If I Die Young
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing from the Harry Potter universe. This fanfiction is written purely for entertainment purposes and nothing more, though all ideas and writing are done by me and belong to me.
A/N: Hi, beauties! I'm baaaaaack! This chapter brought me great joy. Not going to lie, I teared up a bit.
Enjoy!
—Annie
XII
1978-1979
Part Two
When everything is cloudy
And the sun won't shine for me
And it seems
Like nothing's goin' right
There's a place I want to be
Just laying there beside you
—Bad English
(her curtains would look good in this house)
"I've asked Aubrey to move in with us," announces Lily's father over dinner her first night back.
Aubrey smiles sweetly as she takes Lily's plate and begins loading her plate to precise proportions of dairy-free sweet potato mash, arugula and spinach salad sprinkled with garlic roasted chickpeas and cashew slivers, and lemon mint infused quinoa.
"Figured you would," Lily says absently, reaching for her glass of fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice.
"But only if you are comfortable with it," Aubrey appeases from next to Lily, passing her the plate. "I understand how this might be an adjustment."
Lily's fork scrapes loudly over Aubrey's pink floral print china.
"I'm happy for the both of you," Lily tells them. "Really, I am."
Aubrey reaches over to pat Lily's hand affectionately, beaming.
"I'd love to get to know you better," she gushes. "Your father has told me so much about you."
Lily remains quiet as she smiles over the rim of her grapefruit juice.
"When we are finished, Lily, you and I can do the dishes together," proposes Aubrey cheerfully. "And after we're done, you can join me at my jazzercise class."
Lily looks to her father for help but he just smiles in encouragement, completely brainwashed.
"Sounds delightful?" she attempts and Aubrey clasps her hands excitedly.
"Make sure you don't eat too much, Peter," Aubrey admonishes Lily's father as he reaches for another helping of potato mash. "I've got some kale-rot and date smoothie for dessert. You wouldn't want to spoil your appetite."
Lily swallows a leafy forkful of salad and tries hard not to cringe.
(down in Jamaica, they got lots of pretty women)
"She's like a grown up version of Emmeline Vance, but without the mala beads and horoscope readings," Lily complains over a heaping helping of Butterscotch Fudge Swirl.
"Why, because she's a vegan?" snorts Dorcas, brushing back her dark dreadlocks. "Lily, come on."
The sun blinks oppressively off the neon pink sign of Florean's ice cream parlor, dances in the reflection of Dorcas's black Ray-Bans. The streets of Diagon Alley are busier than usual today, packed with shoppers enjoying the last breezy day before the next heat wave sets in.
"The woman has a ridiculous obsession with juicing," Lily says. "I swear it's unhealthy to drink vegetables every day like that."
"Just because you'd rather live off of sugar quills and pepperoni pizza doesn't mean everyone has to," Dorcas chides her with an amused smile. "Vegetables are delicious."
"You have to think that," Lily reminds her. "You're a vegetarian."
Dorcas shrugs and licks at her spoon of Cherry Cheesecake Delight.
"Not to mention she has this weird way of showing up whenever I'm about to leave and always needs to know where I'm going," Lily prattles on, stabbing her spoon into her ice cream. "Like, I enjoy her just fine. She's a nice lady and she makes my dad almost offensively happy—"
"I bet she's a beast in the sack," Dorcas inputs.
"—but she's so nosy and cleans my room and is always singing bloody showtunes—"
"What a monster," Dorcas cuts her off dramatically. "Truly, she sounds simply heinous."
Lily makes a face.
"Fine, I'll drop it," she concedes. "How was your trip to Jamaica?"
Dorcas beams, twirls a piece of bejeweled finely braided hair around her bronze-brown finger.
"So good," she sighs. "I went to the beach every day."
"Stop it, you are making me jealous," Lily whines. "Next time you decide to take off somewhere exotic, take me with you?"
Dorcas nods happily.
"I got you something while I was there," she confesses, digging in her purse. "Don't tell Marlene or Alice, though. I don't want them getting jealous that I didn't get them anything."
Lily smiles brightly as Dorcas passes her a souvenir bag. She's gotten her a dolphin themed charm bracelet and on one of the charms she's engraved their names.
Lily & Dorcas BFF.
It takes all Lily has not to cry.
(his hands are in my hair, his clothes are in my room)
James moves in with Sirius almost immediately after returning home from Hogwarts.
It's the most logical course of action to take considering the pair of them have wanted to live alone with each other since they first became friends, but it still mildly aggravates Lily that he didn't consider moving in with her first.
"I'm sorry, Lil. I didn't even know you were thinking about leaving home," James apologizes that evening.
They are upstairs in Lily's childhood bedroom, cramped together on her small mattress and enjoying Doctor Who reruns from the blaring mini-television atop Lily's wicker dresser.
It turns out that James is very fascinated with her muggle life, television and telephones in particular. So fascinated that he's even taken the trouble of installing a telephone and television at his and Sirius's flat.
Lily finds it so endearing she doesn't even scold them about sitting too close to the television screen or talking far too loudly into the telephone's receiver.
"Well, I didn't think I would want to," Lily defends, adjusting her tube sock higher up her calf. "But Aubrey is always here and it's starting to get awkward, if I'm being honest."
James removes his attention from the television as it switches to commercial break and eyes her knowingly.
"Getting in your space?" he assumes and Lily lets out a long winded sigh.
"Who in their right mind wakes up at seven in the morning to eat breakfast?" Lily grumbles. "Every single morning at seven there's a knock on my door and she's asking me to come downstairs for the breakfast she's made us."
"And of course you'd feel impolite and guilty if you didn't accept her generous offer," James says.
"Right, so I have to get out of bed at the butt crack of dawn and attempt to shovel my food down fast enough to return to bed before I'm no longer tired," Lily expresses moodily.
"But she never lets you go back to bed, does she?" James guesses, smirking at her.
"No, she doesn't. Instead, she insists we clean up the kitchen together and take morning tea in the den for girl talk before she heads off to the hospital for her morning shift. She's just so domestic that it weirds me out."
James snorts, cuddling in close to Lily and nuzzling her neck, attempts to distract her with his lips but gives up as Lily continues talking through his kiss.
"My own mother was never that way," Lily continues. "She could never quite figure out how to wash the laundry properly, was an atrocious cook, and spent most of her time outside of her clerical job sipping mimosas at the country club with the local gossips."
"So that's where you get you're housewifely talents from," James chuckles, earning a well placed whack from Lily over his head.
"I can do the laundry, thank you very much," Lily growls. "And I'm not that awful of a cook."
He shrugs with a slight smile, knowing he's agitating her and enjoying it far too much.
"Your stress baking is quite the treat," James agrees, "when you manage not to burn everything."
Lily's lips pop open in surprise and her eyes narrow into annoyed slits at James's cackle.
"You take that back," she threatens, her pillow positioned high above her head.
"So strong," James teases.
She brings the pillow down upon his head swiftly, causing his glasses to slide down to the edge of his nose.
"Prat," she snaps.
"You love me," he says in defense and she deflates, rolling her eyes.
When she doesn't immediately reply, James becomes mock-offended and in one quick movement, pins her to the mattress with one strong hand so that she can't escape, and with the other begins to tickle her ribs until she's shrieking in protest.
"You love me," he repeats pointedly and Lily gasps, tears leaking from her eyes as she fights futilely against him, laughter tearing from her lungs.
"I do," she insists with a gasp.
He ceases to tickle her, smiling cheekily down at her in his triumph. She glares at him in response, turning her cheek away from him with a small "hmph". A small chuckle grumbles low in his chest as he sinks down on top of her and begins to kiss her neck in the way she likes, tantalizingly nibbling at her ear.
"You can't stay mad at me, Evans," he whispers and she shivers underneath him.
"We'll see," she responds as she arches upward to kiss him.
There's a little cough from Lily's doorway and James practically flies off of the bed in his panic. Lily sits up, blinking at the doorway where Aubrey stands with her arms folded over her chest.
"Lily, I'm disappointed in you," Aubrey tsk-tsks. "The house rule is no boys upstairs."
James's hazel eyes widen behind his still-crooked glasses.
"Since when is that a house rule?" Lily wonders with a slight laugh. "We've never had house rules before, Aubrey. I'm allowed to have whoever I want upstairs, just ask my dad."
"Your father and I have agreed on these rules, Lily, and we ask that you abide by them if you are going to be living under our roof," Aubrey responds.
"This is stupid," Lily scoffs, not believing her ears. "My dad wouldn't agree to that. He loves James. He allowed him to stay upstairs in our guest room during Petunia's wedding week."
Aubrey cocks her head to the side and blinks in silence.
"Er—I'll just head downstairs—don't want any trouble," James mutters.
"Thank you, dear," Aubrey coos and with a pleased, saccharine smile in Lily's direction, follows James down the stairs.
James and Lily spend the rest of the evening watching the food network on the sofa with an appropriate distance between them while Aubrey needles her cross-stitch from the armchair next to them, humming sweetly in a way that makes Lily's eyelid twitch.
(i understand that there are some problems)
Lily goes shopping with Marlene in central London and after some intense peer-pressure on Marlene's side, walks out of an upscale French-themed boutique with two pairs of lace panties and matching bralette, a silky teal babydoll chemise, and a bottle of black cherry merlot perfume.
The two girls spend the entire night in Lily's bedroom, fawning over Witch Weekly's heartthrob of the month and discussing Marlene's sex life.
Around two-thirty in the morning, Lily hears the shuffling of Aubrey's bunny slippers outside of her door and motions for Marlene to quit talking.
"She's eavesdropping on us!" Marlene whispers, eyes wide and disbelieving.
Irritated, Lily swings open her door to reveal Aubrey dressed conservatively in a long sleeve cotton muumuu.
"Can I help you?"
"It's a little late to have guests over, don't you think?" Aubrey hums.
"No," Lily responds, annoyed. "She's staying the night with me."
Aubrey's tongue clicks as she shakes her head.
"I'm certain your father and I have gone over the house rules with you at least twice now, Lily," she clucks. "No guests over past midnight. Nothing good ever comes after midnight, you know."
Marlene giggles, causing Aubrey to narrow her eyes at her in suspicious distaste. She glances between the two girls, both dressed in tube socks and oversized t-shirts, and frowns.
"And you really shouldn't be dressed so immodestly," Aubrey continues. "I'm sure it makes your father uncomfortable to have two young ladies half-naked in the next room."
Lily's jaw drops, greatly offended.
"Excuse me?" Marlene bleats. "Are you for real?"
Aubrey glares.
"Lily, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask your friend to leave."
"It's almost three in the morning, Aubrey," Lily protests hotly. "You can't kick out my friend in the middle of the night."
"I'm sorry, do you want me to wake up your father?" Aubrey counters. "You can ask him about my authority role in this house yourself. He will agree with me, not you, dear. This is our home, after all."
"Oh my God," Marlene laughs incredulously. "Don't even waste your breath. If you want me gone, I'm happy to leave and not come back."
"Marl—"
"Hell no, Lily," Marlene snaps. "I'm not staying here with some tight-arse Nazi soldier woman."
Aubrey gasps at the insult. "Watch your language, young lady!"
"You aren't my mum," Marlene snaps. "Frankly, you aren't Lily's either, so get over yourself."
She angrily retrieves her things and bounds out of Lily's room, shoving roughly past Aubrey.
"Wait for me, Marly!" calls Lily.
She doesn't even bother packing a bag, instead just grabbing the purse that holds her money and wand.
"Where do you think you are going?" demands Aubrey, flustered.
Lily ignores her and follows Marlene out the front door.
(i wish you were a stranger i could disengage)
Lily returns home the following morning and finds her room a mess—drawers open, clothes shuffled around, quilt turned over.
At first, she's horrified that a Death Eater has found where she's been staying and come to kill her and her family and a sharp sort of feeling jags through her system.
Until she hears Aubrey's voice in the room across the hall.
"That girl's behavior is unacceptable, Peter," Aubrey is saying. "She has no respect for the rules or us. And the type she hangs round with. I wouldn't be surprised if she's on drugs...Just look at the stuff I found in her bedroom! What in the Lord's name is Metallica and the Sex Pistols? And what's all this nonsense about a hog's warts?"
Lily startles at this, peering over her room.
She went through my things? Lily thinks, appalled. Who the hell does she think she is?
The floor creaks under her weight as she trudges over to her bed where her boutique bag is turned over, the gift wrapping scattered all over her paisley quilt. Her bralette, panties, and chemise are missing. Just her perfume and receipt remain untouched.
"It sounds like she's back from wherever she went off to," Aubrey announces. "Let's just go ask her."
Lily crumples a piece of magenta tissue paper in her hand as her bedroom door opens without so much as a knock.
"How dare you?" Lily confronts Aubrey viciously before the blonde can even open her mouth. "What kind of person goes through someone's private space and steals their belongings?"
Peter Evans groans from next to Lily.
"Now, Lil, I'm sure there's—"
At the look on Lily's face, he makes the smart decision to shut his mouth.
"Your behavior has been very erratic lately, Lily," says Aubrey. "Is it that Marlene girl? Maybe that boy you've been seeing? Are you in some type of trouble? Maybe you have some questions and you want to try some things you aren't ready for—"
"You're not serious, are you?" Lily scoffs, turns to her father. "Are you joking with this woman, Dad? How can you let her treat me like this?"
Lily's dad frowns. "Lily, don't be rude."
"I'm being rude? I'm not the one that insulted my best friend last night and kicked her out! I'm not the one that made my boyfriend feel like he wasn't trusted or welcome in our house! I'm not the crazy person that enters without knocking and eavesdrops outside closed doors and ransacks my room!"
"Let's just calm down here—" Lily's dad starts, tugging at his tie.
"I will not calm down!" cries Lily and once again turns to Aubrey. "Where are the things I bought?"
Aubrey blinks, her salmon mouth puckering.
"I threw them away."
"What?" Lily gasps. "I spent fifty-two pounds on that set!"
"It's inappropriate," Aubrey explains. "A young unmarried lady like yourself shouldn't be spending her money on scandalous lingerie anyway."
"You aren't married but you expect me to just be fine with you moving into my old mother's bedroom and having sex with my father?" shouts Lily. "It's not okay for a young unmarried woman to go out and buy something that makes her feel sexy and confident but it's okay for an old woman to be unmarried, living with a man who can't even manage to sign his divorce papers after years of separation from his wife?"
At this, Lily's father sighs.
"Lily, can we please just—I have to be at work and I'm already running late—can you just—?"
Lily simmers.
"Then leave," she snarls. "Aubrey and I are big girls, I'm sure we can continue this without you."
Peter Evans sighs again and shakes his head.
"Lil—"
"It's my money, Dad," growls Lily. "She doesn't have the right!"
"We have certain rules that we follow in this household now, Lily," clips Aubrey matter-of-factly. "I would expect you to follow them and act appropriately."
"Fuck your rules," Lily spits.
"Lily Alloria Evans!" hollers her father in surprise. "You apologize right now."
"No," she bites. "Not until she apologizes first and frankly, you apologize. I just got home, Dad, and all your time is spent with Aubrey now or at work. I haven't had any time with just you and now you won't even stick up for me. This household is a nightmare, just like it was when Mum was around. Maybe even worse."
It's a low blow and Lily knows it, but she can't help it.
"Lily, I'm sorry that you are upset but things have changed and you need to accept that otherwise none of us will be happy," Aubrey says. "If you can't adhere with the new rules, then perhaps it's best—"
"Are you for real? You're kicking me out now, too?" Lily scoffs and turns to her father, searching his tired eyes. "Are you really going to let her do that?"
"I think we should just take a beat, think things over, cool off, and have a family meeting later tonight to get everything off of our chests," her father suggests, glancing at his watch. "I've really got to be going—"
"Yeah, so have I," says Lily coldly. "Don't worry about making time for a stupid family meeting. We aren't a family, she's not my mother, and I'll be gone by the end of the week."
"Lily—"
But she's already out the door.
(the person that you have potential to be )
Lily crashes with Alice's family in Nottingham, knowing that Alice's quirky and calm ways can soothe Lily's raging desire to rip off Aubrey's head.
"I think it would be a good idea for you to move out, though," Alice advises.
Alice's little sister, Mary, is combing Lily's long red hair into a braid while Lily grumbles into her cereal bowl.
"I don't have enough money," Lily mopes. "I've only had two interviews with open columnist positions, with The Practical Potioneer and Transfiguration Today, and they practically laughed in my face."
"It's because you don't have any experience," Alice notifies her. "You should be looking for an entry level position."
Lily makes a face as Mary tugs too hard on her hair and Alice laughs.
"I've seen quite a few ads for paid internships," Alice informs her, passing her the Daily Prophet. "The Prophet might be your best option, really. As far as I've heard, most everyone that completes an internship with the Prophet gets an offer. They have plenty of departments."
"I did not work my arse off in school just to do coffee runs and fact checks for a major newspaper, Alice. I want to be doing something impactful."
"Your pride does not become you," Alice snickers. "Just give it a shot, Lily. It might not be as much money as you first hoped but it'll be enough to get you out of your house and put your foot in the door. Let's be truthful, if you want to be a successful journalist, an internship with the Prophet is the way to go."
With defeat, Lily spreads the Prophet out in front of her.
(ill-housed and ill-advised )
Lily moves out of her childhood home quicker than her father expects her to.
She's certain that he thinks she's bluffing for quite some time, until the morning Dorcas and James arrive to help move her out.
Thankfully, Aubrey has the morning shift and isn't there to ruin the touching moment she shares with her father as he weeps and holds her close, apologizes for how things have gone down since she's returned from Hogwarts.
He makes her promise to visit, have dinner with them from time to time, and ring him at least once a week.
Dorcas and Lily pack themselves into a cheap and dingy flat in poverty-stricken Whitechapel, London. The sooty city—made famous from the slew of prostitute murders by the hand of Jack the Ripper in the late 1800's—is jam-packed with dirty butcher shops, foul smelling slaughterhouses, and breweries and is quite exciting in a deeply unnerving, dangerously urban type of way.
They purchase their flat while it is caked with mold, has an infestation of cockroaches, and despite that it is positioned directly next to a rickety railway whose trains like to blare outside her window at midnight every evening. But to Dorcas, none of this matters—the mold can be vanished easily and the locks can be replaced, the plumbing can be fixed and the vermin can easily be rid of—because Whitechapel is known for its prominent and growing art community and gives her the chance to open her own art studio.
"I don't know if I like the idea of you two living here," James confesses when he's finished helping Lily unpack her small bedroom. "Dorcas, if you don't have some bloody curtains for the den and your bedroom by tomorrow, I will flay you alive and go get them myself."
He pulls her curtains closed with a flourish after discovering that the overweight and balding man across the street owns a pair of binoculars and is far too pleased with his new female distractions.
"I mean, this place is pretty sketchy, Lil," James continues worriedly, crushing a cockroach in disgust and staring at it with immense displeasure as it continues to twitch.
"We're perfectly safe here, James," Lily assures him. "We've set up protective spells and we've got our wands and a working phone and fireplace. You can Floo or ring whenever you please and make sure we're both still breathing."
"Jack the Ripper is long dead by now, you know," adds Dorcas from the other room.
James rolls his eyes and then becomes very serious.
"It could be dangerous for two pretty girls like yourselves, though," James frets, "especially with Dorcas being black. Racial murders are rampant in these parts..."
"I'll be fine, James!" calls Dorcas from the den. "Honestly, Lily, he stresses more than you do."
"Okay, scratch my worry over Dorcas being murdered," James yells teasingly, "my biggest concern is how awfully thin these bloody walls are."
(she's a deadly man, she could really rip your world apart)
Lily manages to snag a paid internship with the Daily Prophet.
She works twenty-five hours a week out of the main headquarters in Diagon Alley in a small corner office with five other interns and it's exactly as she predicted—multiple coffee runs, hours of endless fact checking, sorting manuscripts, and assisting jumbled and fast paced journalists and flustered, no nonsense editors with their day to day activities.
But Lily doesn't mind much that she's practically invisible to anyone with significance in the department or that she drowns daily in an unrealistic heap of duties others are simply too busy to accomplish themselves, because Lily Evans is made for this.
She's cutthroat and she's witty and she's passionate.
She's confident her summer program will go by quickly and easily.
Until Mary MacDonald is hired on as a fellow intern and is given the desk right next to Lily's.
(working hard to get my fill)
"So, Lily Flower, how's your internship?" asks Sirius upon her arrival to their flat.
Lily, who has just gotten off work, is in a foul mood.
"She's a monster," Lily hisses, closing the door behind her and gesturing to the large coffee stain on her white blouse. "I've tried everything and it still won't come out, no matter how many times I charm it."
"Oh, bad luck. That's not going to come out easy," clucks Sirius in sympathy.
"I swear, it's like she's trying to sabotage any chance I have at becoming a full-time employee," Lily complains.
James beckons her from the couch, eases her into his arms, and kisses her forehead comfortingly. Her body immediately begins to relax.
"Who?" questions Sirius.
"Mary MacDonald," grates Lily.
"Also known as She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named-In-Front-Of-Lily," James adds.
"Again, who?" asks Sirius.
Lily puffs out a breath and James laughs.
"You know Mary MacDonald," he tells Sirius. "Mousy brunette Gryffindor, always obsessing over you?"
"Not ringing a bell," Sirius says, shrugging and heading into the kitchen.
"You snogged her in the boathouse, Padfoot," James reminds him.
"I've snogged loads of females in the boathouse, Prongs," counters Sirius. "You really expect me to remember all of their names?"
There's a blare of static and a strange warble of a song from the nearby radio that cuts off James's retort.
"He can't stop listening to this bloody station," mutters James irritably, reaching to fumble with the radio.
"Don't you dare touch my radio!" shouts Sirius from the kitchen.
James releases a frustrated sigh, props his feet up on the coffee table, and folds his arms across his chest like a petulant child. Lily brushes her fingers over his hair and attempts not to giggle.
"Really, must it always be on the same bloody—"
"—no respect for other people's things—"
"—honestly, it's getting really old, Padfoot—"
"—not my fault you have rotten taste—"
"—bloody Celestina Warbeck—"
"—captivating news segments—"
"—and since when do you care about the news—"
Lily's ears perk as a familiar voice begins talking from the radio's small speakers. She shoots up immediately and lurches toward the radio, fumbling with the volume.
"Oh my—that's Marlene!" she gasps, turning the volume up a notch more.
James sneers at her in irritation.
"Mind the volume, would you?" he swipes.
"Shut it, whiney," she commands, flapping her arms at him. "I can't believe it. Why didn't Marlene tell me she got the job at the Wizarding Wireless Network? She's been gunning for it ever since we left Hogwarts!"
Sirius joins them on the couch, stretching his feet out on the table next to James's and perching his plate in his lap.
"Dunno why, honestly. She's been on there for nearly a month now," Sirius tells her, taking an unattractive bite out of his homemade burrito.
Lily narrows her eyes, finally returning her attention to the two boys nearest her.
"Get your dirty feet off of that coffee table!" she snaps. "Both of you have the most atrocious manners."
The two boys exchange looks, crack a grin.
"Yes, Mummy," they chorus.
She whacks them both with a rolled up evening edition of the Daily Prophet.
(glory, from the pretty boy front man)
"What do you mean you were attacked?"
Everyone at the Order meeting freezes and turns to stare at Sirius and James. They are seated at a long table in one of the private rooms in the Three Broomsticks that usually played host to private parties or events, two hours after Rosmerta has closed up shop and allowed them in.
"Well, you see, we took Sirius's motorcycle out for a spin," begins James hesitantly.
"More like a fly actually," Sirius corrects and then backpedals at Lily's glare. "Right, not important information. So, we took my motorcycle—"
"Get to the bloody point!" she screeches, trying hard to ignore the ferocious whisking of her heartbeat.
"Right, so, we were spotted by some Death Eaters, managed to give them the slip, had a pretty hilarious conversation with these muggle cops that cornered us," Sirius explains and he and James chuckle at the memory.
"I'm so glad you two find this so amusing," Marlene snaps. "What's more funny to you, the part where two muggle police officers saw you flying off into the bloody sunset on your flying bike or the part where you and the muggles were put in danger of Death Eaters."
"Three of them," points out Sirius proudly. "Not even a scratch."
James, however, is looking right at Lily when he responds, "It's not funny at all, actually."
Sirius rolls his eyes at Lily. Remus places a steadying hand on her thigh from under the table.
"Come on, Lily. We're in good health and good spirits," Sirius says. "We fended off three Death Eaters and might have a trail to one of their hide-outs—"
"This is still funny to you, isn't it?" Lily snaps.
"Well, yeah, a bit," Sirius responds bluntly, leaning back on the back legs of his chair, arms spread out behind his head leisurely.
"James could have died. Your stupid foolishness could have gotten both of you killed!" she continues hotly. "Do you take anything serious?"
"Lil—" starts James.
"Well, that is my name, sweetheart," points of Sirius with a cheeky grin.
Something snaps inside of Lily.
"Sirius, mate, I don't—" James starts again.
Without warning, Lily flicks her wand underneath the table toward Sirius's legs. He flails suddenly, his cheeky grin wiping fast from his face, and topples over backward onto the carpet.
Several people, including Remus and Peter, erupt into loud laughter as Sirius flops around on the floor like a fish out of water.
"Now, that's funny," Lily snarls and stalks from the room.
(would you light my candle?)
Dorcas accepts an offer to inspect a temperamental painting in the home of a wealthy heiress in Istanbul and leaves Lily alone for the weekend in their faucet-leaking, creaking, too-warm flat.
"The life of an art historian," Dorcas sighs dramatically as she kisses Lily's cheek goodbye. "Please don't murder Mary MacDonald while I'm gone. I would hate to visit you in Azkaban."
"Safe travels, you lucky cow," Lily snarks, waving her friend off.
Lily tries to survive the night alone in their flat.
She really does.
But there's a car alarm going off every five minutes and the couple next door is screaming at each other again and two cats are whining sickly in the alley outside her window and she's certain she keeps hearing her doorknob rattle.
She's also positive she overhears the man upstairs plotting his drug dealer's murder.
When James arrives by Floo, he finds Lily locked inside her bedroom, huddled in the corner with her blanket and her wand.
"I brought peace offerings," he tells her once he coaxes her from her bedroom and into the cramped den.
She settles on the chintz couch her mother lent them after she moved.
"Pepperoni pizza," James says, sliding the box toward her. "And a pint of Butterscotch Fudge Swirl is in the icebox once you're done."
Lily's frown breaks a little.
"Thanks for coming over," she mutters, taking a slice.
"Still angry with me?" he hedges, sitting down next to her.
She nods.
"I'm sorry, Lil," he apologizes for the third time. "He just really wanted to go for a ride."
"And if Sirius jumped off of a bridge, would you—You know what? Don't answer that."
James smirks, jabs her playfully in the ribs.
"Come on, Lily," he pleads. "Next time I promise to be more careful. Please don't be mad."
She exhales and nods.
"Fine, but only because you brought me goodies," she relents.
"Now who's the prat?" he snorts.
She pecks him on the cheek, flips on the TV, passes him the box of pizza, and they make-out late into the night, all the while pretending they can't hear the homosexual couple beneath them having agonizingly loud revenge sex.
(i live for the time alone with you)
"I need some alone time with you," Lily admits the following week over the blare of Sirius's radio. "I'm tired of sharing our space with your mates or mine."
James runs a hand through his hair in thought.
"I was actually thinking the same thing," he confesses with a secret smile.
Lily wriggles in his arms to better stare at his face.
"What's that expression?" she wonders suspiciously.
"Nothing," James lies.
Lily regards him knowingly, waits patiently, raises an eyebrow.
"Merlin, nothing gets past you, does it? You are so nosy," he concedes. "I had this whole romantic weekend planned. I was going to surprise you."
"Really?" Lily gushes. "Where are we going?"
"Nope, you are not getting the rest out of me," James says. "You will be surprised, damn it. Mark my words."
Lily giggles into his chest.
"Get a room, will you?" Sirius grumbles from beside them, adjusting his skinny black tie. "I've got two hours till I have to be at my interview at the pub across the street and you lot are driving me mad."
"Leave for a bit then, yeah?" James counters. "You're driving me mad."
Sirius belches loudly in response.
(party crasher, party snatcher)
Marlene invites Lily, Alice, and Dorcas over to her place in Hogsmeade for a girl's night and James insists she go relax with her friends, that he will pick her up the next morning for their trip.
"Where's he taking you?" inquires Dorcas.
"No clue," responds Lily. "He wants to keep it a surprise."
"How romantic," Alice sighs wistfully.
"What are you sighing on about? Your life is the epitome of romantic getaways," Marlene gripes. "Frank is, like, the most romantic person I've ever met."
Lily clears her throat, doesn't mention that Frank had never been that romantic with her.
"Have you two had sex yet?" Marlene asks.
Alice whacks her.
"Stop asking me that," Alice says. "Relationships aren't all about sex, Marlene."
At this, Marlene laughs loudly.
"Virgins," she sighs, shaking her head at Dorcas.
Dorcas just rolls her eyes.
"If they want to wait, that's up to them," Dorcas reminds Marlene.
"Speaking of sex," Marlene says abruptly, snapping her fingers. "I got you something, princess."
Lily scrunches up her face.
"Um, what?"
Dorcas and Alice shrug in response, watch as Marlene saunters out of the cozy den. She returns from her bedroom with a familiar looking magenta bag and tosses it at Lily. Lily dives into her gift, finds her two lace panties, her matching bralette, and her teal silk babydoll gown.
"H—How—did you—?" Lily stammers.
Marlene winks at her.
"Aubrey didn't end up tossing them," Marlene shares. "I snuck back in after you left for Alice's. I mean, come on, you paid fifty two pounds for that shit. There was no way in hell I was letting brand new, expensive French imported lingerie get neglected like that."
Dorcas snorts into her pinot noir.
"I was all prepared to go dumpster diving for you, Lily," Marlene admits. "Luckily, I didn't have to. Want to know where I found them?"
All three girls nod.
"That bitch kept those for herself!" Marlene exclaims. "I went to check the bathroom waste basket and found them in an open suitcase. Apparently, she and your dad were planning a big trip—"
"Yeah, they were going to Dublin for the weekend," Lily recalls.
"Well, that woman stole your underwear to seduce your father," laughs Marlene and Lily's nose crinkles up. "I simply could not allow such a disaster to occur."
"Hear, hear," agrees Dorcas. "Bloody good show, Marly."
"Thanks, love," Lily says, hugging Marlene close. "But why are you giving them to me now? Not weeks ago when you stole them from Aubrey?"
Marlene gives her a cheeky grin.
"I've been saving them for a special occasion," confides Marlene with a conspiratorial wink.
Lily glances between her friends in confusion.
"I don't get it," she finally says. "What's the special occasion?"
"You'll find out soon enough," Marlene hints, gives another wink, and pours them more wine. "Now, who the hell wants to crash Sirius's first night as a bartender?"
(i want to lay you down on a bed of roses)
"Okay, open your eyes."
The room is beautiful peach and cream like a French manicure—fleur-de-lis wallpaper, gossamer white bedding, and thick velvet drapes that cover a grand wooden balcony overlooking an oceanic meadow of wildflowers and tall aspen trees.
"James, it's beautiful," she gasps. "Where are we?"
"It's just a small bed and breakfast in the countryside," James informs as he sets their bag down on the large mattress. "My parent's vacation here a lot."
"I can see why," Lily whispers happily. "When you said romantic getaway, I didn't expect anything like this."
"Doubting my charms already, are we?" he teases, snaking his arms around her waist and twirling her around.
She squeals as he drops her on the bed.
There's a light knock on the door and James shoots Lily another secret smile and heads to the door.
"Another surprise?" Lily calls.
James returns with an antique silver tray. On it is a plate of chocolate covered strawberries and a tall bottle of champagne.
"You really know how to treat a lady, don't you?" Lily says in her shock, taking the offered glass he passes her.
She downs the small glass in one pass, earning a chuckle from James.
"Here, take a bite," he instructs, feeding her a strawberry. The chocolate cracks and dribbles messily down her chin and they both laugh. "Well, that was messier than I thought it would be."
He leans forward to kiss her and it's like kissing heaven—sharp bubbles of chilled champagne and melted wisps of chocolate syrup and tangy bright notes of strawberries.
"I love you, Lily Evans," he whispers onto her lips.
Lily's heart stammers and she thinks about the lingerie Marlene insisted she pack in her getaway bag. Did Marlene know what James had planned? Were they finally going to make love?
"You're shaking," Lily notices, pulling away. "Are you okay?"
James nods, draws in a deep breath.
"Just a bit nervous I suppose," he admits with a crooked smile. "Never done this before."
Lily cocks her head to the side, trying to still her racing heart.
"Done what?" she wonders.
Her question is soon answered as James pulls her close, reaches into his back pocket, and produces a fat velvet box.
Lily breathes out shallowly as James pops open the box with a loud snap to reveal a vintage looking ring—rose petal gold with an oval cut diamond surrounded in an elegant halo of tinier diamonds.
"Alright, Evans?" he asks quietly, glancing up at her hopefully through a curtain of curly dark lashes.
Her breath catches in her throat.
And it's too fast, too soon, she isn't expecting this, but of course this is what she wants, and of course she wants to say yes, she can't imagine marrying anyone else, and her lungs aren't working, and oh God, she still hasn't said anything—
"Alright, Potter," she answers finally.
With a triumphant beam, James slides the ring onto her left finger.
End of XII: 1978-1979
Part Two
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