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She Will Be Loved

Chapter Thirteen ll The Spring Dance: Special Kisses

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"This is bloody mental," Chelsea said blankly.

"I second that," Leonie agreed, still staring into space.

"I think it's cute!" Steph squealed, giggling, "Lily and James look so adorable together!"

"How do you know this is true?" Chelsea asked.

"We don't," Remus said bluntly.

"Nooo," Sirius said, "Shhh, Moony! Lily was staring at him when we came by the wing. And she was blushing. And like... yeah!"

"It just seems so..."

"Unbelievable?"

"Exactly! How can you switch from hating a person to liking them in a couple of days? They've had an emnity for a couple of years!"

"Well, believe it," Sirius said carelessly.

After that discussion, they went down to the Great Hall for dinner. Hardly anyone knew that only two nights ago, Voldemort had been in the Forbidden Forest with his army of followers.

"Wow, Lily and James," Chelsea said conversationally, stabbing at her potato mash, "You know, come to think of it now, they did seem to flirt a bit when they argued."

"Well, maybe they're both mentally challenged and hid their feelings that way," Leonie said with the air of finality.

"Nah, I don't think that's true," Steph said, drinking some pumpkin juice, "They were destined, but they messed with fate. You know how Lily is. She hates to think she's not in control of her life. That's probably how James is too."

"I suppose."

Lily took the seat opposite them and grabbed a plate of chicken-and-vegetable pie, "Hey, guys. Great, I'm starved. Pass the chicken drumsticks, will you, Lee?"

"Okay," Leonie picked up the plate, then gawked at her, "You're out of the Hospital Wing!"

"LILY!" screamed Steph.

Lily grinned, "Yup." She took the plate and started eating, "I missed Hogwarts' food."

"We heard some interesting things," Chelsea said teasingly as she poured gravy on her potatoes, "About you and a certain boy."

Lily stopped eating for a second to take a swig of pumpkin juice, "Really?" she took a bite of her pie, "What sort of interesting things?"

"Like how you like James!"

"How cute," Leonie said, a smile unfurling across her face.

Lily almost choked.

Must kill Sirius.

"Guys, that's insane. Okay, we're friends. But that's about it." Another huge chunk of her pie disappeared into her mouth.

"You can't fool us, Lily."

"Well, I tried."

The girls laughed.

---

A MONTH LATER.

Lily felt at peace as she headed back up to the Gryffindor common-room. The Spring dance was finally organized and was to be held tomorrow.

Then she stopped dead in her tracks.

She didn't have a date.

"Oh, cow!" she cursed aloud. Sighing, she hitched up her bookbag and started walking faster to the common-room, hoping to snag a cute boy on her way.

Lily still really, really, really liked James, but nothing had happened between them. They were just really close friends. She supposed he had stopped liking her, if he ever did.

All that stuff Dumbledore said was probably a load of waffle. Still, why did James say "I love you" if he didn't even mean it?

Those sort of thoughts kept her awake at night as she tossed around restlessly. Her friends were clueless as to why James and Lily weren't a couple yet, and Sirius was positively suffering everyday he saw them separate.

"Prongs, ASK HER OUT YOU FOOL!"

"Padfoot, shut up for a moment."

James always avoided the matter and told people to "shut up" whenever the subject was brought up. For Merlin's sake, he'd ask when he was ready, it was his own business! He didn't really feel as though Lily returned his feelings, at any rate.

Lily was almost up the stairs when someone came thundering down, obviously in a hurry.

"Whoa!" she gasped and pressed herself against the wall as the person almost ran over her.

"Sorry!" he yelled when he was at the bottom of the stairs.

Then he stopped and turned around.

"Lily?"

"Good Merlin, watch where you're going!"

James chuckled as he slowly walked back up the stairs, "Sorry about that."

"Where's the fire?" Lily asked, picking up her bag which she had dropped.

"Quidditch--I'm so late."

"Then go," Lily said, looking at him in an odd way.

"Oh--yeah," James chuckled again and started to run down the stairs, cursing himself, "See ya later!"

Then he seemed to regain some courage and turned around again, "Hey, Lily?"

"Yeah?"

"Who're you going with to the dance tomorrow?"

Lily gave a weak laugh, "No one. You?"

"Ditto," he hesitated for a second, "Wanna go together?"

"Oh," Lily hoped she wasn't blushing, "Sure!"

"Cool," James grinned, "Well, I gotta go--you know, I might be beheaded if I'm any more late. Bye!"

Lily grinned as she turned around and started walking, an extra skip in her step.

---

"Why, someone looks nice," James complimented when Lily emerged into the common-room. Lily smiled at him, "I reckon."

"Good evening, m'lady," Sirius said in a dignified way, walking towards Chelsea and kissing her hand. Chelsea smiled at him affecionately, "My lord," she curtseyed.

Sirius had asked her to the dance in the library, where upon Chelsea picked up a heavy textbook, thwacked him on the head three times, then said yes.

Steph had been asked by a tall, handsome Hufflepuff, whom she was going to meet in the Great Hall. She was terribly giggly and kept blushing, as well as obsessing over how she looked.

Remus asked Prielle de Souza, a pretty Latino girl in their year who was rather popular but sweet and nice. She was also a Gryffindor.

Leonie said she was going to "fly solo", and was immensely surprised when a total of five boys asked her. She turned four of them down, then decided she might as well accept Karl Lee, a Ravenclaw who successfully made her blush.

"He made you blush?" Steph was giggling insanely.

"Oh, shut up," Leonie blushed again.

"Oh Merlin, get the camera!" Lily laughed.

"LEE'S BLUSHIN'!" Chelsea yelled, giggling.

Peter had decided to take a rather pretty and quite nice Slytherin girl. She was petite and had blonde hair, and the Gryffindors were surprised at how sweet she was. Her name was Begonia Podewell.

When they reached the Great Hall, an excited Steph went off to find her prince, who promptly lifted her off the floor and swung her around as though she was a five-year-old. Peter found Begonia and the two smiled shyly at each other, and Leonie was attempting to make herself invisible.

"Hey, there's your dream man," teased Chelsea, pushing Leonie towards Karl.

"God, Chel, I am going to kill you," Leonie muttered when Karl spotted her, his face lighting up.

"HI LEONIE!"

He came over and dragged her away.

"Well, it looks like she's going to have a good time," Lily said with a smile. James linked his arm through her's tighter, "Well, we're going to have a good time too."

Dumbledore had just welcomed everybody and had just said, "Enjoy the dance," when several rainbows exploded in the Great Hall, woving through everyone.

"They're so pretty!" Steph said in awe, looking around.

Several stars started to twinkle and the music started. The rainbows were definitely a good idea, as couples started to laugh and dance. Usually, it would take at least ten minutes for people to start dancing.

"They're beautiful," Lily remarked, looking at the rainbows.

"Just like you," James said, smiling at her. He slowly turned so that he was facing her, woving his fingers into her's.

Lily smiled up at him.

'Maybe I'm amazed of the way you love me all the time.
Maybe I'm afraid of the way I love you.
Maybe I'm amazed of the way you move me out of time,
And hung me on a line.
Maybe I'm amazed of the way I really need you.'

"I love you," he whispered, his head resting on her shoulder.

Lily smiled even more, wrapping her arms around his neck slowly.

"I love you, too."

James pulled back and grinned at her. She grinned back.

And they had their first, real kiss, under a rainbow.

"Look at them," whispered Chelsea, smiling as she and Sirius moved in time with the music.

Sirius looked over at Lily and James, and grinned. He had been right. He was always right. He spun Chelsea around, then leant down and kissed her, taking her by surprise.

Remus was also looking at Lily and James, then saw Chelsea and Sirius. Grinning sheepishly, he thought what the heck and grabbed Prielle, kissing her on the mouth. Prielle was shocked but kissed him back, very pleased.

Karl leant down to kiss Leonie, but she pulled back.

"No way, man."

"C'mon..."

"Don't make me hurt you!"

"Fine." They danced in silence for a moment, then grinning, Karl gave her a quick peck on the lips. Leonie glared at him, but blushed all the same.

Steph and her dance date were already snogging.

Peter and Begonia were sitting at the table, catching each other's eye and grinning nervously. They talked about stuff, and commented on the food.

Lily and James broke off their kiss. They grinned at each other and kissed again.

It looks like Lily will be loved, after all.

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A/N: Yo, it's the end! :) I had tons of fun writing this! I hope you enjoyed it, and feedback is always adored. :) The little paragraph of lyrics belongs to the song 'Maybe I'm Amazed'. I think it's originally sung by Paul McCartney, but singers like Cyndi Lauper and Jem have done remakes of it. Well, bye bye! :) --MSQ.