Chapter 36 up! And second part of last chapter. Hope you like it! It's quite longer than the rest. Don't get used to it, though! Haha. Anyway, I'm not so sure about the chapter's quality, cause towards the ending, a bunch of things happen and I didn't want the prose to get too boring or long, so it might have ended up being a little rushed. Tell me your opinion!
…
They went down the stairs quietly, and James couldn't help thinking about Lily's forced smile. He wasn't sure about what he had done wrong, but after thinking about it for a while he had come to the conclusion that the redhead had gotten mad, despite she was making an effort to smile at him with alleged naturalness. He rekindled the moment in his mind, remembering her sweet expression as she looked at the photographs. James had found it so adorable that he had instinctively approached to her, tempted to wrap his arms around her and bury his face in her fragrant red hair. He had noticed her slight start when she saw his parents' picture, and only then he had realized about the coincidence."Seems that us Potter men have a thing for redheads." He had said it without thinking, more to himself than to Lily, although now he realized it sounded like flirting. Pillock, he told himself mentally. The more he knew Lily, the more he had realized that if he wanted her to fall for him, he had to get closer to her little by little, as if she was a little bird who would fly away at the slightest sudden movement. Then, little by little, he had found a way to her heart and thoughts; as a classmate, and now as a friend. He didn't have to ruin it, he had to be careful.
Maybe that was why she had gotten so mad. Because of that comment. Well, it had disturbed her, at least. James reminded how she had blushed. He also reminded he had been about to kiss her or, at least, thinking that if he only leant a little, his mouth would brush the redhead's. Maybe Lily had seen his intentions and that was why she had pulled away. Or maybe it was the unfortunate question he had let out then; "Is that a blush?". Well, yes, pillock, you're seeing it, it is a blush. What do you win by asking? Bothering her? Showing her up? What a prick. It hadn't been an offensive question, but he was sure it had sounded slightly arrogant when he said it, and he knew very well that he had to try that his head at least seemed a little smaller when she was around. Besides, even if all that wasn't a valid reason for getting mad, he had to remember that Lily was… quite sensitive regarding anything involving James. It was like she was expecting him to cock it up somehow. Like she was expecting him to dissapoint her, to do something wrong that justified her qualms, or the caution sh always hada round him. James frowned when he thought about it, slightly irritated. He would proove to her that he wouldn't cock it up this time.
He was surprised to notice they were already at the ground floor.
"Uhm," he said, looking at Lily. He noticed that each time he laid his eyes on her, he stared at her for longer than he should, but Merlin, she was gorgeous, and that little green dress …
"Sirius?" she reminded him with a soft laughter. This time it did sound natural. Maybe she wasn't mad anymore. He forced himself to look at her in the eye, though it probably wasn't a great idea, because was captivated by them. Lily cleared her throat, uncomfortable, and James looked away.
Merlin's sake, she'll think you're a retarded troll.
"Yeah! Right," he said, motioning towards the kitchen. "Right, you were gonna say hi to Sirius"
Lily followed him as James insulted himself mentally. When they were closed to the kitchen, they heard two voices: Sirius unmistakable barking and a woman's voice.
They entered the kitchen and Lily was surprised to see the grey-eyed boy joking with an elderly woman of white hair, neatly tied on the top of her head. They turned around when they heard them enter, and Sirius exclaimed with exaggerated effusiveness:
"Redhead! Long time no see," he opened his arms as if the girl were to run and throw herself into his arms. Instead, she raised an eyebrow and laughed. "Nice legs, girl." He said, and Lily blushed. The woman next to him laughed, hiting him lovingly on the head with a wooden spoon. She had a nice laughter, deep but feminine, and the wrinkles around her eyes and mouth when she smiled only accentuated her particular beauty. She looked at Sirius lovingly, as if he was her son, and he smiled back, winking.
"Uhm, mum, this is Lily, Lily Evans," said James, who seemed quite uncomfortable. He didn't expect to introduce her to her mother until later, and he hadn't mentally prepared yet. He just hoped his mother wouldn't show him up, though he suspected his father had already done it for her. "Lily, this is my mother."
The redhead smiled at the woman, who smiled back widely at her. All of her face lit up when she smiled. Lily noticed her lively hazel eyes shining with interest when she heard her name. They were identical to James', and although she looked quite elderly (the boy's parents had probably had him when they were older), when you looked at her in the eye, it felt like you were looking at a twenty-year-old.
"Nice to meet you at last, Lily," she told her. She didn't miss the 'at last' and James didn't either, looking at his mother with a frown. "I love your dress," she commented with her deep voice.
She was a really refined woman, of delicate movements and exquisite manners. For a moment, Lily wondered how could she stand James' father, and she quickly came to the conclusión that Mrs Potter had an excellent sense of humor.
"Yeah, redhead, good to see you show off your body," Sirius added, raising his eyebrows. James looked at him with an expression that clearly said take-your-eyes-away-from-Lily-or-I'll-rip-them-off, but Mrs Potter laughed jovially. Lily rolled her eyes at the boy and addressed the woman
"Nice to meet you, Mrs Potter. You have a beautiful house." She said politely. The woman smiled and her face was full of life.
Lily observed the woman was very, very thin. Then she remembered what James had told her once about his mother being sick. She felt a hole in her stomach as she remembered: she had never asked the boy about her mother after that one time in the Atronomy Tower. He had always worried so much about her father and his death, and she hadn't had the decency of asking about his mother's health.
"Thank you, Lily; it has belonged to my husband's family for so long, but I've redecorated it myself when he married. It was a little …"
"Like my parents house," Sirius laughed, getting stealthily closer to the pot. The woman threatened him with the wand and Sirius pulled his puppy face, making everyone laugh.
"Well, yes. It was decorated in such an antique way… And of course I wouldn't have let the decoration in his hands" she said, making a gesture with the spoon towards the yard. Even if the way she talked was as refined as herself, she sounded as jolly as her husband. "He would have been able of transforming the whole place into some kind of prank He is just like James," she said with loving frustration, and her son smiled at her.
"I hope he hasn't bothered you too much while he showed you the house," she commented, looking at her son with reproach.
"Oh, not at all," Lily answered, laughing "It's been quite entertaining." The woman smiled
"Good. You should come here more often, James has been extremely helpful today," she commented. Sirius chuckled.
"I'm always-" James started, but the woman kept talking.
"Even though I've had to make him take off those nice gloves he got for Christmas. I have the impression that, if I had let him, he would still be wearing them."
Sirius burst out laughing and Lily went beet-red, though at least the woman had the tact of not showing she knew it was her who had given him the gloves; Mr Potter would have joked about it. She looked at James out of the corner of her eye: he was as red as her. Sirius kept laughing, and James approached to him and smacked him on the nape.
"Boys…" said the woman reproachfully. Lily, still red, smiled. It was nice to see James and Sirius like that, as brothers. That's what they were.
Right then, they heard a muffled knock upstairs and the woman frowned looking at her son:
"James, you told your friend she must clarify she wants to end in the living room's fireplace, right?" The boy looked at Sirius, who hit his forehead with his hand.
"I completely forgot!" he said, and ran upstairs, followed by James.
The redhead looked at the woman questioningly, and she said:
"There are two fireplaces in the house, and for some reason, if you don't say where do you want to end, the floo networks takes you to the one upstairs instead of to the living room," she explained, and the girl nodded.
Lily noticed she was alone with Mrs Potter and shifted on her place, uncomfortable, but the woman smiled warmly.
She looked more like James than she had thought at first; besides their eyes, he had the same smile as her, the same cheekbones, and even though James' jaw line was stronger and more masculine, she could see a trace of it in his mother's. And there was also a certain… quality, though Lily couldn't really tell what it was. It was easy to tell how he resembled his father, beyond the physical appearance: they were both hardened pranksters and had that aura of joviality and mischievousness; but in the case of his mother, it was something more… indescribable. Mostly it had to do with their eyes and the way they looked at people; in a scrutinizing, but warm way. You felt protected, comfortable, you wanted to be around them.
"James was right when he said how pretty you were," she told her, and Lily blushed, though she noticed that the woman didn't mean to bother her, like her husband had done.
"Thank you," she said timidly. Why did it feel like she was meeting her mother-in-law or something? Merlin! And having thought of that was even worse.
The girl looked at the pot on the fire with interest and asked with admiration:
"You've cooked all the food for tonight on your own?" The woman smiled, and the deep laughter made Lily feel comfortable.
"Oh,my husband and the boys have helped me (yes, imagine Sirius and James in aprons. But don't tell them I told you), but yes, I've done pretty much on my own. It's not a big deal, just snacks, this and that…"
Lily smiled and asked:
"So, how's that of James and Sirius in aprons?" they both laughed and begun chatting animatedly as they waited for the rest to arrive, feeling at ease with each other really soon.
Like Lily had assumed, the woman had an excellent sense of humor, and that was why she got along so well with Mr Potter, despite she seemed so much serious than him. By talking to her, the girl knew that if it hadn't been for her jollity and character, she would have succumbed to the illness that had gotten her so thin and made her hands shake slightly sometimes. She was a strong, smart woman, and the girl thought that if James' father was as brave and noble as he had heard the boy say, she knew where James' ideals and values had came from. Besides, it was clear that she adored her son, and the redhead begun to understand where all of James' ego and his king-of-the-world pretensions came from.
"So, Lily," said the woman in a secretive tone after they had already talked for a while (for some reason, the rest of them hadn't come back yet) "This girl, Brianna, she's a friend of yours, right?"
Lily nodded.
"Tell me: Sirius and her… are they together?" Lily smiled sideways: the boy probably talked nonstop about the sweet Bree.
"Not really, no" she said, and the woman looked dissapointed "Though Bree is head over heels for Sirius," she confessed, and the woman smiled widely "And I think Sirius is too." Mrs Potter nodded, thoughtfull.
"I think so too." She stated when her son, the grey-eyed boy and a curly haired, big-eyed girl entered the kitchen.
"This is Bree," said Sirius, pushing her comically by her shoulders and dragging her towards Mrs Potter, who laughed "This is James' mother"
"Nice to meet you, honey," She greeted her, giving the shy girl one of her warm smiles that Bree gave him back with enthusiasm.
"Nice to meet you, Mrs Potter," she said, shaking her hand and then adding ceremoniously; "Congratulations,"
That seemed to surprise the woman and the two boys, though Lily saw the mischievous, slightly irritated spark in her friend's eyes.
"What for?" Mrs Potter asked. Bree gave her an innocent, adorable smile.
"Oh, you know, standing these two insufferable bigheads during all summer, and besides during the winter holidays, it's actually worthy of admiration." The woman burst out laughing and Lily smiled.
"Well, you have to stand them during the rest of the year," Mrs Potter commented.
Sirius and James had bothered Bree all the way to the kitchen because of how frenzy she had gottten when she had noticed her dress and hair were covered by a thin layer of ashes. She had ruffled her curls and shook her clothes, squealing that she couldn't look like that when she met James' parents.
"No, really," Bree murmured when the two boys were busy arguing with Lily, who had brought up the aprons topic. "It's admirable. And I'm thankful."
Somehow, the woman knew she was taking about Sirius and the fact they had welcomed him to their house and made him their son. Bree's words completely touched her and she knew Sirius had chosen well, just as James.
"Well, see you later, mum," said the boy, adjusting his glasses and walking towards the kitchen's door, followed by Sirius, who blew a kiss to his friend's mother, who looked at him with motherly reproach.
"Do you need any help?" Bree and Lily asked in unison, but Mrs Potter shook her head, telling them to follow Sirius and James.
"I'll call you if I need you. Make sure my boys behave properly, yes?" The girls nodded, laughing, and followed the marauders.
James offered Bree a tour around the house, but as Lily had already seen it, she declined the offer, saying they could show it to her later.
"Why don't we go outside for a while?" Sirius suggested "It's stopped snowing. We could fly for som-"
"No flying." Lily cut him across emphatically, and Bree let out a guffaw at her friend's reluctance to ride a broom since their first year.
"Besides we're wearing dresses, Sirius, it wouldn't be the most comfortable thing to do," she commented. Sirius and James smiled maliciously.
"Well, the whole point was to see your undies," said the boy, his grey-eyes shining amused. Bree went red as Lily's hair, and the redhead glared at James instead of at Sirius.
"No, seriously, you could come see the back yard. It's quite pretty even in winter; most plants survive the cold weather and they look gorgeous covered in snow." Said the boy, messing up his hair and trying to pacify his friends.
"Good idea, though we'll need the coats." Said Lily. Her friend was still wearing hers, but she accompanied the rest of them to the cloakroom were they wrapped into their coats and puto n their gloves and scarves.
They followed the boys to the yard, and when they went out they both let out surprised 'ohhh's. James was right: it was so pretty! However, they didn't admire it for too long, because minutes later, a huge snowball smashed against one side of Brianna's head, covering her dark curls wih little white dots.
Sirius burst out laughing at his friend's perplexed expression, but laughter didn't last long, as a snowball hit him right on the face. Lily smiled angelically as the boy spitted snow, and this time it was Bree the one laughing, congratulating her friend, who soon received two snowballs from James and Sirius.
Shortly after they were completely wet, running around the yard like children, dodging snowballs and throwing projectiles to the rest, though the girls' dresses didn't make it easy. James and Bree were the ones with the better aim, so soon Lily and Sirius allied against the other two.
"It's freeeezing" Bree was screaming. Sirius had gotten to make her fall, and had started tucking snow into her coat. "Jaaaaames!"
But her team mate was too busy chasing Lily, who screamed waving her arms in the air, trying to escape from the dark-haired boy, who was really fast.
"Gotcha!" He exclaimed with triumph when he seized Lily's hood, but right then, he tripped, losing his glasses and falling, dragging the redhead with him.
James felt the girl's body under his, and he quickly rolled on the snow, fearing he could hurt her. However, their limbs were so tangled that Lily rolled with him, ending up laying on his chest. For a second he went stiff, feeling the girl's weight on him, and it took his eyes some seconds to focus hers. Her face was the only thing that didn't look like a blur. Her eyes were wide open in surprise, her mouth parted, and the boy noticed she had no freckles, like he had always assumed happened in winter. James thanked they were wearing so many clothes, because if apart from feeling her soft breath and the caresses from her red hair on his face, he would have been feeling the girl's curves against his chest, he would have lost it.
Lily's breath stopped only for a second when, as they rolled, she ended up on James' chest. She had got up a little, her hands on him, and she had looked up to his face, were a couple of short-sighted eyes with no glasses narrowed a bit, and then opened wide when noticing her proximity. She felt his breath warming up her cold face, and her gaze was lost into those hazel eyes which looked at her with an intensity unknown for her. If she hadn't stopped looking at them, maybe she would have kissed him, but her eyes looked away from them for a second, looking for James' mouth, and it was then when she realized what was going on.
The way she jump then would have been envied by any basketball player, and her squeal was accompanied by James' cry of pain.
Lily stood up, her eyes wide open, yelling:
"I'm sorry!"
James grabbed his crotch, squirming on the ground with moans of pain while Sirius and Bree laughed their arses off, a few feet away from them.
"James, I'm sorry!" the redhead repeated, but the boy was only capable of uttering words that made no sense.
"With… Knee… Hurts… Ouch." Brianna was grabbing her stomach, bending on it, and Sirius had fallen to the floor, clapping with his glove-clad hands.
Only when James was able to stand up, with tears in his eyes, his friends stopped laughing and Bree handed him the glasses she had found a few feet from her.
"I'm sorry." Lily repeated, worried, and Sirius chuckled again, but shut up at the look his friend gave him.
"Don't worry," said the boy, waving its importance away with his hand, although when he walked, you could tell he was still in pain. When their eyes met, Lily rekindled the fall and the minutes she had laid on his chest. Why the hell hadn't she moved away?
Sirius glanced at Bree's wrist-watch and commented:
"We should go in. In a while, the guests will be arriving and you'll probably want to take a hot shower," he commented, remembering with guilt that his friends were wearing dresses and their legs were uncovered despite the coats.
As if she had been waiting for Sirius to say it, Lily sneezed and Bree followed her lead. James looked at the redhead with guilt.
"Yeah, we should better go in."
"I'm gonna put my coat away," said Lily, quickly entering the house without waiting up for the others.
James let out a frustrated sigh and felt like screaming, but Bree approached to him and pinched his arm while Sirius walked to his side and patted his back. He sighed again and headed with the rest of them to the cloakroom, but when they entered it, they didn't find Lily there.
"She must have gotten lost," Sirius deduced, after calling her out a couple of time in case she was lost inside the cupboard among the coats.
"Take Bree to our room so she can have a shower, I'll go look for Lily."
Sirius nodded, puting his arm around his friend's shoulder and guiding her upstairs, looking out of the corner of his eye at the nice, strappless plum dress she uncovered after taking off her coat.
"Tell me, what have you been up to?" asked the boy. Bree begun telling him about the previous days, and Sirius watched her talk, playing absentmindedly with her curls.
When he had seen her come out of the fireplace covered in ashes, Sirius had realized he had missed her even more than he had thought, and each time he looked at her he felt a pinch of happiness. That pretty face of slightly dark complexion made him want to hug her, protect her, kiss her curls… and lips. Sirius watched her attentively: to him, Bree was so beautiful and stunning, but if he observed her carefully, he saw that she probably wasn't the stereotype of beauty. To someone who didn't know her, maybe Brianna wasn't that appealing, or didn't look at all that interesting, despite her round, dark-blue eyes. But the grey-eyed boy realized that, to him, she was the most beautiful girl he had ever met. With her dark, bouncing curls, her small nose and tiny pink mouth, her large, scrutinizing eyes and her shy smiles; her bubbly laughter, her concerned frown, her wrinkled nose when she complained; her little body, her narrow shoulders, her tight waist and her chest, only slightly bulky… The way she worried about him, scolding him when he did something he shouldn't have, offering her advise if needed, taking his hand silently if she knew it was the best for him. She always seemed to know what was best for him, and he was a better person thanks to Bree.
Why couldn't he pluck up the courage to tell her what he really felt for her?
"Sirius?" The black-haired boy gave a start when he heard his name "Are you listening?" She frowned like she always did, and he smiled.
"Of course, Nana, I've only gotten distracted for a minute," he said. She didn't seem to believe him, and her eyes shone with concern; when Sirius became lost in thought like that, he was usually thinking about his family. The boy noticed what she was thinking in, so he pulled her closer to him and kissed her nose. "I'm fine, seriously."
Bree watched him carefully and Sirius pulled a bored expression, but the girl seemed to decide he wasn't lying, so she stood on her toe tips and kissed his cheek. Then Sirius lifted her over his shoulders and, laughing, took her to his room, dropping he ron one of the beds. When he did, Bree pulled his arm and he fell too, laughing.
Sirius shifted a bit until he laid next to her, both of them facing the ceiling with their hair sprawled on the bed. They remained silent, and the awareness of Sirius' proximity raced Bree's heart.
For her, it was clear that she was in love with him. He was handsome, yes, and a lot, but that could have been answered by any student at Hogwarts; that silky, dark hair; those unique features, the dazzling smile and the mysterious grey eyes. Of course he was handsome. But Sirius was much more than that. He was brave and smart, though also impulsive and a tad reckless. He was fun and knew to make fun of himself, but was also understanding and very sweet. But, above all else, he was loyal. And he was her best friend.
She gave a start when she felt Sirius hand entwined hers and toyed with her fingers, and when she turned her head she saw he was looking down to their hands. Then he looked up and their eyes met, very, very close.
For just a moment, and maybe for the first time since she knew about her own feelings, Bree wondered if Sirius wouldn't feel the same. But then he stood up, letting her hand go, and Bree's heart shrunk a little. She sat, slightly stunned, while the boy came back from the bathroom holding some towels.
"You can have a shower if you want," he said, giving her the towels. "We still have a good while until the guests arrive, so you can warm up a little. I'll be downstairs helping James' mum, but he'll probably bring Lily over here soon."
Brianna nodded, smiling a little, taking the towels and locking herself in the bathroom with a lump in her throat.
…
It didn't take long until Lily noticed she had took the wrong turn. She tried to go back, but the Potters' house had too many corridors and soon, she got lost. Resigned, she dropped herself on a bench against a wall, waiting for her friends to find her.
How silly of her, running away like that… it was just that feeling what she felt when she looked at James in the eye, being so close to him; it had scared her. It was the second time she found herself in the same situation; closer to James that she should have been, and wanting him to kiss her. It was extremely hard for her to acknowledge that in her thoughts. She had been wanting him to kiss her. She remembered when, back in his room, he had told her how all Potter men had a thing for redheads. He remembered everything James' parents had told her about how he talked about her, and she remembered all the flatteries he usually let out. Maybe James did fancy her. Her mind went back to James' room, and she blushed again when she reminded how close his lips had been. If he would have just leant a little… but he hadn't, and she had gotten into a huff. Now she realized about it: that had been the reason she had pulled away so abruptly. Partly, she had gotten mad because he hadn't kissed her, and partly, she had gotten mad for wishing so badly that he did. Pulling away had been the most sensible thing to do, or she might have ended up doing she would have regretted.
And now, when finally everything had went back to normal, she had found herself really, really close to him again, and he had looked at her in a way no one had before. And she had yearned for his lips again. Why everything had to be so complicated? With the effort hey had put into being friends, now her stupid feelings were getting in the way to ruin everything. She had to stop thinking about kissing James, and stop wondering how it would feel having his arms around her, his solid chest against her cheek. Merlin! Stop thinking about Potter that way, she told herself..
"Lily."
The girl gave a start and when she looked up, her eyes met James'. She blushed, as if somehow the boy could know what she had been thinking about.
"James. You scared me," she said, smilign a little and sneezing loudly. "I got lost." The boy laughed, offering her a hand to help her standing up.
"I figured," he commented, leading her to the cloakroom "It's normal, these corridors are a tad confusing for those who don't know the house."
He didn't say a thing about the way Lily had ran away from the garden, and she was infinitely thankful.
"Thanks," she said once they had already hung her coat. James smiled, winking, and headed to the stairscase.
"I guess Bree must be in the shower. We still have half an hour; we'll be waiting for you downstairs." He said.
"You won't have a shower?" The redhead asked when they were already arriving to the room.
"I'm not cold. You must have frozen out there." He said, looking at Lily's legs with guilt. She sneezed again, he looked at her with concer and she smiled.
"Don't worry, it's nothing." She said, entering the room, where the bathroom door was open. "Thanks for letting us use your shower."
"We'll be waiting for you downstairs," James repeated, making a gesture towards the stairs and waving at her before closing the door.
"Bree," Lily called her, and a curly head popped out of the bathroom.
"I'm done, you can come in," she was already dressed again and her nose had gone back to its usual tone. "It really does good, a hot shower. I've waterprooved my hair so that it wouldnt' get wet."
"Good idea, would you wait for me? It won't take long." Then she looked at her more attentively and frowned. "You okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, it's nothing. I wait here."
…
After changing, when he arrived at the ground floor, he found Sirius dressed in suit moving furniture around with his father, and he got ready to help. When he noticed James lost gaze and the odd expression in his face, the dark-haired, grey-eyed boy approached to him with concern.
"James, what's wrong?"
"Lily's naked in my shower." He said flatly, making his friend burst out laughing.
Shortly afterwards, when almost everything was ready, Lily and Bree went down the stairs, laughing at the flattering whistles from thei friends, and headed to the kitchen to help Mrs Potter with the last minute preparations, and finally joined Sirius and James.
Soon, the guests begun to arrive: men, women, couples of all ages who knew the Potters from this or that. Women were clad with the most eccentric dresses; some of them looked as good as Lily or Bree, while some others aroused the gossips from the older women and laughter from Sirius and James (like that great aunt of the boy who arrived with a fuchsia sequined dress that was so tight it made her look like a sausage about to blow up). Men, mostly, wore sober dress robes, thought the youngest had opted for muggle suits or tuxedos.
The place was soon filled with the sound of laughter and conversations, apart from the soft music played by the band the Potters had hired. The elderly were sitting on tables arranged at one side of the room, while the rest opted to remain standing, serving themselves with the snacks provided by trays which floated by themselves around the house.
Close to the entrance, the four Gryffindors chatted animatedly.
"Promise," Bree was saying, pointing at Sirius with a finger.
"Fine," he said, rolling his eyes and then saying in unison with Hames "We promise we won't put naik-growing potion in other people's drinks."
"Unless my aunt Helen pinchs me again," James added with a grimace. Everyone else laughed, remembering the fat woman trying her nephew as if he was still five years old, pinching his cheeks and talking in a baby voice.
"Merlin's sake, look at that one," said Sirius when a black-haired woman in her thirties, with too much make up on her, passed next to them. She was wearing a low-cut, dark dress with sheer sleeves and a long train that extended a few feet behind her.
"Looks like Morticia Addams," Lily commented, accepting the glass of champagne that the floating tray was offering. The rest of them look at her without understanding.
"Whom?" asked Sirius, shaking his head at the tray and pointing at the egg-nogg glass he was holding, as if the object could see him.
"Never mind," she murmured, paying attention at what her friend was indicating her by elbowing her.
A young blonde man who was in his twenties, tall and athletic, was chatting with James' father on the other side of the room. When he noticed they were looking at him, he winked one of his green eyes and kept taling.
The giggles that Bree and Lily let go were so unlike them that their friends raised their eyebrows. When he realized what they were looking at, Sirius exclaimed with surprise:
"You like that dork?"
"Who is him?" Lily asked, still looking at him.
"An arse." James answred, but at the same time, Bree reminded her:
"He was Gryffindor's Head Boy when we were first-years. Now he's a recognized businessman, very successful considering he's so young."
"Prick." Sirius murmured as Lili said:
"Oh, impressive."
"For Merlin's sake, with that pillock face he has!" James exclaimed, exasperated, and his friend backed him up:
"No, seriously, he's an arse and a big-head."
"Well, no one said we were actually meaning to go there and talk to him," the redhead replied with an eyebrow raised and an amused expression.
"But looking doesn't hurt anyone," Bree added, laughing. By their friends' faces, the brunette had a clear idea of who might be the victim for the nail-growing potion that night.
"I think Becca is a bad influence for you." James sentenced, making the girls laugh.
They chatted for a while, laughing at the guests and even doing impressions of them (Bree turned out to have a natural talent for it). Sirius made everyone laugh approaching the band and singing carols with them. When the music became livelier, he went back to his friends:
"C'me on, redhead," Sirius sad, leaving his glass and hers on a tray that passed by "Let's move that legs of yours." She said, pulling her by her hand and taking her to the center of the room as James and Brianna laughed.
"What's this all about?" Lily asked, laughing as she followed him
"Can't I spend some quality time with my favorite redhead and future sister-in-law?"
She didn't have time to roll her eyes at him, because the boy begun making her twirl around the place in front of the amused guests. Some of the younger ones followed their example and started dancing, and even some of the older people did it too.
"Y'know, Sirius? You're not bad at dancing." She commented after a while. The boy smiled showing two rows of white teeth and raised his eyebrows in an extremely arrogant expression.
"I do everything well, redhead."
"Bighead."
"Hey, not as well as I, Padfoot." Yelled James, who had approached dancing with Bree after almost all of the guests had joined their friends.
They laughed and danced for a while, and the truth was that they were quite good (and for their extreme pleasure, they both clearly surpassed the twentyish blonde who was so good looking but seemed to have two left feet).
"So that Bree had a chance of dancing with the best as well, why don't we change partners, Prongs?" Sirius commented, winking at Lily and approaching his friend.
James opened his mouth to answer, but right then, the music stopped and an extremely fat man, whose red face indicated he had drunk too much, suggested a toast, primping his moustache and puting an arm around James' mother's shoulders as she looked at him reproachfully.
Following Mr Potter's instructions, a new flock of trays filled the place, offering an sparkling beverage dyed in green and red.
"Ohhh, how nice!" Lily exclaimed, looking at it curiously among the people yelling Happy Christmas at each other. James leant a little, getting closer to her ear so she could hear.
"It's an irish cocktail," he said, yelling a little. Lily took a sip, and he kept saying "It's made out of-" He cut himself short, looking up with an indecipherable expression on his face. He seemed to hesitate for a second and then, resigned, quickly grabbed the redhead by her shoulders and moved aside, dragging her with him.
"James, wha-? Oh!" Lily's exclamation accompanied Bree's, who, moving a few steps to her left with Sirius was now in the place her friend had been a second ago.
The brunette and the boy were standing in front of each other, like they were a few minutes ago, only they were much closer now, wrapped in something that preventing them from moving. The long and shiny branches that seized them like tentacles seemed to be coming out of a small and familiar plant floating over them.
"Mistletoe." Lily murmured when she saw it.
"Magical mistletoe," The dark-haired boy clarified, messing up his hair. "They've been years since they had last released it for Christmas…"
"Mágical? You mean it won't let them go until they kiss?" she asked; she had never heard of it. James nodded looking at his friend, still doubting if moving Lily away from the mistletoe had been the right thing to do.
The guests who were close to them begun laughing, cheering the 'couple'. Lily and James looked at each other; they couldn't know what was going on between Sirius and Bree, but whatever happened that night might change the relationship between both of them.
Then Sirius leant and kissed her on the lips, and everyone burst out clapping as the mistletoe released them and floated away, looking for its next victim. People suddently lost interest, moving away from the couple. Lily was about to approach to her friends, but James grabbed her wrist.
"I think we should better leave them alone," he said, smiling a little. "The magical mistletoe settles for a kiss on the cheek, y'know?"
"Oh, yeah? I didn't know that." She answered, understanding why was James suggesting they should leave Bree and Sirius on their own.
"Well, Sirius did." He added, raising his eyebrows and taking her hand. "Let's go, and I'll show you how beautiful looks the front yard with the Christmas lights."
The redhead nodded and followed him.
…
At first, when she felt something pushing her until it squeezed her against the boy's chest, she hadn't understood what was going on. Then she had looked up, recognizing the magical mistletoe, common custom in Christmas parties, and she had felt her face going beet-red. She had looked down to the boy, and her heart had raced as she looked into those grey eyes which always had so much to say and hide. Her hands were on his chest, though she didn't remember putting them there, and their bodies were glued together in a way they had never been. Then she had realized that if he only kissed her cheek, the mistletoe would let them go, but her heart's rhythm hadn't reduced; it wouldn't happen while she still had her blue eyes fixed on his. She had felt his warm breath on her face when he let out a soft laughter, so close to her, before saying:
"Well…" And he had leant towards her.
But he hadn't kissed her cheek, like she was expecting, instead, he had held her face with one hand and their lips had met. It was a brief kiss, but she felt as if she was floating, being only vaguely aware that the mistletoe was releasing them.
She didn't pay attention to the rest, and she didn't know what they were yelling, just as she didn't hear whatever Sirius had told her after letting her face go. She was dazed, like in a dream. She tried top ay attention to the boy, who was addresing her again:
"Ouch, I think we should better get going," He said, seizing her wrist and dragging her towards the crowd. She caught a glimpse of the former Gryffindor Head Boy walking angrily towards them, his blonde hair dyed in a strange shade of purple.
Sirius laughter filled the empty kitchen and she watched him as the boy sat carelessly over the countertop.
"Oh, such a shame Prongs didn't see it," he was saying, still laughing. "It's been his idea." Bree tried to look at him reproachfully, but her half smile ruined the effect, and she approached to him when the grey-eyed boy patted the marble next to him. "C'me on, Nana."
The girl sat next to him, her curls bouncing as she tried to get up there.
"He's known it was us 'cause we did him the same thing on our first year," Sirius was saying with the same easygoing attitude he always had. Brianna, however, was slightly cohabited, and the happiness that had invaded her for a moment, under the mistletoe, was dyed by the fact was acting like he hadn't been there. She frowned a little, but her friend didn't notice. "We've thought it was a good idea to try again, y'know, remind ol' times…"
She let him talk, her frown deeper and deeper. She was sure Sirius knew too that the mistletoe would free them after a simple kiss on the cheek, but he had chosen to kiss her on the mouth and now was acting like nothing had happened.
"Sirius?" she murmured, interrupting him.
"Yeah?" The dark-haired boy answered absently, laying back.
"Don't you think we should talk 'bout it?" She asked, somehow timidly. The boy looked at her puzzled, and she felt her happiness fading away as quick as it had arrived.
"Whatcha talking 'bout?" He was either making it hard for her, or she had misinterpreted the whole thing.
"Why have you kissed me? In the mouth?" she asked. As shy as she was, it had been too hard for her to make that question, but the boy waved the importance put of it with a hand gesture, and a bitter feeling flooded her.
"Oh, it's been nothing," he commented, and Bree's heart shattered into a thousand pieces, but Sirius didn't seem to notice "We were just having fun…"
She nodded.
"Right. It hasn't meant anything." She stated bitterly.
"It hasn't meant anything." He repeated.
She looked at him in the eye and realized with surprise that Sirius wasn't as indifferent about it as he had pretended to be, and that enraged her. If he really had no idea of what Bree felt for him, if that kiss had really been nothing, and if the boy was really taking the whole thing lightly, she would have been able of forgiving him, because it would have meant that he didn't feel anything more for her other than a friendship, and that he hadn't thought he could her hurt either, or that he was playing with her feelings; it would have just been a naïve kiss between friends. But when she had looked into his eyes, she had realized none of that was true. He knew what she felt for him, and he had kissed her anyway. Any explanation for his behavior made her mad, no matter which one was true: if he didn't feel anything for her, Bree would get mad, because he had kissed her despite it, aware that he could hurt her; if he didn't know what he really felt and regretted kissing her, Bree would get mad, because he had played with her feelings. And if Sirius felt something for her and had kissed her aware of that, Bree would get mad, because faking like he was doing then, he was being a complete coward.
Whatever it was the reason why he had kissed her, he was being a coward now, not admitting what had happened between them, and not explaining to Brianna what had all that been about.
She jumped off the countertop and turned to him, rage visible in her face. When she looked at him in the eye again, she saw surprise, but also guilt, which deepened her frown.
"I would have never thought I would say Sirius Black is a coward." She said calmly, turning around and leaving the place.
Sirius sat there, stunned at her reaction, observing the door through which his best friend had just left. He tried to remember what had gone through his mind when he kissed her…
It had taken him less than a second to recognize the magical mistletoe that had joined them in that intímate hug, a hug he had been wishing to share with Bree for so long. He had felt the pressure of her hands on his chest, her curls tickling his chin before she looked up. He had felt so at ease with the warmth of her body against his… She had looked up, looking at him with those round, dark, innocent eyes, and he had felt the impulse of hugging her even tighter. He had noticed her blush and her nervousness, letting out an amused guffaw because of the situation they were in. Then he had decided to kiss her on the cheek and let her go, but when he had leant, he had held her face and kissed her on the mouth.
The taste of her lips still burnt his mind and mouth.
But he had had to pull away. No, he hadn't had to, he had wanted to. What he couldn't figure out was why.
He wasn't sure what had made him act that way, not only pulling away, but also ignoring all that had happened, trying to be casual. But she hadn't let it go, and he had gone even further; he had pretended he didn't know what the hell was Bree talking about. He had been an arse.
Brianna had probably felt humiliated and hurt, and she was right to be mad. Why had he acted like that? He was looking for a logical reason but couldn't find it. It had been his choice to do what he had done, and however, it wasn't what he wanted. He wanted her, Bree, he wanted to hold her in his arms and keep kissing her.
And that scared him. Bree was right, he was a bloody coward.
He jumped off the counter in order to find his friend, but as soon as he entered the hall, he found a completely different atmosphere. He watched the faces and saw concern and warning in them, and noticed how a lot of them were running through the door or dissapparating out of there. He wanted to look for Bree; he didn't know what was going on, but it couldn't be good and sh was alone. He run through the frenzied guests looking for Bree, for the Potters, for anyone who could explain what was going on… He bumped into someone.
…
"You were right, James!" Lily exclaimed, going down the entrance steps with a smile. The boy was still holding her hand, but she didn't raise any objections. "It's beautiful."
"Told you" he said, smiling, letting her hand go and sitting on a step.
She remained standing for a momento, admiring the tiny lights decorating the entrance.
"It's as if the snow was glowing…" she whispered, sitting next to James. "It's so pretty…"
The dark-haired boy observed her, trying not to be caught. She was so gorgeous it was breathtaking. He saw her look up to the moon.
"It won't be long until the full moon…" she commented, and James nodded. Only a minute later, he understood what she meant to imply and looked at her, intrigued. She didn't look away from the sky as she said:
"I know. About Remus, I… Anyway, I would never say anything to anyone." Despite his initial surprised, James smiled sweetly.
"I know."
They remained silent for a few minutes, and although they couldn't have known, they were both thinking about the same thing; how surreal the situation was… no one who couldn't see it would believe it, Lily and James sitting together, chatting like friends in front of a nice, Christmassy landscape.
"Thanks for moving me away from the mistletoe," Lily said softly.
"You're welcome. I…am sorry about today… I didn't mean to-"
"Don't worry," she interrupted him with a soft laughter. "It was my fault too. I shouldn't have gotten mad."
She turned to him and fixed her large green eyes on him, and James ruffled his hair.
"Thank you for… for everything. For inviting me over today, for… everything." She said, smiling as she did so. She was trying to thank him for worrying about her so much all the time, for trying to make her laugh, for having… changed for her. The boy smiled back.
"You don't have to thank me. I've had a great time with you," he answered with all the honesty in the world, and she smiled radiantly, looking back at the landscape as he messed up his hair again.
Lily looked at him out of the corner of her eye.
"Can I confess something?" she asked and James looked at her with intrigue. "It doesn't really bother me."
"What?"
"You messing up your hair."
James laughed, and she laughed with him. They went silent again, and the dark-haired boy was surprised to feel Lily's head on his shoulder, her soft perfume flooding his nose.
The truth was that she had done it without thinking, it had been a completely spontaneous gesture, and when she noticed it, she decided not to move away. It felt nice.
James puta n arma round her shoulders, and she didn't pull away either.
"What's that?" Lily asked suddenly, raising her head from his shoulder, and he dropped his arm. His eyes followed the redhead's gaze, trying to discern the green figure shining in the distance. The girl's gasp made him understand.
"The Dark Mark!" she screamed, terrified.
The Potters' house was placed in the outskirts of Godric's Hollow, and the attack had clearly been in the town. He had to get Lily somewhere safe.
"Go inside, Lily." He said firmly. She stood up, pulling his arm.
"You think I'm leaving you out here, alone? You're so insane you might go over there! It would be suicide."
She was right, and besides, he could tell how nervous she was, and he thought it would be better to walk her in. He held her hand and pulled her towards the house, and when they entered, he knew the rest of them had seen it too. Some were running, some others were getting together to decide on what to do.
He bumped into someone. Sirius.
"James! What's happened?"
"Death Eaters down at the town! Find Bree and go to our room. Go with Lily. I'll see if my parents need help."
He was already running before finishing the sentence, because he had seen his mother giving instructions to a group of people. When he got there, he saw his father.
"Dad, what's-?"
"They've attacked some of the muggle homes. It's very likely that they've murdered some of them." The man answered. "They've set part of the town on fire, your mother's going with some men and women searching for victims. We believe they're gone, but some of us are going over there to help, at least until the Aurors arrive."
"I'm coming with you."
"No." The man stated, so firmly that his son didn't argue. "The ones who aren't staying have already dissapparated, we're trying to organize the rest of us. Don't let your friends leave the house, the town isn't safe. They could use the floo network, but it'll be better if they stay, we don't know if it's been the only attack, and they better not leave alone if they don't know their houses are safe. Ours is protected, you know that."
James nodded and ran upstairs, hoping his friends were there. They weren't in his room, and he was already leaving to look for them when Sirius entered with the two girls, who seemed rather frightened.
"My father's told me that, as you can't apparate, you should better stay here. They could barely hear noises coming from lower floors, so he assumed almost everyone was already gone. "It's safer."
They both nodded, and the redhead asked:
"Can I borrow an owl, James? My mother is gonna worry…"
"I'll bring it. Could you take them to the other room, Padfoot?" the boy nodded, making a head movement to the girls, who followed him.
In silence, Sirius made the beds with a wand flick. Lily noticed that Bree made sure not to look at him, but she didn't think it was the right time to talk about it. Shortly afterwards, James arrived with a piece of parchment, a featherquill and a nice brown owl. While the redhead wrote, he seemed to remember something and, waving his wand murmured Accio. Instantly, two pyjamas arrived floating to the room.
"Here you go," he said, giving them to the girls. "You'll be alright?" They both nodded, too worried to speak.
Sirius followed his friend towards their room, undressing without a word, and James did the same.
The four of them got into their beds in silence, but sleep would take a long time to arrive.
…
Lily hugged her body; she wasn't cold, but she shivered as she looked through the window and thought about what had happened so close from there, and about what was going on in the wizarding world. She feared for her friends and for herself, but also for her parents. What would happen if they got to them? What would happen if the wrong side won the war? She remembered what James had told her once, about them being able to take part in this. He was right. It didn't feel right to ignore all of that, to wait for someone else to solve it… they had to do something.
The huge house was dark and quiet; the Potter weren't back yet, though that was understandable, as the Death Eaters had probably caused a lot of damaged at Godric's Hollow. Then she heard a strange noise and turned around, scared.
James had stealthily gone down the stairs; he knew the steps, so he knew where to step on to keep the wood from creaking. He didn't expect to find anyone there, so he was startled when he saw the thin figure in the dark. He approached carefully, and at first, she didn't seem to hear him.
The thick hair fell long, red and shining on her back. Her lovely profile was facing the window, the white skin freckle-less, the bright green gaze lost in the landscape. She raised a hand and absently scratched her long, elegant neck with her slender fingers. When he noticed she was only wearing the pyjama's shirt he had given her over her underwear, he blushed. The trousers had probably been too big for her. He couldn't help running his eyes over her, stopping at the bare feet, the long legs, the narrow shoulders, the way the shirt tightened over her firm breasts. He let out a choking noise and the redhead turned around, startled.
"James." She whispered, trying not to make noise, though it was unlikely that Sirius or Bree heard her from their rooms. The boy approached to her and leant on the countertop in front of her.
"You couldn't sleep?" She shook her head. "Me neither." He tucked behind her ear a red lock of hair that had left its place, and to his surprise, she didn't hit his hand away. She didn't seem aware of how little clothes she was wearing, although the boy was having a hard time trying to ignore it.
"That's why that slide you gave me comes in so handy," she commented, trying not to talk about the attack "Don't know if I ever thanked you properly… It's really pretty. I hadn't worn it since…"
"Since your father's death." He finished for her, biting his tongue when he realized of his mistake. Lily looked at him with surprised.
"How can you know that?"
"I was there." The boy admitted, messing up his hair, embarrassed. She didn't say anything, but her heart was touched by the fact the boy had attended to her father's funeral even when they weren't friends yet. She kept getting to know James better, and she liked even more each new thing she learnt about him.
She watched him open the cupboard and take out two cups. He was really, really good-looking, but that wasn't the reason she found him so attractive. It was his sweetness, his determination, his bravery that made him attractive, apart from other aspects of his personality, like his charisma trustworthiness.
The dark-haired boy waved his wand and the cups were filled with a dark, foamy liquid.
"Are you alright?" he asked, handing out a cup at her.
Lily dared to smile a little at the concern in his voice.
"Yeah. Just worried. All this is… horrible." She took a sip. Chocolate. "The war, the murders, this is all…" her voice broke, and the boy felt the impulse of hugging her. She dried her tears with a sleeve and took a big gulp of chocolate. The thick liquid went down her throat, calming her down in the process.
"I know." He said, sipping the hot beverage too. "It's insane what this psychopath is doing. Don't cry…" he approached to her and left the cup on the counter.
Then Lily looked up and in those wet and intense green eyes he saw strength and decision.
"I want to fight too, James." She left the cup next to his, looked and the window and then back at his eyes. "I've thought about what you said. I wanna fight. This has to end."
"We will," he said firmly. "We'll fight."
They looked at each other for a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. She was lost into those hazel orbs, into that boy that had come to mean so much to her before she could realize and do something about it. He could only think about those fiery green eyes, that sweet mouth, and the warmth of Lily's body close to his.
Without thinking, without reflecting, he held her face in his hands and kissed her.
Her lips burnt. He felt her body loosen into his arms and her eyelashes stroking his cheeks, her hands grabbing his chest, her mouth kissing him back… Until she pulled away as if she had received an electric discharge.
He looked at her, disconcerted. Her eyes were wide open and she took a few steps backwards, moving away from him.
"James, I… I'm sorry, I…" She turned around and ran up the stairs.
The boy looked at her abandon the place with a bitter expression in his face. He took the cup and finished the chocolate in one gulp, putting it on the table with a sharp blow and then heading to his room. Maybe Sirius would understand what the hell had just happened.
…
Answers to reviews:
Potterwatch: Hahah, poor thing, Jamie! And I agree, Lily should loosen up a little! I'm glad you liked his reaction to her dress! I had fun imagining it! Oh, and thank you SO much for the warning, you were right, I checked the chapter and it was so, so full of mistakes it was awful! Can't believe I uploaded that. I mean, all of my chapters have mistakes, some because I'm distracted, some because I type them wrong, and some because I don't know they're mistakes xD. But this one was just horrible, horrible, horrible; guess I was hurried and tired when I finished translating it. I think I fixed it now! Thank you very much for your review! I hope this one was a little better regarding the mistakes, and I hope you enjoy the plot as much as you enjoyed the previous one!
HarryPotterAlways: Hahaha, I'm making you suffer, aren't I? Well, this one had a little kissing for your enjoyment, but no, I'm sorry, can't get them together yet! Hahah. Thank you very much for reading and encouraging me! And thanks a ton for your review :)
Knut: Duuude, hey there! Look at you, with a new account and everything :P. Thank you for your review! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! Hope you like this one!
Wheezy: Hey! Welcome! Awww, it's so nice to hear that! I'm so, so glad you enjoyed it so much! And I'm flattered it's so late and you just kept reading! And yayy I'm super happy you like the ships! Hahah, well, about Pettigrew, we had to keep it real, right? With his personality it would have been hard for him to get a girl while in school (I would say ever, but I can't be that mean). But even though I gave him no girl cause I think it's more real that way, I kinda secretly enjoy the fact that he has no love life xD. I hate him just as much as you, and sometimes I really don't like writing him, but meh, he was there, so I have to… Anyway, sorry for the rambling, and again, thank you very, very much for taking your time to review my story! I'm glad to have you on board! And I hope you enjoy this chapter as well :) Like I've recommended to other people, maybe you should get an account! Even if you don't publish anything, it'll probably be easier for you to keep track of this story and others you may be reading, by subscribing to them and stuff :)