A/N: Go out and read gitarstrng's fic, A Glimpse Beyond the Stereotypes, one of which (Mandy smiles like an idiot) is based on ME!!! My BFF wrote this character in there called Alexis (MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!) and besides Alexis being the star of the show (gitarstrngs glares at Mandy), I mean, co-star, it's a really cute G/D that I (MEEEEEEEEEEEEE) helped out on.
"Their children are going to be beautiful." Sarah Barnes spat bitterly as she watched Lily and James flirt over setting the small tables at Madam Rosmerta's. "Even if they look like Peruvian folk dancers."
"Well, sis, that proves that everything in life can't be perfect." Sean replied, putting an arm around his sister. "I'm just glad to see them happy."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Sarah muttered, a small smile breaking the gloomy expression on her face. "They have been through quite a bit of torture, haven't they?"
"More than you or I know." Sean replied. "My treat."
Sean got up and threw a Galleon onto the table.
"Do you remember?" Lily sang huskily into James's ear.
"Quite well, in fact." He replied and she stuck out her lower lip in a pout.
"You're not supposed to say that, you dolt!" Lily said in an innocent voice. "Humor me, will you?"
"The twenty-first night of September?" He sang back.
Lily smiled. "There. It wasn't that hard."
"Of course it wasn't, Princess." James murmured, pulling her closer in their little slow dance in the ally.
"Only a princess if you say I'm a princess." She reminded him, pulling their bodies even closer.
"And I say you're a princess." James replied.
"Did you hear that, world? The great Prince James thinks I'm a princess!" Lily whispered loudly, before she settled her head onto James's shoulder. "Don't let go, Your Highness."
"I won't." James whispered back. "I won't."
"Is that all you remember?" Sirius asked.
"Yes. We were painting the mural, someone came in, we fell and that's it." Lily said simply. "I really can't remember anything else."
"The graduation ceremony is coming up. You guys need help bringing in the tables?" Sirius asked as he and Lily walked to the library together.
"Actually, we have the proper amount of tables and chairs, I just need to assign seats." Lily explained.
"And of course, Munguldus, James, Remus, Peter and I will join you at your table, milady." Sirius huffed in an overly stuffy voice.
"After James and I come back from the Head Table, that is. James was made valedictorian. Results came in for our tests earlier. He scored higher on Astronomy and Transfiguration. I had a very dismal grade in Divination and Transfiguration, but my Charms score outmatched his." Lily said.
"This truly is the end of an era. It's May, Lily darling. We have a month to bid farewells and adieus. It's actually kind of sad." Sirius muttered with a sniffle.
"Thank you." Lily said automatically.
"What for?" Sirius asked, stepping away from his friend.
"For siding with me. Even when I was just being a little brat. I needed someone to side with me. Especially since Jackie's gone." Lily said after sighing a bit. "Thank you, Sirius. But I really have to go now."
"Am I no longer good enough to compete with James?" Sirius called after her retreating figure.
Lily turned around and shrugged, then turning back to run again.
"Got any twos?" Lily asked, both of them sitting cross-legged on the coffee table in the Common Room. Like they shouldn't have been.
"Nope." James replied.
"Go fish." Lily chirped.
"You guys are boring." Sirius muttered. "Don't you do anything but smile at each other?"
"Actually, my friend Nadia Grenoir is coming in from France. I left my thesis down there and we're using it as a reason to party." Lily informed him, getting up and putting down her cards.
Just as she got away, the deck exploded.
"Smooth move, Don Juan." Lily drawled, making a few people laugh.
"You've just got good luck, that's all." James said simply, shrugging it off.
"And you, Don Juan, have the charm and good looks to snag a princess." Lily joked.
"What's your thesis on, anyway?" Sirius asked. "Mine is about the history of Quidditch."
"And I bet you copied it straight out of Quidditch Through the Ages, didn't you?" James asked with a grin.
"You bet. Binns is so old and so boring he probably hasn't even read the damn thing. However, I did put in extra work." Sirius replied.
"I bet you did." Lily sneered jokingly. "My thesis is about the wonders of modern magical travel. Rather boring if you ask me. What about you, James?"
"I actually selected a pretty hard subject. Magical society from an early age to a ripened one." James said, sitting back on the sofa next to Sirius.
"I wonder where that one came from." Lily murmured. "Anyway, Nadia's coming in really soon, and you two have to be nice to her."
Sirius and James grinned. "Have we ever not been?"
Lily groaned and went off grumbling.
Nadia was the dream-girl. Undoubtedly a Veela. She had huge blue eyes and long, blue-black curls. She was of medium height and she could be perceived as delicate. But she was hardly so.
She could spit fire with her words and her blue eyes had a blaze to them.
"So this is it? You left France for this?" Nadia's eyes traveled around the room and she shrugged. "I much prefer Beauxbatons."
"Then why did you make the journey? You could have just owled it to me." Lily pointed out.
Nadia shrugged. "Hogwarts equals party. Hogwarts equals boys. On that note, where is that James fellow you are always going on about."
"Always, Lily darlingest? I just thought it was in your waking hours." James popped into the Entrance Hall and stood behind Lily, his arms around her waist.
"Works fast. No wonder you like him." Nadia said with her infamous half-grin.
"You must be Nadia." James replied.
"And you must be James." Nadia muttered, rolling her eyes.
"She's happy to meet you, she's just got too much sarcasm for her own good." Lily explained.
"Lily Isabel—" Sirius started bellowing, and then he stopped right in his tracks. "Why, hello." He squeaked.
Lily scowled and rolled her eyes. "This little squeeze toy is Sirius, Nadia."
Nadia gave him a flashy, pure white smile. "Hello, Sirius."
"Hi—" He squeaked, but then he returned to his senses. He had dealt with a half-Veela before and this was no different. Kind of. "Hi, Nadia."
"You haven't seen anything yet." Lily told her. "Come on."
"Am I invited?" James asked, in an obviously fake plead.
"Me too?" Sirius mockingly begged.
"Oh no." Lily muttered under her breath. "Here we go again."
"What's going on?" Nadia hissed.
"They choose a time once a week to annoy me like three-year-olds. Boys." Lily whispered in reply. Now they were doing back flips.
"Problem is, they never grow out of it." Nadia replied, and Lily nodded.
"Shame that I'm dating one of them." Lily muttered.
"More like she's marrying one of them." Remus suggested. "Oh! Three-year-old time!"
"And that member of the insane crew, otherwise known as the Marauders, that's Remus. Far more serious than the others, but still has a few screws loose." Lily explained.
"I know see why you picked Hogwarts over France." Nadia said.
"Well, let's go upstairs. They won't notice."
"You have your own room?" Nadia asked, her jaw dropping at how—Lily the room was.
"Yeah, well, I'm packing it up now. There are no other seventh year Gryffindor girls here." Lily explained. "Got the paper?"
"Yeah, hold on." Nadia pulled out her wand, tapped Lily's head three times and the paper, neat and orderly, was automatically in a folder on Lily's bed.
"Perfect." Lily murmured, reading through it. "Rather boring though."
"Explain Sirius." Nadia requested, falling back onto Lily's soft bed.
"What's to explain? He's my best friend. He's smart, he's a prankster, he's nice—" Lily stopped and glanced at the dreamy look on Nadia's face.
"Please do not say you're falling for him."
"Somebody has to be in love besides you and James!" Nadia protested, sitting up.
"But it's not going to be you and him!" Lily explained. "Let's just say that the last person he dated—"
"LILS! HE CALLED ME A FOUR-FINGERED FLOBBERWORM!"
"ONLY AFTER HE CALLED ME A PICKLED TOAD WITH TWO BRAIN CELLS, PRINCESS!"
Lily rolled her eyes. "Boys."