Be Here Now
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
A/N: Hey! I'm having creative spurts right now, lol! I can't WAIT to start the sequel, but I need to finish this first. ;)
Eclare LJ and Percabeeth: Thank you!
E. Katherine Valentine: Yes, third person.
Temy and the Bloodedge: Haha again very entertaining!
And here is chapter twenty-six!
x.o.x.o.x.
Lily grins as she hears James say that he loves her. She pulls away and sits back down, staring at the sky. It is a clear night, with thousands of stars scattered across the dark backdrop.
"So where are we now?" James questions, playing with a curl.
Grinning cheekily, Lily responds, "On the top of the Astronomy Tower."
James rolls his eyes, but he is smiling. "Lily…"
Lily nods and turns to face him seriously. "Well… I don't know."
Mind racing, James turns to face her fully. "For the very last time I ask you this… will you be my girlfriend, Lily Evans?"
A smile breaks out on Lily's lips. "Yes, James." Her voice is soft but strong.
Grinning widely, James captures her lips again with his own.
"This is a fabulous eighteenth birthday," muses Lily.
James smiles tenderly at her. "Why is that?"
"Well, I walked in on Hilary and Sirius snogging earlier. They are officially a couple."
James makes a face.
Lily notices. "James! Be happy for her!"
James shrugs. "I am. I'm thrilled for her. She hasn't had a proper boyfriend since beginning of sixth year. But I'm worried."
Lily tilts her head curiously. "Why? And she has good reason not to trust anyone to be her boyfriend. If Sirius has earned her trust that way, then he must be a miracle worker."
"I'm worried because Sirius has a greater playboy rep than I ever held, and only yesterday I found him close to shagging a girl. He's gotten worse since Marlene cheated on him with Dwyer. I don't want to see my little sister hurt," confesses James.
Lily looks thoughtful. "Sirius may be daft, but he isn't that daft. He can see things, you know. He knows how much it hurts to be cheated on, and he also knows that Hilary has been cheated on before. He should know that he shouldn't make that mistake. Hilary is a wonderful young woman, and anyone who cheats on her is a brainless idiot." She pauses. "And Hilary was born on the same day as you were, James."
James nods slowly. "I guess you're right. And so? She's still my little sister!"
Lily laughs. "Believe what you need to believe to feel like a big person, James."
x.o.x.o.x.
Dorcas squeals. "Lily, I love your birthday!"
Lily laughs. "Why is that, Dorcas?"
"Well, each of us got proper boyfriends today!" Dorcas reminds her.
Hilary nods. "She's right. Your birthday is like a magical day or something."
"Probably because of the beautiful person born on it," jokes Alice.
Lily giggles. "So you and Remus are official now?"
Dorcas nods happily. "He's such a sweet bloke."
"And smart," chimes Hilary.
Dorcas mock-glares at her. "Don't hit on my boyfriend, Potter!"
Hilary laughs. "Wouldn't dream of it, Meadows."
"And you forgave Frank?" Lily asks Alice.
Alice also nods giddily. "He was so sweet in asking me to forgive him; I saw how irrational I was being. It was months ago and he hasn't done it again."
"And Sirius and I are an official couple!" declares Hilary.
"About time. That sexual tension was building up," teases Dorcas.
"Same with Lily and James! Two girls went from hating their potential husbands to loving them!" Alice sighs dramatically.
Hilary says sharply, "I wouldn't go that far just yet."
"I wouldn't go for the husband part. Just the loving part," adds Lily.
"Mark my words, one day, you'll be Lily Potter, and you'll be Hilary Black," Dorcas says, pointing a hairbrush sternly at them.
"Yes, Madam Hairbrush," Lily says solemnly. And then she bursts into laughter.
Everyone joins her, and then sobers again.
"You'll be Alice Longbottom someday," murmurs Hilary.
"And you'll be Dorcas Lupin," Lily adds, pointing to Dorcas.
Dorcas' eyes gleam. "I hope so!"
"Remus is moony over you," jokes Alice.
One glance to a fellow friend has the group laughing again.
x.o.x.o.x.
"So the Evans girl and the Potter boy are together?" sneers the high, cold voice of Lord Voldemort.
Severus Snape nods tersely. "Yes, my Lord."
"Is this true, Wormtail?" snaps Voldemort, his red eyes in the slits darting to the cowering seventeen-year-old boy.
Peter Pettigrew nods meekly. "They came into the common room jubilant, my Lord."
Voldemort lets out a scream of frustration. "I told you to keep them apart! You have failed me!"
"Please, my Lord, I tried. I tried to force the Evans girl to our side!" protests Snape.
"Silence!"
As always, the two young Death Eaters fall silent.
"Better. Try or not, Severus, you have failed me, and you shall both be punished most severely. And then we shall launch attack on the Evans girl and the Potter boy. Best throw in the Black boy and the Potter girl, too. Perhaps the Lupin werewolf and the Meadows girl for good measure." And Lord Voldemort laughs mirthlessly. His laugh is cold and chilling.
x.o.x.o.x.
"Lily?"
Lily glances up from one of the books Dorcas had gotten for her for her birthday. "James."
"Will… will you go to Hogsmeade with me?" James asks, smiling shyly.
Lily's face splits into a grin. "Most definitely! Thanks for asking!"
James laughs, his shy smile vanishing. "That sounds a lot better than 'NO, POTTER!' and a slap to the face."
Lily winces. "Yeah, sorry about that. I was a jerk to you for the past six years, wasn't I?"
James shrugs, nodding nonchalantly. "It's all in the past."
"James…" Lily sets down her book and looks at her boyfriend, her eyes full of question.
"Yes, Lily?" James asks gently, moving entirely into the room.
"I was so terrible to you all those years. Why do you still love me?"
James's hazel eyes soften and he walks forward, sitting beside Lily on the bed. He takes her hands. "I love you because you bring out the best and worst of me. I love you because you make me love me. I love you because you make me happy and make my world go round. I love you because of the way you love me. I love you because you are kind, caring, and gentle. I love you because your eyes are so loving. I love you because you are you."
Lily's eyes tear. "Oh James…"
"I love you."
Lily takes a deep breath. Her eyes are full of love. Her voice is full of sincerity. She says, "I love you too, James Potter.
x.o.x.o.x.
Severus Snape watches bitterly as his Lily laughs her beautiful laugh and reaches easily across Potter to get the marmalade. He feels his insides boil in anger as the two peck each other on the lips. His black eyes whip directly to Lily. Her red hair falls gracefully over her shoulder. Why was life so unkind? He loved her more than life itself, and yet he was watching as she conversed with her boyfriend.
x.o.x.o.x.
"Lily, just calm down," soothes Dorcas as Lily races around her dorm getting ready for her first date with James Potter.
"You too, Hilary," advises Alice, glancing at the frantic girl about to go on her first date with Sirius Black.
The two young women may be hassled but the final product is amazing for all four of them.
Hilary wears a dress top that is black on the bottom and silver on the top half and it cuts in the middle. Skinny jeans clad her legs, black wrap heels, black sphere earrings, and a black bangle on her wrist. "All black?" Lily had asked skeptically.
Hilary had shrugged. "I like black," her simple answer had been.
Lily wears a green off-the-shoulder top that brings out her eyes incredibly, black skinny jeans, Hilary's birthday gift to her, dangling chandelier earrings, and five bangles on her left wrist.
Alice wears a pink wrap dress with matching heels and jewelry. "Too much pink!" Hilary had whined. Alice had just laughed and pulled on her heels.
Dorcas wears a simple lavender top and a jean skirt, pairing it with white sandals and no jewelry.
"Let's hit the road," Hilary declares.
"Let's," agrees Alice.
And the four girls step into the Head Common Room.
x.o.x.o.x.
Four male jaws drop as the four females exit Lily's dorm room. They had finished fifteen minutes earlier and had emerged from James's dorm.
"Beautiful," murmurs Sirius as he takes Hilary's hand. She simply beams.
"Stunning," compliments James softly as he pulls Lily into a hug.
Lily pulls away, smiling. "Thank you, James."
"Amazing," Remus tells Dorcas, his voice full of affection.
Dorcas grins and hugs him tightly.
"Wonderful," comments Frank.
Alice smiles radiantly.
"Let's go. The other students went down an hour ago," explains James.
Lily frowns. "Weren't we supposed to escort the younger ones as usual?"
James shrugs. "Dumbledore told me that he had it under control."
Lily visibly relaxes. "Alright then."
x.o.x.o.x.
"That was wonderful, James. Thank you so much," Lily gushes as they exit the Three Broomsticks. They had entered to complete silence from the Hogwarts students. After all, they were all in third year or over, and three years ago, Lily had hated James with a passion and James, despite his love for her, loved riling her up. So of course their 'public' debut as a couple would wow many.
James smiles. "No problem, Lily."
They head back to Hogwarts, and decide to settle in front of the Black Lake.
Lily stares across the wide, large lake. The setting sun reflects an orange-yellow hue across the gently rippling waves. At the horizon, the sun is close to meeting the water's surface. "It's beautiful," remarks Lily.
"Not as beautiful as you," counters James.
Lily blushes lightly. "Thank you, James."
James simply smiles in return. He is about to say something.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Potter boy and the Evans girl."
Lily and James whip around to face Lord Voldemort himself.
x.o.x.o.x.
A/N: I really hope you liked it! We're getting into the fluffier parts of this story, but as you can tell by the ending, I'm not going into COMPLETE fluff just yet, lol! I'm not entirely sure if I ever will. Sorry about not putting too many details about their date. :/ Anyway, coming quite soon (maybe chapter twenty-eight or nine) will be the big prank on Maya! Until chapter twenty-seven…
~TrueLoveIs4ever