A/N: Hi everyone! I'm back haha! I'm now doing 2 more chapters, and then that will probably be absolutely it – I realise I've said it about 100 times now, but honestly this time. A nice rounded 30 chapters and it's onto the sequel, because all my other ideas go into that. SO – review review review.
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James and Sirius were perched at the bottom of the girl's staircase, contemplating its mysteries. They had thus worked out that one stair in particular, or perhaps several, had been jinxed much like other trick stairs in the castle. The question was finding out which one, or which ones, and carefully avoiding it. Emma and Lily had snubbed them both, informing them they needed some 'girl time'; and James and Sirius were determined to listen in. The idea of finding out what they talked about when the Marauders were not around was…intriguing to say the least.
"It's our last week here, Prongs. We have to work this one out," Sirius said seriously.
"Lily told me it's a trick stair. Not stairs plural. I reckon it's somewhere near the middle, because that's roughly where Remus fell down when he tried to carry Lizzy up," James replied thoughtfully.
"Perhaps if we poke different stairs with a long stick until we get the right one?" Sirius suggested.
James actually laughed.
"Padfoot, it is clearly designed to know whether or not the thing treading on it is male. And considering a stick is…well, unisex…well, basically, I assume the jinx doesn't activate for sticks."
"Good point."
At that point two sixth year girls appeared at the top of the staircase, and on looking down to see the infamous James Potter and Sirius black sitting cross legged on the carpet before them, burst into giggles.
"Are you still trying to figure it out?" said a girl with dark hair and rather pretty brown eyes, descending the stairs towards them.
"What does it look like?" James snapped. Then, plastering on a simpering smile, he added; "Do you happen to know which stair is the trick stair?"
The girl's companion appeared at her side, rolling her eyes in exasperation. "Even if we did know, which we don't as the jinx only works on boys, why would we tell you?"
"Because I'm roguishly handsome and charming?" he suggested.
"All the more reason not to," she replied with a grin, and with that the two girls left towards the portrait hole, still sounding rather amused.
"I know," Sirius said, getting to his feet. On a sudden whim, he ran full pelt at the stairs, and for reasons unknown it did not turn into a slide until the very last step; where he had just gotten extremely excited at having managed to make it.
"Prongs! I did it--"
But the rest of his sentence was drowned out as he rolled back down beside his partner in a heap.
"But that was the top stair! That wasn't in the middle…" he grumbled.
"Interesting," James nodded. "Let me try."
When James repeated the experiment, he found that the staircase became a slide on his third step. When he fell down beside him, Sirius shot James a questioning glance.
"Has a mind of its own, mate. It seems to have decided on different stairs for each person."
"Or maybe it is a different stair every time? Just so no one can figure it out?"
"Seems like Hogwarts is ready for people like us," Sirius commented offhand.
"Okay…new plan…"
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"Show me the ring again!" Emma asked excitedly. When Lily splayed her hand out, Emma said for the thousandth time; "It's so beautiful…"
Lily smiled at it, feeling a rippled of pleasure through her stomach. It was like a fairytale…she couldn't believe she'd been so stubborn as to deny this for so long. She didn't think it was possible to contain so much felicity; even with the now daily attacks and the more demanding tasks from the order meetings…the looming worry about her future and the question of Snape still hanging half heartedly over her head.
"Em…" she said uncertainly, retracting her hand and twirling the ring in circles on her finger; something she was very much getting in the habit of.
"Mmm?"
Lily shook her head slightly, "nothing…never mind."
"Sure?" Emma asked her.
Lily simply nodded, and turned another page of her bridal magazine which Lizzy had bought her the day after the 'proper engagement'. At first it had seemed ridiculous and superficial to Lily, but now this potion which gave you the ideal figure for one day…'Slimeazy', did not seem such a bad idea. Nor did the one hundred tier wedding cake…or did the incredible decorations, including real live fairies, seem like such a bad idea. Ironically it seemed that being a witch would really make her day magical. Lily laughed at such a cheesy thought.
She suddenly closed the magazine and cast it to the floor, as she usually did when she thought about the engagement for too long. She loved James, of course she did, but she couldn't fight off the nagging feeling that it was all a little too rushed. She was overjoyed, perhaps happier than she could remember being before…but what if he lost interest? What if after all they'd been through, he realised it wasn't what he wanted and left her with nothing?
"What's up Lils?" Emma asked, observing the magazine's being cast aside with apprehension.
Lily sighed through her nose and lay down on her front, placing a chin on her folded arms. Emma flicked a page of her Quidditch book; she'd made a bet with Sirius that she'd be able to understand the rules by the end of the day.
"I don't know," Lily mumbled into her covers.
"Go on…" Emma coaxed. "We know you'll tell me in the end anyway."
"We're growing up, aren't we?" Lily asked rhetorically.
"Leaving Hogwarts," Emma nodded. "You'll be shacking up with James…making yourselves a little love nest…getting married…whereas me and Sirius will probably barely correspond. He'll forget me…" Lily heard hurt in Emma's voice which she was usually very cautious to cover up. She was obviously dying to talk about this; much to Lily's annoyance as she wanted very much to talk about her problems too.
"He won't forget you Em, don't be silly. He loves you."
"He's never told me that," she said pointedly.
"He doesn't have to," Lily shook her head.
"But we've never even discussed the future like you two have. You're so lucky. Everything's perfect for you…"
"Look, I have doubts too okay?" said Lily, her tone now tinged with irritancy. "Just because I'm wearing a ring doesn't mean me and James are perfect."
"Oh, really?" Emma said, looking up and making no attempts to hide the scepticism in her voice.
"Yes, really!" Lily replied adamantly. "Who's to say he won't…who's to say he won't get bored of me?"
"Oh for Merlin's sake Lily, sing me a new one sometime. It's pretty obvious he's not going to get bored of you. I listened to all this before you started going out; but I think everyone can see that he's completely mad about you."
"Well why would he propose to me so soon?" Lily asked her. "It's just so…so rushed. What if he's just caught up in the heat of the moment? What if he just thinks…what if he just leaves when he realises what he's done…"
It was just in this short pause that Sirius and James tuned into the conversation; having finally worked their marauder magic and succeeded in mounting the stairway. They exchanged excitable looks as they pressed an ear to the door and waited to be enlightened.
"You guys are made for each other, and you know it. Me and Sirius…we're just…we're just a fling," they heard Emma say.
"It's not a fling and you know it. And okay…me and James, well, I'm like lottery lucky."
"Understatement."
Lily laughed a little and replied; "Have you seen his arms? Those are…good, good arms to have. Don't ever tell him I told you that."
"Hmmm…I like Sirius' hands," said Emma thoughtfully.
"Hands?" Lily repeated with raised eyebrows.
"Yeah! They're all…manly and nice."
Lily carefully sidestepped that little comment so as to avoid letting slip a giggle. "I wonder what they boys like about us."
"I'll hazard a guess at--"
"--Lips, hair and boobs?" Lily finished.
Outside James looked over at Sirius, who was desperately trying to stifle a laugh at Emma's hands comment, and mouthed to him; 'Are we really that shallow?'
Sirius mouthed back; 'Yes.'
'Well, that's true,' James shrugged before putting his ear to keyhole.
"So…are you and Sirius' going to still see each other when we graduate?"
"I dunno," Emma mumbled back miserably. "I really want us to…as we're both training for Aurors we'll be seeing each other all the time…and then if we moved in--"
Sirius took a hasty step back from the door. Living together? That sounded like a rather large commitment…
"Well, it's pretty clear he's mad about you…do you love him?" Lily's voice carried through to the hallway despite how Sirius was no longer struggling to hear. James looked up at Sirius with an expression of intrigue, a look which clearly meant; I-didn't-know-you-two-were-serious. Sirius shrugged in reply as they both heard Emma's reply. She even sounded embarrassed.
"Love? Well…I guess so."
And with that Sirius was legging it down the hall and down the stairs. Lily and Emma looked up at the noise, and wandered over to see what was happening. On opening the door they saw James crouched alone down beside where the keyhole had been.
"James!" Lily said, surprised. "How did you get up here?" she demanded.
He looked up, his expression shellshocked, and got to his feet slowly.
"Oh…a marauder never reveals his secrets. Although I'm sure it had something to do with my strong arms," he winked at her.
She was spared having to answer him by Emma's hasty interruption;
"Did Sirius hear me? Was Sirius here?!"
"Ran off. He'll be down at the pitch," James gestured down the stairs behind him.
"Did he hear--"
"--you say you love him? Yeah."
"Oh no…" Emma rubbed her throbbing temples. "Lily!"
"Mmm?" she replied distractedly. Emma was highly irritated by her lack of panic on her behalf.
"Sirius is probably going crazy about now! He heard me talking about the future! Future and Sirius do not mesh!"
"He also heard you say you liked his manly hands," James put in unhelpfully.
Emma closed her eyes wearily. "Well if he wasn't going to ditch me before…"
"Go and talk to him. If he won't see reason try this-" Lily squeezed her breasts together with her arms and, plastering on a simpering smile, said; "I'm so sorry…"
"I'm not sure that'll cut it," Emma said dryly, but giggling nevertheless.
"Okay, if I may…" James interrupted, tearing his gaze away from Lily's chest. "Sirius is my best friend. So, what I would recommend is; leave him for approximately twenty minutes, at which point he will come back looking for an argument as a way of releasing the tension. At this point, supply him with vast amounts of chocolate and do not let him speak until he's calmer. Only then, will you be able to speak to him properly. Now, regardless of whether or not he tells you he loves you, I am sure that he does."
Lily was beaming at him, and he added; "Can we talk a minute?"
"Sure," she gave Emma a meaningful glance, and she nodded glumly to give them some privacy.
James stepped in and shut the door behind him.
"Lips, hair and boobs?" he looked up at her.
"It was just a joke," she rolled her eyes.
"Hope so," he replied grudgingly. "You're not having doubts are you?"
She coloured slightly and turned away to perch on the edge of her bed. James interpreted her silence correctly.
"Oh dear. Right, let's talk," he sighed, sitting down beside her.
A/N Just thought I'd have a bit of fun; I bet you're wondering what happened to Liz and Remus. Next chapter my friends, next chapter. It's all going to wrap up…keep reading!
