The first thing Lily heard when she awoke the following morning was an urgent, whispered conversation. As soon as her eyes opened, two bodies collided with her. "Oh my god, we're so sorry. Is there anything we can do?" Tina questioned.
"It'd be nice if you stopped suffocating me."
"Sorry." The two slackened their grip. Julie continued to talk. "I'm sorry we didn't come yesterday, but Dumbledore told us not to. He said we should leave you alone for awhile. How are you doing?"
"Better. I'm just going to take this one day at a time.
"That's always the best way. Are you hungry? We can bring you breakfast."
"No, thank you. I want to go down to the Great Hall. I can't avoid it forever."
"You sure?"
"Positive."
When James reached the Common Room that morning, the other three Marauders were waiting for him. Sirius stood up and asked, "You okay, Prongs?"
"I'm getting there."
"Anything you need?"
"How about breakfast? I'm starving."
"I just saw Lily, Tina, and Julie go through here. We could join them."
"Sounds good."
The next few days were a blur for Lily and James. Neither remembered much about the funerals. All Lily could recall was crying on James's shoulder while he stared placidly ahead, refusing to yield to his grief. Later, however, when he and Lily were alone, he cried openly until both of them were soaked with tears. As the days went by, the crying spells slowly became shorter until they only lasted for a few seconds. Both had each other, and that thought was all that kept them going sometimes. Slowly but surely, they adjusted to their new life.
Lily sat in the Common Room writing a letter two weeks later. After her parents' deaths, Petunia refused to talk to Lily despite the many attempts she had made. The letter she was working on was number five. The first four had been sent back unopened, and Lily feared this one would fare the same. Still, she found it hard to give up the attempt, and writing kept her mind occupied. Since James was at Quidditch practice, she felt more alone than ever. She considered going to see Tina and Julie, but Tina had finally scored a date with Gregory, and Julie was pursuing her most recent love interest.
Lily sealed the letter and gave it to Madden who clamped it in his beak and ruffled his feathers importantly. After receiving a quick pat, he flew off on what Lily knew would turn out to be another fruitless mission.
With nothing else to do, Lily exited the common room to wander the corridors. It felt odd not to have James at her side, laughing and joking. She wanted to feel the warmth of his hand over hers and the strength of his arms as he pulled her into a shadowy corner (an occurrence which happened quite often on their nightly rounds—so often that Lily was surprised they had not yet been caught). Lily's wanderings brought her to the front door, and she decided to go see James. Quidditch practice was nearly over, and she hoped they could spend a few minutes alone together before they had to make their rounds.
As Lily began to near the Quidditch pitch, her pace increased. She had not realized before how much she wanted to see James, but that thought now consumed her min. The sound of a twig snapping behind her caused her to stop suddenly. Someone was behind her. Cautiously, she turned her head and glanced around. It was too dark to see anything but shadows, even with the feeble beam of light from Lily's wand. Slowly, she approached the spot from which the sound originated, encasing herself in a shield charm just in case. However, Lily saw nothing as she drew closer and discovered that the bushes did not shield a wizard. Despite these findings, Lily could not shake the feeling that somebody was behind her, and she kept herself shielded until she reached the Quidditch pitch.
As expected, the players were flying toward the locker room as Lily approached. James immediately caught sight of her and flew to her. "I didn't expect to see you out here," he commented, kissing her lightly.
"Well, I had nothing to do inside."
"Let me go take a quick shower, and then we can find some way to entertain ourselves. Sound good?" Lily nodded slowly, and James noticed her hesitation. "Something wrong?" he inquired.
"It's nothing. I just thought I heard something behind me before."
"What kind of something?"
"A twig snapping."
"Where was this?" James asked, his shower forgotten.
"Near the Forbidden Forest. But I already checked. No one was there. Maybe it was just an animal."
"Maybe." James did not look convinced. "Why don't you and go back to the dormitory? I can take a shower there, and we can go on rounds after that."
"Okay." As much as Lily hated to admit it, she was scared. She knew the snapping twig was not caused by a wild animal; someone had been following her. She felt much safer with James by her side. Slowly, they ambled back toward the castle. James's hand gripped Lily's tightly, and his eyes darted back and forth, searching for danger.
Luckily, they reached the castle without any unpleasant encounters, and Lily was soon sitting in a comfortable chair in the Head Common Room listening to the shower running. She had beun to doze lightly when the shower cut off. Lily's eyes snapped open, and she stood to stretch. James soon emerged, his hair still damp and slightly messier than normal. "Ready?"" he questioned, extending his hand.
"Of course." They began their rounds in silence, both avoiding the topic which had brought them so many tears over the past few days. James's arm stole around her waist, and she drew closer to him. As they walked, his hand slowly inched lower on her body, and Lily enjoyed the sensation that simple action created. Her greif disappeared for a brief moment, and she felt truly happy for the first time in days. James gave her a mischievous smile before guiding her into the classroom right next to them. Once inside, he pushed her gently against the wall and began kissing her, first on the lips and then moving down to her neck. "We shouldn't be in here," she managed to say, gasping slightly as his tongue touched a particularly sensitive spot. "We need to be doing our rounds. Besides, this is the Transfiguration classroom. Anyone could walk in."
"You need to relax," James told her. "Life's not fun without a little risk." As soon as he finished his argument, he continued to do what he was doing before. Further objections died on Lily's lips as she slowly sank to the floor. James had already started to unbutton his robes and had soon discarded them. With his help, Lily's also soon came off. "I love you," he whispered as he rolled on top of her, relishing the emotions released as they came closer together.
When the two left the room thirty minutes later, both were in a considerably better frame of mind. Lily was smiling for the first time in days. "I can't believe we just had sex in McGonagall's classroom," she said breathlessly.
"I told you you'd enjoy it. That's why you need me. I bring excitement to your boring life."
"I'd have to agree with the bringing excitement part.
"How about we make a game out of this? We each choose five places in the school to have sex. But these have to be places where we could get in serious trouble if we were caught."
"I don't know. . ."
"Oh, come off it, it'll be fun. We'll add a little danger to our lives."
"Good. We start tomorrow."
James woke up before dawn the next morning and was too restless to go back to sleep. He climbed out of bed and started down for breakfast. Only two other people sat in the Great Hall when he entered. One was a small, scrawny Ravenclaw he did not know. The other was a Gryffindor boy who he immediately recognized. "Hullo, Kyle," he greeted, talking a seat next to the boy.
"I was sorry to hear about your parents," Kyle commented. Her certainly had a knack for jumping right to the point. "Are you ready to help me now?"
"Yeah. Last Quidditch game is this Saturday. After that, we can start meeting Tuesdays and Wednesdays after the last class."
"Are you going to teach me how to defeat You-Know-Who?"
"I'll do the best I can."
"Then I know we'll win." A smile suddenly cracked his previously impenetrable façade. "How can we not with James Potter on our side?" With that, he rose and left, leaving James once more, wondering if he had imagined the entire encounter.
James did not tell Lily about the meetings he had scheduled with Kyle. It was not in her nature to provoke violence, and he knew she would not understand his reasons for doing so. However, he felt a desire to punish the man who had destroyed both his life and the life of the woman he loved. It was in his nature to take revenge.
"Let's see your list," James said when he met Lily that night. She offered it to him, and he glanced over it briefly. "Not bad. There may be some mischief in you yet, Evans." He smiled.
"James, I still don't think we should do this."
"You'll enjoy it, trust me. First stop, Great Hall."
Lily did enjoy the experience. She always melted under James's touch. She lost herself to her emotions and lost all sense of caution. When the two finally emerged, both were breathing heavily. James's robes were on backwards, and Lily's hair was as messy as his. "How does June 6 sound?" she inquired.
"June 6?"
"For our wedding."
"It sounds wonderful. Do you need me to help plan or anything"
"No, I think I'll recruit Tina and Julie for that."
"That's good because I really have no idea how to plan a wedding and no desire to learn. All I care about is who will be standing next to me."
"I'll see what I can do." James laughed and pulled her close.
On Friday, Lily sat in the Gryffindor common room with Tina and Julie, sifting through hundreds of wizard wedding catalogs. James had a last-minute Quidditch practice to prepare for his game the following day, giving Lily some time to herself. "What about singing, dancing centerpieces for the tables?" Tina asked.
"I've already told you guys, I want a simple wedding."
"Oh, honestly, Lily, James has practically given you a blank check for expenses. You can at least go a little crazy!" Julie exclaimed.
"I'd rather save the money for after the wedding. Besides, I've never liked anything too elaborate."
"Okay, I guess you are the one getting married," Julie conceded. "But you could at least think about the live fairy lights."
James sat in the locker room with his team the following day. He did not give his usual pep talk, for his mind was filled with too many other thoughts. Besides, he knew his team would do fine. They had trained well and all odds were in their favor. James looked around at his teammates before they left the locker room. "You guys know what to do," he told them. "Let's wind this game." The team cheered loudly and filed out, jumping gleefully in the air as they made their way toward Madame Greenbottom. Remus's commentary soon boomed out over the field. "And Gryffindor takes possession of the Quaff—it's Potter to Black and back to Potter who goes streaking toward the goal. And. . ." A loud chime reverberated around the field. "Gryffindor scores! This may be a short game, folks." James smiled to himself as he caught the Quaffle yet again. The large red ball seemed to fit perfectly in his hands. It felt natural to carry it under one arm as he soared toward the goal at breakneck speeds. He had become accustomed to the weight of the Quaffle and the feeling of it pressing against his arm. Quidditch came naturally to him; his mind had grown so numb after years of practice that he could play mechanically and focus his thoughts on other things. At the moment, his thoughts focused mainly on the wedding. He knew without a doubt that he wanted to marry Lily; in fact, he had fantasized about a similar situation since his first year. Now that it was all actually happening, it felt unreal. James knew that he and Lily were meant for each other, and nothing could stop them from joining together forever in holy matrimony. At least, James adamantly believed nothing could stop them.
James knew as soon as he threw the Quaffle that it was going in the hoop. The crowd cheered as it soared through the rightmost hoop, undaunted by the Keeper's outstretched hands. With difficulty, James held back his urge to show off, opting instead to soar around the goalpost and return to the game. A couple more goals by Sirius and Jen brought the score to 40-0, Gryffindor. When Hufflepuff next received the ball, a well-aimed Bludger knocked it out of the Chaser's hands and into James's waiting arms. Smiling, he arried it triumphantly to the goal, scoring another ten points for his team.
Thirty minutes later, the gap between the scores had increased; Hufflepuff trailed 40 to 190. Another goal by Sirius brought Gryffindor's score to an even 200. As James congratulated his friend, Remus announced, "It seems Spinnet and Gregory have spotted something; they are both hurtling toward the ground. Spinnet pulls ahead, but Gregory is still close on his heels. Now, Gregory has caught up; he and Spinnet are neck and neck. They reach out and. . . I don't believe it. Gregory has caught the Snitch! Gryffindor wins 200 to 190, but Hufflepuff gets the Snitch. I don't believe anyone was expecting that one. Now, I think we all know who gets the Quidditch Cup this year."
James's heard Madame Greenbottom's whistle blow, and he followed his team solemnly to the field. As soon as they landed, however, all vestiges of dignity disappeared. The team began to cheer loudly along with the rest of Gryffindor who poured out of the stands. Without warning, the crowd lifted James onto their shoulders and carried him to Madame Greenbottom who presented him with the Quidditch Cup. He held it high above his head, causing a cheer to erupt from the crowd, before passing it to Sirius and climbing down. A few girls flooded around him to congratulate him, but he had eyes only for Lily. Heedless of the crowd surrounding them, he bent down and kissed her. As their lips touched, he realized that happiness still existed despite all the sorrows which had plagued him lately.
Lily blushed as James kissed her, acutely aware of all the eyes focused on her. Most of the girls shot jealous looks her way and the boys wolf-whispered. Soon, Lily had lost herself completely in the kiss, enjoying the sensations James's touch always created in her. His tongue moved eagerly around her mouth, and she pushed back on it with her own. As James's hands dropped below her waist, she pulled away to avoid going too far in public. After all, she still had an image to maintain. James's arm encircled her waist as the crowd swept them into the castle, still cheering loudly. Someone began a chorus of their House song, a song which was soon taken up by the enthusiastic crowd. Lily heard Sirius's voice above the rest and smiled when the crowd lifted him, now clutching the Quidditch cup, onto their shoulders. James laughed before tightening his arm around her waist, bringing her ear close to his mouth. "Let's go somewhere alone for a bit," he whispered. "We can join the party later."
"You're the team captain. I think people will notice if you're gone."
"We'll be there eventually. And if they do notice, who cares?" James steered her out of the crowd. With the knowledge of every nook and cranny in the entire school, it took James less than five minutes to find a small broom closet. He led Lily in and closed the door behind him, locking it with a simple charm. "Hello, beautiful," he said, taking her in his arms. As always, she melted with his touch and eagerly returned his kiss. His hands slid up, easily removing her shirt and tossing it to the side. At the same time, his lips moved down, and he nibbled her neck before moving to her shoulder. For a few seconds, he fumbled with the clasp to her bra before removing it. Lily massaged the toned muscles of his chest, enjoying the feel of his skin beneath her fingers. Slowly, she raised his Quidditch robes over his head, and they were also discarded. Jams pushed back against her, but she moved only a few inches before her back pressed against the wall. The broom cupboard was smaller than she thought, but this did not seem to stop James who merely moved his lips further down her body. She moaned softly and reached down to unbutton his pants. He helped her, quickly stepping out of them. The passion aroused in the two was now so great that it seemed they could not undress fast enough. James reached down to help her out of her pants when the door opened suddenly.
Lily scrambled for her clothes, praying that the interrupter was not a teacher. If so, she could lose her Head Girl badge or even be expelled from school. Her reputation would certainly be ruined. She glanced over James's shoulder and saw, to her relief, it was her two best friends standing in the doorway, their mouths hanging open. "We came to look for you since we didn't see you at the party. I guess maybe we should have knocked," Tina explained.
"That would have been nice," James told them. He still wore nothing but his boxers, and Lily noticed Tina and Julie's appreciative glances at his frame. By this time, she had located her bra and shirt and slipped into them.
"Right. Well, we'll see you guys later." Tina and Julie quickly turned and left, and James turned back to Lily.
"Where were we?" he asked, leaning in toward her.
"James, let's just go to the party," she said, pushing him away.
"If you want. I'd appreciate a rain check though."
"Of course."
When James and Lily walked into the Gryffindor common room, a cheer erupted form the crowd. James smiled as guys patted him on the back and girls hugged him (Lily happily noted that he pulled out of these embraces rather quickly). Sirius had once again procured copious quantities of Firewhiskey. James accepted one but drank only a few sips at Lily's insistence. Of course, Sirius teased James about the short leash Lily kept him on, yet James simply smiled and pulled Lily onto his lap. She nestled comfortably in his arms, and Sirius soon left the two alone, claiming that they sickened him. "James," Lily said after a few seconds of silence.
"Yes, love?" He absent-mindedly traced the fingers of her hand, causing a pleasant tickling sensation to cascade through Lily's body.
"Have you ever, you know. . . been with another girl?"
James stopped tickling her fingers. "Of course not!" he said vehemently. "I'm not one to sleep around. I thought you would realize that."
"I did, I guess. I just had to be sure. I mean, why haven't you been with other girls? You've certainly had plenty of opportunities."
"I've been waiting for the right person, Lils."
"Good." Lily snuggled closer to him, smiling as a couple other girls glanced her way in disgust. She enjoyed knowing that she had James all to herself and that nothing could ever change that.
Around 1:00 am, McGonagall came in and ended the party quite abruptly. People began to disperse, grumbling as they trudged off to their dormitories. Eventually, only James and Lily were left in the common room, snuggling in the comfortable armchair as they watched the dancing flames of the fire. "I guess we should start heading back to our dorms," James said.
"Mmm." Lily was comfortable nestled in James's strong arms, and did not particularly want to move.
"Or we could continue where we left off earlier," he suggested.
"James, we're in the Gryffindor common room. It's a bit less private than ours. Anybody could walk in."
"But I seem to remember it being on the list."
"Can't we just go to your room?"
"Come on, Evans, live a little." He kissed her tenderly, and all her protests died on her lips. "Still want to go back to our dorm?" he questioned, his voice husky. All Lily could think of was how much she wanted to be with him; she pulled his lips to hers in response. Her fingers raked through his hair as he pulled her closer, his hands clutching her hips. Both fell to the floor, still locked tightly together. He brought his mouth to her neck and sucked greedily as his hands roamed her body. Her hands still played with his hair, slowly moving down to tickle the nape of his neck. In his haste, he ripped her shirt as he pulled it off, but she paid no attention; it could be mended. His Quidditch robes came off with equal haste followed closely by her bra. By this time, his body had moved so close to hers that Lily could feel his heart beating against her own. Unconsciously, she dropped her hands lower, and he moaned in pleasure. They rolled over so that he was on top of her, and he quickly removed her pants. His fingers slowly slid from her knee up to her inner thigh, and she gasped at the sensation created. In no time at all, his pants, too, came off as he pulled off her underwear. Passion now drove all of Lily's actions as she hastily removed the last impediment—his boxers. The intense emotions coursing through Lily's body brought her closer to him as his lips slowly moved over her body. For some reason, the feelings Lily had as their bodies drew together were stronger than usual; it seemed as if the passion aroused by their time in the closet had grown exponentially until it became almost unbearable. Lily groaned as she felt the push of his body against hers, and she encouraged him by placing her hands on a particularly sensitive spot. He echoed her groan as he rubbed his hand over her thigh, feeling her soft skin beneath his fingers. The flood of emotions hit him like a ton of bricks, and he made love to her as if tomorrow would never come.