Disclaimer: I own next to nothing.
Author's Note: I know I promised another chapter by the end of…two weeks ago, I think? And I'm sorry I didn't get to update, but I left before I had the chance to finish. Then when I got back, I was swamped with homework and catching up to do. Grr. But, I finally finished all that and was finally able to finish chapter ten. I'm thinking of typing up chapter 11 tonight, so maybe I'll be able to upload them both. Anyways, here's chapter 10 for now and I hope, hope, hope you like it.
Chapter 10: The Party
Lily was awoken on Sunday morning by a loud ringing sound from the basement.
"What in Merlin's name…" she groaned as she sat up in her bed, kicking the blankets off her legs in frustration. She yawned as she trudged across her room and down the hall. She proceeded down the stairs at a very quick pace and nearly flew right into a rather fat, purple man.
"Watch where you're going, Lily." Petunia snapped from somewhere behind the man's stomach. "You'll knock Vernon over."
"Not likely." She muttered, shaking her head. Lily peered up into the narrowed eyes of the man called Vernon. He seemed to swell in anger. "Who's ringing the doorbell?"
"As I can't see through doors, I don't have a clue." Petunia hissed. "Go answer it." With her bony hands against Lily's back, she shoved her towards the door.
"Get off." Lily snapped, but she undid the lock on the front door and pulled it open.
The rosy faces of Victoria, Anna and Louise beamed back at her.
Lily stared blankly up at them. "What are you doing?"
Victoria pushed her way into the house and the other girls followed her. "I said we'd be here bright and early." She said, the tone of her voice suggesting that it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Lily still gaped at them and in the silence, Victoria looked around the room until she stopped and jumped when she set eyes on Petunia and Vernon.
"Hello again, Petunia." She said brightly.
Looking disgusted, Petunia turned on her heel and, dragging Vernon behind her, set off up the stairs shouting, "Mother!!"
"Don't stand there staring, Lily." Anna laughed.
Snapping out of whatever thoughts she was absorbed in, Lily smiled back. "Sorry, I didn't think you meant this early." She shook her head.
"Oh, hello girls." Another voice joined there. Lily turned to see her mother standing at the top of the stairs.
"Hello Mrs. Evans." The three chorused, smiling.
"Morning, mum." Lily said, grinning as her mother descended the stairs.
"What would you like for breakfast this morning?" she asked.
Louise shook her head. "That's alright, Mrs. Evans. We've already eaten."
Virginia nodded. "Lily? What can I make you?"
"Don't go through any trouble, mum, I can make something later." Lily said.
But her mother wouldn't have that. "Nonsense, I'll bring up some pancakes and orange juice as soon as it's ready." And with that, she disappeared into the kitchen, stifling a yawn.
Lily followed her friends up the stairs and into her bedroom. She closed the door behind her and turned around to see them emptying their bags onto her bed.
"What are you doing?" Lily asked, watching her mattress disappear slowly under the heap of clothes, decorations, foods and things that she didn't even recognize.
"It's easier to see what we have when it's not all stuck in our bags." Anna said.
Lily walked over to the bed and cleared some of the stuff away so she could sit down. "What are these?" she asked, picking up a few boxes wrapped in shiny purple paper.
Louise snatched them away. "They're your Christmas presents. You can open them later."
Lily laughed but stopped suddenly. She had realized that Victoria was no longer standing where she had been.
Guessing where she had gone, Lily smiled and yelled, "They're not in there!"
"Damn." Came Victoria's reply from the bathroom where she had been looking for her own presents. She returned into the room. "It was worth a try." She laughed.
--
"Our room is off limits." Thomas Evans recited to the four girls who were seated on their sitting room couch.
"My room too." Petunia interjected. She stood in the hallway with her coat on, waiting for her parents.
"Your sister's room is, too." Her father smiled.
"Try to keep your friends from destroying things." Virginia said.
"And try not to be so loud that the neighbours complain."
"And –"
"Alright, alright!" Lily laughed, getting to her feet and pushing her parents out the door. "We know the rules, just get going already."
Mr. Evans gave her one last warning look before the door closed behind him and Lily breathed a heavy sigh. "Finally."
"No kidding, I though they'd never leave." Victoria said, nodding in agreement.
"So, is everything ready?" Lily asked, looking around at their sitting room.
"I think so." Anna said, wrinkling her nose. "All that's missing is the guests, and they should be here soon." She added, glancing at her watch.
Sure enough, minutes later, guests began to arrive in groups of two or three. They would ring the doorbell and Louise would take their coats and things upstairs to Lily's rooms. They would group together with their friends in Lily's sitting room and talk and laugh, while Anna and Louise emptied Lily's fridge and handed out bottles of butterbeer.
Thirty minutes after everyone had arrived, the doorbell rang again. Lily hopped up from her seat on the couch between Gregory Hopkins and Flora Christensen and dashed to the door. She pulled it open and was greeted with a loud "Happy Christmas".
"Right back at ch'ya." Lily said as Sirius pushed his way into her house.
"Happy Christmas, Lily." Remus said, smiling at her as he stepped inside after Sirius, just as Peter did the same thing.
Lily smiled back, but she couldn't help but let it falter a bit when she saw who followed him.
"Happy holidays, Lily." Claire said, smiling a very forced smile. James had his arm around her and he grinned at her.
"Merry Christmas, Claire."
They stepped inside and Lily closed the door after them, shutting the cold and now away.
"Nice house you've got here, Evans." Sirius said to her, leaning down to talk in her ear.
"Thank you." She said, laughing. "Please don't destroy it."
"Destroy your house? Me? Never!" he said, sounding offended, but Lily knew he wasn't.
"Of course not. Sirius Black couldn't destroy anything if he tried." Lily grinned sarcastically.
"You know me too well." He replied. "You okay with Claire being here?" he added suddenly, or maybe he had noticed Lily's stare wandering off to where she, James and another 7th year Gryffindor boy were sitting.
"What?" Lily said, looking up. "Of course. I wouldn't have invited her if I didn't want her here." She lied, not fooling anyone.
"Sure, Lily Billy. Whatever you say," Sirius said, with a quick laugh. "But I agree with Remus." He turned to join Remus and Peter on the other side of the room.
Lily knew what he meant and blushed. "Then you're both crazy!" she called after him.
For a while after that, Lily stood against the wall, occasionally chatting with a few other people but usually she just watched the rest of them. Some, the braver ones, were dancing to the music Anna had slipped into Lily's stereo. Others were simply sitting around, chatting and laughing and having a good time. Lily smiled as she watched them, pleased to know that they were enjoying her party.
It was then that she felt a tap on her shoulder. Lily turned to see Claire standing there with her coat on.
"Are you leaving?" Lily asked, eyeing her winter attire.
Claire nodded. "I can't stay. I'm supposed to meet my grandmother for a family dinner."
"Oh, well, have fun." Lily said. "Thanks for coming."
Claire turned to the door and Lily followed her to see her out. "Thanks for inviting me." The blonde said, smiling. "And I'm sorry for treating you so badly before."
From what Lily could tell, it was a sincere apology and she felt a sincere smile light up her face.
"It's okay. Don't worry about it." She replied.
With one last smile, Claire disappeared out into the snow and Lily watched through the window as she flung out her right hand and a great, purple bus pulled to a stop in front of her house.
Turning away from the door, Lily resumed her position against the wall for another few minutes until she felt another tap on her arm. She looked up and jumped, not even noticing that James Potter had been standing in front of her.
"How long have you been there?" she asked.
James was smiling. "Not long at all. You seemed very dazed."
Lily just shrugged, now realizing that she had been.
"Come dance with me." He said, tugging on her arm.
That woke her up a bit. "What?" she yelped, trying to get her arm back from him. "No, I don't dance."
"Sure you do, Lil. Come and dance with me."
"I'm serious, James. I don't dance." Lily seemed frantic now. She vaguely became aware of a slow Christmas song echoing throughout her house. "I can't dance."
James stopped for a minute, then laughed. "Well, then, I'll teach you."
"That's not necessary." Lily said quickly.
"Come on, Lily Billy." Lily ignored the use of her nickname. "Pleeease."
"James, really…"
But it was too late. She found herself standing amidst pairs of people dancing. Lily glanced to her left and saw Gregory and Flora swaying together, and on her right, Victoria and Louise were dancing together, giggling like fools.
"You know, a funny part about dancing is that you have to move…" James said, smiling at Lily.
"I told you, I can't dance." Lily repeated,
"And I told you that I'll teach you." James said. He drew Lily's arms around his neck and secured his own around her waist. "Now we dance."
After a moment or so of doing nothing, Lily looked up at him. "I feel like an idiot."
He laughed. "Naw, you're very good for some one who says that she can't dance."
Lily rolled her eyes. "I can't dance." She repeated.
"Now you can." James snickered.
Again, Lily rolled her eyes and peered up at him to find him staring back down at her. His eyes were a light hazel colour. She had never noticed how warm they were before and she found that she was staring again, losing her thoughts in them. She had also never noticed that there were freckles across his nose. They were very faint, but now she was close enough to see them. She was vaguely aware of his arms as they tightened around her waist, and her breath caught in her throat as she was drawn closer. She suddenly felt very warm on the outside and very cold on the inside.
She fit perfectly with him. His arms, wrapped around her, felt like they belonged there and he never wanted her to move away. James saw her staring up at him and was once again struck by the brightness of her eyes, the life in them. A tingling ran from his toes to his head to the tips of his fingers, and without realizing, he lowered his face towards hers as she angled hers up towards his. He could feel the warmness of her breath on his face and he quickly closed the space between them, catching her full lips with his.
Author's Note: So…what's going to happen now? Claire apologizes for being mean to Lily, and then Lily and James kiss. You'll just have to wait and see. Haaha.
Thanks for reading, and for the reviews that I've gotten, and for the reviews that I'm going to get, wink, wink.
With love.