A/N-First I would like to thank my reviewers-H3RB, rockstar-101, Sarahamanda, SweetSouthernGal, ima fishy xo, mmm…, GraceMarionPotter, serenity, -Scp-, Tally is a SpEcIaL, stella luminosa, Artemis-Bell, Untamed Loner, ReadingRobyn, cosmopolitan, and killtheenviousmoon.
Disclaimer-Anything you recognize belongs to JKR
A Day in the Sun
Chapter Seven
James walked Lily up to the Gryffindor dormitories after one of their mini-dates. The day after their meeting at Severus' house Lily had formally declared them Fiancés in the government's eyes. They had met together within the school for about fifteen minutes every other day for the past six days to get to know each other before their wedding. When James cleared his head of these thoughts he realized that tomorrow after classes he would be picking Lily up to take her to her parent's house and the day after would be Lily's eighteenth birthday. "When are all of your classes over tomorrow?" He asked her.
"4:30, we could meet and apparate at say, five." She responded thinking of her family and how she whished she didn't have to see them. She hadn't told them about the law, just that she had met someone she was so in love with that she was marrying him one week from today. 'I still don't have a bride's maid' she thought. James had asked her if she would like to plan the wedding or if she wanted him to. She had chosen him knowing that with all of her homework she wouldn't have time to plan a wedding. The only job he had given her was to pick a Maid of honor. 'Who could I get? Who? Belle hates me, Marci sided with her, my only other friend is Sev.' She giggled picturing Severus Snape in the cerulean blue dress she had picked for her Maid of honor.
"What's so funny?" He asked truly confused.
"Nothing…we're here!" She said as they stopped outside the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Bezoars" The portrait swung open. "Goodnight, James." She started getting into the portrait hole when James grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him. He gently brushed her lips with his own and let go of her.
"Goodnight to you as well." James walked away from her, a slight smile playing upon his lips.
Lily continued her way into the common room and up to the dorms. 'He kissed me!' She thought. She started to compare it with other kisses she'd received. Her father's kisses had either been biting and punishing, or bruising and rough. Severus had kissed her a few times, but on her temple, forehead, nose or hair never on her lips. Last year contained her only other kissing experience. Amos Diggory had kissed her with alcohol heavy on his breath. His kiss had been demanding and after it he had tried to get her into bed with him. When Lily had explained the situation to Marci and Belle they had said she should have expected it, after all neither one of them were virgins and they knew she wasn't either.
When Lily opened the door to her rooms Marci was in there, looking for something in her trunk. Her back was to Lily, so Lily walked as quietly as she could to her bed and pulled the curtains around her. She didn't want to speak with Marci or anyone else right now. She had a kiss to consider.
She reached her hand up to her lips and touched them where he had touched her not so long ago. Why had he kissed her? Did he want something? Did he think he could make her love him? He had to have an angle. There wasn't one guy who didn't have an agenda when it came to her.
"There it is!" Lily heard Marci exclaim. Then she heard footsteps. She couldn't determine where they were heading until the curtains around her bed were thrown open.
"Lily, we need to talk."
"What is it?" Lily couldn't resist asking.
"I wanted to say I'm sorry. Can I sit down?" Lily moved over to allow for more room on her bed. Marci took that as an invitation and joined her on the red comforter. "I was wrong. I know it, you know it, hell, even Belle knows it. You wouldn't have chosen James if there wasn't a good reason." Lily was silent. "I guess I'm asking if you could forgive me for being so wrong?" There, the question was out. Marci felt strangely relieved.
Still Lily didn't speak. She just opened up her arms and grabbed the other girl in a tight hug. She smiled as she sat back, more than happy to have one of her best friends back.
"Does that mean you forgive me?" Marci asked with more certainty than her previous question.
"You'd better believe it!" Lily said. "Now I have a question to ask you. Normally I would wait for a while after we made up to do this, but with the time constraints...Will you be my Maid of Honor?"
"You want me to stand up at your wedding? What about Belle? I always figured you would have her do that."
"I can't have a Maid of Honor who won't speak with me, now can I? Not to mention the fact that it would have been a tough choice between you two if you both were talking to me." Lily was so confused about James' kiss that she couldn't wait until morning to ask Marci about it. "Marci, umm, I was wondering what would you think if you were in my situation and James kissed you for the first time tonight?"
"So, he finally kissed you, did he? I was waiting for him to do that. Well, I would have to know more details than that for two reasons. One, I need to know every possible angle to understand it myself and two, I need to know every possible angle so I can make sure everyone in this entire school knows about it and can form an honest opinion." She said seriously.
"Marci Diane, don't even think about telling anyone else!" Lily said laughing. She picked up her pillow, grinned evilly, and started a pillow fight with her best friend.
Lily woke up tired in the morning. It was no surprise to her; after all she had just gone to bed an hour ago. After their pillow fight she and Marci sat on her bed, pulled her curtains, and each laid a powerful silencing charm on said curtains. They then proceeded to dissect every possible detail Lily could extract from her mind about her and James's kiss. The only conclusion they could come to was that they didn't know what it meant, only that Lily wanted it to happen again, and soon.
Lily looked around her dorm room to find that once again she was the first up. She thought maybe she should start trying to do that on purpose. It was amazing how fast she could get ready with no one around. Lily thought about her wedding in the upcoming week. 'Petunia is going to hate me forever. She'll think that I planned this so I would get married before she would.'
When Lily exited the bathroom only one other person was awake. "Marci?" Lily asked wondering who else was crazy enough to be up at this hour.
"No, um, it's Alice." The girl let out with a sob.
"Alice? What's wrong?" Lily hadn't spoken to this girl in over a year and here she was sitting down on her bed and letting her cry on her shoulder.
"It's just that, well, I turn seventeen two weeks from today, so I can start receiving proposals and one woke me up this morning. It's from Lucius Malfoy. I don't want to marry him. Lily what am I going to do?" Alice let out between sobs.
"Well, Alice if you don't want to marry him, don't. You'll get other proposals." Lily said in what she thought was a comforting voice.
"Lily, I'm not as pretty as you. There's no way I'm getting more than one proposal. I held no hope of that, I just hoped that my ugliness would put guys off of me for a while, you know." Alice was completely distraught.
"You are in no way shape or form ugly." Lily said firmly. "If you want proof that proposal you hold in your hands is it. Do you really think that Lucius Malfoy would be caught for a moment with an ugly wife? I predict you will receive at least two more proposals before I leave for the evening…I will find you and you have to tell me the truth." Lily said only partially joking.
At 4:45 Lily went looking for Alice Mcgeoch. She found her in their dorms with Lily wondering why she didn't check there first. "How many?" She asked like it was a game.
Alice gave her a weak smile and said, "One other one."
"Who is it?"
"Frank Longbottom." Alice was shaking slightly. She knew Frank, sort of. He had graduated three years before and if she remembered correctly he was very handsome.
"I'm happy you got Frank, but sad that my prediction wasn't right." Lily said.
Alice couldn't help it. Someone making fun of something so serious was so unexpected that she had to laugh. As soon as she regained her composure there was an explosion as a big owl slammed into the dorm window.
Lily got up to let the impossibly stupid owl into the room. Once its barrier was gone the owl flew over to Alice's head and dropped his letter there.
Alice opened it and exclaimed, "Another one! Kingsley Shacklebolt? Do you know him?"
Then the door opened, Marci popped inside and said, "Lily you're late. James has been waiting in the common room for you for over fifteen minutes!"
To Marci Lily said, "Tell him I'll be down in a minute, please. Oh and tell him I'm sorry to keep him waiting."
"Sure thing, Lils." Marci answered and left the two girls alone.
"I have seen Shacklebolt around, and lets just say as a husband he is not recommendable." Lily said to Alice seriously.
"Why?" Alice was always curious.
"I just know." How could she explain to Alice that when she had seen him in Hogsmeade when he was drunk he had looked at her the same way her father looked at her when he was in the same condition? If you hadn't gone through it you couldn't understand it. That was why she told no one about it. And was never going to.
"If you're sure." Alice said before wadding up the piece of paper and throwing it on top of the other proposal from Lucius. Alice hadn't liked the look in Lily's eyes as she was thinking about how much to tell her. She figured that if this guy scared Lily that much he was a very bad character.
"I'm right now, you know!" Lily exclaimed. She gave the other girl a hug. "Good luck, Alice! I've got to go now," Lily said before grabbing her muggle suitcase and slipping out of the door to meet James. Lily ran down the stairs and skidded to a stop just in front of her Fiancé.
"Took you long enough" he said gruffly, grabbing her suitcase from her hand and walking with her out of the portrait hole. "What were you doing that took so long?" he wondered aloud.
"A friend of mine needed me. She got her first proposals today. Do you know Frank Longbottom?" She asked.
"I assume he proposed to your friend?" At her nod he continued, "Yeah, he's a good guy."
"Thanks, that makes me feel better."
"You're really worried about your friend, aren't you?" James asked.
"Of course I am! She woke up crying this morning because her first proposal was from a Death Eater and she didn't think she was pretty enough to get any more. We're the oldest in our dorms, so we're the only ones who know how horrible this is." She said without thinking.
"I didn't realize how horrible this was for you." he said seriously.
"James, you know I didn't mean it that way." She said. When she saw the huge grin on his face she playfully slapped his shoulder and said, "That was evil!"
"I was hoping you'd see it that way." He smiled, opening the front doors of the school. "Are we picking up Ariel before we apparate to your house?"
"No, Severus and I think she should stay with him at the moment."
"You and Snape decided?" James asked.
"Yes." At seeing the look on his face she added, "Severus and I have always made decisions about Ariel together, I guess I forgot I had someone else to talk to about her. I'm sorry. I'll try to remember you later."
James decided to let it drop for the moment and asked, "Do your parents know about the law and our wedding yet?"
"My father thinks that we are madly in love and just can't wait to get married." She answered.
"And your mother?" James asked again.
Lily looked surprised before saying, "She died when I was six. I thought I told you."
James took a deep breath in, "No, you didn't. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. She's been dead for nearly eleven years. I should hope I'm over it now." Of course, she wasn't. She just didn't want to look weak in front of her James. 'Wait a minute, My James, where did I get that? I need to get it together. My James, honestly!'
The pair apparated to Lily's house together, as they were walking up to Lily's door she grabbed James' hand for comfort. Slightly confused, James squeezed her hand back and knocked on the door.
A tall, burly man with pale blue eyes and light brown hair answered it. He was wearing a dirty t-shirt and his pants were unbuckled and unzipped. James assumed him to be Lily's father. His assumption proved correct when the man asked him in a voice much more rough than necessary, "So, you're the one who just can't wait to marry my daughter?"
James looked at Lily before answering with a, "Yes, Sir."
Mr. Evans gave James a scathing look before turning it upon his daughter. "Does he at least have money?"
"D-Dad!" Lily stammered, her face turning a delicious shade of red.
"What, It's not proper to make sure that my daughter's future husband can support her?" He bit out at Lily. "Anyway, come inside, I guess. Jimmy, that's your name right? Your room is upstairs, first door on your left."
"Actually, Sir, my name is James." He turned to Lily. "C'mon, Lils, let's get settled in."
"Nice try, kid. Lily's room is across the hall from mine as always. Oh, and James don't try any funny business while you're here. I'm a light sleeper." John told James with venom piercing every syllable.
"Sir, we're getting married within a week!" James stated testily.
"Not if I can help it!" John answered back before turning an about face and marching into the living room.
"He doesn't like me." James said to Lily.
"Like that changes anything." Lily said truly baffled as to why he cared.
"It's just, I don't want to come between you and your family."
"Trust me, you're not. My dad and I have had a rocky relationship since I met him after he came home from America." Lily said thinking that it could have been the biggest understatement she had ever uttered.
"Why was he in America?" James asked.
"Oh, I forgot. You don't know much about muggles. Well, The Americans just got finished with a war in Vietnam. My Dad was one of the British troops assigned to help train all of the American draftees. He was there from a week after I was born until the day my mother died."
"Why was he there so long?" James asked.
"Because it was the closest to active duty he could get. Britain didn't want to take sides during the conflict, as their calling it now. Anyway, it's late. Goodnight!" She said more brightly than she felt, dragging her suitcase to her old room.
A/N-Sooo, what do you think? Tell me in your review!! (Hint, Hint)
P.S.-Sources differ as to just how involved Britain was in the Vietnam War, I'm sorry if what I put was completely off base, but I needed a reason for him to not have been around for six years, and I messed up puttin baseball in the first chapter. If he'd spent the last six years in America it would explain why he's a fan.
