Together at last

by nymagirl

A Lily and James fic extending from their 7th year till Harry's 7th year.COMPLETED! REVIEW!

3. The muggle version

Chapter 9: The Muggle Version

Unfortunately, before either of the boys could take a bite of their food, they heard a terrible noise. It was a loud thump followed by an ear- piercing howl.

"SHIT!" James and Sirius yelled at the same time.

"IT'S A FULL MOON!" yelled James. They changed into their animagi forms as quickly as possible and raced upstairs, hoping to catch Remus before he did anything that anyone would regret.

Prongs (James) and Padfoot (Sirius) made it upstairs just in time to hear Lily scream. The werewolf known as Moony (Remus) was about to pounce on Lily! Prongs darted out in front of him, cutting him off in mid-air while Padfoot jumped him from behind. Working together, the two somehow managed to avoid the werewolf's angry claws and wrangle the beast down the stairs and into the basement. Of course they weren't able to shackle him as they had in the past. Instead they were left to fighting him and trying to control him much like they used to do in the Shrieking Shack during their time at Hogwarts.

While they were downstairs with Remus though, Lily was quite shaken lying on her bed. She didn't dare go downstairs, for fear that Remus would get loose again. She then heard yelling coming from down the hall.

"Dad! Help!" it was Aaron.

Lily swallowed her own fear, grabbed her wand and ran into Aaron's room. "Are you alright?" she asked hurriedly.

"I had a nightmare... where's Dad?" Tears were filling his eyes.

"He's.. well, he had to go away for the night. He'll be back tomorrow though, I promise. Do you want to talk about it?"

"There was a big wolf, and I heard screams..." All of the colour from Lily's face faded away. "It was a nightmare, right?"

"We'll talk about it in the morning, Aaron, when Remus comes back. But you have nothing to worry about now..."

"Will you stay in here with me? I'm scared to be alone."

Me too, she thought. "Of course I will. You just try to sleep..."

After a long and exhausting day at work, an even longer and more exhausting night of werewolf taming was not what James and Sirius needed. They didn't have any choice though, so they stayed up all night working with Remus, trying to calm him. When daylight finally broke and Remus changed back, the three friends were all looking pretty rough.

"I'm so sorry," Remus whispered. "For some reason I miscalculated when the full moon was."

"It's ok, buddy," said James through a yawn.

The three started to walk upstairs, and James had a sudden realization. "Lily!" he yelled. "We never got the chance to check on her!"

Remus was very confused and turned to Sirius as James was already bounding up the stairs shouting for his fiancée. "What happened? Did I hurt her?"

"We got there just in time."

"Oh, god." Remus sat on a step and buried his face in his hands. "I can't keep putting people in danger like this. What if you hadn't been there? What if you didn't make it in time?"

"Don't think about it, cos we did make it. That's all that matters." Sirius sat down next to Remus. "We'll just have to pay closer attention to the phases of the moon." Remus could only nod in agreement.

James threw open the door to Lily's room. When he didn't see her in there, a sudden wave of fear came over him. "Lil?" he called. "Where are you?" Oh, no. This can't be happening, he thought. He then heard a noise from down the hall. With his wand poised ready to attack if need be, he silently crept down the hall and burst into Aaron's room.

"James!" It was only Lily and Aaron in the room. Lily jumped up and hugged him tightly. She then led him out of the room and closed the door because Aaron was still asleep. "Thank god you're alright. How are Sirius and Remus? Was everything taken care of?"

James took a deep, calming breath. "Yeah, everything is fine now. I'm so sorry that I didn't come back up to check on you last night. I just couldn't leave him alone with Sirius, he needs both of us to be there."

"I know, it's okay."

"I don't know what I would have done if he had gotten you..."

"Please, don't think about it." She closed her eyes and buried her face against James's chest. He simply held her close to him trying not to picture what might have happened.

Compared to the events of that night, the next few days were rather mundane. Everything was just... normal. Well, as normal as things can be in a world full of witches, wizards and all sorts of magical creatures. Before they knew it, the wedding countdown was at 16 days, 12 hours, 42 minutes, 16 seconds. That meant only one thing. It was Halloween.

When Aaron woke up that morning, he was very excited. Halloween had always been one of his favourite holidays. Unfortunately, Lily was the only one who understood why he was so excited. So, when Remus appeared at the house asking why the boy wanted to wear a costume and knock on the doors of strangers she had to laugh.

"It's a muggle tradition, Remus. Children wear costumes and go trick-or- treating. I really think that you three would have enjoyed it," she smiled.

"Trick-or-treating?"

"You knock on people's doors, and when they answer, you say 'trick-or treat!' and then they give you candy. BUT, if they don't have the treat then-"

"Does that mean we get to pull some tricks tonight?" asked James, very excited at the prospect of this.

"No," Lily said sternly. "It's meant for children."

"Well, that doesn't seem very fair..." James grumbled.

"Deal with it." She turned back to Remus. "Does he have a costume yet?"

"No?"

"Do you know what he wants to be?"

"I'm gonna be a werewolf!" Aaron said, proudly.

Nobody knew exactly what to say to that. Remus grinned though. Aaron had taken the news of his secret really well. I just hope he remembers to keep it a secret, Remus thought.

By the time Lily was finished with Aaron, he had the perfect werewolf costume. He was all ready to go out and get some candy. There was just one problem. Lily didn't trust any of the guys to take Aaron trick-or-treating. She knew that they would try to pull too many tricks, and they knew it too.

"Well, the only thing that makes sense then is for us all to take him," James said matter-of-factly.

"If we do that, the three of you have to behave! That means no magic. Do you understand?"

"But Lil, it's Halloween!" protested Sirius.

"I don't care. We have our own party to go to tonight anyhow. Just let the muggle children enjoy their own traditions. In fact, we'll just spare the drama later. Give me your wands," she said.

"What?" asked Remus.

"Are you serious?" commented James.

"Very. I know how much trouble you three can cause, and I'm not about to let you. So, if you want to go, hand them over."

"Fine," they all said. Knowing they were defeated, they each handed Lily their wands.

"Thanks," she beamed. "Shall we?"

And they were off...

As much as Lily hated to admit it, they all had fun trick-or-treating. None of the boys broke the no magic rule, but after a brief encounter with Aaron and some other children who were out, they had a better understanding of traditional muggle pranks. For example, at one point Sirius disappeared for a few minutes. Lily wondered why, and much to her disappointment, she soon found out. When he returned, he had shopping bags full of toilet paper, eggs and silly string. I never should have taught him to use muggle money, Lily thought to herself. The rest of the evening was then spent TPing or egging empty houses. The silly string was only used on children who were passing by.

"That was the best Halloween ever!" Aaron exclaimed when he got back home. Lily, James and Sirius all joined him and Remus back at their new apartment.

"Look at all this candy!" he continued.

"What's it do?" asked James.

"Huh?" Aaron was thoroughly confused by this. "It makes you hyper?"

"No, I mean... Lily, help."

"James, it's not like the candy you grew up on. It's just sweets, that's all."

"Where's the fun in that?" asked Sirius.

"Try it," she said, handing them each a Flake bar or a small bag of Malteasers. They were each impressed.

"Ooh! A Turkish Delight! Yummy!" said Aaron.

"Do you have any more of those?" Lily asked, growing more excited. Everyone gave her a strange look. "What? It's my favourite."

"What's it taste like?" asked Remus.

"A turk?" added Sirius, obviously pleased with himself for being to witty.

"I'm not amused... it's rose flavoured candy."

"Ew!" said James.

"Good, more for us, right Aaron?"

"Right," he said, but his voice was muffled from all the chocolate he had in his mouth.

"How about we not eat all of this right now. You need to go get ready for bed," said Remus.

"Do I haveta, Dad?"

"Yes. Mrs. Potter will be here soon to watch you while we go out. She's expecting you to be in your PJs when she gets here."

"Okay..." Aaron said, dragging himself toward his room.

True to her word, Marilyn appeared on Remus & Aaron's doorstep at 8pm on the dot.

"Thank you so much for coming, Mrs. Potter, really," said Remus, showing her to the living room.

"Of course, dear. You four go out and have a good time. Don't worry about the little one and myself. We'll have plenty of fun." Aaron then walked into the room. "Aren't we going to have fun tonight?" Marilyn asked him.

"Don't we always?" he answered, grinning from ear to ear.

Remus's face fell. "What are you going to do?"

"Nothing!" Aaron said innocently. He then bit his lip.

Lily giggled, and even James and Sirius stifled a laugh at that. Marilyn smiled. "Now off you all go! Shoo! Enjoy the rest of your Halloween!"

"Night mum," James said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Goodnight, Marilyn," said Lily.

"Thanks a lot for watching Aaron," said Remus. He turned to Aaron. "You try not to cause too much trouble."

"Of course not!"

"Don't worry, Remus. In raising James I've seen it all. Just go and enjoy yourself. Bye!"

Before heading to the party, everyone went back to the house to get ready. Well, everyone went back so that Lily could get ready.

"I'll be down in 10 minutes, I swear," she said as she ran up the stairs.

"If you're not, we're leaving without you!" yelled James.

"You're bluffing!" she yelled back, and then slammed the door shut.

When Lily came back downstairs, the guys could hardly recognize her. It had been years since she dressed up in a costume for Halloween, and now that she wasn't required to wear her robes she planned on taking full advantage of the situation.

"Lil? Is that you?" James asked.

"Of course it is," she laughed. "What do you think?"

"You look incredible..."

Sirius and Remus were still trying to pick their jaws up off of the floor. None of them had ever seen Lily in anything like this before...

Her beautiful red hair was hidden under a straight, long black wig. And her dress, well it was skin tight, floor length, and very low cut. Her makeup was perfect, with purple and silver eye shadow and purple eyeliner, dark blackberry lipstick, and blackberry nail polish.

"It's my take on Morticia Addams," she said.

"Who?"

"Never mind."

"Okay," James said mindlessly. He suddenly closed his eyes and shook his head, wondering if she would still look like that when he opened them again. To his amazement, she did. He then turned to his friends and noticed that they were still staring at Lily with their mouths wide open. "Hey! Knock it off!" he yelled at them, punching each of them in the arm. "Are we gonna go or not?"

"Of course, mon amour," Lily said, slipping into her character.

Lily closed her eyes and the next thing she knew, they had all arrived at the home of Justin Jack, a fellow Hogwarts graduate who was in Ravenclaw.

The moment she appeared, everyone in the room stopped and stared at her. All of the guys were staring open-mouthed, much like James, Sirius and Remus had been, and all of the girls were wishing that they had a body like Lily's.

"Should I change?" Lily whispered to James.

"NO! I mean, no, you don't have to do that," he said, trying to cover up his outburst. He could feel his anger rising though over the course of the next few minutes because the stares hadn't subsided much.

"Lily! James! It's great to see you guys!" declared Justin, making his way over to them. He kissed Lily's cheek, and James clenched his fists. "You look amazing!"

"Thanks," she said. "I feel like maybe I'm a little overdressed though."

"You're hardly wearing anything at all. How can you possibly be overdressed?" sneered a voice from behind them. It was Petra Davis, who was a Slytherin graduate.

"Jealous are you?" Lily asked very nonchalantly.

Petra faked a snicker and stormed off.

"Good job, Lily!" said Sirius, handing her a glass of punch.

"Thanks," she replied.

"Lily!" Jem came running over to her. "You look fabulous! I LOVE it! You are so lucky, I would kill to be able to wear something like that... but I never could. How are you?" Lily laughed because she was talking a mile a minute, no doubt having had a few glasses of the punch already.

"I'm doing fine, thanks. Oh! Did you get the owl I sent you last week? Because you never responded..."

"I did get it, I'm sorry, I've just been so busy with work. But of course I'll be a bridesmaid! I told you that from the beginning..."

"Yay!" Lily hugged Jem. "You need to come over later this week, because we have got to get your dress made!"

"Don't worry, you can count on me!" Jem grabbed Lily's hand. "Come on, we have to show you off!"

James wasn't too sure about this, but he had agreed that he would trust Lily, so he didn't fight it. She waved to him as Jem led her away from him.

While Lily was off laughing and chatting with their school friends, James was busy glaring at every guy in the place.

"James, come on man! Lighten up!" Remus said, handing him another drink. "It's Halloween, for God's sake!"

"I know, I know... I'm trying. I'm just worried about Lil..."

"She's fine, is just sitting in the next room with her friends talking about the wedding. Which means they're talking about you. So chill and have some fun!" said Sirius.

James smiled and took a deep breath. "You're right."

From that point on, James actually enjoyed himself at the party. Lily came back to him and they danced for a while, laughing and whispering things in each other's ear, and it wasn't too surprising to anyone to find them kissing on the dance floor from time to time. Once again, they were Hogwarts' perfect couple.

Chapter 10: The Sorcerer's Stone

Everyone was sad that the night had to come to an end, but it was nearly 4 in the morning, and everyone had work or plans for the following day. Remus had actually left around 1 to go back to Aaron and relieve Marilyn. Lily was exhausted, and James was carrying her in his arms.

"Sirius, you coming?"

"Not yet, I'll see you guys tomorrow probably," he said, smiling slyly and nodding in the general direction of Jem.

James returned the smile. "Have a good night," he told them.

"We will." Sirius winked at them.

A minute later James whispered to Lily "Baby, we're home." He set her down on the bed.

"Good," she said, suddenly wide awake. "I was hoping to get you alone..." Lily smiled sweetly and winked at him. She then got up and pulled off her wig, allowing her long red hair to cascade down her back. "Could you help me with this?" she asked, pouting slightly and brushing her hair aside so that James could undo the zipper down her back. "Thank you," she whispered, so softly that it felt like she was simply exhaling against James's ear.

"I'll be right back, just going to change," she said, heading into the bathroom.

James could feel his heart racing. He started fidgeting, he was so nervous and anxious and excited, but he didn't know why. It wasn't as though he hadn't se- "Oh my god," he said.

"What?" Lily had reappeared wearing a short black silk nightgown, and was walking toward him.

"You- You look-"

"Shhh," she whispered before kissing him. They might have agreed to wait until their wedding night to make love for the first time, but that didn't mean that they couldn't enjoy themselves in other ways. Lily was in full control of the situation, and she enjoyed every minute of it. Judging by James's reactions, he did as well.

For some reason, James woke up rather early, considering that he didn't get to sleep until the sun was already up. James smiled when he saw that Lily was still asleep in his arms. He carefully reached over to the nightstand and put his glasses on. When he looked around the room he couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. Clothing and pillows were strewn across the floor, the sheets were all tangled on the bed, and still, there she was, asleep in his arms. He sighed, very contentedly.

Lily then began to stir. "What time is it?" she moaned.

"It's almost 10, go back to sleep," he whispered. She just nodded in response, turned over and fell back asleep.

James held the sleeping Lily in his arms for the next hour or so. In just over two weeks they would be husband and wife. He could hardly believe it. After all the twists and turns their relationship had taken over the years, it was finally going to happen. Just then, Scarlet appeared at the window, pecking to be let inside.

Careful not to wake Lily, James rolled her over and out of his arms. He then tip-toed over to the window and let the owl in. "What have you got there?" he whispered, untying the piece of parchment that was on Scarlet's leg. She cooed as he pet her, and then flew off to her cage where she took a few sips of water before perching for a nap. Since Scarlet had allowed him to take the letter from her, he assumed that it would be alright if he read it before Lily was awake. Needless to say, when he saw who it was from, he was very glad that he did.

Rather than yelling at her now, James thought it best to let her get her rest, and then confront her about the note later on. So, he went downstairs to make some coffee and find something to eat. He then sat down at the kitchen table, with the note lying in front of him and stared at it while he ate and drank. It almost looked as though he expected it to do something, to attack or burst into flames. Anything. It didn't though, of course not. It just sat there, mocking him while he stared with growing disgust.

It was nearly 2 in the afternoon when Lily finally made her way downstairs. "The house is so quiet now that Aaron and Remus are gone," she commented. When she saw James sitting alone, she sat on his lap and tried to kiss him, but he turned his head away. "What?" she asked.

James nodded at the note. "Do you have anything that you want to tell me?"

Lily looked puzzled. "About what? What are you talking about?"

He nodded at the note again. "About that. Scarlet delivered it this morning. Is there something I should know?"

"I'm not following you, James."

"Here." He reached forward and handed the note to Lily. "Read it."

"Dear Lily," she started, reading the note out loud, "It was wonderful to see you again last night, in all of your radiance. I wish that we could have had more time alone together, but perhaps it was for the best. Who knows what else might have happened. As of now I really do not think it would be wise for me to attend your wedding to Potter, things might be said or done that we all would regret. Please do not hesitate to contact me in any way at any time, and I look forward to spending time with you again soon. Love Always, Severus Snape."

"Well?" demanded James.

Lily stared at him blankly.

"Well?" he asked again.

"Well what?" she indignantly replied. "There is nothing to tell!"

"Don't lie to me, woman!"

"James, we've been through this time and time again. Don't call me that!"

"That's not the issue here! What happened with you and Snape?!" He said the name with so much disgust and contempt and hatred that it wouldn't have surprised Lily if the hairs on the back of Snape's neck mysteriously stood on end.

"Nothing happened, James. How many times do we have to go through this? Nothing happened last night, just like nothing has ever happened before. You said you were going to trust me!"

"That was before I read that." He glared at the note. "Now tell me what happened!"

"What do you want to hear?!" she yelled. "Do you want me to tell you that I went off with him? That I kissed him? That I made love to him? Tell me! What do you want me to say?!"

James was stunned. He could feel his heart breaking inside, but he refused to show it. "You little bitch! How could you be such a slut?! You had to get that into your character?! How could you do this to me?"

"You've gone mad!" she yelled. "You actually believe that I would do that? Well, if that's the case, we have nothing further to discuss. I'll move out. I'll figure something out, and be out of your way."

Lily ran upstairs to her room as quickly as she could so that James wouldn't see her tears. When she got in there, she pulled out a duffel bag and started throwing some clothes into it. She wanted to get away, just for a little while. She didn't want to face James like this, and she couldn't go to Sirius either. Chances are Remus wouldn't believe her either. Instead, she decided that she would turn to the family she didn't know she had. She would go and stay with Victoria.

Before James could say anything, Lily had run past him and out the door with her bag in one hand and Scarlet's cage in the other. She apparated instantly, and found herself standing in front of the Palace of the Prophets. Victoria was standing in the doorway with open arms.

Lily cried. She cried and cried and cried in the arms of her newly discovered Gran. She tried to speak and explain why she was there, but Victoria kept quieting her. "I know, child, I know," she said, leading Lily inside and to her own residence area.

When Lily had finally gotten her cry out, she started to speak, through her hiccups. "I'm sorry, Gran, really. I didn't mean to drop in on you, but I had nowhere else to go."

Victoria nodded. "I had a vision last night that you would be arriving here today. It is all a very big misunderstanding, I assure you. You will soon return to James, I'm certain that you know, and want, that."

Lily gulped and nodded. "I just don't understand. he wasn't even there." she whispered.

When Sirius came home later that afternoon, he found an infuriated James pacing around the house. "Finally!" he yelled. "Read this!" He three the note at Sirius.

"This is a joke, right?"

"What? Look at it! Can you believe she would do this to me? Again?!"

"James, calm down, man. Snape wasn't even at the party! He's in the hospital."

James's face fell. "Are- Are you sure?"

Sirius nodded. "I saw him there myself this morning, knocked out cold. There's no way he was out last night."

"Oh, no." James fell to the floor and buried his face in his hands. "I did it again."

Lily had finally calmed down enough to sit still and breath normally. "So, I can stay here with you for a couple of days?"

"Of course you may, my dear. If you need anything, just let me know."

Just then there was a tapping at the window. It was an owl!

Victoria opened the window, and the owl flew in, did a quick circle around the ceiling, and then landed in front of Lily. She reached for the note that was attached to the owl's leg, and as soon as she relieved it of its package, it took flight, leaving her sitting there, stunned. She unfolded the parchment and couldn't believe what it said.

To Lily, My Love,

I must apologize for deceiving you with my last letter. It was for the best though that you distanced yourself from that nuisance James Potter. You will be much safer within the walls of the Palace of the Prophets. I am very pleased with your decision to turn to your great-great-great grandmother for support. I look forward to seeing you again soon.

Love for always,

Ton Amour

Even Victoria was surprised by the arrival of this letter. "I think it would be best if you returned to James as quickly as possible."

"Are you sure?" Victoria nodded. Lily took a deep breath. "Maybe you're right."

It was early evening when Lily returned to her house. To her surprise, it was empty. Just then the door burst open and James, Sirius, Remus and Peter came running in. Lily expected the first three, but Peter was truly a surprise

"Lily! Thank god you're alright!" James exclaimed, relieved to find her in their living room.

"James! I'm so scared," she said, rushing into his arms.

"What? What happened?"

"This." she said as she pulled out the other note and handed it to him. He quickly read over it and handed it to Sirius.

"Oh my god. how is that even possible?" asked Sirius.

"Lil, I'm so sorry I didn't believe you. I know that I always say that, but really. That letter was just too much. it was too real."

"I know, I know." she said.

After Remus read over the note he handed it to Peter who, as usual, flinched. "I'm not going to bite you, so quit worrying," Remus told him. "Besides, there are more pressing issues."

"It's not that," said Peter.

"Then what?"

"I don't know. This is just very strange. it means someone is watching you, Lily," Peter said.

"Where's Aaron?" Lily asked, turning to Remus.

He smiled. "He's at home. I left him with a neighbor. Lily, you are amazing. Do you ever worry about yourself? I mean, somehow you always manage to look out for other people." Remus said.

"I don't know. my dad said I was cursed with a heart that is too big," she smiled faintly.

"Well, what are we gonna do now?" asked Sirius. "Lily, we really can't leave you alone. God only knows who this madman is."

"He's right, Lil. We're going to have to come up with something," James added.

"We need to tell Dumbledore. You promised that you would let him know if anything else happened," she answered. The boys all nodded in agreement. If anyone would know what to do, it would be Professor Dumbledore.

Scarlet was sent out into the night carrying the message to Dumbledore. She must have realized the importance of the letter she carried, for she somehow managed to return within an hour.

"Dumbledore says that he can't get away from Hogwarts tonight, but he will be here first thing in the morning," James said.

"Well, in Dumbledore time, that means we need to be up and ready for him around 6," added Sirius, which caused everyone to smile. "What? You know I'm right."

Everyone rolled their eyes this time. "Yeah, yeah," said James. "Are you all gonna crash here tonight?"

"Yeah, I think so, if that's cool," said Remus.

"I don't have to, maybe I should just go and come back in the morning?" said Peter.

"Don't be silly," Lily began, "there's plenty of room." She then turned back to Remus. "And Aaron? Are you just going to leave him tonight?"

"I think so. He'll be fine."

"Well, if you're sure." Remus nodded. "Okay, well, in that case, I'm gonna go up to bed. Something tells me tomorrow is going to be a long day. Are you coming, James?"

"I'll be right up."

"Night, guys. And thanks for everything, really." Lily disappeared up the stairs.

"Okay, listen. Nobody is going to find out about this, understand? Only Dumbledore, and that's just because we all know that he's the only one we can really trust. Are we all in agreement on this?" He put his hand out. Sirius and Remus stacked theirs on top. Peter reluctantly did the same.

"Agreed," they all said.

That night hardly anyone slept. Lily and James lay awake in each other's arms, but didn't say a word. Sirius stared at his ceiling all night, Remus stared at the wall, and Peter just gazed nervously around the room he was staying in. When dawn finally broke, everyone made their way downstairs silently. Lily made coffee, and the guys sat silently at the kitchen table watching her, watching the clock, or staring out the window. They each muttered their thanks as she passed mugs of black coffee around the table. Other than that, it was strict silence until the clock struck six o'clock, and as predicted, Dumbledore appeared.

Dumbledore was quite surprised to see Peter was a part of the group again. "How nice it is to see the entire gang back together again," he commented, smiling at Peter.

"Yeah, thanks," Peter replied.

He then turned to everyone else. "Do you have the letters?" he inquired. James stepped forward and handed them to him. "Thank you, James. May I?" Dumbledore asked, gesturing toward a chair.

"Oh, of course! Please do," said Lily.

Dumbledore sat down and began examining the two letters. "Interesting." he commented. "Sirius, did you have a look at these?" Sirius nodded. "Do you remember a certain charm that we discussed in your fourth year at Hogwarts?"

"About the dictation thing?" he answered.

"Yes."

"Yeah, Professor Beatriz gave me a detention for using that dictation charm rather than actually writing my own papers."

"Exactly. If you will notice, these letters were not written by hand. Whoever wrote these was careful enough not to actually touch the parchment at all," Dumbledore explained. "As of right now, these pages are useless. Unless." he turned to Lily and James, "would either of you object to my taking these for some further examination and tests?"

"No, of course not. Please do, if you think it'll help," said James. Lily nodded.

"Very well then. I will most likely contact you before the day is out. Goodbye for now."

The five friends agreed that for the rest of the day it would be best for Lily to simply lay low. James found himself forced to go into work though, for fear of being fired, so he joined Sirius at the office. Remus went to check on Aaron, and that left Peter to stay with Lily. It had been a few months since they had really gotten a chance to talk, and for some reason, she actually looked forward to their time alone.

"How have you been?" Lily asked, once everyone else had left.

"Oh, you know, just keeping busy. Doing research, things like that," Peter said.

"Yeah? What have you been working on?"

"It's really rather complicated, but I'm trying to work on my potions, and things like that. Considering taking a job as a teacher or professor. Probably not at Hogwarts, but someplace like that. need to learn as much as I can about the different subjects."

"That sounds fascinating. I have to tell you though, Peter, I can't really see you as a Professor."

He smiled. "Neither can I. But I really am making some headway with the Dark Arts research. Right now I'm actually working as an assistant for Gilderoy Lockhart."

"That must be exciting. I've read a couple of his books so far. Some of the things he's encountered seem truly amazing," Lily commented.

Peter stifled a laugh. "You never know what he's going to come up with next, that's for sure." There was an awkward pause for a minute and then Peter spoke again. "Excuse me, just need to run to the loo."

"Sure," Lily said. She then got up as well and went into the kitchen.

"You have something," a voice whispered behind her. "Something that I need."

"What?" Lily turned around and saw nothing.

"You will help me, for only together can we succeed."

Lily turned around and started looking around frantically, but there was still nothing and nobody there. "Peter!" she shouted.

"In time, my dear, in time." the voice faded away.

"Peter!" she choked on the name this time.

Peter came rushing down the stairs and into the kitchen, where he found Lily sitting on the floor clutching a knife. "What happened?" he asked, rushing to her side and helping her up. He quickly removed the knife from her hands and set it on the counter.

"I heard. there was a voice. It was so cold. I need James, Peter, please, can you take me to him?"

"Of course, come on."

When Peter and Lily arrived at James's office, they were surprised to find that Professor Dumbledore was there as well, waiting for them. "Lily, there is something very important that I must inform you and James of at once." He then turned to Peter. "Thank you very much for bringing her, I shall now escort her to James." All Peter could do was nod. He sat down and started talking to Sirius, trying to make some sense out of the whole situation.

Dumbledore led Lily into a small conference room where James was already sitting. "Lily! Thank god," he said when she walked in. He jumped up and hugged her close to him, almost as if he had known what happened. There was then a knock at the door, and a very old wizard entered.

"Ah, Nicholas! So glad that you could make it," said Dumbledore. "Please, have a seat."

"Thank you, Albus. And these must be the two students you told me so much about, Miss Evans and Mr. Potter, I trust?" Nicholas asked.

They each nodded. "Lily, James, this is a very dear friend of mine, Nicholas Flamel. He should be able to shed some light on the circumstances surrounding our meeting today."

Nicholas cleared his throat and then began to speak. "First, allow me to say what a great honor it is to meet the two of you at long last. I have heard much about you, not only from Albus, but from others who have been keeping close watch over you." He turned to Lily and smiled. "This includes the Prelate Victoria, who I am told you have already spoken to." Lily nodded in agreement. "Well, I will not assume that you know who I am, or what I have devoted my life to, as it has not been highly publicized. Albus and I have known each other for years, and have worked very closely on many projects. Perhaps the most important thing we have discovered is the power of an object known as the Sorcerer's Stone."

"I've heard rumors about that," James said. "Is it true what they say it can do? That it is capable of making someone immortal?"

Nicholas and Dumbledore both smiled. "Not exactly," Dumbledore said. "It will prolong life, but not prevent death."

"That is quite true. The elixir of the Stone is what has kept both myself and my wife alive for centuries," Nicholas continued.

"But, if you don't mind my asking," Lily interrupted, "What does this have to do with us?"

Nicholas smiled. "That is a very good question. And the answer is that you, Lily, are the new guardian of the Stone."

"Pardon?" Lily said, her eyed widening.

"What are you talking about?" asked James.

"The Stone has been entrusted to your care, Lily," Dumbledore said.

"Why? How?" Lily asked.

"We needed someone who was strong enough to protect something this important, and who we knew could be trusted," Nicholas told her.

"In all my years at Hogwarts," Dumbledore began, "I have never seen a person act with such strength, bravery and honesty as you, Lily. The Stone chose you."

"Where is it then? How am I guarding it?"

"While the Stone is not physically in your possession, you are the only person now who is able to summon it. A gift of this nature is passed from generation to generation. You have always had the power to protect it, even before it was entrusted to you. And you, in turn, will pass this gift on to any children that you will have."

"I still don't understand though," Lily insisted. "How is this related to everything that has been happening to me?"

"We believe that the dark wizard Voldemort is in search of the Stone. He is aware of its powers and will most likely stop at nothing to get it," Dumbledore told them. "In fact, from what I have seen it appears that those letters are most likely from one of Voldemort's followers. I am quite certain that you are familiar with them, are you not, James?"

"Yes sir, we've been working on the Death Eaters cases for weeks now," James replied.

"And the voice," Lily whispered. "It was him, wasn't it?" Nicholas and Dumbledore nodded somberly.

"What voice?" demanded James.

"That's why I had Peter bring me here," Lily said. "It sounded like someone was inside the house... he said that I had something that he needed... that only I could help him..." she trailed off.

"He was in our house?" James's anger became more and more apparent with each word. "That bastard was in our house?!"

"James, please do calm down and control yourself," said Dumbledore. "I have a possible solution for this dilemma. No doubt you are familiar with the concept of a Secret-Keeper. It would be my suggestion that you consider this as an option for your own safety. We will understand if you wish to take some time to think on the matter, but do bear in mind that time is of the essence."

"We will. Thank you Professor, Mr. Flamel," said James.

Everyone then got up and said their goodbyes, Dumbledore returned to Hogwarts, Nicholas to his home, and Lily and James met Sirius and Peter.

"We need to go see Remus, all of us," said James. "Meet us there."

"Is everything ok?" asked Sirius.

"We'll talk then."

"I'll be there in a few with Peter."

James then led Lily away and they headed to Remus's apartment.

"James, I don't want to tell them. They don't need to be put at risk as well," Lily said as they were walking up to Remus's door.

"Are you sure?" She nodded. "Alright," James said reluctantly.

"I think they should know that something is going on, with the letters, but not about anything else. We shouldn't involve them, it just wouldn't be fair to them."

James sighed. "I know, you're right. But I do want them to know about Voldemort, even if we don't tell them the reasoning behind it. They should be on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary as well. Will you at least agree to that?" Lily nodded. "Good."

Once Sirius and Peter arrived, everyone gathered in the living room. James took it upon himself to explain about the letters and the mysterious voice that Lily had heard, and was careful not to mention anything about the Sorcerer's Stone or Dumbledore's idea about naming a Secret-Keeper. When James said that it was most likely Voldemort who was responsible for the occurrences though, Peter was the only one to flinch at the sound of his name.

"And that's pretty much where we are now," concluded James.

"We just wait and see what happens next," added Lily.

"Any questions?" he asked, sounding more like a teacher just finishing the day's lessons rather than a friend.

"Has Dumbledore said anything about taking any measures for your protection?" asked Sirius.

"No, not yet. All that I think we need to do for now is just be careful. If we are all on the lookout for anything suspicious, we should be fine. Lil, I know you'll be okay, with all the wedding plans that have to be taken care of. You know that my mother will be watching your every move..."

Just then the front door burst open and Aaron came bouncing in. "Hi!" he exclaimed, excited that everyone was there. He ran over to Lily and gave her a big hug. "Guess what I got today!"

Lily smiled. "What's that?"

"A new suit to wear to your wedding! Mrs. Potter taked me shopping!" he grinned.

At that moment Marilyn appeared, carrying a garment bag (and several others). "Oh good," she said, "You're all here. Help me with this, would you Remus?" He got up and took the bags from her. "We went and bought Aaron's suit for the wedding, and that reminded me that you and Sirius still need to go in for your final tuxedo fittings. And you," she turned to Lily, "We still have so much to do..."

Lily smiled. "I know, Marilyn. I'll meet you tomorrow for breakfast as promised and we'll get everything set up."

"Good," she said, looking around the room to see if she had anyone else to instruct. "You," she pointed at Peter, "We've met before, haven't we?"

"Um, yes, I think. I'm Peter Petigrew, I was at Hogwarts with all of them," he said nervously.

"Oh, ok then. You're coming to the wedding, I trust?" Peter nodded. "Good."

Chapter 11: The Wedding Shower

The next few days went by rather quickly. Lily spent nearly every waking hour working on the wedding with Marilyn while James actually worked and tried to earn his vacation time for the honeymoon. There were no further incidents in the form of voices, letters or visions for that matter. Everything was as it should be.

One morning Lily woke up rather early and went downstairs to make breakfast for James and Sirius. She smiled when she saw that the freedom countdown was now at 7 Days, 6 Hours, 21 Minutes, 54 Seconds. Only a week to go, she thought, smiling to herself. But then something occurred to her. "I wonder if Sirius is planning a bachelor party for James..." she said out loud.

"You're damn right I am!" said Sirius as he walked into the room. He had a huge smile on his face. "Morning!"

"I do hope that you'll keep the trouble to a minimum," she said.

"Where's the fun in that?"

"Sirius, I do not want James to show up at our wedding with a hangover. Do you understand me?"

"Yeah, okay, okay."

"I'm glad we understand each other." She smiled and winked at him.

"From what I heard you're going to have quite a night beforehand anyhow," Sirius said, taking a sip of coffee.

"How do you know?"

"Jem talks. You should know that about her by now."

Lily smiled and shook her head. She knew that Jem was planning a bachelorette party for the night before the wedding, but she didn't think that anyone else did. "And here I was, thinking she'd only tell about the wedding shower this afternoon," Lily said.

Sirius nearly spat out his coffee that time. "As if we would be interested in that?"

"You never know, especially with you. A room full of mostly single girls? As if you wouldn't be interested..."

Sirius's expression changed for a moment, and then returned to it's usual nonchalant one. "Nope," he said.

Lily giggled. "Good, because it's not as though you're invited anyhow. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go get ready."

Lily then walked out of the kitchen, and made sure to hit Sirius in the head as she passed behind him on her way out. "See you later!" she said and then headed upstairs to shower and get dressed.

When Lily got back to her bedroom, she found that James was actually awake. "Morning sunshine," she said, kissing his cheek.

"Hey, baby," he said.

"There's coffee and food downstairs waiting for you, unless Sirius ate it all already," she told him.

James laughed. "Thanks. What are you doing today?"

"You know what today is... it's my wedding shower!"

"Right. Where is it going to be?"

"I honestly don't know. Jem is picking me up at 11 and taking me there though, so I've got to get ready. You should go and grab some food and then get to work. We can't have you being late every day..."

"I'm going, I'm going..."

"Have a good day, darling!" Lily called after him.

"I love you," he said.

"Love you too!"

True to her word, Jem showed up to collect Lily at 11 on the dot. "You look fab, Lil! Let's go!" She grabbed Lily's arm and led her to a waiting car. "I'm so excited, Lily! Today is going to be so much fun!"

Lily couldn't stop smiling. "I'm just going to have to trust you," she said.

"Oh, don't worry about a thing. Hmm, I wonder what sort of presents you'll get..."

Lily giggled. "I didn't even think about that! Thank you so much for putting all of this together for me..."

"What else is the maid of honour for?" Ten minutes later they pulled up in front of a beautiful stone house. "Here we are! Come on in."

Jem opened the door and Lily got her first glimpse of the bridal shower.

"Congratulations!" everyone shouted as she walked into the room.

There were white flowers everywhere, along with pink, lavender and white streamers in addition beautiful doves sitting in decorated cages. The food was laid out on white tables.

It took a minute, but then Lily finally managed to look at her guests. All of her girlfriends from Hogwarts were there, along with Claire, Marilyn and Kayla, Sirius's mother. And there they were. Sitting on a table next to the couch was a towering pile of presents.

"Thank you all so much," said Lily, genuinely grateful.

Virginia jumped up and hugged Lily. No sooner had she stepped away than April had swooped in and placed a veil on Lily's head. Everyone laughed with glee.

"Alright now, it's time for the first game. Lily, you come with me," Jem said, taking Lily into the next room. "Wait here until I come and get you."

"Alright..."

Jem went back to the rest of the guests and explained the rules. Everyone was to take the paper and pen they were given and write down as many things they could remember that Lily was wearing. Five minutes later, Jem called for Lily to come back in. "Ok, who has the most things correct?"

"I have 5," said April.

"9!" shouted Claire.

"Can anyone beat that?" Nobody could. "Alright Claire, you win! Here you go!" Her prize was a bottle of white wine.

"Ready for the next game?" asked Jem. When everyone quieted down, she continued. "Everyone needs to divide into teams of 3. We're going to play 'Dress the Bride.' Does everyone have their teams? Oh, and Lily, you're with me and Claire, just so you know." Claire grinned. "Each group come up and get some rolls of toilet paper. Now, choose one woman to be the bride in your group, and it's up to the other two to create a wedding dress! BUT, you only have 5 minutes! Ready? GO!" a timer suddenly appeared and started counting down.

For their group, Lily insisted that Jem be the bride. The sounds of giggles filled the room as everyone rushed to dress their bride before the timer ran out. "Time's up!" said Lily, very excited to see the other creations. "I get to judge, right?" Jem nodded. "Let's see... I'd like to have all the brides strut their stuff down the runway," she giggled. Everyone laughed at the different toilet paper creations. No two were alike. "Alright, I'm going to have to say that Leigh's gown is by far my favourite one!" Leigh, another Hogwarts graduate, and her teammates, Gretchen and Sonya (also classmates) all cheered and jumped forward to collect their prize, which was an antique lace fan for each of them.

After the games were finished, lunch was served. All of the women busied themselves with chatting while they ate. As soon as lunch was over though, Jem stood up and declared it "Time for the presents!"

Lily was seated in a central location on the couch and everyone gathered around, anxious to see what everyone else had gotten her. The first present that Lily unwrapped was a beautiful silver frame. "Thank you, Marilyn!" Lily exclaimed, passing the frame around for everyone to see. The next gift wasn't so innocent though. It was a white lace teddy. All of the women "Ooh'd and Aah'd" over it. Next Lily unwrapped a pair of handcuffs and some scented massage oils. She giggled, as did most everyone else. Next came a long black silk nightgown, followed by another teddy, this time emerald green, with a matching robe. The rest of the gifts continued along those lines, with the exception of one or two.

By the end of the shower, everyone's faces were hurting from smiling and laughing so much. Nobody cared though, as they all had a lot of fun, especially Lily. Some of the presents had given her ideas for sleepless nights to come, and others just meant so much that she didn't even know how to thank people for them. All in all, it was definitely a good afternoon.

It was only 4pm when Lily got home, and when she did, she was very surprised to find James asleep on the couch. Lily shook her head, smiling, and walked quietly over to him. Pushing him over ever so gently, she started to lie down beside him. Of course at that moment he woke up and pulled her playfully to him, causing her to break into a fit of giggles, which made him smile.

"Hi," James whispered.

"Hi," Lily said, kissing James's forearm.

"How was work?" Lily asked.

"Work? Oh, yeah. It was good. To much paper work though, so I thought I'd just bring some home and work on it here," James answered.

"You brought work home with you?" She turned around and felt his forehead. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine," he laughed. "Actually, I have a surprise for you."

"Really? What?"

"Well, ok, so I didn't exactly go into work today..."

"There's a real shock," Lily smirked.

"Well, I had an appointment." Lily raised her eyebrows, questioning him. "With a travel agent... to plan our honeymoon." James grinned.

"And...?"

"Well, I've got it narrowed down to three places: the Greek islands, the California wine country, or the Virgin Islands."

"And you get the final say. So, Lil, any preferences?"

Lily smiled. "When do you need to know by?"

"Friday at the latest."

"Alright." She kissed him and then jumped up. "I'm gonna start dinner. Any requests?"

"It doesn't matter, I think it's just going to be you and me tonight. Sirius has a date with Jem."

"What! She didn't mention that..."

James laughed. "Guess the cat's out of the bag then! Oh well, it's not like you had no idea."

"That's true. He did go home with her after the party... which reminds me, I have to ask her about that..."

"Well, when you do, you didn't hear anything from me. Ok?"

"Don't worry, I won't say anything."

Lily then began to busy herself in the kitchen, determined to make a nice dinner for James and herself. James however took this time to start prowling around the entrance hall, very interested in the countless bags that Lily had left by the door. He had just started to open on of the gift bags when a bright light started flashing and an extremely loud beeping emitted from the bag.

"Step away from the bags, Potter!" yelled Lily, suddenly right behind him. She was grinning, obviously very pleased with herself.

"But.. what? What is all this stuff?"

"Those are my presents from the shower. You are so predictable... I knew you would try to get into them, so I enchanted the bags. Now if you please, step away."

"Oh, come on, Lil! Can't I just see some of it?"

"All in due time. Now, if you won't leave them be, you can make yourself useful and carry them up to my closet. They won't let you open them, so it doesn't really matter if you try."

Lily then walked back to the kitchen, leaving a very disgruntled James in the hallway trying to schlep the bags upstairs.

Once the bags were all upstairs, James returned to the kitchen. "You know, Lil, sometimes you just suck all the fun out of things."

"Really? I thought that that little prank actually made things more interesting..."

"Funny, very funny."

"Thanks!" she beamed.

James rolled his eyes. "So, what's for dinner anyhow?" He grabbed a spoon and started to dip it into a pot to take a taste, but once again Lily was too quick for him. She smacked his hand and grabbed the spoon away from him.

"Not yet. We're having rosemary encrusted chicken with garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus. Why don't you go set the table?"

"Why do I get the distinct feeling you're trying to get rid of me?"

"Because I am. Now get out of my kitchen." She smiled and gave James a little shove out the door. "Just set the table and maybe put out a bottle of wine, if you want."

James did as he was told. He set the table, and even went a couple of extra steps. He filled the wine bucket with ice, and set a nice Riesling in it. He then lit some candles and found a good jazz record to put on.

When Lily walked into the dining room she was very pleased with the sight that greeted her. James rushed over to her and grabbed the food from her hands, insisting that she sit down and allow him to serve.

"Thank you, darling!" she said.

"Think nothing of it. You just sit down and have a glass of wine," James instructed.

Lily and James had a lovely evening. They enjoyed their nice, quiet, romantic dinner. After that, they snuggled up on the sofa in front of a roaring fire settling in for a quiet and uneventful evening. This, of course, was destined not to happen for just at that moment, Sirius burst into the house.

"Where are they? I want to see them for myself!" Sirius bellowed.

"What are you talking about?" demanded James.

"Oh, don't pretend like you don't know, you sly dog... Jem told me all about them..."

"What the hell?"

"The handcuffs and stuff that Claire gave you guys!"

Lily's eyed widened and her face immediately reddened.

"What are you on, Sirius? Claire didn't give-" James turned to Lily who was slowly trying to get up off the couch and leave the room. "Wait just one minute... what was in those bags of presents?"

Sirius couldn't resist. He burst out laughing.

"Um... nothing?" Lily answered uncomfortably.

"Lily, please. Don't insult my intelligence here," James said.

"Yeah, Lil," Sirius agreed. "He does a pretty good job of that on his own." James glared at him, which made him laugh even harder.

"Well, I just got a lot of stuff, that's all... can't really remember all of it," Lily insisted.

"Don't forget the handcuffs though!" Sirius piped in. Lily shot him a look that made him wish he hadn't.

"She actually gave you handcuffs?" James asked. Lily nodded. "Why doesn't that surprise me? My sister is so strange..."

A small smile appeared on Lily's face. "Yeah, really..." She hoped that this would be the end of the conversation for now.

"So, can I see them?" asked Sirius.

"No. They're not for you," she said.

"God, you are so selfish."

"No, I just know you well enough to know better than to trust you with something like that. And don't even think about trying to steal them either, the bags are enchanted so that only I can open them."

"Tell me about it... there's this annoying alarm that she put on them," James added.

"I'm guessing you found out the hard way?" James nodded.

"Lily, you are no fun anymore. Whatever happened to our fellow prankster?" Sirius asked, shaking his head.

Lily smiled. "It's not going to work, hon, so don't even try it."

"Damnit!"

Lily laughed. "There is nothing in those bags that is for your benefit, Sirius. Please keep that in mind."

"Benefit eh? James, it sounds like you have a lot to look forward to on that wedding night of yours..." he said, winking at James.

"Sirius!" exclaimed Lily.

Sirius looked around and then up at her innocently. "What?"

This cause all three of them to start laughing. "Knock it off, you damn fool!" she said through her giggles.

Lily shook her head, still laughing. "Sometimes I worry about that boy."

"I know," James said. "They grow up so fast..."

Lily sighed. "Our little boy... dating already..." she giggled.

"Well, lady, it looks like it's just you and me in for the night," James said.

"Catch on quick, don't you?"

"Well, there's no need to be snippy," he said, tickling her side.

"Stop it!"

"Well, what do you want to do?"

"Can we go to a movie?"

"A what?"

"James, stop. You know what I'm talking about, we've gone to movies before." James nodded. "Good. They're showing Hitchcock movies all week at the theatre in town... tonight it's To Catch a Thief... I love that movie.. Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. Does life get any better?"

James rolled his eyes. He was more into the 007 movies, but he agreed to go along anyhow.

The movie was fabulous. "Isn't she beautiful?" Lily breathed the moment that Audrey appeared on the screen. "If only I looked like her..."

"Bollocks. You're more beautiful than she is, any day!"

"Bite your tongue!" she hissed while staring dreamily at Cary Grant.

During the course of the movie, James kept trying to pull some cliché moves on Lily, such as yawning and putting his arm around her, or trying to rest his hand on her knee, but none of them worked. She was too engrossed by the film. By the time it was over, James was rather annoyed at the fact that Lily had ignored him the whole time.

"Wasn't that wonderful?" Lily asked, taking James's hand as they walked out of the theatre.

He quickly pulled his hand away and shoved it into his coat pocket. "Yeah, great," he muttered.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Oh, so now you notice me?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Me? Oh, nothing. Things are just peachy. Listen, why don't you just go and hunt Cary Grant down. Maybe you'd like to spend some time alone with him."

Lily just stood there looking at him stunned. She finally started to smile. "Is that what you're upset about? Because I watched the movie rather than you?"

James suddenly realized how stupid it sounded. "Well, when you say it like that..."

"James, come on. Get off your pedestal. I was watching a movie, not ignoring you."

"Fine, fine..." He then took her hand in his. "Geez, Lil. Your hands are freezing."

"Well, winter is setting in fast around here... but at least that means one good thing..."

"That it's almost time," he finished.

James twirled Lily into his arms. He pulled her close to him and whispered "Less than a week..."

"And then we'll be married," she whispered back, smiling. She then closed her eyes as she and James kissed on the corner of the street, but they didn't care where they actually were. They were in their own world.

"Come on, let's go home," whispered James. "We'll get you warmed up."

Lily was shivering and she didn't even realize it. She took a deep breath and then nodded. They walked the rest of the way back with James's arm around Lily's shoulders and hers around his waist. When they got to their house, James unlocked the door and let Lily in. Once they took off their coats and scarves, James insisted on a cup of hot chocolate. They walked into the kitchen and smiled when they saw the Freedom Countdown. 6 Days, 12 hours, 23 minutes, 8 seconds.

"Well, it officially is less than a week." Lily smiled.

They drank their hot chocolate quietly, while gazing at each other from across the table. It was quite some time before either of them said anything.

"What are you thinking about?" asked James.

"I know where we should go for the honeymoon. Let's go to California."

"Really? You're sure about this?"

"Positive." Lily smiled.

"I'll make the arrangements tomorrow," James said, beaming.

"James?"

"Yes, Lil?"

"You do realize that I won't be here for the last three days before the wedding, right?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm going to be staying at the Palace, with Gran. Sorting things out, getting ready, things like that."

"Oh," James said, sounding rather disappointed.

"It's bad luck for you to see me 24 hours beforehand anyhow. this is just going to make it 72 hours instead."

"I know, but that's a long time. I can't even remember the last time we've been apart for that long."

Lily sighed. "Me neither."

"Just think of it like this," Lily started, "It's a small price to pay for the outcome."

"Lily, the ends don't always justify the means..."

"Aren't you being a little dramatic? It's not as though you don't have to work or get your own things done..."

"I know, but still!"

"I swear, all you ever do is whine, James Potter. I don't even know why I'm going to marry you at all!" She laughed.

"I've often asked myself that very question," he said. "Come on, let's go to bed... it's late."

Lily nodded and followed him upstairs.

Chapter 12: The City of Sin. For All.

The next 3 days went by rather quickly. James would get up in the morning, go to work, and come home in the evening. Lily would spend her days with Marilyn going over wedding details, making sure that her dress would be ready on time, and things like that. In the evening, Lily and James would spend quiet nights in front of the fire, or playing cards with Sirius and Remus or Peter. Aaron also came over to visit a few times.

And then it was Wednesday. The morning that both James and Lily had been dreading. The day that they would have to say goodbye to each other until the next time they would meet: at their wedding.

Lily woke up before James did, and got up and got dressed. She then sat down on the bed next to him and tried to pat is untamable hair down.

"Don't go," he whispered. "Just come back to bed and we'll pretend that it's yesterday."

Lily smiled. "You know we can't do that. Your mother is coming soon to get me. It won't be so bad... only two nights, really."

"No, three."

"James, I know that Sirius and Remus have planned a bachelor party for you on Friday. We weren't going to see each other then anyhow..."

James rubbed his eyes and put on his glasses. "I know, I know. I'm just gonna miss you, that's all."

"Well, I promise you that I'll meet you down at the alter, Saturday at 2 o'clock. Provided you'll be there, of course."

"I'll be the one in the black tux who won't take his eyes off you or stop smiling."

"And I'll be the one in the white dress, with the veil."

They both smiled. Lily then kissed James goodbye. "I love you with all my heart," she said.

"I love you too," he told her. "Bye."

Lily had just barely finished her morning coffee when Marilyn arrived.

"Are you ready to go?" she asked.

Lily smiled and nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be."

"Alright, let's get going," Marilyn told her.

The two then disapparated.

"Hello, my darling!" Victoria said as Lily apparated in front of her. She gave Lily a quick hug and then stepped back to look at her. "You miss him already, don't you?"

Both Marilyn and Lily smiled. "Yeah, a little," Lily admitted.

"Don't worry, my dear, it shan't be much longer..."

"I know, Gran. It's just a strange feeling because, well, ever since we met we've never spent more than a day apart."

Marilyn looked a bit taken aback by this, but smiled through it. "He'll be fine, Lily. Actually, I'm just going to go and talk with him now. I will be back later."

"Thanks, Marilyn. I really appreciate everything you've done."

Once Marilyn had left, Lily and Victoria sat down to have a cup of tea.

"You know, Lily," Victoria began, "there was a time that I hoped you would join me here. I hoped that you would follow my choices and live by the prophecy. I know now, though, that this is what is best for you."

"What do you mean?"

"You have the gift, child. You possess a stronger gift than many of the Sisters here could ever wish for. But even so, you are different from them. You strength comes not only from within yourself, but from James as well. Together you can find the will to survive. When I realized that I knew that a life here would not fulfill the destiny fated for you. You will do great things as Lily Potter."

Lily blushed. "Don't say that. What can I do?"

"You will see, dear. You already know part of it, with the Sorcerer's Stone."

"I still don't understand how though..."

"You will, it will present itself."

After their conversation, Lily was left feeling a bit confused about her future. She didn't say anything though, well aware of the fact that Victoria wouldn't tell her anything anyhow. Instead, Victoria and Lily spent the rest of the day overseeing the initial wedding set-up.

Satisfied with what they found, Victoria led Lily to the room she would be staying in for the next few nights.

"Thank you so much for taking me in like this and everything..."

"Think nothing of it, dear. As I told you before, I consider it a great honour."

The next two days were completely devoted to wedding preparations. Marilyn, Jem, Claire, and Virginia all came to help Lily with last minute things. Jem, Claire and Virginia also had to make sure that their bridesmaid dresses were perfect and ready along with Lily's wedding dress.

Before they knew it, it was Friday morning. Lily was excited to have received an owl from James, saying that he missed her and couldn't wait until the following day. He also pleaded with her to have fun but not do anything she would regret at her bachelorette party. This made Lily laugh, and she sent him a return owl requesting the same of him at his bachelor party.

James was very excited when he woke up Friday morning. This was mostly due to the fact that he woke up to Scarlet, Lily's owl, nipping at his nose. Under any other circumstance, this would have angered him greatly, but he knew that she was only there because she had a note from Lily for him. "Thanks, girl," he said, petting her head before pulling out a treat from the nightstand for her. She took it gratefully and then flew off to her cage for some water. James then opened the note.

My Soon-To-Be Husband,

It won't be much longer now... just over 24 hours to go. I love you, and I know you love me. You had better remember that tonight when Sirius and everyone tries to convince you to do things I wouldn't approve of. I'm only kidding. Have a good time, and please don't do anything you will regret or that I will make you pay for later on...

Love Always,

Your Lily

James smiled to himself and shook his head. Little did he know what Sirius had in store for him though...

Not 10 minutes later, Sirius burst into the room. "Get up, shower, shave, get dressed and for god's sake, brush your teeth. You have 20 minutes and then we're taking off." He then ran out of the room to get himself ready leaving a bewildered James sitting on his bed.

James shrugged and then got up to get ready. He did what he was told, and was ready with 5 minutes to spare.

Fifteen minutes later, Sirius came strolling down the stairs and into the kitchen where James was waiting.

"What the hell is that all about? You rush me so that I'm ready and yet you arrive 10 minutes late?"

"Chill! It's not like I never came downstairs or anything..."

James rolled his eyes. "So, what's on today's agenda?"

"You'll see," Sirius said, with a gleam in his eyes.

Jem apparated into the Palace of the Prophets around noon on Friday to pick Lily up. "Are you ready?" she asked when she found Lily.

"Just about," Lily answered, putting on some lip-gloss.

"Don't worry about that! Today is spa day!"

"What are you talking about?"

"It's part of your wedding present from me and the girls. A day at the spa! Manicure, pedicure, massage, facial, sauna, the whole deal!"

"You really don't have to do that," Lily insisted.

"Oh pish! Of course we do! We want you to be nice and relaxed for tomorrow, don't we?" Jem winked at Lily, who smiled. "Now come on, we're going to be late! Everyone is waiting on us..."

The two girls disapparated after Lily said goodbye to Victoria. Where they apparated to though, Lily had no idea.

"Where are we?" Lily asked, looking around.

"The spa, of course! Now, where is everybody... there they are!" Jem led Lily to the group of girls waiting for them. It was Claire, Virginia, April, Leigh, Melanie and Grace (the last two having graduated from Hogwarts the year before Lily, and who were also on the house quidditch team with her, Sirius, James and Remus).

"Hi!" everyone said when they saw Jem and Lily.

"Oh my god! I can't believe you're all here!"

"As if we'd miss this," said Melanie.

Just then an older woman, who was a muggle, came out carrying a clipboard. "Are we ready to get started, ladies?" When everyone agreed, she continued. "Well, you will all find robes in your lockers, and if you can get changed, we'll begin."

Everyone changed quickly, chatting excitedly. "I cannot wait for that massage..." said Claire.

"Oh, I know what you mean! But I'm really looking forward to the skin treatment... my skin has gotten so dry recently!" Leigh said.

"Where are we?" asked Lily, still confused.

Just then another muggle walked back toward them, also carrying a clipboard. "Welcome to the Luxor Spa, the only 24 hour spa that Las Vegas has to offer," she smiled. "Now that you've all gotten changed, if you would please follow me. Before we begin, I would like to point out a few things. Down this hall, we have the showers. Each shower has a different scent. For example, our most popular ones are the mint and lavender. Towels can be found to the right, and then you can ask at the desk if you need anything, such as a face cloth or razor. Through here we have the massage rooms, and then down here is the hot tub and steam room. Near the entrance you will find a refrigerator stocked with different juices and water, along with coffee, tea and fruit. Feel free to help yourself at any time. Are we all ready to begin?"

"We sure are!" said Claire.

The woman smiled. "Lily Evans?" Lily stepped forward. "I understand that you are our bride-to-be." Lily nodded, blushing. "Well, your friends have arranged this to prepare you for your wedding, so if there is anything at all that you need, do not hesitate to ask."

"Thank you," Lily said.

"And now, ladies, if you would. Feel free to hit the showers, and we'll begin in just a few minutes."

Lily's day couldn't have been better. She enjoyed a lavender shower, had a full body massage, relaxed in the hot tub, sauna and steam room. She had her facial, got her nails done. After all that, she took another shower, mint this time. It was the best she had ever felt. And, judging by everyone else she was with, they all felt pretty much the same way. Everyone was disappointed that the day was over, but they were all excited about where the evening would lead them. Lily, of course, was still clueless.

Sirius took James out to a local pub for lunch. Remus and Peter were already there waiting for them.

"It's about ruddy time," said Remus, glancing at his watch.

"Chances are we would have been on time if this big git hadn't taken forever to get ready," James told him, pointing to Sirius.

"Oh, sod it. I'm starving," Sirius added.

"So, am I stuck with just you three for the rest of the day?" James asked.

Remus snickered. "No, everyone else is meeting us later. They would have been here, but, unlike you, some people do actually work for a living..."

James punched Remus in the shoulder. "You're one to talk... at least I have a job."

"Not for much longer, at this rate," Remus stated, grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh, would you two just stop it? There's no point in ruining the day by fighting," Peter pointed out.

"Yeah, he's right," Sirius chimed in. "Besides, we've got lots ahead of us..."

After lunch, the guys all decided to stick around the pub for a few rounds before heading back to the house where they would lay low for a couple hours until everyone else could meet them.

Peter glanced at the freedom countdown clock. "Well, James," Peter started, "only 20 hours left..."

"And you will use them all wisely," Sirius told him.

"Oh will I now? And just how do you figure that?"

"Because we won't allow you to do otherwise!" exclaimed Remus.

"Actually, I supposed we'd best be going. Everyone is meeting us in a bit..." Sirius said, getting up. "I'm going to have to blindfold you, James." Before James had a chance to protest, Sirius had zapped a blindfold on him. He also gagged him. Remus gave Sirius a puzzled look. "Well, why the hell not? When else can we do this to him?"

"Works for me!" Remus agreed. Peter smiled.

"Let's go!"

They all disapparated.

"So where are we going now?" Lily asked. She bit her lower lip in anticipation.

"First, we've got to go outside. Our ride is waiting for us," Jem said, leading everyone out of the spa, through the casino and out the large front doors.

Lily couldn't believe her eyes. There was a white stretch limousine parked right in front of them. The driver was smiling and holding the door open for everyone to climb in.

"What are you waiting for, Lil? Get in already!"

Lily eagerly jumped into the limo and was followed by all of her friends. The girls all giggled as Jem told the driver where they wanted to go. The stardust. They were going to begin their night at the infamous VooDoo Lounge.

When James & Co. finally apparated at their destination, James wondered where they were. He could tell that it was significantly warmer than England, and could hear that it was very crowded with lots of traffic. He tried to ask where they were, but couldn't because of the gag. All of the guys were laughing at him though, and he could tell that there were more of them than just Sirius, Remus and Peter now. Then, suddenly he could see.

"James, my friend, welcome to the original Sin City!" Sirius shouted.

James looked up and saw the infamous neon sign, recognized the world over "Welcome to Las Vegas" it said.

"First stop, Caesar's Palace!" shouted Sirius. He led the rather large group of guys down the famous Las Vegas Strip and into the palatial casino- hotel. They were greeted at the door by several scantily clad women who linked arms with James and a few of the other guys.

"First time in Vegas?" one of the women asked James. He could only nod in response.

"Our boy here is getting married tomorrow," Remus told her, gesturing toward James. "We're out to show him a good time tonight!"

"Well then, you've come to the right place!" another girl said.

"There's no place in the world better to sow those wild oats than Las Vegas," another chimed in, eyeing James as she smiled.

James and his crew were led into a small room in the back. "Here we are," Sirius told them.

"What are we doing here?" James asked.

"You'll see. the show is just about to begin."

James sat down with a beautiful woman on either side of him. There was a stage in the front of the room, and he noticed that all of the guys were staring at it expectantly. And then he saw why.

The girls were sitting at a table out on the balcony of the VooDoo Lounge sipping martinis and admiring the view of the Strip.

"Finish your drinks, girls," Claire told them. "We're about to move on!"

"That's right. we've still got quite a night ahead of us," Jem added.

Lily, who was already feeling the effects of her 1 lemon drop and 2 sour apple martinis was caught in a fit of giggles. "Can you believe it? I'm actually getting married tomorrow!"

Everyone just had to laugh with her, they couldn't help it.

"Come on, let's go. it's off to the Mirage for us!"

Lily was careful to get the very last drop of her martini before getting up. Everyone, Lily included, had to laugh because she could barely stand on her own.

"Honey," Virginia said, "you have got to pace yourself!"

They all made their way to the elevator, making sure to take a picture in front of the VooDoo Lounge sign in the lobby. They then returned to the limo and set off for the Mirage.

When they arrived at the Mirage, everyone had to marvel at its splendor. It truly was amazing to look at. Lily only did this for about 30 seconds though, because that's how long it took her to spot a bar. She ran right up and ordered a drink.

"Sex on the beach, please!" she ordered.

The bartender, who was rather good looking, smiled and winked at her before saying "Any time you want."

Lily giggled. "Thanks for the offer, because I think that tonight is my last chance."

"And why might that be?" he asked.

"Because she's marrying my brother tomorrow!" Claire butted in, grinning.

"Well, that's too bad," the bartender said, winking at Lily again. "But as long as you stay here, drinks are on the house!"

All of the girls cheered. Lily was very pleased with herself. The bartender then introduced himself as Topher, short for Christopher.

"Well, Topher," Lily started, "what would you recommend for a bunch of girls like us to do tonight?"

"I think you should stick around here for about another," Topher glanced at his watch, "30 minutes, drinking and waiting for me to get off work, and then let me show you around the real Las Vegas."

"Sounds good to me!" Lily exclaimed.

"Me too!" said Jem.

Everyone else smiled and nodded as well.

James couldn't believe his eyes. The lights went out and the curtains on the stage opened causing all of the guys to start yelling and cheering. Then the dancers came out. There had to be at least 20 of them, all dancing for this private audience. The performance went on for about half an hour, and it included more than one lapdance for James. Several of the other guys had one as well. Needless to say, they were all pretty pleased by the event.

Once the dancing was over, and the guys had a few more girls hanging on them, and a few more drinks flowing through them, they made their way to the closest bar. After a few jager shots, James decided it was time to try his luck at some of these muggle games. So, he decided to shoot craps. Craps, being a game of luck and chance, proved to be very interesting for him. At one point he was up about $2000 in American muggle money, but then he crapped out and lost it all.

"Oh, well," James said, smiling and shrugging his shoulders. "Not like I had any use for it anyhow."

"James, you idiot," Peter said, "You could have used the money on your honeymoon, since you are coming back here and all."

"That's true. Sirius, can I have another $20?" Sirius handed him the money and he immediately found a roulette table. By the time James was pried away from the table, he had turned that $20 into $800. "It's a start," he said proudly.

Lily and her party waited patiently for Topher to get off work. He continuously fed them drinks, so they were doing pretty well. Things started looking even better for everyone when some of his friends came to join them. "This is Grant, Doug and Dave," Topher told them. "Guys, this is Lily, she the one getting married tomorrow, Claire, Jem, Virginia, Leigh. no wait, don't tell me, you're Leigh, and you're April, Grace and. Melanie! Right?" Topher smiled.

"You got it!" Grace told him, taking the shot of tequila that Topher had just handed them.

Everyone hung around laughing and drinking waiting for Topher to get off work. When he finally did, he jumped over the bar, put his arm around Lily's waist, and said "Shall we?"

Lily smiled. "Where are we going?"

"I dunno, what do you think guys?" Topher asked.

His friends all looked at each other and smiled. They then turned back to him and said, at the same time, "Aladdin."

Topher grinned and nodded in agreement. "Good call," he said.

Topher and his friends joined the girls in heading to their car. They had quite a shock when they saw it was a limousine, but they weren't about to complain. Topher told the driver where they were going, and took a seat next to Lily. "Ready to have some fun?" he asked playfully.

"Always," she answered.

They pulled up at the Aladdin and got out of the limo. "Who's up for some games?" Grant asked.

"Sure, why not?" Claire said, taking his arm.

The Aladdin was not as extravagant as the Mirage, but nobody was complaining about that. It seemed to be more fun.

Sirius and James's group was finally ready to move on from Caesar's Palace. "Where to now?" a slightly inebriated James asked.

"Should we try for something slightly closer to home?" Eric, a friend from Hogwarts, asked.

"Well, the closest thing to that around here would be the only place with a magical theme. the Aladdin," Sirius said. "I can't believe that muggles actually believe those stories of genies granting wishes."

"Shh!" Remus said. "We'll just go and have a good time."

"Yeah, yeah," Sirius said.

And the boys headed across the Strip and over to the Aladdin.

Grant had finished giving the girls a general tour and overview of the Aladdin when they all decided to settle down for some fun with slot machines. Topher sat with his arm around Lily, giving her advice on how much to put in the machine and everyone else surrounded them at various machines. Waitresses came by, and after greeting Grant, who explained that he worked there and that was why everyone knew him, they brought everyone drinks. Lily and Topher, who were whispering and laughing together, decided to take a celebratory shot because Lily had hit a small jackpot of $100. "This is my machine!" she declared.

Jem got up to move to another machine when something caught her eye. Well, someone. "I'll be right back," she whispered to Claire, nodding toward the door.

It took Claire a second, but then she saw what Jem was gesturing toward. Her eyes grew wide and she nodded. "Hurry!" she said.

Jem practically flew to the aisle of slot machines closest to where the boys had entered the casino. "Sirius!" she hissed.

Sirius looked up, not sure if he had heard his name. He then heard it again, and when he saw Jem, his eyes almost popped out of his head. "I'll be right back," he told the guys, rather awkwardly. He rushed over to where Jem was hiding. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here, more like!"

"I told you we were taking James here for his bachelor party!"

"No, you said you might take him here, and I said it sounded like fun and that I might take Lily!"

"That you might take her!"

"Well, we decided to! You can't be here! Get him out of here!"

"What? I don't think so. you all leave!"

"We can't do that! They'll know some-" Jem was interrupted by a scream. It was Virginia.

"James!" she shouted.

"Oh, no!" said Jem, rushing to rejoin her group. She was followed by Sirius.

When Jem made it over to them, she was relieved to see that James hadn't actually seen Lily, or Topher for that matter. The girls had been quick to respond and formed a sort of wall around Lily.

James, however, was making a drunken fool of himself. "Oh, come on, I know she's in there. Lily? Can't you people just move for a second and let me see her?"

"James, go away!" Lily shouted. "It's bad luck!" She giggled.

"So that's the guy?" Topher whispered to her. Lily giggled again and nodded. "Interesting."

Remus was trying to pull James away from the scenario. "Come on, James. you only have like 15 hours left anyhow. let's go."

"But I just want to see Lily!"

"Well, you can't right now," Lily yelled.

"James, just go and have fun," Claire said. "Don't make me beat you up like I used to."

Everyone laughed at this. Everyone except James. "Lil." he was starting to whine.

"James, that's very unattractive!" she giggled. "Hey, April, what's he wearing?"

"That blue t-shirt you got him for Christmas and black pants," she answered.

"Which ones?"

"The chinos," said Jem.

"Does he look good?"

"Other than his drunken state, yeah," Jem told her.

Topher couldn't help it. He burst out laughing at that. Unfortunately, so did his friends. Even more unfortunately, the sound of male laughter seemed to annoy James and his crew.

"Who was that?" asked Sirius.

"Nobody," April said quickly.

"Yeah, because we're that stupid," said Peter.

At that, Topher, Grant, Doug and Dave stood up, grinning, and waved.

"Who's that stupid?" Topher asked, displaying a stunning smile.

"Who're you?" asked James.

"Their bartender, and you, I take it, are the groom?" James nodded. "You've got quite a girl here," Topher told him.

"Thanks, I know," James replied, suddenly in a good mood. Everyone looked around quizzically, and then Jem noticed Sirius was quickly stuffing his wand into his pocket. She couldn't help but laugh.

"Come on, James, let's go somewhere else," Sirius said, starting to lead him away.

"Oh, okay, I guess. Lily!" James called.

"Yeah?"

"Don't forget about tomorrow!"

"You either!"

"Love you!"

"I love you too!"

All the girls giggled as they realized what had happened. The guys left them still standing around Lily. Topher and his friends looked confused, but no one seemed to notice, or care for that matter.

The rest of the night came and went without any further encounters. James and his friends went to another casino and had only a few more drinks before calling it a night. Lily and her crew stayed at the Aladdin with Topher and his friends for about another hour before Lily accidentally forgot where she was.

"Guys, I'm tired," Lily told them. "I think I need to go to bed. G'nite!" Then, much to the horror of everyone she was with, she disapparated back to the Palace of the Prophets.

"Okay, am I the only one who just saw that?" Doug asked, stumbling over Dave.

"I dunno. What did you see?" Dave asked.

"I think I saw what you might have seen. but maybe not," Topher said.

"I've definitely had too much to drink tonight. I'm going home," Doug decided.

"Yeah, me too," Topher said.

"Good night, ladies," Grant said, looking around.

"Nite," all of them replied, trying hard to hide their giggles.

Once the guys were safely out of view and earshot, the girls burst out laughing and each disapparated to their own homes.