Hey everyone, it's just a really rushed one this time, I'm just still finding my way to the big events. As always this story is dedicated to my reviewers; Cjas, DelightfulSmiles, merann, Ash, Psychokillerhoney, hgfv, hpdreamer500, Opa12, VampyreGirl23, hptwilightlvr, The DA is dressed to the nines, ravenclawLupin11, XXJAMESLILYXX, Lucierob, Ellie 3, Adorkably Adorkable, M333gan.

The most amazing people ever :D 3

JAMES

Had I died and gone to heaven? How had the death eaters managed to get me so quickly without me even noticing? Or maybe I was hallucinating. That had to be the only explanation because there was no way this was real.

"Um…happy birthday!"

I couldn't even reply, I just stood there staring like an idiot.

Lily Evans was standing in front of me, wearing only a tight low cut black corset with matching sexy panties, knee high boots and a big bow tied around her waist.

Lily started to cover herself up. "I'm sorry, this was so stupid I just thought…never mind, I'll go change."

I had her pinned against the wall faster than even I thought I was capable of.

"Evans…wow," I whispered, kissing her neck softly.

"Do you like it?" she whispered back. "You said you only wanted me so I thought I'd give you me…was it dumb?"

"This is the best present I have ever received," I tell her fervently. "I don't think anything could ever top this. In fact, we could go to Azkaban right now and I could kill every single Dementor, that's how happy I am right now."

Lily smiled shyly. "Really?"

I traced a line down the corset and bit my lip hard.

"You have no idea," I told her as I started to suck on her neck gently as I cupped on of her boobs in my hand, god this was the kind of thing that could only lead to trouble.

She pushed me away slightly and I wanted to kick myself, I was treating her like a common whore, what the hell was wrong with me? This was Lily Evans.

She started to walk up the stairs to the bedrooms and I almost smacked my head against a wall until she flicked her hair over her shoulder and gave me a seductive smile.

"Well?" she asked. "Aren't you going to unwrap me?"

I practically flew up the stairs, tackling her onto the bed and capturing her mouth with mine. Lily gasped a little in surprise and then her fingers tangled in my hair and she pressed me as close to her as possible, even arching her back. I cupped one hand behind her neck, supporting her and keeping her close at the same time as my other traced a line up and down her thigh. My lips were hungry, god I needed this, god I had waited for this for too long.

Suddenly I froze and pulled away.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked nervously.

"Hold on," I told her absent mindedly as I got up and exited the room. I returned moments later, with a huge grin on my face, tie in my hand.

Lily raised an eyebrow as I placed it on the outside of the door and then closed it.

"Now we can finally be alone," I told her as I jumped onto the bed.

She grinned and opened her arms to welcome me back. I took a hand and kissed it gently, then let it hang limp. With a grin on my face I slowly began to undo the bow she'd tied around her waist as I kissed a trail down her neck.

"James…" she moaned softly.

"We go at whatever pace you want," I whispered to her. "Just say the word."

She pulled my lips down to hers in reply. Shit. Yes.

Delicate fingers fumbled with my belt for a brief couple of seconds and then it was ripped out and thrown on the ground.

"Evans," I gasped out. "Have you done this before?"

She shakes her head with a little smile. "I'm making it up as I go, tell me if I do it wrong ok?"

"You could never do it wrong," I tell her before pressing my lips against hers again, pouring every bit of passion I posses into her, letting her feel how badly I want her, how much I truly need her.

Little hands slide into my pants and I bite down on my lip to stop from groaning too loudly. I hope they didn't have video cameras in our rooms or anything, because they would be getting quite a show!

I traced my finger across her pant line and Lily froze and pulled her hand out.

I moved back a little at once. "Are you ok? Did I do something?"

She looked away from me and blushed slightly. "I've never done you know…anything before and I'm not sure…"

I pressed my hand over her mouth to silence her.

"That's ok babe, seriously, we got all the time in the world,"

I pulled her close to me and we lay there cuddling in silence for what seemed like an entire life time.

"I'm sorry," she whispered and almost sounded like she was crying.

"What for?" I asked bewildered.

"Tonight…I'm such a sook,"

I chuckled softly. "Evans, you gave me the best birthday I have ever had, you don't ever apologise to me ok? Not about this."

"Have you ever…you know?" she whispered.

I sighed. "Sex? No, never. Other stuff? Yeah, I have."

"Did it feel good?"

"Yeah it did, but it wasn't great I don't know how to explain it, it was like something was missing you know? That I was empty."

Lily cuddled closer to me. "Do you think it will be like that with me?"

I kiss her forehead. "You say the strangest things something Evans. You complete me, any other girl was always second best to you, and that's why it didn't feel right. Whether you realize it or not, we were made for each other."

Lily leans over and kisses my chest gently and then curls herself around me. Nothing has ever felt so right.

I wake up to tentative knocks on the door and for a moment I almost convince myself I'm back home.

"Yeah?" I call out as quietly as I can when I notice Lily dosing on me still.

"Um…Prongs? I know you're busy, I saw the tie, I just came to give you your birthday present, when do you want me to come back?"

My mouth drops, I have never heard Sirius so polite before, had all I really needed to do was put a damn tie on the door to earn some privacy?

With a small peck on her forehead, I shift Lily off me and slide out of bed, making sure she's completely covered before I go to the door and open it just far enough that he can see my face.

"Lily's sleeping, I'll be down in five," I tell him softly.

I'm surprised when he doesn't try to high five me or make a smart comment, instead he gives me a proud smile and nods. "Take your time."

I tip toe back into the room and make my way to the bathroom, I splash water on my face and when I look up my reflection is almost glowing, maybe it's the glow of a seventeen year old, or perhaps it's the glow of a man who has fallen so deeply in love a change was inevitable.

I give my reflection a wink; we finally got the girl, and then I practically skip down to the common room where my friends are waiting.

Remus has given me a chess set that he's made himself, except the chess pieces are of us, all our friends and the awful things in the world as opposition.

"I rigged it," he told me sheepishly. "So that white will always defeat the dark."

"Thanks," I tell him with a huge grin.

Peter's given me an assortment of my favourite sweets, Frank an auto correct quill, even Zane had sent some chocolate frogs. Lastly was Sirius, he roughly hands something over to me and I almost drop it. I unwrap it quickly and stare at it with wide eyes.

"Sirius…you shouldn't have done this," I tell him softly.

He shrugs not meeting my eyes. "You're only seventeen once,"

He's bought me a new broom, the latest model. "How did you even afford this?'

"My Uncle," he replies simply.

I open my mouth to argue but he talks over me. "Dude I'm not good with this emotional stuff ok so don't embarrass me by making a big deal, I got you this because I wanted to, you can't give it back it's rude. And besides, now you'll have no excuse in Quidditch, if you lose it's because of you, not your broom."

I smile at him and pull him in for a big hug. "You're the biggest softy, do you know that?"

He pulls out of my grasp, blushing. "Yeah, so…happy birthday."

"Thanks," I tell him, then I turn to Remus and Peter that are sitting there looking up at me. "Thanks to all of you, this is great."

"Hey James what are you- ?"

Lily broke off when she saw my friends staring at her, wearing my shirt and some old shorts, then squeaked and ran back up the stairs.

"Well, I guess that answers what Lily gave you," Remus commented.

I threw a chocolate frog at him. "Hey, it's not like that."

He smiled apologetically as I turned to Sirius. "Well? I'm waiting for your comments and remarks."

"You're not gonna get them," he tells me simply. "I think it's awesome for you mate, it's about time you earned some happiness."

I stare at him shocked. "That's it?"

"That's it," he replies. "I can be serious you know,"

"Aren't you always?" I retort and he gives me a sarcastic smile.

I notice that my friends are all dressed and I remember I still have classes today, damn, can't a guy catch a break on his birthday?

"I better go get dressed," I say grudgingly.

"Or undressed," Sirius says and then clamps a hand over his mouth.

"Ha! Knew it," I say to him as I start to walk up the stairs.

"Old habits die hard," he calls up to me.

"You're lucky I'm in such a good mood Padfoot," I shout back as I walk up to my room, noticing that the bathroom door has a tie on it. I grin to myself. Good girl; she learns fast.

LILY

I sat in Divination with Alice, working hard to find out what my year had in store for me according to the stars, planets etc and I was not getting far, I was really distracted. James, Sirius and Peter seemed to be Remus's body guards for the day, they all positioned themselves around him in class, walked in a tight group when they went anywhere, and Sirius even starting carrying Remus's bag for him. What was going on? He certainly was looking pretty weak today, had he and Violet broken up or something and he'd taken it hard?

"That is all for today," Professor Withers boomed out. "May you be blessed tonight as it is the beginning of the full moon!"

I froze. Of course! Remus was going to have to transform tonight. I shuddered at the memory of him last time, god that poor guy, life really was unfair.

"Lils, you ok?" Alice whispered.

My eyes darted to Remus who was laying his head on the table and Sirius who had a protective arm around him.

"Yeah, fine," I whispered back. "I'll see you at lunch ok? I want to catch up with James."

Alice grinned. "Little redevous in the closet?"

I forced a smile. "You know me too well."

Alice gave me a pat on the back and skipped off to go meet Frank. I headed over to Remus, Sirius and James and handed Remus a flask filled with cool water.

"Here," I told him. "Looks like you could use this,"

He took it from me with shaking fingers, not even able to muster smile.

"Should be even be coming to classes?" I asked James.

"He needs to feel like he's in control," James whispers back.

"This is control?"

"Should have seen…first year…"

I pat Remus's head and give him a little kiss on the top. "Need me to do anything?"

"No thanks," he croaks and I feel my heart squeeze a bit.

"There has to be a cure for this," I whisper as we start to slowly climb down the ladder, the boys supporting Remus without taking complete control.

"There isn't," Peter tells me.

"Well, I'm going to talk to Professor Slughorn, he'll know something," I tell them firmly.

"Lily…"

"I'm not going to mention you," I tell Remus quickly. "I'll say it's for a project, there has to be something that can be done for you."

I try to walk off but Sirius grabs my arm. "We've already asked Evans, they're working on a potion that sorta sedates the wolf, they doubt there will ever be a cure."

I hang my head slowly, feeling like some sort of a failure, even if it was ridiculous to feel this way.

A frail hand tilts my chin up. "Thank you," Remus murmurs.

I give him a small smile. "I just wish I could help,"

"Remus!"

Remus freezes in horror as Violet calls out to him. I smile to myself, finally. This at least I can help him with. James takes a step forward but I place a hand on his arm to stop him.

"Let me, I feel like me and Violet are in desperate need of some girl talk,"

Sirius whistles in amazement, James beams at me, Peter smiles softly and Remus mouthes 'thank you'

I set off and link my arm through Violet's pulling her in the opposite direction without even stopping.

"What the? Lily what's going on? I wanted to go talk to Remus about something…"

"I need your help," I told her seriously.

Violet's face lost all yearning for Remus and lit up with curiosity. "You do? From me?"

"Oh yes," I tell her. "I'm having trouble with James, I'm not good with feelings and you know, I wondered if you had tips."

Violet looks flattered. "Oh wow, so glad you came to me, and you definitely picked the right person. Hang on,"

She yanks me into a bathroom and into an empty stall and locks it. "This should give us some privacy, ok shoot,"

Damnit, I was so not prepared for this? Why couldn't I have asked for help with homework?

"Um…maybe you can tell me how you and Remus communicate?"

Violet chuckles. "That's why I said you came to the right person. Remus isn't that great with emotions either, don't get me wrong, he's such a sweet boyfriend, but I always feel like he's hiding part of himself you know? That there's this whole other side to him he won't let me see."

I work hard to keep my face expressionless.

"Anyway, what I find works is taking it slow. You're putting too much pressure on getting everything out in the open, little things work best. Compliment him when he does something nice, if you're having a really good conversation, let him into your walls by revealing something personal, I find that if you show that you trust them, they feel like they can trust you."

I stare at Violet incredulously, sure this had started as just a diversion for Remus but I was actually learning stuff here, maybe talking about feelings did have their advantages.

"I just…I feel like maybe he's out of my league you know? And I have to try so hard to match up to every girl he could have."

Violet impatiently waved these thoughts away. "No, no, see, that's your problem. Your still thinking about how you can be like the other girls, when really you should think about the fact that he could have had them, but chose you, worked hard for years for you. You have something they don't have, and that's James Potters undivided attention. Don't let your insecurities ruin your relationship, you have everything to make a perfect relationship, you just have to stop thinking and feel."

"I'm not good at the feeling bit," I admit.

Violet smiles at me gently. "There's no right or wrong way to feel, it's just something you do naturally."

I sigh and look down at my watch, that should have given them enough time to take Remus somewhere private. "Well, thanks heaps for the talk."

"Um…do you think maybe I could ask you something now?"

I look up in surprise. "Um, sure."

"Do you think Remus is going to break up with me?"

My mouth actually drops. "What? Why would you think that?"

"He's been avoiding me, and as lovely as our chat was I know you were trying to distract me."

I manage to shut my mouth, just. Clever girl.

"I just…maybe I've been too intense, I told him I loved him two days ago and he said that it was a mistake to love a monster and that I was too good for him and I just thought he was saying it because he was drunk or something but he hasn't talked to me since, so I'm feeling a bit like an idiot."

I sighed. How the hell was I supposed to explain what was going on? This wasn't my secret to tell.

"He's sick," I told her bluntly. "The boys had been mucking around and he got sick and is embarrassed to be around anyone until he gets better, especially you because he's pretty moody and doesn't want to upset you because he cares about you so much."

Violet stares at me suspiciously and I work hard to stare at her with more intensity, eventually she looks away and I smile internally. Thank god for muggle staring contests.

"Really?" she finally whispers.

"Really," I reply firmly. "Give him a week to get himself sorted out and he'll be back to normal I swear."

Violet gives me another hard stare and I'm wracking my brain for counter arguments when she throws her arms around me.

"Thank you, I really needed to hear that,"

I pat her back awkwardly. "Oh, no worries, don't mention it."

Really, don't mention it.

Violet pulls away and gives me a bright smile. "I just really like him you know? And as much as I can preach to you about relationships, I think we're all flying blind when we're in love, we just have to do our best and hope that it works out, and even if it doesn't I'd rather know what love is then not experience pain."

I beam at her, unlock the door and offer my am for her to take. I knew exactly what she meant to me, in love all we can do is just close our eyes and jump and hope to god they catch us when we fall

*

I sat on James bed watching him stride around, and continually check the time to see if he needed to go.

"Can I come?" I ask.

He stops pacing to look at me.

"I mean, I could help right? Right? I could work hard, become an animagus like you, help Remus out."

His face softens and he sits down next to me. "That you would even offer means more than you will ever know and shows just how sweet and giving you are, but it took us the best of three years to even get used to it and five years to perfect it. You taking care of Violet today is probably more than we have ever done in all our years with Moony, you've ensured he has something to look forward to."

I hang my head and again feel the irrational urge to cry. "What if one day you get hurt, won't know what's happened to you."

James gets up and rummages through his room until he finds what looks to be an old bit of parchment and whispers something into it before bringing it over to me.

"This is a magical map, it will show you where I am at all times, every time I go out just look at this, that way you know I'm safe."

I nod and take the parchment which amazingly has two dots showing me and James sitting next to each other.

"I wish I could do something more," I tell him. "It's like you guys are my family now, there's nothing I wouldn't do for any of you."

James kneels in front of me and takes my hands. "I love you, you know that right? You're the very definition of good and I don't even know what life would be like without you in it, I hope I never have to find out."

"You sound like a muggle chick flick," I tell him, fighting back tears.
"Nobody puts baby in the corner," James tells me with a grin and then with a final kiss he leaves.