Chapter 21: Bittersweet

I perked up from my book when I heard the tapping noise. I looked around for the source. It was a large, brown owl at the window, holding a beige envelope. The owl impatiently pecked more. As I got up, I looked around, hoping that the owl didn't wake anyone. I opened the window, wincing when it creaked. Almost as soon as I took the letter from the owl, it flew away, not even bothering to wait for a response. I shut the window; the breeze was way too cold for me to handle in my pajamas. I observed the scene outside. The sun was slowly coming up from beyond the Quidditch Pitch. Without thinking, I looked for the tall, muscular figure that I knew would be circling it right about now. I smiled to myself when I spotted him, but left once I did, just in case he was to glance up in my direction. I turned over the letter in my hand as I sat down on my bed. TO: LILY EVANS I'd be able to recognize this handwriting anywhere. I quickly put away my book and tore open the envelope. The handwriting on the parchment confirmed my thoughts. It was Alice Prewett. She was two years older than me, and we met because when I was a prefect in 5th year, she was Head Girl. We became fast friends over the course of my fifth year. We promised each other to write all the time. I felt a little guilty, realizing I had not responded to a letter she sent months ago. I started to read, eager for what she had to say.

Dear Lily,

We haven't spoken for so long! (I felt even guiltier at this, it was my fault for not responding.) I feel a bit guilty myself, so it's not ALL you, don't worry. I must confess, I wouldn't be writing to you if it weren't to give you some wonderful news! Frank, you remember him, I dated him almost all of my 7th year? He proposed to me yesterday! I was so excited and happy; I've been waiting for this for so long! We're going to get married over summer! We got permission from Moody to get off from Auror training, so it worked out! I'm already so excited! Augusta-Mrs. Longbottom- and I have been discussing all sorts of things about it. It's driving poor Frank up the wall, but he's happy, happier than I've ever seen him. It's all so great, and so much fun! I want you to be my Maid of Honor, Lily. I couldn't think of anyone better than you. Now that we've gotten that out of the way, tell me what's going on in your life! I know you're going out with James Potter, which happened the last few days I was there. And Fabian and Gideon told me you guys were still dating. They said that at the New Year's Party he threw, you didn't leave his side, nor did he let you, and I wouldn't expect any less from him! And I can't believe I almost forgot, I nearly knocked over my ink bottle when I remembered; HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILY! YOU'RE SEVENTEEN NOW! You get to do all kinds of things, like magic out of school and apparating! EMBRACE IT! As for my gift, I know you'll get it VERY soon. Anyway, happy birthday again!

Love,

Alice (almost-Longbottom!)

How she remembered it was my birthday, I don't know. But the whole 'you'll get it soon' bit was weird. Suddenly, the door burst open. Dancing flower petals came through the door, singing 'Happy Birthday'. I put the letter and the envelope on the nightstand. I got up and walked towards the petals. James, followed by Peter, Remus, and Sirius came through the door.

"Happy Birthday, Lily." James said, hugging me tightly.

"Thanks." I replied, looking up at him. He bent down and kissed me softly.

"WOAH! We're still here, you know!" Sirius protested, throwing a pillow at us. We pulled apart and laughed.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILY!" Three voices screamed from the doorway. I spun around. It was Marlene, Helena, and Marissa.

"Wait, but how'd you...?" I questioned, spinning around. Their sleeping figures were still in the bed. Marlene laughed.

"We copied ourselves so it LOOKED like we were there." She explained. I smiled.

"Thanks guys!" I said, and gave them each a hug.

"And you four, how'd you get up here?" I inquired, looking at them skeptically.

"Wait, they're not supposed to be up here?" Marlene asked, completely confused. I rolled my eyes.

"Have none of you opened Hogwarts: A History? It clearly says that boys are not allowed up the girls' staircase, because they were said to be less trustworthy than girls. We can go up their staircase though." I clarified.

"Ohh…So then how'd you get up here?" Marlene asked. They smiled to each other.

"That's for us to know, Lily-flower…" Sirius started.

"And for you to find out!" James finished, tapping my nose with his index finger. I raised an eyebrow and studied the four of them. There was only one logical explanation.

"You flew, didn't you?" Their faces fell.

"How'd you know?" James asked incredulously.

"It wasn't hard. You, being you, would think that the answer to everything is flying…and this time, you could actually take that literally. And it's only the staircase that's charmed…not the actual doorway, as long as you got in without touching the doorway, nothing would happen." I replied.

"True, if it were that easy to get past it, then the charm would be pointless." Marlene pointed out.

"They must've put another charm on it to make sure only people with pure intentions could get in?" I guessed.

"It doesn't matter; we need to get down to go to breakfast!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah, hold on, we need to take showers." I reminded him, gesturing Marlene, Marissa, Helena, and myself. Sirius pouted.

"Fine…but hurry up!" He huffed. He, Remus and Peter left the room. James hugged me again and left with a final wave.

"Lily, why don't you go take a shower while Helena, Marissa, and I pick out something nice for you to wear?" Marlene said as more of a demand rather than a suggestion. I groaned. "Go!" She laughed, pointing to the door. Oh Merlin…what were they going to do? I sighed. I grabbed a towel and headed inside the bathroom. I quickly took a shower, and brushed my hair and teeth.

"Okay, so what have you got for me?" I asked warily as I stepped out.

"Aw, don't be like that, we made sure that it was something that you'd wear, we just tweaked it a little…" Marlene said. I sighed once more and walked over to them. They held up a pair of jeans, now ripped slightly, and a short sleeved, green blouse with white buttons. It wasn't too bad, but the blouse…eh. Whatever.

"It's not too bad, thanks!" I smiled, hugging each of them. I changed as Marlene went to go take a shower. While she did, Helena and Marissa gave me their gifts. From Helena, I got another book about muggle sciences and from Marissa, I got a wool scarf. Soon, another owl pecked at my window. I opened the window and took the green envelope from the owl. It left with a high pitched hoot. Turning it over, I realized the handwriting was my mother's. How did she get her hands on an owl? I looked back to the direction the owl flew, but it was no where in sight. I opened the envelope.

Dear Lily,

Happy birthday, honey! I wish I could be with you there, when you turn seventeen. It's a big year for you! (At least in the Wizarding World) Your dad and sister say Happy Birthday, too, by the way. Now, there's no easy way to say this, but Petunia's engaged to Vernon. It was a huge shock to us, too. I let her take care of who to invite, and I'm sorry I did, because only a few days ago, when I was looking at the list of people, I noticed she wasn't planning on inviting you, which would also explain the date that she wanted it to be, in late May. However, when I did realize, I had her change the date to during your Easter break and made her invite you. And you're going to be her Maid of Honor. Don't even think about trying to protest, your dad completely agrees and even Petunia was willing to agree, as long as you didn't have a negative attitude about it. But please, Lily, don't let this ruin your birthday, have fun today, okay?

Love,

Mum

Well, today was full of surprises, wasn't it? I learned about two upcoming marriages and it wasn't even nine o'clock!

"Lily…Earth to Lily! ." Marlene called out to me.

"Woah, what?" I asked, pulling out of my reverie. She rolled her eyes.

"You totally zoned out for like the last fifteen minutes. We've all taken showers. Oh, and here's my gift to you." She said, handing me a colorful book. It was a scrap book! I looked through all the pictures. There were a lot of them, me by myself, me with James, Remus and Sirius arguing, Sirius and Peter arguing, a few with me with Marlene, and there were a lot of all six of us, just sitting. The best part was that all the pictures were moving!

"Wow, this is great Marlene! Thanks so much!" I hugged her tightly. "How'd you take the pictures that had you in it? Or these weird ones of me in class?"

"I didn't take most of those; I had other people take them a lot of the time." She smiled, looking down at them herself. "Now, we must get down to breakfast before Sirius' stomach explodes because he hasn't eaten anything. I laughed and the four of us descended the stairs. Only James was at the foot of them, patiently waiting. "I'll guess I'll go to breakfast then?" Marlene said, leaving us alone.

"Hey." He said, giving me a peck on the lips. I smiled. "You look beautiful today…You always do, but I just thought I'd say that today…" He whispered to me. I blushed.

"Thanks." He ran a hand through his hair and smiled.

"Did you look around at the common room?" He asked. I raised an eyebrow and turned towards the rest of the Common Room. There were lilies everywhere.

"I can't believe you did this…!" I gasped. His face automatically turned serious.

"You're not mad, are you?" He asked hesitantly. I rolled my eyes.

"Of course not, you idiot! Thank you, though." I hugged him tightly. He smiled, and then lifted me off my feet. "What are you doing?" I asked as he carried me across the common room.

"Carrying you." He replied. "You know, you're really light. Do I need to make you eat more?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"James, please tell me, who else you've carried." I asked, rolling my eyes.

"Well, there's Padfoot, Moony, but only in his sleep, and Wormtail, then there's you." He listed as effortlessly climbed out the door.

"Exactly. You've only carried guys. And pretty big ones in comparison to me. Which is why I'm light in comparison. And it does help that you do work out…" I said, my eyes trailing to his arms. I reluctantly pulled my gaze away from his arms and back to his face. He was smiling smugly at me. I blushed. He caught me staring. "But that doesn't answer my original question, why are you carrying me?" I asked again and did my best to ignore my reddening neck. I looked around and realized we were on the first floor! Wow, he was fast.

"I don't know. Makes life interesting, I guess?" He shrugged. I rolled my eyes. He would say that. "You know, if you keep rolling your eyes, they're going to fall out sometime." He joked. I hit him on the chest.

"You're insane." I replied.

"You never know…" He snickered. He stopped abruptly in the corridor. I raised an eyebrow. "It's empty. Why don't we just sit here and talk?" He asked.

"Yeah sure, I mean unless you're hungry…" I replied. He shrugged.

"Not really…" I pretended to look shocked.

"James Potter…not hungry? We need to alert the Daily Prophet!"

"Shut up…" He muttered, but smiling a little. He walked to the wall and simply sat down, with me still in his arms, so I was sitting on his lap. He moved them to around my waist and I put my head on his shoulder. I was wondering what he wanted to talk about when he opened his mouth, and then closed it again.

"What is it?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What would you say if I told you Padfoot and I were planning to buy motorcycles?" He asked slowly. Oh Merlin. They were going to get in a lot of trouble with the muggle police. But, it might actually be interesting…and transportation might be easier. The Knight Bus wasn't exactly my favorite. I shrugged.

"I guess it's okay, I mean unless you plan on doing any thing illegal with it." I said, raising an eyebrow. He gave me a guilty look. I groaned. "Muggle illegal or Magic illegal?" I asked tiredly.

"We want to make it fly…" He said in a small voice. I groaned again.

"Listen, I trust your guys' magical ability, I really do…but-"

"But what, Lily? We've got nothing to lose! Sirius has no family, my parents got dragon pox-Oh merlin." He said, and turned pink. I gasped.

"What? When? Why didn't you tell me? And why are you here? Didn't you go visit them? Are-"

"Lily, slow down. Okay, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I only found out today. I didn't want you to know until maybe tomorrow, at least so you'll still have a good birthday. And I don't want to be all broody today. And they said that they're fine-and wait. This doesn't matter right now. Can we please talk about this tomorrow?" He begged. I eyed him skeptically, but on the inside I was a bit torn. It would be nice to pretend this didn't happen until tomorrow, on the other hand, this wasn't something we could ignore!

"James…really, I can tell you need to talk about this." I paused and looked at him more. "And I don't think you've told Sirius, Remus or Peter yet, either." I said, narrowing my eyes at him. It wasn't good to coop these things up like this! It usually lead to rebellious behavior, which might be a little of the reason flying motorcycle thing. And, now that I thought about it, that's exactly what happened to Snape, too. He kept everything about his family to himself and now…

"I haven't, I know, but Lily, please, I just want to celebrate for a day, I have a feeling we'll have little to celebrate for a while." He begged more. His eyes were pleading and I sighed. But, this conversation was not over. "Great, so did you get any ah…letters?" He asked, sensing that I was going to drop the subject as he asked.

"Yeah, I did…Alice did mention…the lilies were her idea, weren't they?" I asked, smiling. He nodded.

"She sent me an owl and gave me the idea. Along with that, she wrote a very threatening letter about my slow, painful death if I hurt you at all." He reached into the chest pocket on his shirt. He pulled out a packet of letters. "All of these, they describe how badly I will get hurt if I do anything to hurt you. Very good, protective friends you have, they're worse than your dad! Marlene also pulled me aside after what happened…you know, two weeks ago…she said that she'd murder me if I did anything that stupid again." He said, subconsciously rubbing his arm. I laughed.

"Yeah, they're amazing." I said with a hint of pride in my voice. "Alice did write me and say that she and Frank are now engaged, they're getting married over the summer. She wants to be Maid of Honor." I smiled. Then I remembered the other marriage. My face fell a little. "And then there's Petunia's wedding." James' nose flared in anger. "She wasn't planning on inviting me. I don't know how she thought she'd get away with that, but when Mum did catch her, she made Petunia make me Maid of Honor." I said in a small voice. "And now I'm obliged to go. It's during Easter break. And I'm not going alone, you're coming with me, whether you want to or not." I told him.

"Aw Lily, come on!" James groaned.

"James, you've got to come!"

"But…they don't even want me there!"

"James…!"

"You know it's true! He hates me! You think they want me there?"

"James, I'm pretty sure my mom will very willingly talk them into it."

"But-"

"You know, if you don't come, I'm going to be forced to walk down the aisle with a male relative of Vernon's. I am the Maid of Honor…" His eyes widened. He was definitely imagining that. "And then dancing…I'll have to be the second person dancing…I'm going to have to dance with that same male relative, you know…" I reminded him, stressing the male. That was definitely the final push. His mouth formed an "O".

"On the other hand, I think I'll come." He said quickly. I laughed.

"Thought you'd agree." I laughed.

"Oh Merlin, my eyes!" A voice sneered. I cringed. Avery. I blushed; James and I were in a pretty compromising position. We scrambled up, both blushing furiously.

"What do you want?" James asked angrily. It was only Avery, Mucliber, Snape, and Nott. Avery and Mucliber had scarily identical malicious grins. Snape just looked purely disgusted. Nott was behind them all, trying to look intimidating, but was failing.

"Can't say hello to our favorite mudblood?" Mucliber asked innocently. I swear, this wasn't even to insult me anymore, it was just to get James wound up. But, instead of trying to kill Mucliber, he just glared at him. Well, this is new. Mucliber glared right back. It was like a glaring contest. And the four of us were kind of just standing there awkwardly.

"You know, I'd love to stay and chat, I really would, but Lily, we should go eat." James said abruptly, taking my hand. I nodded, and without a second glance back at them, we walked away.

"We're going to have to tell him, aren't we?" He asked. I looked at him in confusion.

"What?"

"Oh, sorry. I mean we're going to have to tell Vermin…I mean Vernon about our world, aren't we?" He clarified. I grimaced.

"We probably will have to. He's going to be part of the family, and he'll have to know, but we have to limit it to him, we can't tell his relatives. And I have an unusually strong feeling that he's going to be the same as Petunia with this." I said solemnly. He encouragingly rubbed the small of my back.

"They can think whatever they want to think. I mean I know they're family, but you can't change what you are. And if they can't accept that, it's not your fault; it's theirs. And I get that's like against your nature to believe that something is someone else's and not your own, but you need to understand that, Lily, or the only person you'll be hurting is yourself." He told me wisely. I raised an eyebrow. What was with all the weird speeches today? It could be because of the Dragon Pox thing…Merlin, this was killing him inside, wasn't it? We'd have to talk about that today, whether he liked it or not. It's a good thing it's Saturday, I'd have plenty of time to corner him. "Lily, did you hear what I said?" He asked, suddenly stopping and looking at me with concern.

"Oh, whoa, sorry. I was thinking about something else…what did you ask?" I asked him. He raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"Never mind. Come on, I'm starving." He said. He unexpectedly started walking again, and at a quick pace.

"Why so fast?" I complained, struggling to keep up with him. He smiled at me, but didn't answer. Something wasn't right…

My suspicions were confirmed when we entered the Great Hall. There were balloons everywhere, and instead of the normal ceiling, it said "Happy Birthday, Lily!" With a stag, rat, dog, and moon signed next to it. It was a lot to take in. Everyone was wearing party hats, to the dismay of most, and the Gryffindors were laughing at the Slytherins who were trying, and failing, to take them off.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LILY!" Sirius bellowed from the Gryffindor table. I laughed. Only Sirius would be able to yell like that. We walked to the Gryffindor Table and sat down across from Sirius, Remus, and Peter. I was in the middle of Marlene and James.

"Happy Birthday, Lily." Remus said with a large smile. "I couldn't say it before because once James said it, you seemed a bit…busy…" He laughed.

"Yeah…Happy…Birthday…Lily…" Peter said in between mouthfuls of food. I rolled my eyes.

"Thanks guys." Sirius stood up dramatically. He cleared his throat a few times and then opened his mouth wide. Oh no, he wasn't going to…I took the nearest bread, stood up, and put it in his mouth. I dragged him back down. "Don't even think about trying to sing." I told him sternly. No need for all that embarrassment. "And you guys better not be throwing any kind of celebration, small get together, a large get together, or anything, okay? You know how I am with parties." I told them all, mostly directing it towards James. They shook their heads.

"I have other plans." James whispered in my ear. Before I could respond, a seventh year Gryffindor that I didn't recognize came up to James.

"So you guys having a party or what?" He asked excitedly.

"Miss goody-two shoes here banned us." Sirius pouted. The seventh year looked at me in surprise, and then looked back at James.

"Really, I'd think that you guys would throw a party today, after all, it is the Lead Marauder's girlfriend's birthday!" He said, making his eyes go wide. This kid, whoever he was, was really creeping me out. Before any of us could respond, he left.

"Do you know who that was?" Marlene asked. They shrugged.

"That doesn't matter! The point is, he called Prongs the 'Lead Marauder'! Everyone knows I'm the lead Marauder." Sirius huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. Oh no. Remus and I exchanged worried glances. This was going to be a long breakfast.

"Now Padfoot, I know you aspire to be like me, but everyone knows I'm the Lead Marauder! Why else would that kid call me that?" James countered.

"That kid's out of his mind. Everyone knows I'm the life of the party!"

"Yeah, but that's not exactly what being the Lead anything is!"

"How do you know? It's obviously me!"

"No, it's me!"

"NO. IT'S NOT. IT'S ME!" Sirius bellowed, causing people to turn their heads.

"Padfoot, don't be ridiculous. It's me!"

"What do you guys think?" Sirius asked. "You think I'm the Lead Marauder right?" We exchanged glances and made a silent agreement to stay neutral.

"HA! See Padfoot, no one thinks you're the Lead Marauder! What about me, guys, it's obviously me!" James said, looking expectantly at us. We stared blankly at him. "Aww, Lily, come on, you're my girlfriend, you're supposed to support me!" He whined. I raised an eyebrow.

"I don't think I'd be very supportive if you had a desire to throw yourself off the Astronomy Tower."

"That's true…but this is different!"

"Well, it's the same in the sense that I'm not supposed to support you for really stupid things." I pointed out.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sirius asked, leaning forward, his shaggy hair dropping into the tea. I rolled my eyes.

"Sirius, your hair's in the tea." I said tiredly. His eyes widened and he picked his hair up and started examining it.

"OH NO! MY HAIR!" He screamed, causing everyone around us to turn their heads towards us, again. He ran out of the Great Hall, probably to go wash his hair. Remus shook his head.

"He can be such a girl when it comes to his hair."

"HEY! What's that supposed to mean?" Marlene asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yes, Remus, what is that supposed to mean?" I agreed, raising an eyebrow at him. He looked between the two of us.

"Ah…nothing. I'm going to go finish that Herbology essay." He said and left almost as fast as Sirius. James snickered.

"Wimps." He muttered. I raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sure you'd have the same reaction if your Quidditch magazines went missing…or if you were in Remus' position." I pointed out. He considered for a moment. "Exactly."

"Fine. But come on, we need to talk about today's itinerary!" He said, standing up, then pulling me to my feet.

"Alright, see you later, Marlene!" I said, waving to her as James dragged me towards the door. She waved back and winked at me. James put an arm around my waist.

"So now we're going to…"

"Okay, Lily, close your eyes." James said. I bit my lip, but obeyed. So far today, James took me on a long walk, since it was surprisingly warm, and then ate lunch. After that, I spent sometime with Marlene, while James said he was preparing for something, and also in that time, I managed to finish my Charms and Transfiguration essays that I started and never finished. Then the six of us just sat in front of the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room and talked. James said he had a final surprise for me, which was where he was taking me right now. We went up several sets of stairs, and walked and turned for a long time.

"Are we there yet?" I asked. He laughed.

"Hold on…" He paused. "Now, open your eyes." He whispered in my ear. He put an arm around my shoulder. I blinked a few times. I gasped at the sight in front of me. It was like we were outside, under the stars, and grass under us. But, I knew we weren't really outside, it was way too warm. There was a table for two and music playing from somewhere.

"James, where are we?" I gasped. He grinned.

"Lily, welcome to the Room of Requirement."

"The…you guys found it!" I gasped. I read about this room dozens of times in Hogwarts: A History! "I don't mean to sound so surprised, if anyone could find it, I know it'd be you guys, but…wow! It's even better than I imagined it would be! Wait, if you guys found it, why's it not on the Map?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. He laughed.

"I'll answer your million questions once we start eating." He led me to the table. As soon as we sat down, food appeared in our plates.

"Wait, how'd that-"

"Start eating. I said, I'd answer your questions once we start eating!" He reminded me. I crinkled my nose.

"But-"

"Lily…" He warned, smirking. He muttered something like "You're too curious for your own good." I rolled my eyes. I looked down at my food. Food can't just appear. I picked up my fork, and poked the chicken on my plate with it. Nothing happened. I picked up the knife and cut the chicken slowly. Nothing happened. I poked the chicken again. Once again, nothing happened. I became aware that James was staring fixedly at me. When I met his eyes, he raised an eyebrow. "It's real, Lily, just eat it." He continued eating his food, and was actually almost done with it. I shrugged my shoulders, decided it was safe, and started eating.

About ten minutes later, James put down his knife and fork.

"And now for your answers." He said. I, too, put down my knife and fork.

"Okay. How'd the food appear out of no where?" I started off.

"It didn't, Misty was here and summoned it from the kitchens."

"When and how did you guys find this place?"

"We found it in our fifth year…it was a good year for us, wasn't it? Anyway, We found it because we were trying to get away from Filch, and we didn't have the map yet and I didn't have my invisibility cloak."

"Why didn't you put this on the map then?" I asked him.

"Lily, we're good at magic, but not that good. It would have been incredibly hard to figure out the location of someone in the room when it keeps changing. This room has limitless possibilities. We can't incorporate all that into the map." He explained. "Are you done?"

"Wait, so where is this room?"

"Of course not." He muttered. I stuck my tongue out at him. "Seventh floor, I'll show you sometime later."

"Okay, now, why are we here? Surely not to just eat dinner." I asked. He sighed in relief.

"Finally. Okay, come on." He walked me to the left of the table. He paused for a second, and then a couch appeared.

"Whoa! How'd that happen?" I gasped. He laughed.

"It's really nice knowing things that you don't sometimes." I slapped him on the arm and sat down, cross-legged on the couch. He sat down, in the same position, across from me. "That's the thing about this room. When you're in it, you can just think of anything you want, at least anything that doesn't violate Gamp's Laws, and you'll get it!" He said animatedly.

"How many times have you been here?"

"We used to come here all the time last year…this year, not so much." He shrugged.

"Why not?" I asked. This place was great!

"I've been planning this day for a long time, Lily. I didn't want you to find out about it until today." He paused. "Okay. Questions later. Time to open your presents." He smiled. I raised an eyebrow.

"Presents?" I inquired. He nodded.

"Of course." A pile of gifts appeared on the ground next to us.

"Misty?" I guessed. He smiled.

"Yep." He picked up the first one. It was in a box, like all of them, I noticed. "This one's from Remus." I undid the ribbon and opened the box. It was a small wireless. I smiled. I always wanted one of those. It was the only music you could listen to in the castle without the magic interfering.

I went through all my gifts. From Peter, I got a Honeydukes gift card, from Sirius, a cookbook with complete instructions on how to make a Treacle Tart. In the card he wrote, "It's Prongs' favorite food. When we're not in Hogwarts any more, and you guys are" With a huge black blob after it. It made James turn really pink and he muttered something about killing Sirius. Also, I figured out how my mum got the owl, though. James sent a letter to my parents and then they sent a letter back with him, and along with that, my gift. Then. they had the owl give me my letter. They go through way more trouble than they should… But they got me a nice, black sleeveless dress and the bottom half had sequins. Now all I had left was James'.

"I wasn't sure what to get you," He admitted, "But in the end, I decided on this." He brought out a box that was about the same size of Remus' box. He opened it, and inside was a photo frame. I picked it up. The photo was the both of us, in the snow. He was picking me up and twirling me around. We were laughing like we had no other care in the world. It was really sweet.

"Thanks." I said, hugging him tightly. "It's a nice picture. And it's really weird how you guys take pictures of me without me noticing." I added. He gave me a confused look. "Marlene gave me a scrapbook with pictures of me." I explained. "Although, none of the pictures are as good as this one." I said, looking at it again.

"Yeah, Peter took it. He's a pretty decent photographer, who knew?" He laughed. Then I remembered his parents. My face fell a little. I moved closer.

"James…I know you need to talk about it." I told him. Comprehension dawned on his face.

"Lily, I-"

"James I don't want to hear it, I know-" He cut me off by kissing me. He put one hand on my cheek and the other on my waist. I fell forward on to him so we were lying horizontally on the couch, it was much more comfortable. Suddenly, I felt water on my cheek. But, it wasn't me crying…so it was James! I quickly pulled away and opened my eyes. "James?" I whispered. He was, as I thought, crying. I sat up and pulled him up with me. He closed his eyes and looked away. It was so sad, seeing him like this. It was different that his usual attitude and it really hurt. I took off his glasses and put them on a table that appeared next to us. "James-" I tried again.

"Not today, Lily, not today, please." He turned his gaze back to me and begged. His gaze was even more intense, without his glasses. His eyes were watery and he looked like he was trying hard not to cry, but was failing. I nodded numbly. I knew what he wanted. To cry now, and talk later. I pulled him closer and rested his head on the crook of my neck and just let him cry, and trying not to cry myself.

A/N: Yes, I know I didn't update last week at all like I said I would, bad me. I know. On the other hand, I made this chapter super extra long to make up for it! :)

Please review!

Until next Friday,

Love,

SAM :)