These chapters are getting gradually longer! Just thought I would say a big thank you to all the people who have reviewed, favourited and alerted so far, and that because I'm a tad stupid I forgot to put a disclaimer in the first chapter. You probably already guessed this, but I don't own Harry Potter *heart breaks* and I don't own the lyrics to "Dancing Queen" by ABBA, which are featured in this chapter... James and Lily, gingerbread people and ABBA- what could possibly go wrong? :P Anyway, enjoy!

Dance number three

December 1977

The kitchen, 24 Primrose Close

It was Christmas Eve Eve- Lily's preferred name for the twenty-third of December. Lily was in the kitchen, humming to herself as she emptied the cupboards in search of the ingredients needed to bake gingerbread people. Lily was adamant that the term "gingerbread man" was, in fact, very sexist, as men weren't the only people who wore trousers. Lily's Christmas gingerbread people were somewhat famous in the Evans household- even Petunia took them and ate them without surveying them suspiciously first, as if they had been poisoned. In fact, in December, Petunia would reduce the amount of dirty looks she gave her sister by about forty per cent. It was one of the many things Lily loved about Christmas- along with sleigh rides, the smell of the tree, going to sleep after eating too much food and, of course, being with her family.

The rest of the family were doing some last minute Christmas shopping and wouldn't be back for hours. Lily was measuring some flour into a measuring jug when suddenly her vision was completely cut off by two large hands which covered her eyes, engulfing everything in blackness. Lily's heart rate increased dramatically as the bowl of flour slipped from her hands. Clumsily fumbling about, desperately trying to reach the wand in her pocket, she let out a scream…

"Bloody hell, you could scream for England," a deep voice groaned. Upon hearing that voice, Lily instantly relaxed. The hands released her and she turned around to face her boyfriend of five months, James.

"You'd scream too if that happened to you," Lily said. "How did you get in? And what the hell are you playing at?"

Despite Lily's relief that it was James and not a Death Eater, and the fact that she was glad to see him, she wasn't letting him get away with that ridiculous stunt. She whirled around to face him- and all attempts to maintain dignity by being annoyed with him went out of the window, because he was stood there like a deer caught in the headlights, his expensive looking clothes spattered with flour.

"I used my wand to unlock the door…" James began, then comprehension dawned on his face. He looked down at his clothes and raised one eyebrow.

"Laughing at my misfortune, are we, Miss Evans?" he said, a cheeky smile forming on his lips.

Lily looked up at him, and her favourite mischievous glimmer was dancing in his hazel eyes. "Might be," she replied playfully.

With one step, James had crossed the small kitchen. He wrapped his arms around Lily's waist and looked into her eyes, their faces inches apart. "You still haven't given me a proper greeting," James whispered.

Lily grinned. "Is that a hint?"

"Possibly," James said. Lily was pinned against the kitchen counter, locked in his sturdy grasp. James's lips moved down to Lily's neck, where they nibbled happily. Lily was unable to stop a gasp of pleasure escaping from her lips.

"Stop it," she said reluctantly. "I have to make gingerbread people." Lily turned around, facing the ingredients, which had been neatly lined up on the counter in the order they were supposed to be used. Efficiency was her best friend.

"Gingerbread people?" James said, releasing her but remaining close. "Don't you mean gingerbread men?"

"No, I mean gingerbread people. I find the term 'gingerbread men' horribly sexist," Lily said as she carefully poured bicarbonate of soda into a measuring jug.

"Lily Evans, changing the world one gingerbread person at a time," James smirked. Lily shot him a warning glance. "Behave," she commanded. James directed a salute at her, and she turned away from him so that he wouldn't see her laughing.

"So what will these gingerbread people do?" James asked.

"Do?" Lily asked. It was a rather odd question. Then again, with James, she was learning to expect the unexpected. "Well, they look pretty, then they taste nice when we eat them."

"Are all Muggle ones like that?" James asked in amazement, and Lily nodded, her eyebrows knitted together in concentration. She had added the flour, the butter, the ground ginger and the bicarbonate of soda to a mixing bowl, and was following the instructions of "mix with fingertips until crumbly". This was her favourite part of the process- it was very therapeutic.

"My Auntie Katrina's gingerbread men are wicked," James remarked. He rolled up his sleeves and came to stand behind Lily, resting his chin on her neck and helping her with the mixing. Lily felt a slight tingling sensation every time her fingers brushed against James's.

"Gingerbread people," Lily corrected him.

"She enchants them with spells that make them do backflips. One time, they even formed a choir. We made them sing the Hogwarts school song before we ate them," James said, a note of nostalgia in his voice.

"I can't really compete with that," Lily said, adding sugar and syrup to the bowl.

"You don't need to compete with anything. You're in a league of your own," James said earnestly. Lily's cheeks began to turn a similar colour to that of her hair- but this feeling, associated with embarrassment, was accompanied by a warm, rosy, internal glow that occurred when James, and only James, gave her compliments. Which he did- a lot. But they weren't over-exaggerated like they used to be. They were heartfelt and uplifting and made Lily smile even on the days when the sky was full of grey clouds and the Daily Prophet was full of disappearances.

James decided to be helpful and hand Lily the egg that she needed, but he dropped it and it cracked all over the kitchen tiles. Vanishing the mess with a quick spell, Lily wondered aloud how someone so clumsy could score so many goals for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and told James that the best way for him to help would be by staying out of the way.

Lily should have known that she wouldn't be left alone for long. She was rolling out the pastry when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw James sneak over to the flour. She knew what was going to happen before it happened.

"Wow, my time travel spell did work. Suddenly it's second year all over again," Lily remarked, as the bits of flour that James was flicking began to hit her.

"Chucking stuff at you is one of those timeless things," James said cheerfully. "I'll still be doing it when I'm Dumbledore's age."

"Carry on chucking stuff at me and you may not live to be Dumbledore's age," Lily replied calmly, but they both knew she was joking. Lily had a much more dynamic relationship with James than she'd had with any of her other boyfriends. They were constantly winding each other up, whether it was purposeful or not- but it was different to how it had been in the past. Neither of them became insulted or irritated by their exchange of banter. It was playful and it was fun, especially when James was losing a battle of wits and decided to kiss Lily in an attempt to make up for it. This tactic had a rather alarming success rate.

By the time the gingerbread people were in the oven, Lily's hair was almost as white as it was red. Lily decided she was going to give as much as she got.

When James wasn't looking, she plunged her hand into the bag of flour, taking a large handful. "James," she said sweetly, "I think I've lost one of my earrings. Will you look under the table for me?"

The unsuspecting James got down on his hands and knees to search under the table for the non-existent earring. Seizing her chance, Lily artfully sprinkled her fistful of flour on James's head.

"You're so dead, " James grinned.

The two teenagers chased each other around the small kitchen, ambushing each other with flour and shrieking with joy. For once, Lily didn't stop to worry about the mess or about anything else in the world. Heart pounding, breath uneven, Lily hadn't recalled feeling this alive since... well, since ever.

The lively opening notes of a pop song started to play on the Muggle radio that was on the window sill:

You can dance,
You can jive,
Having the time of your life

Suddenly James grabbed Lily by the hand, pulled her closer to him and started to dance with her. Covered in flour from head to toe, the boy and girl broke out into whatever dance moves they felt like doing, regardless of how cheesy they were. They spun each other around and around and around until they became dizzy, laughing until tears were streaming down their faces.

Ooh see that girl,
Watch that scene
Diggin' the dancing queen

After a while, the laughter became so much that Lily's legs could no longer cope with the effort that standing up required. She tumbled, took James with her and ended up in a catastrophic heap on the floor, with her on the bottom and James on the top.

Something about the contact between her own body and James's made Lily stop laughing. Without really thinking about it, she pulled James closer to her and kissed him, far more urgently than she had ever kissed him before. James immediately responded, his lips coming to life under hers, tasting of all the things she never knew she needed.

Lily wanted more. She needed more. She hungrily tugged at James's T-Shirt. James, getting the message, ended the kiss and looked deep into Lily's eyes. "Are you sure about this?" he asked her. "Because if this is going too fast for you..."

"No," Lily said. Her mind was made up- she had never felt more sure of anything. Being with James made her feel like anything was possible, and she couldn't wait to enter an exciting new world with him. "I'm ready."

And as Lily made love to James for the very first time, she felt chills that were nothing to do with the snow that had began to fall outside.

I am aware that this was very very very cheesy, but oh well, it was a lot of fun to write :P Chapter 4 is when things begin to get a bit more serious, it should be coming soon! Please review :D