Chapter 21: The Last Days
(Lily's POV)
I wasn't spending much time with James since Sirius had all the marauders and Dylan under lock down. Kerry was only allowed to talk to them since she was going to apologise to Dylan. When Kerry walked out of the 7th year boys dorm she looked relieved and when all the marauders came down moments later Dylan was over the moon. Alice and Frank were taking a lot of walks on the ground, something that I wanted to do but since James was too busy planning the prank Kerry and I did a lot of walking around talking about how much we were going to miss Hogwarts.
Kerry was beginning to become her old self again, ever since Dylan told her he was coming to her wedding she was smiling and laughing a lot more. Max was using all her effort to spend time with Sirius but he was too focused on his prank that none of us knew what was happening with him. I guess that's what happens when Sirius spends all his time not joking around.
James had scheduled a lot of Quiditch practises in so Max and I got no time with our boyfriends. Dylan and Marlene were inseparable during those times and I'm sure they had their own broom closet.
"Lily what am I going to do, Sirius is so obsessed with this prank that he doesn't seem to care about me anymore." Max whinged.
"I don't know, I haven't been spending any time with James either, there is less than two weeks left of Hogwarts and I don't get to spend any of that with my boyfriend." I replied.
"Hey you two," Kerry shouted to us gesturing to her, Mellissa and Perri. "Do you want to join in our prank against the Marauder's?"
"Yes." I found myself saying without even thinking but I was annoyed at James and wanted to get back at him.
"I thought you might." Kerry said as Max and I took a seat with them.
"We were thinking of making them the founders of Hogwarts but we also need to involve Dylan in as well." Perri said wickedly.
"Can we make Sirius Slytherin, he'd hate that?" Max asked.
"Sure, what about the others?" Mellissa asked.
"Well at the moment I like Remus the most so let's make him Gryffindor, Peter Hufflepuff and James Ravenclaw." I suggested.
"Great but what about Dylan and how are we going to do this?" Perri asked.
"I've got it but let's go up to our dorm we don't want anyone listening." Kerry smiled mysteriously.
"So what's this big idea?" I asked.
"Well we'll make it a musical but I don't know what we can make Dylan, we need something crazy yet not as crazy as the others." Kerry suggested.
"I've just thought of a problem, they are going to be able to find us on the map." Max sighed.
"No they won't not if they don't have it." I smiled.
"Can you steal it now?" Mellissa asked.
"I'll look in James room and Max you look in the boy's dorm. But we need to distract Remus and Peter if they are there so you three can be the distraction and keep them in the common room." I said conducting up a plan.
We all rushed out to our own places, Remus and Peter were playing chess by the portrait hole so unless Dylan was back their dorm should be free. I ran up to James' room and accioed for the map. It didn't come to be but I didn't know if it would so I looked manually. I never ended up finding and made up some excuse to Remus and Peter about last minute homework I thought I hadn't done. Max found it though and hid it in Alice's trunk since that would be the last place they would look.
(James' POV)
With the way my team was playing it looked like we were going to get another win. Hufflepuff were a good team but they way everyone was playing Hufflepuff didn't stand a chance. Classes were only revising stuff we are going to need when we leave school and McGonagall has been talking to us about what we want to do.
Sirius would whisk me away from the change rooms back up to his room to work on the prank which was going to be on the whole school. So far we had everyone saying how great Gryffindor is but we need something big for Sirius to claim the most detentions title.
There was a down side to all the prank preparation that Sirius was making us do because I got no time to spend with Lily. Even in classes Lily would sit with the girls and not with me. I had to get her to spend time with me, whatever valuable time we had left. I knew that Frank and Alice were taking walks outside to remember the castle even though Frank had another year to go. I had a plan I was just hoping that Lily would like it.
The last game was on Saturday and Lily was coming to watch, at the end of the game I was going to fly up into the stands where Lily was going to be sitting and pull her onto my broom but until then I had to do something else.
The next morning I woke up to find that Lily wasn't in her room, I thought that she must have gone down to breakfast early mainly because she was annoyed at me. The only people down at breakfast were Dylan and Marlene looking very cosy that I didn't want to intrude. Instead of sitting by myself I waited outside the hall for Remus or one of the other early risers. Remus was down next and I went in with him.
Lily came down with the girls but instead of joining us they sat at the end of the table talking quietly.
"Hey girls," I chirped squishing myself in-between them all. "Lily we haven't spent any time together and now you're sitting with the girls instead of me."
"Whose fault is that, you're the one that is too busy to spend time with your girlfriend?" Lily snapped back at me pushing me out.
"Also if you see Sirius, tell him to decide what is important to him otherwise he'll lose it." Max said.
"Right well if you don't want to spend time with us then suit yourself." I warned them.
"Max, I think you're doing the right thing, Sirius will come around," I heard Perri say.
"Hopefully before the prank he's planning because I don't want to be the second priority." Max replied.
It was decided, Sirius was taking this prank to far, and the girls were annoyed at us for not spending any time with them. Remus just shrugged at me as if to say what am I suppose to do.
Marlene left to go join her friends and Dylan joined us.
"Do you think the girls are up to something?" He asked.
"I don't think so; I think they're just annoyed that we aren't spending any time with them." I replied staring at Lily.
Sirius joined us with Peter not long after and brought the conversation back onto the prank. "So how are we going to do this prank, first everyone will jump up and chant Gryffindor then we'll have the Slytherins line up and congratulate us as we walk past, next we have to do something on the teachers."
"Sirius aren't we taking this a bit too far, Lily won't talk to me and Max told me to tell you to get your priorities right otherwise you'll lose her." I asked.
"Look it's going to be our last prank it needs to be big." Sirius replied shoving eggs into his mouth. "They'll understand once it's done. I mean we're the marauders and this is what we do."
"James is right, I mean look at the girls, and they're separated from us." Dylan told him.
"Look you two can bale out and spend time with your girlfriends but right now my focus is on this prank and the Quiditch game in two days." Sirius told us then left.
"Remus can you cover for me tonight I need to spend time with Lily." I demanded.
"Maybe but don't you have rounds tonight?" Remus asked.
"Crap I do to, well I won't be coming to the prank meeting that Sirius has organised for the next two nights." I told him.
"Fine I'll cover for you, Lily and you deserve a romantic night anyway." Remus said and Dylan nodded.
(Lily's POV)
"James why is this prank so important to you?" I asked him while we were doing rounds.
"It's the last prank we'll get to play on Hogwarts, and Sirius wants to be known for the most detentions." James told me.
"He already has that, Dylan wasn't given any more detentions and besides we aren't spending any time with each other." I told him sadly.
"Well I was planning to spend time with you tomorrow night, maybe take a walk around the grounds, up to the Astronomy tower, and anywhere else you want to go." James said. "I wanted to surprise you but I guess its better that you know so you won't plan a girl's night."
"That sounds good but since when were you such a romantic?" I asked feeling happy that my boyfriend was paying attention to me.
"So you have nothing planned then? And you won't plan anything?" James asked.
"I do have something planned sorry." I told him, just to tease him.
"You do?" He asked, upset.
"Yeah my amazingly sweet boyfriend just asked me out and, I'm going to spend all my time with him once classes end." I replied smiling up at him.
James grinned so big that I thought he was about to float up into the sky.
"Thanks Lily," he said crushing me in a hug.
"For what?"
"For giving me a chance." He replied as we stopped in front of the Gryffindor common room.
Sirius was making James spend the nights with them so they could work nonstop on the prank so I decided that I was going to spend the night in the girl's dorm working on our prank. We were planning on setting it up right after the boys. We were also making something so we wouldn't be affected by their prank.
(James' POV)
I was excited for tonight. As soon as we finish charms Lily would be all mine for the night. No pranks just me and my girlfriend enjoying our time together around Hogwarts.
"Class dismissed." Flitwick announced snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Finally," Sirius grumbled getting up from besides me. "Now we can finalise the prank."
"Sorry mate but Lily and I have a date." I apologised even though I wasn't even sorry.
"What!" Sirius shouted that passersby looked at us. "You weren't there last night and now you aren't going to help at all today."
"Look mate but my Lily is my girlfriend and she means more to me than the prank." I replied stubbornly. There was no way I was giving up my night with Lily. "You might want to pay attention to your girlfriend as well." I added as an afterthought.
"What's that suppose to mean, at least Max and I have gotten further than you or Lily, anyway you know how much this prank means to me, we have to leave the school with a bang you know that!" Sirius shouted back.
I was hurt with what Sirius had said I also knew that Max would be if she was here. "This hasn't got anything to do with how far we both are in our relationships. You are blowing of Max for a prank; you haven't taken spoken to her since we started working on the stupid prank. Imagine how unwanted she feels!" I shouted back at him while he stood still with his mouth open. "You may have screwed up your relationship with Max but that doesn't mean I have to screw up mine."
I knew that I went too far but he needed to get it in his head that he was hurting Max. Brothers fight all the time. I considered Sirius as a brother and brothers always make up. I was hoping that would be the same for us I wasn't going to apologise though. I shook my head and walked off.
"What was that all about?" Lily asked me when she arrived in our common room.
"You heard, it was a wakeup call for Sirius Max is going to leave him if he doesn't get his act together." I told her with a kiss.
"She already has." Lily whispered so quiet that I almost didn't hear.
"She what." I gasped.
"Well she didn't say anything but she heard everything the two of you said, the whole school did. She was up in our dorm crying saying that Sirius had a choice and took the prank over her. I'm sorry James but if the prank means that much to you marauders then maybe we should cancel this night."
"NO WAY! I've been waiting for ages for time alone with you, we are not cancelling." I shouted a bit too harsh at her.
"Okkkaaaayy it's just that everything that just happened so quickly and I'm a little surprised that you chose me instead of the prank, it shows how much you care about me." Lily smiled, standing on her toes to kiss me.
She pushed me onto the couch and we started off our night.
(Lily's POV)
I still can't get over how much he cares about me. To throw away a night to plan on the biggest prank of the Marauders lives and he chose me. I couldn't wait to see what he had planned.
"Go have a shower Lily and wear something nice, actually wear anything since everything you have looks stunning on you." James told me.
While I was in the shower I couldn't help feeling sorry for both Max and Sirius. Sirius cared about Max so much that he would do anything for her. He was just stuck in the moment of their prank that he seemed to forget about her. Max had tried to be patient with him but everyone's patience wears out eventually and it looks like hers has. I want to be with her and comfort her but James seems to have put a lot of thought into this night and my love for him just keeps on growing. I haven't found a bad thing about him, not even his friends who I thought were intolerable but I guess I just needed to grow up and see that they had matured much quicker than I had.
While I was getting dressed in my room I heard the shower turn on again and knew that James was in there. I picked out one of the dresses that Mellissa and Perri got me a few years ago I just never had the time or place to wear it. The tag was even on. Searching through my jewellery I found a necklace that wasn't tangled with the others.
I only had my makeup and hair to do when I heard the shower go off and James open the door. It was like a movie when we opened our doors at the same time once we were dressed.
"Okay, first I thought we could take a walk around the grounds before they shut the gates." James suggested grabbing my hand.
"That sounds fine." I replied pecking him on the cheek. I didn't have to stand on my toes this time. Praises to whoever made heels.
(James' POV)
The spring trees made the grounds look prettier since the flowers were out. Birds were chirping and the lake was glistening. It was a good thing that School finishes during the spring/summer seasons. Who wants to take their romantic last walks during winter when there is snow covering everything and you freeze to death.
Alice and Frank were out for their daily walk, lucky for them that they didn't have an over controlling Sirius to worry about. The squid was even out and about splashing people or mainly Hamish when they got to close.
"I bet I can ride the Giant Squid." I heard Hamish boast loudly.
Both Lily and I laughed when McGonagall who heard him threatened him with a detentions going into Christmas next year if he put a toe in the water.
I wanted to go into the forest and show Lily that I was a stag but I didn't want to be seen by anyone else and it was too dangerous during the night. I think Lily saw me glancing at the forest since she was quiet until we got back to the lake again.
Everyone must have gone up to the castle for dinner since no one was around when the sun was starting to set across the lake.
"They're all missing out on the best bit of the night." I commented and sat down by the tree near the lake.
The water that the squid had splashed about had dried up so Lily and I could sit in the grass and admire the sun.
"It's beautiful but don't you want to eat?" Lily asked.
"We can eat at anytime, but we can't always see the sun set like this." I replied pulling Lily to my side.
"James this night has been amazing thank you for bringing me out to see this."
"What makes you think this is over, it has only just begun." I chuckled lightly and once the sun set I pulled Lily up and led her to the kitchens were a candle light dinner was prepared.
(Lily's POV)
Instead of taking me to the Great Hall James led me down towards the dungeons where the kitchens were. We passed the Hufflepuff common room and James tickled the pear to revel the kitchens.
All the house elves were bustling about but in the corner hidden so anyone coming through the door wouldn't see was a table for two with candles on it.
"Wow, James I thought the walk was beautiful but this tops it all, it's like a finale for a date." I remarked.
"This isn't the end. I still have more planned it just depends on how quickly we both eat." James replied helping himself to the bread in the basket and the other assortment of food that the House elves had prepared.
"How did you get all the elves to do this, aren't they preparing food for the rest of the school?" I asked.
"Yes but I asked if I could make the food and all they had to do was keep it warm and fresh." James replied with a grin. I could tell he was proud of his achievements.
"I can't believe I waited six years to find out how amazing you are and I can't find a single flaw about you." I praised him.
"Well I've liked you for the seven years I've known you and in that time I have never found a single flaw." James remarked.
I just smiled at James and finished the rest of my meal. James led me away from the kitchens and up to the astronomy tower. Letting go of my hand he stood and grinned at me.
"Wow," I exclaimed looking up at all the stars.
We didn't say anything just kept each other company and warm. I cuddled up against James I don't know for how long but we enjoyed our company without saying anything.
After what was maybe a couple of hours I glanced at my watch. "It's getting late we should probably get back before anyone catches us out.
"No one will catch us, I put my invisibility cloak up here before we came up, and we can stay for as long as we want." James grinned kissing me gently.
"Where, how are you so sure it's still up here?" I asked, someone would have taken it by now.
"Wait here I'll show you." James said disappearing behind a small crack I never would have noticed.
I looked where he had disappeared to. Behind the crack was a little hollow that had been cushioned up, parchment and text books were scattered around. I picked up a small book that was collecting dust. "Hogwarts A History."
"What are you doing in here," James said placing a cushion back down and holding his cloak in his other hand. He wasn't angry but was smiling. "You can look around if you want; no one knows about this place besides Merion my owl. It was where I came when I just wanted to be alone and had to study."
"So during our OWL year you were here instead of in broom closets like everyone thought." I guessed since most of the text books were from our fifth year.
"Yeah most of the rumours about me in broom closets weren't true, Sirius and a couple of Hufflepuff girls made them up."
"What's this, I asked?" Picking up a small black book without anything on the cover.
"That's, nothing important." James blushed.
"October 1974, while we were waiting for the teacher to arrive I saw Lily, her red hair flowing down her back as she flicked it behind her ear. If only she would look at me and realise that I really did mean what I said when I asked her out before we entered. She must have sensed me looking at her or maybe that's what Max was whispered to her but soon she was glaring at me. I can't help it that she is so beautiful and captivating." I read and felt my cheeks go red.
I jumped up and kissed him on the lips passionately not wanted to break apart, neither of us did.
It was only for air that we broke apart. "That was so sweet; I can't believe that you never gave up on me." I whispered into his ear.
We concluded the amazing night by snogging behind the stones in James' hiding place that no one knew about. I felt like a million dollars and that he really loved me enough to show me his own private place.
Author's note.
I hope you like it and finally, James and Lily got a bit of romance, I wonder what's going to happen next. I'll let you know when I figure it out. Read and Review please, I hate writing and not feeling appreciated. No pressure though.
SpringBabe.