Chapter 28: One Year
I looked at myself in my full-length mirror again. I still couldn't believe it. I was torn between being happy about looking so nice and promising myself that I'd never ever allow my mum do this to me again.
I was wearing a light blue summer dress and my mum tied my hair up, a few curly strands framing my face. She did my makeup a bit more than I'd like: Eye shadow, blush, lip gloss, mascara, and eyeliner. A knock came at my door.
"Lily, can I come in?" My mum's soft voice came from through the door.
"Yeah!" I called back, quickly glancing at myself again before returning my eyes to the door. My mum walked in and she smiled once she saw me.
"You look beautiful, honey. James won't know what hit him!" She squealed as she looked over my appearance once more, probably to make sure everything was perfect. She continued when I didn't respond, "I knew he was going to last when you first introduced him to us." She said, a smile tugging at her lips. She picked up the letter on my bed. "And he is really sweet, and nice, and your father and I have no doubt in our minds that he would ever hurt you." She paused for a moment, keeping her eyes on the letter. "Do you remember what I asked you about, right before he came to take you to meet his parents?" She asked, abruptly turning to me.
"What?" I asked quietly, mostly to myself. She looked uncomfortable for a moment.
"Try to remember." She told me delicately. My mind was swarming to the conversations of that day, and suddenly, I remembered. My face probably showed I remembered, since she gave me a weak smile. "I hope your answer still stands, and really, if it hasn't, tell me. I won't tell your father." She promised. "And, remember I did have two kids." She added with a smile. I raised an eyebrow and rolled my eyes.
"Yes, the answer still stands. Although, I'm not as horrified as before…I mean we were only dating for what, a month, by that time? I mean it's been a year, and seeing as we've both turned seventeen this year, I guess the prospect of us doing…it would make more sense." I told her, crinkling my nose a bit. She smiled at me. She put the letter back down on the bed and walked back to the door.
"Okay, just checking. Nice to know you're still a flower, too. But, I do want it to happen some time. I would like grandchildren." She laughed as she calmly walked out the door before I could understand what she said or retaliate. I shook my head as I walked over to the letter she just put down. Normally, mothers aren't supposed to want to be grandmothers! And they're definitely not supposed to encourage their daughters to have sex with their boyfriends! I sighed and picked up the letter and re-read it.
Dear Lily,
Happy Anniversary! I'd include a bunch of sappy stuff, but Padfoot says I should do it in person. So when we go for our date tonight (Seven o'clock), you'll hear it all. I'll see you tonight!
Love,
James
I smiled, remembering that this morning, just as I was finishing up my letter to him, his owl came to me.
"Lily! What are you waiting for?" Mum's voice came from downstairs. I rolled my eyes. She seemed more excited about the date than I was. I grabbed my shoes, and went downstairs. "You're wearing those shoes?" Mum asked, eyeing the black, sequined flats with disgust. I nodded stubbornly.
"And there's nothing you can say or do that will convince me otherwise." I added defiantly. She sighed, recognizing defeat.
"Fine. But hurry up. He'll be here any minute!" She told me. I slipped on the shoes just as the clock struck seven, and then the bell rang. Of course he would. "He's here!" My mum squealed.
"Honey, Lily's going on the date, not you." My dad told her teasingly, coming in from the kitchen. Finally! Someone who agreed with me! My heartbeat quickened as I went to go open the door. I took a breath and opened the door.
James was standing there, looking a little nervous, but very red in the face. His hand was halfway to his hair, and when my eyes met his, his hands dropped back to his sides. Looking quickly over him, he was wearing a nice blue dress shirt (How did we manage to wear the same color?), tucked into black pants. His shoes were pretty fancy, and his hair was unmanageable as ever.
"Will you guys stop staring and just hug each other already?" My dad's impatient voice came from inside. I could feel my face grow hot, and James' face went even redder. I quickly stepped forward and hugged him.
"You look beautiful." He whispered to me and I blushed even more. As he wrapped his arms around my waist, I inhaled and smelled something new.
"Thanks…and are you wearing cologne?" I whispered in his ear. I pulled back a little so I could see his face. He was blushing. He nodded.
"Do you like it?" He asked. I inhaled again. I could get used to this…
"Yeah." I told him, and he smiled. "But, don't do it again. I like your…natural scent better." I said, inhaling once more. He smelled so good.
"My natural scent?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow. I nodded.
"Yeah. Like your scent. That's like…you. You can't smell it, since you're around it so often, but everyone else can." I tried explaining. "Did you ever smell a scent on me that wasn't my shampoo?" I asked. He nodded. "That would be my natural scent; I don't wear perfume."
"Ohh…" He said, comprehending what I was saying, gazing into my eyes in the way that made me melt. I could feel another blush creeping up.
"Honestly guys, it's like you're in your own world there! We're still here, you know!" My dad complained. I laughed.
"Right." James said as we let go of each other and turned back to my parents, red in the face.
"Would you be okay with taking a picture?" Mum asked hopefully.
"No, I think you've embarrassed me enough for one night." I shook my head, looking pointedly at my dad. Her face fell.
"Fine. Anyway, how're you guys going to get there?" She asked, excitement creeping back up her face.
"Apparition." I answered as James nodded.
"But you can't exactly apparate into the street!" My dad pointed out.
"That's true." I crinkled my nose. I turned to James. "What are we going to do about that?" I asked. He smiled.
"Don't worry about it. I've got it all under control." James smiled.
"Uh, well, we're going to go. You guys have fun? And have her home by 11. Or I will come find you." My dad promised James with a glare.
"Yes, sir!" James promptly responded. They closed the door, with my dad glaring warningly at James one more time, and left me and James at the door. I looked towards James, and he was still staring at the door.
"Anytime you're ready?" I said, pulling him out of his reverie.
"Uh, right! Okay. Take my hand." He said, holding it out.
"Yes, that is how you side-along apparate." I snickered. He stuck his tongue out at me.
"Alright. Here we go. Ready?" He asked. I responded by holding on to his arm tighter. I didn't particularly like the feeling of apparating. Then again, no one really did. I felt the inside of my body being sucked in and after a hard wind, being spat out again. My feet hit the ground, and James' hold on me prevented me from falling down.
I looked around. There was old furniture everywhere, and dust compiling in the corners of the room. There was a single, dusty bed in the middle of the room and the door, halfway open, was wooden and looked ancient. I could hear muffled voices coming from underneath us and some music. But the design of the place was vaguely familiar.
"Are we in the Leaky Cauldron?" I asked, the realization suddenly hitting me.
"Yeah. Tom let me apparate directly in here. He won't be surprised to see us." James said, leading me out of the old room. We walked down the stairs and the voices and music started to get louder. The people downstairs came into view and we saw many middle-aged men sitting around tables, drinking, talking, playing card games, and few were dancing. We were careful not to walk through the middle of the room, since with our blue clothing, we would attract attention. As we walked to the bar, we saw a man who was motioning us over. "That's Tom." James whispered to me. I nodded. I'd seen him before here, since he was the owner of the place, but I never knew his name. Or his age. Sometimes he'd look over sixty years old, and others, he didn't look a day over thirty.
"James, m'boy! How good to see you again!" Tom yelled jovially. He enthusiastically shook James' hand.
"Nice to see you again, too, Tom. It's been a while." James nodded, untangling his hands from Toms'. "Well, it was nice to see you. Sirius might swing by with Remus and Peter later, okay? So we'll be going."
"Ah, the young Black. I'll look forward to seeing him. Have a good time." Tom added with a wink and a glance in my direction. James smiled and led me towards the door.
"He seems to like you guys a lot." I told James, looking up at him. "Then again, everyone does." I added under my breath. We left the Leaky Cauldron and the warm breeze hit us.
"You're right; Everyone does like us…well, now everyone likes us. That wasn't exactly true a little over a year ago." James reminded me, giving me a pointed look.
"Hey, not my fault! You were a downright jerk!" I huffed, but smiling nevertheless.
"Yeah, I was, wasn't I? It was rather fun…" He smiled nostalgically, probably remembering all the memories of our previous years. I raised an eyebrow at him. "I mean, of course life is much better now, since we're going out." He added, turning a little bit red. I rolled my eyes and put an arm around his waist.
"It better be." I laughed. "Oh, is this it?" I asked as we approached a fairly small restaurant. It was very fancy, I could tell by the dressing of the people coming in and out of it.
"Yeah, what do you think?" He asked, bringing his hand up to his hair, but then brought it back down to his side, thinking better of it.
"It's nice, looks fancy." I commented, looking the place over again.
"Well of course, I made sure it was the fanciest place in London!"
"You realize we're not dressed that fancy for it?" I laughed, gesturing our clothing.
"Yeah, but we're teenagers. I don't think we're expected to dress very fancy." James pointed out.
"Nor are we expected to be able to go to a restaurant like this." I countered.
"You know, now that we're doing this, I realize how much I miss arguing with you." He laughed, holding the restaurant door open for me, and bowing slightly. I hit him on the head and walked through. "What was that for?" He demanded, rubbing the back of his head. I shrugged.
"Bowing like that? You were kind of just asking for it." I rolled my eyes. He childishly stuck his tongue back at me.
"You have reservations?" Some guy asked us in a thick French accent. I never knew the name for these people. They just stood there, and took you to your table. Did they even have a name?
"Yes, the name's Potter. James Potter." James responded, pulling himself up to full height. He looked the guy straight in the eye and didn't even crack a smile. I stifled a giggle and tried to mimic James' emotionless yet sophisticated demeanor.
"Uh, right this way, sir and miss." The Guy said, confusion dipping in his voice to match his raised eyebrow. When he turned his back to us, James winked at me and then turned his expressionless face back on. The Guy led us to the back of the restaurant.
"Thank you, sir." James said monotonously, giving him a stiff nod. The Guy blinked once, and left. James and I burst out into fits of laughter the second he was out of earshot, earning us nasty stares from the couples around us. Noticing this, we quickly composed ourselves and sat down.
"'Potter. James Potter'?" I quoted questioningly. "How'd you know about that?" I demanded.
"I know my muggle-ness." He in what was supposed to be a nonchalant manner, folding his arms behind his head. I rolled my eyes and shook my head slightly.
"Can I take your order?" The waiter asked, eying James apprehensively. James quickly composed himself once more, sat up straighter, and raised his head slightly.
"Yes." He drawled out, opening up his menu. I did the same, and scanned over all the food items. None of it made sense. I looked up towards James, who, by the furrow in his eyebrows, had no idea what he was doing, either. "I'll have…this!" James said, pointing to an entry in the menu. I suspected he picked it randomly.
"And I'll have the same." I quickly added. "Oh, and two glasses of water, please."
"Yes, ma'am." The waiter said, flashing a smile in my direction and left.
"I don't like him." James automatically said, looking at the waiter in distaste.
"James, you can't hate every stranger that smiles at me."
"Well, of course not. If they're a girl, I have nothing to worry about."
"You don't know that." I smiled, giving him a mischievous wink. His expression distorted into one of disgust.
"Lily, if there's something you need to tell me, tell me now, we've been going out for a year, and honestly, I'd rather not walk in on you kissing a girl when we're married." James smirked, but then quickly wiped it off his face. "I…uh…mean…uh…if. Yeah, if." He quickly corrected as he turned red. I rolled my eyes.
"Save it, James. And, trust me, you'll never see that image." I shuddered.
"Right. Uh." He coughed, still a bit flustered from his last remark. I giggled and he shot a glare at me.
"Anyway, you're coming to Alice's wedding with me, right?" I confirmed.
"Definitely. Wouldn't miss it. Especially since Fabian and Gideon'll be there." He grinned. "When is it?" He asked, the anticipation showing clearly in his eyes. He was excited not only for Fabian and Gideon, but a meeting with THE Alastor Moody. He was one of the lead aurors, rounding up many Death Eaters and Death Eater supporters.
"It's in August." I replied. And I did have to contact Alice about bridesmaids' dresses, and all that. I just got lucky I wasn't around for Petunia's wedding planning.
"Good. Oh, and you remember how we talked about possible getting motorbikes?" James asked, a crooked smile appearing on his face.
"Mhm." I nodded, already not liking the thought. But, my adventurous side argued, that it might be fun.
"Great. We're getting them next week. Maybe I can get you a nice, sexy outfit to go with it?" He asked hopefully. I leaned forward and he did, too. I brought my lips close to his ear.
"Only in your wet dreams." I whispered, and pulled back. He didn't try to hide his disappointment.
"That food was pretty decent." James said contently, rubbing his stomach.
"Oh yeah. I didn't even know what I was eating, but it was really good." I agreed.
"Oh, you owe me, you know?" James told me, stopping me in the middle of the empty street. I smirked.
"Money? Oh well-" James stopped me in my tracks.
"You know what I mean." James whispered stepping closer to me. He pulled me closer to him by my waist. He crashed his mouth to mine and didn't hesitate to start exploring the inside of my mouth. I responded, even though a bit delayed, as enthusiastically. I'd missed this. I reached up to wrap my arms around his neck and pulled his head closer. I pulled back a little and found myself staring at a pair of bright, hazel eyes. "I can't even describe how much I missed this." James whispered, looking over my swollen lips and then back to my eyes.
"Me too." I whispered, and then captured his mouth with mine once more. He ran his hands up and down my back. He trailed kisses from my mouth to along my jaw, which made me shudder slightly, and then down to my neck. I sighed contently as he trailed kisses back up to my mouth and kissed me once more before pulling back. He rested his forehead against mine, staring happily into my eyes.
A/N: I haven't updated in FOREVER and I do have an explanation. ONE WORD: MIDTERMS. Yes. Those nasty exams that tend to terrorize the lives of people everywhere. But they're over and I will continue to update as normally :)
I hope you guys liked this chapter, and I'm happy about all the favorites/reviews/alerts I'm getting! I really appreciate it! Until next Friday (Definitely),
Love,
SAM :)
