Chapter 21

When I first apparated to the Potter's, I was shocked at the size of their house. It was huge, with long stretches of smooth, snow dusted lawns reflected on the tall windows on the side of the house. James opened the door, and I could tell he was a bit nervous.

I lugged my trunk over the steps before he could insist on helping me and stepped inside the house. Before I could complement the high ceilings or the century old paintings, he pulled me in for a kiss.

"I missed you so much," He whispered, nipping my ear with a sort of sexual implication that made me grin in pleasure.

"It's only been a couple of days," I teased, nuzzling him and smelling his scent.

"Even an hour is a long time to stay away from you," He complained, sliding his hands just underneath my shirt so he could rest his hands on my bare hips.

"I love you," I murmured, enjoying the feeling of him holding me.

"I love you more," He said, making a slow happiness dissolve into my veins.

"The lovebirds are reunited at last," Sirius said loudly, interrupting our conversation. Although I could barely see him, since he was so far away, the sound of his voice echoed down the hallways and reverberated on the tile floor.

James rolled his eyes.

"Is Marlene here?" I asked, smirking. Sirius knew I had won.

"Not yet," James said, picking up my trunk and carrying down the long hallway. We turned numerous corners, and went up 2 flights of stairs before I admitted I was thoroughly lost.

"James, how am I going to find my way out of here?" I asked, ogling at the views of the grounds from the windows.

"Who said I was going to let you out?" He said, opening one of the many doors on the hallway, leading into a sunlit bedroom. It was beautiful-big windows with sheer curtains framing them, and a huge four poster bed, much like the one I had at Hogwarts.

"James, this room is…" I was speechless. He set down my trunk and pulled me over to sit on the bed.

He yawned, wrapping his arms around me.

"You look so tired," I said, lightly tracing the edge of his jaw. He yawned again, scooting back on the bed so he could pull me under the covers with him. I took off my shoes and snuggled closer, resting my head on his chest as I saw his eyes shut. I contemplated how safe I felt in his arms. James was so much more than I had ever suspected him to be as a boyfriend. Sweet, caring, reasonable, yet passionate and protective at the same time. I had never felt this strongly for anyone before.

"Prongs!" Someone shouted, opening the door.

"Bloody-" James began, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"Sirius," I complained, pushing my hair out of my face.

"Mate, you can't just barge in on us like that," James said grumpily, pulling me to him.

"Next time, if you aren't sleeping, maybe you should lock the door," Sirius replied cheekily.

"Why did you wake us up again?" James asked.

"Your mum and dad are home and they want you and Lily to come down for dinner," Sirius said, "unless you really were doing something else before I came in,"

James threw a pillow at Sirius' smirking face, but it hit the wall instead.

"Got to be quicker than that, Prongs!" Sirius shouted from down the hallway. James rolled his eyes and threw off the covers.

"I'm going to go change before dinner," James said, giving me a kiss on the forehead.

"Ok," I said, "Can you come back after you get dressed because I have no idea how to get to the kitchen."

"Not the kitchen, the dining room." He corrected.

"Wait, what's the difference?" I asked.

"The house elves work in the kitchen, and we eat in the dining room." He explained.

"Wait, you have house elves?" I asked.

"Yeah, we have fewer than most pureblood families but we still have 8 or 9." He said.

"So you have 8 elves cleaning your room and doing your laundry?" I asked.

"Yeah," James said, smiling at my incredulous face.

"I guess it takes a pretty big group to clean this big of a house," I commented, giving him a kiss before he left to go change.

I put on the same dress I had worn to the dinner party at my house a couple days ago. I brushed my hair and pulled some strands back and put on some light makeup, just enough to cover up and enhance some features. I had been worried about meeting James' parents for a while; he hadn't told me a whole lot about them and I didn't know a lot about this whole pureblood world. Personally, I was always used to knowing everything or being able to figure it out, but this part of the wizarding world I was baffled at. My only connection to them was James, and from what I had seen today, I didn't know as much about it as I thought I did.

"Ready?" James asked from the doorway.

"Yeah, one second," I said, buckling the straps on my low heels. I took his hand as he led me through the hallways to get to what seemed like the dining room.

"Mum," James exclaimed, hugging a middle-aged lady with sharp, aristocratic features.

"James," She said, pushing him away so she could take a better look at him.

"Son," A gruff voice said behind me," Why don't you introduce us to the pretty lady you have on your arm?"

"Oh, this is my girlfriend, Lily," James said, turning us around to face his father. Mr. Potter gave me a warm hug.

"I never thought she would say yes to you, James," His father teased, making James blush.

James wrapped his arm around me protectively.

"I can't imagine why I did," I teased, but I leant into him anyways.

"Sirius!" Mrs. Potter shouted, as Sirius came into the dining room balancing a platter of mashed potatoes on his head.

Mr. Potter laughed heartily, but was silenced by a reprimanding glare from Mrs. Potter.

A small group of house elves chased after Sirius, trying to get the platter back.

"Sirius, give the poor elves back the potatoes,"Mrs. Potter said, rolling her eyes.

"Normal goings on at the Potter household," Mr. Potter said, summoning the platter with his wand. He caught it neatly, handing it back to the house elves.

"Thank you sir," They said, nearly falling over with the extremely low bows.

We all sat down at the table for dinner.

"So Lily, I heard you were interested in healing at St. Mungo's?" Mrs. Potter asked.

I nodded, swallowing before I responded.

"I'm looking to apply to the academy there," I said.

"You two will have barely any time to see each other once James starts the auror academy and you start healer training," Mrs. Potter commented. I could sense James shift uneasily in his seat.

"I guess we will have to make every moment count, then," James said, staring at me from across the table. I smiled at him, but inside I was also worrying about how dark the future of our relationship looked.

A/N: Slow at updating, I know. Even though its late, I hope you guys enjoyed; the next chapter might be a bit more exciting, so stay tuned!

Thanks for reading,

-PAR