Author's Note: I hope that everyone enjoys this chapter. I had a lot of fun writing it, and it shows a more romantic side to James. As always, feel free to leave a review. I enjoy reading your opinions on what's happening in the story.

Chapter 26: Scuba Diving and Seashells

Lily Evans

The scuba diving video, which everyone watched, was about twenty minutes long. The Marauders, Lily, Sophia, Jessica, and Mr. and Mrs. Jones all sat in a small room while their television host explained what they were to expect when scuba diving, as well as step by step instructions on how to put on the diving suit. Personally, Lily didn't know why their instructor couldn't tell them this herself. Once they were out on the boat, speeding towards the location of the reef, Lily began to feel very excited. It seemed everyone else was too.

"Hey, check out those dolphins!" Sophia cried pointing into the distance where a large pod could be seen, breaching the water.

James and Lily stood together, holding hands and enjoying the scenery. That is, until Sirius wedged his way in between them, leaning against the railing of the boat.

Lily scowled at James' best friend. "Do you mind, Sirius? We're kind of having a moment, here."

"You two were holding hands. I don't think that counts as a moment. Besides, it's my turn with Prongs. You had him to yourself all last night and this morning."

Sophia folded her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow. "I've just begun questioning your sexuality."

Sirius smiled licentiously. "You weren't questioning it last night," he said in a low voice.

Lily spun around to look back and forth between Sophia and Sirius a few times. She began to put the pieces together in her head, and realized that that must have been the reason why they didn't come down to the beach party. She made sure that Mr. and Mrs. Jones, but especially the former, weren't listening. Luckily, they were both standing pretty far off, talking to the instructor.

"Did the two of you shag?" she asked.

"Pretty much," Sophia said casually as if she was talking about the weather, and not the fact that she had been de-flowered.

"So, does this mean the two of you are...together?"

Sophia grimaced. "Lily, just because two people have sex, it doesn't mean that they're going to actually end up going steady. Sometimes it's just a casual thing."

Sirius lightly hugged Sophia to him. "I wouldn't mind doing it again, though. It was fun. Tell me, Prongs, was shagging with Marlene fun as well?"

James glared briefly at his big-mouthed friend before casting a fearful glance at Lily, hoping that she wouldn't decide to take it upon herself to turn him into something unbecoming.

"Oops, sorry, mate," Sirius said with a sheepish grin.

"I'm not mad," Lily said with a shrug. "There would be no point, unless he was actually seeing Marlene on the side. Are you, James?"

"No! I only went out with her for about a week before I broke it off."

"Why?"

"Because she wasn't you."

Lily's eyes lit up. It was one of the sweetest things James had ever said to her, so far. She stood up on her toes and kissed him softly, tasting the coffee and peppermint on his tongue. The boat began to slow down not long after that, then came to a complete stop. As the instructor was letting down the anchor, Lily heard James speaking to Remus.

"Hey, Moony, you all right, mate?"

Lily saw Remus sitting against the railing not far from where she had been standing with James. He looked rather peaky, and seemed to have a hard time keeping his eyes open.

"I'm fine, but I think I'm going to skip out on scuba diving. You guys go on ahead though."

Sirius stepped forward. "We're not just going to leave you here by yourself."

"I don't want to ruin your fun," Remus insisted.

Jessica furrowed her eyebrows worriedly. "I'll stay with you. I'm not too sure about swimming in shark infested waters."

"I really don't want anyone around me right now."

"But-" Jessica began, but Remus cut her off.

"I don't want you around me right now! Why can't you understand that?" he said in a very harsh tone.

This wasn't the first time that Lily had witnessed one of Remus's darker moods, but he had never spoken to Jessica like that before. Lily began to tell him off, but James placed his hand on her shoulder and shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure Remus will find a way to apologize to her later."

The instructor didn't seem to have much of a problem with Remus staying on the boat while the rest of them scuba dived. She helped everyone with their gear, going over the instructions once again.

"What about sharks?" Jessica asked, peering down at the murky water.

The instructor helped Sirius tighten his oxygen tank. "Sharks only tend to attack people if they smell or see blood on them. You should be fine. You have more of a chance dying in a car crash than from a shark attack."

Jessica relaxed her tense shoulders, but still looked slightly worried. Once everyone was ready, they all dove into the water one at a time. Lily was the third to go. Through her scuba mask, she was able to see the reef stretch on for miles. Fish of many colors swam around, darting back and forth in small schools. There were also many bottom dwellers. Sophia became rather interested in an octopus, which pulled itself along the ocean floor. They even took turns taking pictures with the underwater camera. Some of the marine life and the reef, and some were of them. Sophia posed with the octopus like it was one of her best friends. Once it was determined that there were no sharks around, at least not right now, Jessica began to have fun, as well.

Unfortunately, their time passed too quickly, and they soon had to climb back onto the boat to go back. Mr. Jones promised to get the film developed within the next few days and get some copies made for everyone.

They made it back to the beach house a little after two. Sophia and Jessica went upstairs to take showers and change. Lily was about to follow them, when James stopped her.

"Hey, don't make any plans with Sophia and Jessica this evening."

Lily frowned. "Why not?"

"I want to take you on a picnic on the beach right between 6:30 and 7:00."

Lily couldn't contain her smile. If she had known that James was this romantic, she would have given him a chance a long time ago. "Okay, but are you sure you know how to cook?"

James ruffled the back of his hair nervously. "Er...think you could help me?"

Lily chuckled. "Sure thing." She gave James a soft peck on the cheek, then went upstairs to wait for her chance to take a shower. Jessica was on one of the beds on her stomach with her feet propped up in the air.

"You look like you're about to die of pure boredom," Lily said as she made a beeline for the closet and her section of clothes.

"Not really. Are you going anywhere special?"

"James wants the two of us to have a picnic on the beach." Lily began pulling out clothes and laying them on her bed.

"James and you have a date?" Sophia came out of the bathroom, wrapped in a large towel and drying her hair with a smaller one.

"Mmhm." Lily went to the long mirror with some of her choices and began to hold them against herself to see which one looked the best.

"Maybe I should bully Sirius into taking me out," Sophia said as she sat down and began to rub lotion on her legs.

"But the two of you aren't even a couple," Jessica pointed out.

Sophia threw the blue otter at her friend. "You don't have to be going steady with someone for them to take you out on a date. We're friends with benefits, and that's close enough for me."

"But don't you want something more with him?" Jessica asked as she sat up and clutched the stuffed otter to her chest. "I mean, you can't be happy just sleeping with him every once in a while."

"I'm not going to try and force anything more." Still, Sophia appeared to go into a deep thought afterwards.

Lily finally chose an outfit and put the rest of her clothes up. "Why not just ask him? It's not that hard to do. I managed to tell James."

"Yeah, but James has been in love with you since before dinosaurs roamed the earth. It's different with Sirius. He admitted he likes me, but I don't think he likes me in that sort of way."

Lily didn't know what to say in order to help her friend. She was quite confused about Sirius' and Sophia's relationship, if it could even be called that. They both liked each other, but were hesitant to go to that next step. Still, Lily wasn't naive. She could see the way they would sometimes look at one another. Every once in a while, when Sophia wasn't looking, Sirius would steal glances at her and vice versa. They also flirted incessantly, and seemed to get along rather well. Lily figured it would happen if it was meant to.

She walked into the bathroom, closed the door and got ready to take her shower. Once Lily was dressed in some comfortable clothes and no longer smelling like the ocean, she went downstairs, finding James in the kitchen, digging into a small plastic container filled with cold strawberries.

"Don't eat them all," Lily said with a frown. "We could use them for the picnic."

"I'm not. There's another full thing of them in the fridge." He held out a strawberry for her to take a bite. Some of the juices dribbled down her chin and James laughed as he wiped it off with his thumb before bringing her into his arms and kissing her. The taste of strawberries tingled pleasantly on Lily's tongue as she closed her eyes, digging her fingers into his hair.

The sound of someone clearing their throat caused them to break away. Mr. and Mrs. Jones and Sirius all happened to come into the kitchen at the same time and witness the display of romance.

James shook his head. "I swear, can we get no privacy?"

"Well, when the two of you are practically snogging in the kitchen, privacy isn't an option," Sirius said impishly as he stole a strawberry. "Hey, Jess, Sophia, want a strawberry?" he asked as the two girls came down the stairs.

Sophia accepted the offer, but Jessica stood back. "I'm allergic to strawberries."

"Since when?" Sirius asked, clearly perplexed.

"Since forever."

"It's true," Sophia said, licking the juices off of her fingers. "Her throat swells up and everything, and it's hard for her to breathe. I witnessed it once when she accidentally ate something that had strawberries in it. It was scary."

Mr. and Mrs. Jones informed the teens that the two of them would be heading to have dinner at a friend's house tonight and wouldn't be home until much later. Peter went into the living room to call Roxanne, while Sirius took a seat at the island counter.

"I'm bored," he muttered, resting his chin on the cool surface.

"We should do something together," Sophia offered.

"I'm not really in the mood to shag right now."

Sophia hit Sirius upside to head. "Shut up. I'm saying that you and I should go out. Maybe we could go to the club together tonight."

Sirius sat up. "Just you and me?"

Sophia nodded. "Yeah, we can leave at around 8:00. We'll take cabs home afterwards."

"Sure, sounds like fun."

Lily noticed that Sophia seemed slightly happier after Sirius agreed to go out with her. After a few short hours, it was time for the couple to begin preparing the food for their picnic.

"So, should we go simple or gourmet?" James asked as he looked in the refrigerator.

"I think we should keep it fairly simple," Lily said. "I'll make up the batter for some fried chicken. Maybe we can make a few toasted sandwiches as well."

The two of them got to work. Despite James not knowing what to do when it came to Muggle cooking, he was still willing to learn. Lily would gladly admit that she had fun with him. It felt natural, being in the kitchen with him, preparing a meal. James had even found a large wicker basket and a blanket for them to use. They filled it with the food they had cooked, and a few drinks, both soda and a few alcoholic beverages as well. Both Lily and James then went upstairs to their separate rooms to change. Lily smoothed out the long lilac maxi dress that she wore, wondering if it looked good on her. Jessica and Sophia agreed that she looked stunning. Once Lily brushed her hair and pinned it up at the sides, she was ready.

James was waiting downstairs, looking handsome in his red and blue pin striped button up shirt that was unbuttoned to reveal a deep navy t-shirt underneath and a pair of trousers. He's even made a small attempt to make his hair behave by wetting it and combing it, but it still managed to stick up everywhere in the back.

"Wow," James said breathlessly when he saw Lily.

She blushed, shyly tucking a loose strand of auburn hair behind her right ear. James grabbed the picnic basket, then the two of them walked hand in hand down to the beach.

When they reached the spot on the beach where they would have the picnic, James spread out the blanket and set the basket down on top of it. He made sure to set up a good distance away from the water, so that nothing would get wet. Lily sat down, tucking her legs under her, and helped take everything out. The food was consumed rather quickly with a bit more left over as they couldn't eat it all. But that didn't mean that their night was over.

As the sun set over the horizon, James sat cross legged, while Lily leaned back against his strong chest, her legs out in front of her. James gently rubbed her stomach and continuously kissed the top of her head.

Lily closed her eyes, feeling a sense of security that she had never felt with anyone else. A cool breeze blew around, ruffling their clothes and hair very slightly. Lily turned her head, her lips meeting his in a tender kiss. Even after they broke away, their faces still lingered close together. Lily could feel James' warm breath upon her cheeks before he kissed her again, this time much more passionately, his tongue playing with hers. She sighed softly as she pulled at his hair gently. They just kissed for a while, not doing anything else.

The kiss became heated as Lily slid her hands underneath James's shirt, feeling his warm skin underneath. After a few minutes, they pulled away, slightly out of breath.

"I could kiss you for hours," James said as he traced Lily's slightly swollen lips with his thumb.

Lily smiled. "The feeling is mutual."

"I have something for you." James reached into breast pocket of his button up and pulled out what appeared to be a necklace made entirely of different kinds of seashells. "I made it from the shells I've been collecting over the past few weeks whenever I went down to the beach."

"It's beautiful," Lily gasped as she took it gently into her hands. "Would you put it on me?" She handed the necklace back to him and allowed him to fasten it around her neck. "What combination of spells did you use to make it?"

"I didn't use any spells, just my hands. Mrs. Jones lent me a book she had about making different seashell necklaces. All I had to do was buy the string and figure out how to poke holes into the shells without cracking or breaking them. It was easy once I got the hang of it."

Lily ran her fingers across the large shell in the middle, which served as the pendant. "I love it. I'm never taking it off." She grinned from ear to ear. The fact that he had spent hours doing something for her without magic meant so much. She could only imagine how hard it must have been. She kissed him once again before the two of them laid back on the blanket and looked up at the sky, which steadily grew darker and darker. If Lily had to name the most perfect moment in her life, it would be this one.

Author's Note: I hope that everyone enjoyed reading this chapter. I love any kind of Jily moment, as James and Lily are my favorite canon couple. The next chapter will feature more Remus, as well as more moments between Jessica and him, which we all love.