spend the remainder of their final year at Hogwarts making that person's life an utter misery." James announced loudly and clearly. "It's taken me seven bloody years to get her to go out with me and nobody is going to mess it up!"
"Gosh, James, you make it sound so romantic," Lily mock-swooned. Many Gryffindors laughed. James jumped down from the table, satisfied, and Lily clambered down after him. James' fan club all stalked off to their dorms.
"Thanks, James," Lily beamed. "I think that deserves a thank-you kiss, don't you?"
"Definitely! More like a thank-you snog!" James grinned. He pulled Lily into an armchair where they began to kiss passionately.
At three in the morning, the party was finally stopped when Professor McGonagall stormed into the common room and shouted at them all. She stood watching as the Gryffindors all trooped slowly up to bed. When the common room was virtually empty, she left.
"Come on, Prongs," called Remus. He and Peter were trying to get a very drunk Sirius up the boys' staircase to their dorm.
"I'm coming," James replied from the armchair he was still sat in, Lily on his lap. Lily stood up and pulled James up too.
"We probably should go to bed, you know," Lily said, stifling a yawn behind her hand.
"You're right! My dorm or yours?" James grinned. Lily smacked his arm playfully.
"Not together, you idiot!" she laughed. "I go to my bed, you go to yours. But before you do go –" she kissed him briefly on the lips. "Happy." She kissed him again. "New." And again. "Year!" she finished, and kissed him a final time, quickly on his lips. She turned to go, but James pulled her arm back and crushed his lips against hers. Lily ran a hand through James' hair, even though she had previously said that she hated his messy hairstyle. James put his arms around her waist and pulled her right up against him as he had done behind the broom shed.
Finally, Lily broke away from James, although somewhat reluctantly.
"We – we should really – go to bed," she said breathlessly. "Goodnight, James."
"Night Lily," James grinned, squeezing her fingers before heading towards his dorm. As he reached the foot of the stairs, however, he heard Lily call out.
"James!" He turned around. "Just one more kiss?"
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When Lily woke up a few hours later, she could still taste James on her tongue. She smiled serenely as she pulled back her hangings and clambered out of bed. Her best friends, Alice and Mary, were sat on Alice's bed, whispering and giggling. They looked towards Lily when they heard her getting up.
"Good morning," chirped Mary. Lily yawned and waved in response. "Happy New Year, by the way. We didn't get a chance to talk to you last night to wish you a Happy New Year, you see, because someone had their tongue down James Potter's throat. Congratulations." Lily's cheeks started to turn pink as her friends giggled.
The three girls dressed quickly and hurried into the common room. There were a few people milling around, but most people were either having breakfast in the Great Hall or sleeping off their hangovers. The three girls went straight down to the Great Hall. Lily quickly scanned the Gryffindor table and saw the four Marauders, sat at the end of the table and yawning. She made a beeline for the empty seat beside James. Sirius spotted her and her friends coming and grinned.
"Hi!" Lily said brightly, planting a quick kiss on James' cheek. James beamed and Lily slid into the seat next to him. "You guys all okay?" she asked the Marauders. They all muttered replies, most of which mentioned the words 'just really tired', or in Sirius' case, 'bloody awful hangover'. Lily smiled as she helped herself to breakfast.
When Lily and James had finished their breakfasts, they excused themselves from the table and left the Hall holding hands, leaving their friends behind. The two of them went for a stroll in the cold and frosty grounds, and eventually they stopped beside the lake. They were unaware that someone had also got up from his seat in the Great Hall and followed them outside stealthily, keen to avoid being seen. He crept closer slowly, keeping as hidden as possible. Severus Snape did not like to see Lily holding hands with that boy.
Soon, Snape was behind a tree and was close enough to hear what Lily and James were saying. He scowled behind the tree when he heard Lily giggle at something James said.
There was silence for a few seconds, and then James said, "You're a really great kisser, you know." Lily giggled again, her cheeks turning furiously red. Snape silently fumed behind his tree.
"That's ... that's, um, good, I guess," Lily said. "I've never kissed anyone before."
"Really? I'm surprised – someone as gorgeous and witty and intelligent and kind and caring and lovely as you –"
"Oh, shut up James," Lily reprimanded fondly. There was a silence, and Snape could just tell that Lily and James were kissing some more. Resisting the urge to curse him into oblivion, he turned and stormed back up to the castle. Lily and James didn't notice; they were too busy kissing.
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Soon after that, Lily and James returned to the common room. When they entered, they saw Sirius, Remus, Peter, Alice and Mary huddled by the fire, all talking in low voices and looking concerned.
"Hey guys," grinned James. "What's going on?" he asked slowly, looking round at all their faces apprehensively.
"Nothing, nothing," Sirius said, attempting to grin but failing. This made James and Lily rather nervous, and they cautiously sat down on the sofa beside Peter.
"Guys," Lily said in a low voice. "Really. What's going on?"
Sirius, Remus, Peter, Alice and Mary all looked at each other nervously. Mary was biting her lip, something she always did when something was worrying her.
"You guys!" cried Lily. "Just tell us what's happened!"
"Well, nothing yet," Alice said awkwardly.
"Alice!" Sirius hissed, shaking his head slightly.
"We have to tell them!" Alice protested. "They should know."
Remus sighed heavily. "Okay. You're right, Alice. Tell them," he said, rubbing his face with his hands.
"Well," Alice began awkwardly, "we were all leaving the Great Hall after breakfast and there was a gang of Slytherin Death Eater-wannabes – Mulciber, Avery, you know them. And Snape. Snape was looking furious. We skulked behind them and eavesdropped." She looked around the group for support.
"Snape had just come in from the grounds," Sirius explained. Lily's eyes widened as she and James realised what Snape was angry about.
"Oh, no," James muttered under his breath.
"He saw us together," finished Lily. She groaned and leaned sideways into James. He put an arm around her. "Oh, why do lessons have to start tomorrow?"
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