Their Birthday Wish

"What was that?"

James looked ready to fight. Sirius had kneaded all his nerves in all the wrong places. Sirius got down from the couch and patted his shoulder.

"Let me explain. It was a plan,"

James raised an eyebrow and said, "I am listening,"

Sydney, Lou, Peter and Remus opened their ears.

"Since it was clear that Lily too liked you, I devised a plan to make her come to terms with her feelings. Before going to Beauxbaton I noticed that Lily became uncomfortable when Lou was near you. I hit the hot iron and told her that you had fallen for Lou. Constant renewal of this, made her jealous and she accepted it in front of me that she loved you,"

All the others too were astounded and Lou looked furious. She said, "It was Lily's civility that she didn't hex me. Otherwise, you'd made all the arrangements to get me reprimanded by her," While others laughed at this, James didn't know what to say. Neither could he scold Sirius, as he had done this for him; nor could he thank him, as in the confusion Aulay won over Lily. He spoke, "And what do you have to say about Aulay? He has made Lily fall in love with him. I have lost her,"

Sirius nodded and said, "Lily doesn't love him,"

'Aulay wrote a letter to me saying that Lily has agreed to his proposal,"

"He is a liar; you know he is. Moreover, he has an intention I doing this. And he can go to any extent to fulfill his challenges,"

James understood what he meant.

"I wish I could put you in a room full of bludgers," James was speechless.

"Bludgers seldom scare the best beater of the world. And if so is the case, don't come thanking me on your first wedding anniversary," He winked. Then he gestured towards the door from where Lily had gone out.

James went out of the room and knowing Lily, he immediately paced towards the lake.

Aulay was near the lake, practicing night-time wizardry when he heard someone sobbing. He turned back and saw Lily, sitting on a bench near the castle gate. He smiled to himself and went to sit next to her.

"Hi, Lilyflower,"

Lily rubbed her tears away.

"You didn't give me an answer, Lils,"

"Which answer?"

"I had asked you something in Beauxbaton,"

Lily swallowed and Aulay noticed her nervousness. Lily knew she had to face this situation, but did not know what to say. Aulay asked again, this time a restlessness showing in his voice. Meanwhile, James appeared behind them. For a second he thought of leaving them alone. But his lack of faith in Aulay made him stay.

"No," Lily said in a small voice.

"What?"

"No I don't love you,"

"Did you just say that you didn't love me?" Aulay was angry. He squeezed her arm and pulled her towards himself. James clenched his fists at Aulay's rough behaviour with Lily.

"Leave me Aulay. You're hurting me," she tried distancing herself from him, but he was too strong.

"Getting hurt, are you, princess? Then say that you love me,"

"No, I don't,"

He squeezed her arm more and pulled her on her feet. He pushed her on the wall behind and pressed himself over her, such that not a breath of air was present between them.

"You have seen too much of my goodness. Now see who the bad Aulay is," he said twisting her arm more.

"I hate you Aulay Mackenzie. Sirius was right. You are not a friend, you're a fiend," Lily shouted desperately trying to push him, kick him; but he was too muscular for her.

He grabbed her neck and started shouting, "You have provoked me enough. You'll have to pay for it Lily Evans………

He was cut in by a pull on his back. It could not be anyone other than James.

"Jamesie, my poor little son of…..

He received a kick this time. He fell to the ground, releasing his hold on Lily. She fell to ground, gasping for breath. James was too furious to give any solace to Lily.

"Wands in," James gritted through his teeth.

Before James could ready himself, Aulay jumped on him, pushing him to the ground. Aulay tried to punch his nose but James grabbed his fist and pushed him off himself. He switched his position and sat on top of him. He punched him numerous times in his stomach and on his nose and everywhere else. His anger seemed to grow with time. James fury was stronger than Aulay's muscles. It never gave Aulay a chance to bounce back. James pulled Aulay up on his feet and smashed his head on the nearby tree, again and again, till it got cleaved near his eyebrow and started bleeding. Aulay fell to ground, unconscious. James glanced at Lily, who looked scared; there were tears in her eyes. He felt like hitting him again, but his unconscious state made him decide otherwise. He picked Aulay up and took him to the hospital wing.

"Merlin, what happened to him?" madam Pomfrey asked James anxiously.

"He fell off the seventh floor balcony," James replied coldly. Then he turned back. Something told him that Lily would be waiting. On reaching, he spotted Lily sitting on the bench, looking grave. He went and sat next to her, "It is my fault. He made you a target because he knew that it would hurt me directly. Because of my animosity with him, you had to suffer,"

Lily didn't show any sign of acknowledgement but James knew she was listening.

"My father loved a witch from his schooldays. Her name was Carol Brandon. But because she was a muggleborn, my grandfather married him off to another woman named Catherine Mackenzie. A year after their marriage, she gave birth to Aulay. But she died of complications. It was then that my father came to know that he had another son – I. I am eight months elder to Aulay. My father married my mother. We were never told about it. We grew up as Carol Potter's sons. As Catherine Potter's last wish Aulay was put in Durmstrang. We were in different schools, we never knew why. When we were in our third year, Aulay accidentally saw his admission papers. It stated that he was the son of Catherine Potter and not Carol Potter. He asked our father about it, but did not receive any answer. Then my grandfather told him everything and since then there has been an unbridgeable rift between us. He thinks that it was because of me that dad had to marry my mum and he didn't remain faithful to his mum. He even changed his surname from Potter to Mackenzie. Last holidays, Aulay saw the photograph of yours that I had pasted on my cupboard. He, in his worst bid to provoke me, started saying despicable things about you. Sirius too was present there. He got really angry. He somehow knew that you liked me, so he challenged Aulay to win you over from me. When Aulay saw you at Beauxbaton, he saw it as an opportunity and tried to woo you. This has what has caused this ruckus."

"Accio gift," James used this spell non-verbally and the gift that he'd gotten for Lily, flew towards them.

"There is one more thing that I wanted to tell you," He pressed his hands on her cold ones. He felt Lily shiver at his touch. She looked into his eyes, his hazel eyes. They were betraying his feelings, his emotions. They had always done that in front of Lily, but this time it appeared so different.

"I have just one Lily in my life – you. I cannot imagine going out with anyone except you, I cannot picture my life without you, I have not and I cannot think of anyone other than you,"

Lily looked away. She could not bear to see him do this to her, again. He put the gift on her lap. It was a pink box with white ribbons decorated all over it in a bow. A note was attached to it. It read:

'Dearest Lily,

This is the most beautiful sight that I have ever seen. I wanted to share it with you. I hope you like it, because I loved it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

James'

Lily opened the box and saw a heart shaped mirror inside it. It had an ivory handle and the border too was adorned with ivory. Lily picked it up and saw the reflection of her face in it. She smiled and turned to James. He was gazing at her. Their eyes met, never to be separated again.

She put the mirror on the bench, behind her and took James' collar, tears flowing from her eyes.

"I hate you, James Potter. I hate you,"

Her hands flung around his neck and her head dug deep in his shoulders, her tears wetting his pale blue shirt. She encased him in his arms. James, at first, wanted to pinch himself. He put his arms around her and held her tightly to himself.

She kissed the curve of his neck and whispered, "I love you, James,"

A chill ran down his spine as her lips touched his skin. His hands went to her face scouring her tears away. He cupped her face and pulled her near him.

"I love you too, Lily. I love you with all my heart and soul and strength and I cannot live without you near me,"

With this, he descended his lips on hers. Her body was receiving tremors from inside. He held her tightly for she was shivering with pleasure. She kissed him back, her hand ruffling his hair up. She had always liked it like that.

They broke apart, looked deep into each other's eyes and kissed again. The birthday wish that Lily had asked for had come true. She knew that James was happy, and the feeling that it was she who made him happy, made her happier. It was the perfect birthday of her life; she had received the perfect birthday gift.

James wanted to remain like this, forever. Lily too wished to remain in his arms till eternity. They sat there, in each other's arms; as close to each other as water and waves, as sky and clouds, as land and mountains, as love and life.

I hope you like the story. This is my first one. Please leave a review and let me know what you think about it. PLZ!!