As It Was Meant to Be
A/N: I've realized that I'm taking this story a lot more slowly than I took "Falling Through Glass" or even "Laurie Lacewing". I think that makes it better, in the long run. And I plan on writing a sequel or two to this, or perhaps a story that takes place further into the future. Whaddya think?
Anyway, just for a review, our last chapter covered what happened Tuesday night. Sirius and Annie are preparing to celebrate their "anniversary" (though it hasn't been a year yet); Annie bought Sirius a sword and Sirius bought (made) Annie a charmed necklace. Annie and Lily read through Lily's old letters and found out that Professor Beata was, indeed, in Italy and that she knew her life was in danger. Sirius and James tried to figure out why Lily's attitude towards James has been different of late. And best (or worst) of all, Remus and Shannon were caught snogging in the Astronomy Tower by good ol' Severus Snape.
In this chapter, Professor Dumbledore assigns term projects for Defense Against the Dark Arts and makes some interesting pairings, to say the least. Lily uses this project to disguise her search for more information on Professor Beata and her mysterious death (and to disguise her search for more information about her partner!). And Sirius and Annie celebrate their anniversary.
Everything you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling. Everything else belongs to me. Enjoy!
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Chapter Five: The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men. . .
At Hogwarts, it had always been easy to fall into a comfortable schedule of doing things. After the second day of classes (which consisted of Charms with the Ravenclaws, Transfiguration and Basic Concealment), Lily found herself already in a steady routine of doing things, walking almost mechanically to her classes and not really thinking about what came next.
Wednesday morning in the Great Hall had been rather interesting for Lily and her friends, especially Remus and Shannon. Lily was enjoying a nice, leisurely breakfast before classes began, when Remus and Shannon entered the Hall-together. Lily wasn't surprised in the least, but what did surprise her was the rush of whispering that followed their entrance. She gave Anaral a confused look. "Why all the whispering?" she asked.
Anaral covered her mouth. "You mean Shannon didn't tell you?" she gasped. Lily shook her head.
"I was asleep before she came in last night. What happened?"
Anaral leaned closer to Lily conspiratorially, ignoring the odd looks they were receiving from James, Sirius and Peter (who were discussing Quidditch again). "Apparently, she and Remus were snogging up in the Astronomy Tower and they got caught by. . .by Snivellus!"
"Snape, you mean?" Lily whispered. Anaral nodded. "Well, I guess their little secret's out now."
Anaral giggled as Remus and Shannon came to sit down beside each other. Their friends tried (with some manner of difficulty) to avoid looking at them, but James finally broke the awkward silence. "Congratulations, mate," he called loudly to Remus. The rest of the school seemed to have been waiting for James to say or do something before really reacting and so joined in clapping and cheering for the Head Boy and his new girlfriend. Shannon, blushing furiously, gave a look of death to Anaral and Lily, who could not contain their giggles.
"Oh, come on, Shannon, lighten up!" This time, it was Sirius who spoke. "You're dating someone who's not only the Head Boy, but also happens to be the only werewolf in the school. Did you expect to go quietly into the night?"
"That was the plan, yeah," she muttered, taking a bite of scrambled eggs. "Though I suppose I couldn't really expect that to happen here, eh?"
Lily and Anaral shook their heads and tried to stop laughing. Lily recovered from her giggles first and gave Shannon a genuine smile. "Seriously, though, we're really happy for you two."
"Hmph," Shannon uttered, but she was unmistakably glowing.
Charms class that morning was focused on basic, yet utterly important, Untraceable Charms. Tiny Professor Flitwick was having them learn the theory first, since testing Untraceable Charms was not exactly a convenient thing to do. Lily and Shannon passed notes back and forth during the entire lecture, so by the time the lecture was over, Lily had a more-than- comprehensive idea of what had happened between Shannon and Remus the night before in the Astronomy Tower. They were laughing as they left the classroom.
"Honestly, Shannie," Lily gasped, using the pet name she only gave to Shannon in their closest moments, "you've got me thoroughly convinced that the Astronomy Tower is the most romantic place of all time!"
Shannon was trying to hold back her giggles-and failing miserably. "Oh, Lils, it was so romantic! I've been reliving it almost hourly since it happened!"
"Reliving what?" The rest of their friends had caught up to them. Remus was smiling at Shannon as he asked the question, slipping an arm around her waist.
"Oh, nothing," she answered in a sing-song way. "You're just a good kisser is all." And she kissed him. Lily smiled broadly at the look of surprise on Remus' face.
"Honestly, everyone's coupling up around here!" Anaral exclaimed happily, obviously relishing the feeling of Sirius arm draped across her shoulders like a shawl. "I wonder who will be next." She looked pointedly at Lily and Shannon did the same. Lily felt herself blushing furiously, but she managed to smile and avoid covering up her feelings with a sharp barb.
To her mild surprise, James came to her defense. "Evans needn't couple up any time soon if she doesn't want to," he told her friends reproachfully, and before she could stop herself, Lily responded.
"Well, you never know, James," she said softly, and clapped a hand over her mouth. Her friends all stared at her, stunned. It wasn't so much that she'd hinted that she actually was interested in someone as it was the fact that she'd called James by his given name.
"No recovering from that one, Lils," Shannon commented, finally, and led Remus away. Anaral took the hint and did the same with Sirius, leaving Lily and James to stare at each other in confusion and surprise.
"I. . .ah. . ." Lily stammered, trying to come up with a reason for her lapse in mental judgment. James, however, was making things very hard for her by looking at her "that way"-with complete and total sincerity and admiration. "Yeah. You never know, James," she repeated softly. James stepped closer to her, and for a moment, it seemed he would lean in and kiss her.
All too soon, though, he stepped back, his cocky smile back on his face, his hazel eyes showing indifference. "No, Evans, I don't suppose you do. We oughta get to Transfiguration."
"I suppose we ought."
***
"And then you just walked away from each other?" Shannon cried, sounding completely and totally aghast.
The three Gryffindor girls were walking down by the lake, discussing the events of the day. It was sunset, and the day's events were winding down quickly. Lily nodded in response to Shannon's question.
"What else were we supposed to do? Start snogging right there in the hall? I mean it was obvious, to me at least, that he didn't want to," Lily defended, reaching down to pick up a handful of pebbles. She threw one at the surface of the lake, skipping it a few times before watching it sink below. "Maybe he's stopped liking me."
"No!" Both Anaral and Shannon stopped walking at that and turned to face Lily.
"Lils, that would never happen. James likes you more than you can even imagine!" Anaral exclaimed. "Sirius tells me. . ."
"Does he now?" Lily asked, throwing another rock at the lake where it landed with an unceremonious plop. "And how, pray tell, does Sirius know that the information he is receiving is entirely accurate?"
Anaral sighed. "Lily, give it up already. James likes you, he always has and probably always will."
Lily was tired of the subject. "How are your plans for you and Sirius' anniversary coming?" she asked Anaral. Shannon shook her head and sighed and Anaral looked at Lily crossly.
"Don't think you're getting out of it that easy, Lily Catherine Evans," she threatened. "We're going back to our room, and I'm going to show you Sirius' new sword. And then we're going to talk about you and James, and that's all there is to it."
"Too right," Shannon concurred. "Come on Lils." She took Lily's left arm and Anaral grabbed the right. Together, they marched Lily back up to the castle, turning a deaf ear to her protests until she was seated in their bedroom. She pressed her lips together stubbornly as Shannon sat down on the bed beside her and Anaral made a great deal of pomp and ceremony about pulling a long, sheathed sword out of her armoire. She drew the sword and listened to Shannon and Lily gasp in amazement.
"That is quite possibly the most amazing piece of metal I have ever seen," Lily commented, finally. And so it was. Perfectly balanced and light as a feather, the sword was a brightly white shade of silver that gleamed in the candlelight. A flowing engraving was woven around the blade, a language that Lily could not identify.
"It's Sindarin," Anaral explained, simply. "From the Lord of the Rings books. High Elvish, I think."
"What does it say, Annie?" Shannon asked, standing to get a better look at the blade.
" 'My love will be with you always,'" Anaral quoted, running a thin finger along the engraving. "It's a working sword, too."
"So he could actually use it," Shannon commented softly. "It's brilliant, Annie."
Anaral looked suddenly sober. "His father was supposed to give him the family sword for his eighteenth birthday, but that's obviously not happening. So I thought I'd give him his own sword, so that someday, he could pass it to his son. . ."
"He'll love it, Annie," Lily assured with a warm smile.
"No doubt," Shannon agreed quickly, the words sounding like nails being pounded into a coffin. "Now, Lily, about you and James. . ."
"Oh come off it!" Lily exclaimed, frustrated. "Yes, I like him. I don't know if he likes me and I don't want to rush anything! Is that okay with both of you?"
"We just wanted to talk about it, Lily." Anaral looked concerned. "You never know. Talking about it might help you realize some things about him that you hadn't before."
"Like what? I doubt there's anything that I haven't noticed about him before. If you remember, I was the one telling you two about all of his worst traits at this time last year!" Lily exclaimed.
"Let's start at the beginning, Lils," Shannon said firmly, folding her legs under her. "What made you change your mind about James? When did he turn from 'that arrogant little bastard' into," she paused and sighed a dramatic, wistful sigh, "Jaaaaaaames?"
Anaral stifled a giggle and Lily rolled her eyes. "He's never been 'Jaaaaaaaaames' nor will he ever be, at least not to me."
"Alright, then. What turned James from toad of the century into Prince Charming?" Shannon rephrased. "That better?"
"I guess," Lily shrugged and thought back to the moment at Stonehenge when she'd noticed James staring at her. She reluctantly shared the details of that encounter with Shannon and Anaral, who sighed pathetically when she'd finished. This made Lily roll her eyes again. "It's not like suddenly the stars aligned and everything was all perfect and wonderful with violins and birds or anything," she pointed out, annoyed.
"No, but close," Shannon commented, still grinning. "And you've been hooked ever since."
"Has he ever looked at you that way since?" Anaral asked, gently.
"No fewer than a dozen times." Lily sighed. "And every time, I just snap at him or something. He must hate me."
"I doubt that," Anaral said, softly. "You've probably confused the hell out of him, but James could never hate you."
"How are you so sure?" Lily whispered, suddenly feeling more vulnerable than she would ever let herself be in front of James.
"Because I've seen the way he looks at you, too," Anaral answered, putting an arm around Lily's shoulders. "He would die before he ever stopped loving you."
Shannon's grin had become less teasing and more genuine. "Now the only question is. . .how are we going to get you two together?"
Lily reached behind her and found a pillow to throw at Shannon.
***
". . .and so concludes our section on Patronum. Rest assured that they will be on your N.E.W.T. examination for this class. Now. . ." Professor Dumbledore was smiling congenially at the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, all of whom had finally managed to produce corporeal Patronum, ". . .how many of you read the articles I gave you on the rise of dark wizards in ages past?"
There was a cough, some muttering, and only Remus timidly raised his hand. Anaral and Lily grinned at each other conspiratorially-this was to be expected-but everyone else remained silent and nervous. Professor Dumbledore simply continued to smile gently.
"That is as I expected. Ten points to Gryffindor for the conscientious nature of Mr. Lupin," he pronounced, and James and Sirius patted Remus on the back merrily. Professor Dumbledore, meanwhile, had clapped his hands, and the entire nature of the room changed. Everyone was now standing in a field of stars. Lily watched as a comet skimmed past her head and everyone drew in their breath sharply.
"Wow," Anaral whispered, reaching for a tiny star just above her head. "This is amazing."
"This, Miss Karadhras, is the field of memory. We are all going to take a journey back through time and learn about dark wizards past and how they were defeated. Today will simply be an overview and the assigning of projects and partners for your term project," Professor Dumbledore explained. Out of the corner of her eye, Lily thought she saw Narcissa Black nudging Antonio Zabini and laughing. "In any case. . ." Professor Dumbledore clapped again, and they stood on a barren desert field. Men and women dressed in Egyptian garb began milling around, talking silently as Professor Dumbledore lectured. "For as long as there have been human beings who had the knowledge and understanding of magic, there have been human beings who used this knowledge-and the power that came with it-to control, manipulate, and hurt multitudes of people." An impending looking Egyptian with a long black robe suddenly appeared. He revealed a wand made crudely from a reed, pointed it at several people in rapid succession, and laughed silently as they slumped to the ground, dead. "These people have had the power to instill terror in the hearts of all witches and wizards around the world. Muggles call them. . ."
"Terrorists," Lily whispered as Professor Dumbledore looked pointedly at her. He nodded gravely.
"Terrorists-ones who bring terror." The scene changed. Now they stood in what appeared to ancient Greece. A man was standing protectively in front of his wife and child while a wizard in a dark toga laughed and pointed his wand at them. The man fell to the ground, writhing in pain, while the woman screamed. Lily felt sick to her stomach. "For their own reasons, these wizards decided that it was their duty to take over the wizarding world. Most of them had the desire to see the extinction of all Muggles and had the idea that pureblood wizards were somehow better than others." Lily cast a glance at the Slytherins, who looked oddly unmoved by the entire ordeal. The scene changed again. It seemed that they were now in England, albeit a very ancient England.
"Most dark wizards also had a vendetta of sorts against part-humans, though they often found them useful in combat. Once the battles had ended, however, they would often dispose of their 'helpers', execution-style." The lecture continued; Lily thought Remus looked pale as they watched a surly- looking old woman executing a line of centaurs and humans; Lily raised her hand, and Professor Dumbledore nodded at her. "Werewolves, Miss Evans," he explained, and Remus seemed to shrink back. James put a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder, but Narcissa Black snickered cruelly, and the scene changed again to post-WWII England. Someone was weeping over a body.
"The most recent of the dark wizards was Grindelwald in the 1940s. He was defeated in 1945. . ."
"By Dumbledore himself," Anaral whispered to Lily, who nodded and continued to listen as the scene slowly faded back to the star field.
". . .however, the possibility is always there for a new dark wizard to arise." There was a clap, and the room was back to its usual state. Lily blinked as the light seemed too bright. "Therefore, it is now time for me to assign partners for the term project. It would be preferable that all of you read the articles I gave you about dark wizards, however, it is mandatory that all of you start working on the project I am about to explain to you."
"I will be putting you in groups of two. I want each group to come up with a creative and plausible way to defeat any dark wizard who may rise in your lifetime. Please take into account new technologies that may arise and every bit of magic you have learned in this class and in others," Professor Dumbledore finished, and a wave of whispers rose up in the room. Professor Dumbledore continued to smile and flicked his wand. Immediately, a piece of parchment appeared on everyone's desk. "The name of your partner is written on this parchment. Please schedule a time to get together with your partner and work on the project, and then you are dismissed."
Lily hurried to her desk and reached for the parchment. She expected the name "Anaral Karadhras" to be written on the other side, but it wasn't. She nearly choked when she read the name written in loopy script on the other side of her parchment: "James Potter."
She was still staring in surprise when Anaral came running over. "I was hoping for at least you or Sirius, but he stuck me with Narcissa! Can you believe it?" she asked. Lily didn't answer, and Anaral looked over her shoulder at the parchment. "Oh my god, Lily!"
Lily still didn't respond. She didn't respond to anyone until James himself approached her, grinning good-naturedly. "You and me, eh Evans?" he asked.
She snapped out of her daze. "Don't think that I'll be enjoying it, Potter," she snapped, and immediately regretted her words. She dropped her gaze. "I'm sorry. When do you want to do some work on this thing?"
"I'm free tomorrow afternoon."
"Alright. Tomorrow at two, then."
"Right."
***
Lily still regretted her words by the next afternoon at two. It hadn't helped at all that James had been so nice about the whole situation, acting as if nothing had happened. Lily suspected that it might have something to do with the fact that the two of them hadn't been alone together since they'd been assigned as partners. Consequently, she was more nervous than she'd ever been when she met him in the library on Friday afternoon.
And the nervousness was only half from the fact that she was facing James again. The other half came from a cleverly concocted plan from the mouths of Anaral and Shannon (Lily had contributed very little as she already had enough to worry about with James being her partner). Shannon had said it first: "Lils, this is the perfect opportunity for you to learn more about what might have happened to Professor Beata!"
"What does Professor Beata have to do with dark wizards and how to defeat them?" Lily asked, stupidly.
"Um, hello?" Shannon said rudely. "Professor Beata used to be an Auror, and a damned powerful one at that. There's no doubt, in my mind at least, that she was killed by a dark wizard."
"I agree," Anaral answered. She had been altering her black dress all that evening and had finally reached a look that satisfied her. "I think it's what my parents have been all worried about. Sirius and Remus are doing something similar with their project, and I would do something similar with mine if it wasn't for Narcissa. I think it's a great idea."
Lily had to admit that they were right-a Defense Against the Dark Arts project was the perfect cover for searching for more information on their former DADA professor. Still, the idea of what kind of information she might find was unnerving, almost as much as the fact that she would be spending the afternoon with James as her main companion.
She was now watching the library door impatiently, waiting for him to show up so she could stop being so nervous. Shannon had hurried her out of Basic Concealment, telling her to go and get there early. Lily had rushed all the way from the classroom and burst into the library, to the frustration of Madam Pince, the librarian. That had been thirty minutes ago, and James was running late.
He finally ran through the door, breathless, and spotted Lily. Ignoring the scathing glance Madam Pince was shooting at him, he walked casually over to Lily's table and sat down. "Sorry I'm late, Evans," he apologized, smiling at her genuinely. "What've you got so far?"
"Oh, nothing, really. I thought it might be a good idea to. . .ah. . . research what events led to the revelation of dark wizards throughout history. I think that detection and prevention would be the perfect method," Lily proposed, breathless. James laughed softly.
"And while we're at it, we'll look into the mysterious death of Professor Beata," he finished for her with a merry wink. Lily stared at him blankly.
"How on earth did you know that?" she asked, finally, and James laughed, this time a little more loudly.
"We boys discuss these things, too, Evans. I figured that since Remus and Sirius were planning something along these lines, you would, too." He lowered his voice. "Especially since you were so close to Professor Beata."
Lily lowered her eyes quickly to the pages of the book. "Let's just get started," she said in a low voice. She could feel James watching her with concern, but ignored it and pretended to be flipping purposely through the book. An uncomfortable silence hung in the air between them for a long time. Lily tried to concentrate on the pages of the book, but for some reason, they kept blurring as her eyes kept filling with tears. She tried to avoid letting James see, but she knew he couldn't have missed the tear that dripped off of her nose and onto the book before she could stop it. She felt his hand on top of hers.
"Evans," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to upset you."
"You didn't," she whispered, feeling shy. "I haven't cried at all for Professor Beata. I guess it's just been building for a while."
"Still. . ." James let the word hang between them. Lily looked up and managed a watery smile at him, which he returned. "You haven't read any of that, have you?" he asked, gesturing to the book.
Lily suddenly giggled, quietly. "Not a word," she admitted, then sobered. "Potter. . .you must hate me."
His brow suddenly furrowed in confusion. "Why do you say that?"
"I'm so mean to you. I don't mean to be," Lily confessed, not sure what had prompted her to be so honest with James, "but I guess I just let my emotions get the better of me too often."
"Evans, I could never hate you," James stated firmly, clasping his hands around hers. "You could never do anything to make me hate you."
Lily felt awkward having this conversation with James. "Really?" she managed to ask.
"Really really," James answered with a gentle laugh. "Let's get to work."
The rest of the afternoon passed very pleasantly, Lily realized later. She and James laughed companionably as they did their research, and while nothing was particularly enlightening, Lily felt significantly better knowing that she was doing something to investigate the death of her favorite teacher. She and James had also seemed to grow in their friendship, she reflected as she headed back to her room. It was a good feeling-it seemed like any awkwardness that had been between them was fading. And her hand still tingled where he had touched it.
She was smiling dreamily when she walked into the bedroom where Shannon and Anaral were sitting, seemingly waiting for her to get back and share with them the details of the afternoon. "You look happy," Shannon spoke up first.
"I am," Lily sighed, lying dramatically across her bed. "Very happy."
"I don't think this is stemming from finding out a whole bunch of information about how Professor Beata died, so I'm guessing that you had a lovely afternoon with James?" Shannon continued the line of questioning. Anaral sat down next to Lily on her bed.
"Did he kiss you? Was it romantic? Are you going together now?" she asked, and Lily laughed.
"No, no, no. No kissing. No romance. And we're not going together. But he doesn't hate me," she stated as if it was the most romantic thing that had ever happened to her.
Shannon laughed loudly. "And they all lived happily ever after, not hating each other. Well, that's good news at least."
Anaral gave Lily a pleasant smile and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Who knows what will happen next then, Lils? First comes hate, then comes love, then comes marriage. . ." she recited in a sing-song voice.
"Oh hush!" Lily laughed, playfully shoving Anaral. "When is your date with Sirius, anyway?"
"We're leaving for Hogsmeade at six," Anaral answered, her face suddenly looking dreamy.
"Well, then, we'd better get going. It's four-thirty, and you need to look your best!" Lily sat bolt upright and marched to the closet. "No more talk about Lily's love life. It's time to give Anaral and Sirius the time of their lives!"
***
"Dress robes, Padfoot?" Remus was sitting on the edge of his bed, watching Sirius get dressed for his evening out with Anaral. Sirius was slowly buttoning up a set of black dress robes with a low white collar.
"She wanted me to look nice, and I have no doubt that she will make it worth my while," Sirius laughed. "Watch and learn, Moony, my friend. You and Shannon will be going through this stuff soon enough."
Remus grinned wildly, and it was evident that he was more than a little happy to be with Shannon. James, meanwhile, was lying on his bed, playing with the Snitch again, to the delight of Peter, who was supposed to be doing homework, but couldn't seem to concentrate. "Spare us the details, Padfoot. I don't want to know what happens between you and Annie behind closed doors," he commented.
"We've never had sex," Sirius admitted. "I love her more than anything, but we've never had sex."
"That's good, mate. Better for you to wait until you're more certain, you know?" Remus advised. "I'm sure it makes her respect you more. Girls are. . .like that."
James laughed. "Like that, indeed. They go from calling you by your surname for seven years to randomly saying your given name one day, for no reason," he commented with a grin. Peter suddenly stopped smiling at James and turned back to his books, not really commenting.
"Still living off of lovely Lily saying your name, eh Prongs?" Sirius teased, flashing a shining charm at his shoes. "That's the first step, you know. Before too long, you'll be shagging up a storm."
"I would never 'shag' Lily. She means too much to me."
For a moment, the Marauders stared at each other seriously before bursting out in companionable laughter that comes with knowing each other so well.
***
"No, you have to keep your eyes closed until she gets down here!"
It was six o'clock on the dot, and Sirius was waiting in the common room for Anaral. James, Remus and Peter were sitting on the nearby couches, watching with interest, as were several other Gryffindors of varying age. At around five forty-five, Lily and Shannon had hurried downstairs and ordered Sirius to close his eyes and wait. And so he had stayed for fifteen minutes before opening his eyes a slit. Lily and Shannon had descended on him like a pair of harpies.
"You'll ruin the surprise, Sirius! Keep your eyes closed!" Lily was laughing, covering his eyes with her hands, playfully.
"If the woman wasn't always running so damn late. . ." Sirius muttered, but before he could get any further, a gentle voice called from the top of the stairs.
"I'm coming down!" Anaral's voice said.
"Okay!" Lily called back, removing her hands from Sirius' eyes. "Keep them closed."
"I am."
Everyone had to admit that Sirius made a sweet sight. His dress robes looked perfect on him and he'd tied his hair back into a loose, suave ponytail. His eyes were closed and his face was tilted slightly upwards with an expectant smile playing on his lips. The smile became genuine when he heard the reactions of his friends to Anaral's arrival. Finally, Lily and Shannon cried, "Open your eyes!" and he did, catching his breath in amazement.
Anaral was dressed in a black, strapless dress that ended just below her knees. It was flared, and Sirius thought he caught a peek of some dark crinolines beneath. A wide, silver sash was tied around Anaral's waist, and she wore a dark choker with a small silver heart dangling from it. Her hair had been pulled back into a loose ponytail and tumbled around her shoulders flirtatiously. It was held back with another silver bow, which matched the silver bows that tied her black shoes to her feet. She smiled at him with matte red lips.
"Hey, Sirius," she said quietly.
He blinked and closed his mouth. "Hey, Annie. Are you ready to go?"
"Almost," Anaral answered. Everyone else in the room was completely forgotten as she approached him, though they were still watching. "I wanted to give you your gift before we left. It'll match your dress robes." She looked over at Lily who produced-seemingly from out of nowhere-a long, black velvet box. For a moment, Sirius thought it might be a giant necklace and felt odd about giving Anaral the same gift, but his logical side told him that necklaces are not made that big. Anaral opened the box with her back to him and turned around with a sheathed sword in her hands.
"For me?" he asked, amazed. She nodded, coyly, and Sirius removed the sword from its black sheath. It was light and so beautiful and mobile that it seemed to sing. It gleamed in the candlelight, and Sirius saw the engravings by the hilt. He held the sword up to inspect the engraving. "My love will be with you always," he read, but couldn't speak anymore. Instead he pulled Anaral into a tearful and grateful embrace. "Thank you. I love you."
"I know," she teased. "I love you, too."
Blinking quickly, he produced the long, slim box from his coat pocket. "For you," he whispered, and delighted in hearing Anaral gasp as she removed the necklace and watched the mini-Sirius tell her that he loved her. She teared up and hugged him, and he realized at that moment that a person doesn't necessarily have to say the words "thank you" to show how grateful they are for the one they love. He made a mental note to tell her about the protector charm later.
They left to a chorus of "have funs!" from their friends.
***
Late that night, the friends of the couple of the hour were still sitting in the common room, waiting for them to return, though not all of them were still awake. Peter was drooling on his copy of "The Standard Book of Spells- Advanced". Shannon was lying down on the couch with her head in Remus' lap, and they were both sound asleep. Only Lily and James were still awake, talking in hushed voices.
"They're really lucky to be together this long," Lily said softly. "I don't know anyone who's been together this long. Except my folks."
"Well, there's Narcissa Black and that Malfoy character she's been dating since fourth year," James commented. "Nasty couple, if you ask me."
"I agree."
Lily leaned closer to the fire, shivering a little. "I wonder if I'll ever be that much in love." James didn't answer, and Lily realized that she'd been a bit too forward. "I mean. . .well, do you ever wonder those kind of things?"
She inwardly chastised herself, but James looked at her tenderly. "I don't need to wonder. I know."
"Do you, now?"
"Yes."
"And how, pray tell, do you know?" she asked, but before James could answer, Sirius and Anaral reentered the common room, hardly looking like a couple who had had the time of their lives on an anniversary date. Anaral was pale and Sirius looked furious. Their entrance jolted the others out of their previously peaceful slumbers, and they all surrounded the couple, asking them what happened.
"Oh, I'll tell you what happened," Sirius barked, pushing his hair out of his face and putting an arm around Anaral protectively. It was then that Lily noticed that his sword was drawn and was dripping in blood. "We were attacked."
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A/N: Sad. I wanted this chapter to have a nice, happy, lovey-dovey ending, but instead, I write them getting attacked. Ah, well. Lily and James were getting too close towards the end anyway. And it gives me something for the next chapter.
Next Chapter: We'll find out what happened to Annie and Sirius on their date. We'll see connections between the Zabini family and Professor Beata. We'll see how Shannon reacts to her boyfriend's first night with the full moon. And we'll see more awkwardness between James and Lily-would you expect anything else?
R/R. Happy reading!
A/N: I've realized that I'm taking this story a lot more slowly than I took "Falling Through Glass" or even "Laurie Lacewing". I think that makes it better, in the long run. And I plan on writing a sequel or two to this, or perhaps a story that takes place further into the future. Whaddya think?
Anyway, just for a review, our last chapter covered what happened Tuesday night. Sirius and Annie are preparing to celebrate their "anniversary" (though it hasn't been a year yet); Annie bought Sirius a sword and Sirius bought (made) Annie a charmed necklace. Annie and Lily read through Lily's old letters and found out that Professor Beata was, indeed, in Italy and that she knew her life was in danger. Sirius and James tried to figure out why Lily's attitude towards James has been different of late. And best (or worst) of all, Remus and Shannon were caught snogging in the Astronomy Tower by good ol' Severus Snape.
In this chapter, Professor Dumbledore assigns term projects for Defense Against the Dark Arts and makes some interesting pairings, to say the least. Lily uses this project to disguise her search for more information on Professor Beata and her mysterious death (and to disguise her search for more information about her partner!). And Sirius and Annie celebrate their anniversary.
Everything you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling. Everything else belongs to me. Enjoy!
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Chapter Five: The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men. . .
At Hogwarts, it had always been easy to fall into a comfortable schedule of doing things. After the second day of classes (which consisted of Charms with the Ravenclaws, Transfiguration and Basic Concealment), Lily found herself already in a steady routine of doing things, walking almost mechanically to her classes and not really thinking about what came next.
Wednesday morning in the Great Hall had been rather interesting for Lily and her friends, especially Remus and Shannon. Lily was enjoying a nice, leisurely breakfast before classes began, when Remus and Shannon entered the Hall-together. Lily wasn't surprised in the least, but what did surprise her was the rush of whispering that followed their entrance. She gave Anaral a confused look. "Why all the whispering?" she asked.
Anaral covered her mouth. "You mean Shannon didn't tell you?" she gasped. Lily shook her head.
"I was asleep before she came in last night. What happened?"
Anaral leaned closer to Lily conspiratorially, ignoring the odd looks they were receiving from James, Sirius and Peter (who were discussing Quidditch again). "Apparently, she and Remus were snogging up in the Astronomy Tower and they got caught by. . .by Snivellus!"
"Snape, you mean?" Lily whispered. Anaral nodded. "Well, I guess their little secret's out now."
Anaral giggled as Remus and Shannon came to sit down beside each other. Their friends tried (with some manner of difficulty) to avoid looking at them, but James finally broke the awkward silence. "Congratulations, mate," he called loudly to Remus. The rest of the school seemed to have been waiting for James to say or do something before really reacting and so joined in clapping and cheering for the Head Boy and his new girlfriend. Shannon, blushing furiously, gave a look of death to Anaral and Lily, who could not contain their giggles.
"Oh, come on, Shannon, lighten up!" This time, it was Sirius who spoke. "You're dating someone who's not only the Head Boy, but also happens to be the only werewolf in the school. Did you expect to go quietly into the night?"
"That was the plan, yeah," she muttered, taking a bite of scrambled eggs. "Though I suppose I couldn't really expect that to happen here, eh?"
Lily and Anaral shook their heads and tried to stop laughing. Lily recovered from her giggles first and gave Shannon a genuine smile. "Seriously, though, we're really happy for you two."
"Hmph," Shannon uttered, but she was unmistakably glowing.
Charms class that morning was focused on basic, yet utterly important, Untraceable Charms. Tiny Professor Flitwick was having them learn the theory first, since testing Untraceable Charms was not exactly a convenient thing to do. Lily and Shannon passed notes back and forth during the entire lecture, so by the time the lecture was over, Lily had a more-than- comprehensive idea of what had happened between Shannon and Remus the night before in the Astronomy Tower. They were laughing as they left the classroom.
"Honestly, Shannie," Lily gasped, using the pet name she only gave to Shannon in their closest moments, "you've got me thoroughly convinced that the Astronomy Tower is the most romantic place of all time!"
Shannon was trying to hold back her giggles-and failing miserably. "Oh, Lils, it was so romantic! I've been reliving it almost hourly since it happened!"
"Reliving what?" The rest of their friends had caught up to them. Remus was smiling at Shannon as he asked the question, slipping an arm around her waist.
"Oh, nothing," she answered in a sing-song way. "You're just a good kisser is all." And she kissed him. Lily smiled broadly at the look of surprise on Remus' face.
"Honestly, everyone's coupling up around here!" Anaral exclaimed happily, obviously relishing the feeling of Sirius arm draped across her shoulders like a shawl. "I wonder who will be next." She looked pointedly at Lily and Shannon did the same. Lily felt herself blushing furiously, but she managed to smile and avoid covering up her feelings with a sharp barb.
To her mild surprise, James came to her defense. "Evans needn't couple up any time soon if she doesn't want to," he told her friends reproachfully, and before she could stop herself, Lily responded.
"Well, you never know, James," she said softly, and clapped a hand over her mouth. Her friends all stared at her, stunned. It wasn't so much that she'd hinted that she actually was interested in someone as it was the fact that she'd called James by his given name.
"No recovering from that one, Lils," Shannon commented, finally, and led Remus away. Anaral took the hint and did the same with Sirius, leaving Lily and James to stare at each other in confusion and surprise.
"I. . .ah. . ." Lily stammered, trying to come up with a reason for her lapse in mental judgment. James, however, was making things very hard for her by looking at her "that way"-with complete and total sincerity and admiration. "Yeah. You never know, James," she repeated softly. James stepped closer to her, and for a moment, it seemed he would lean in and kiss her.
All too soon, though, he stepped back, his cocky smile back on his face, his hazel eyes showing indifference. "No, Evans, I don't suppose you do. We oughta get to Transfiguration."
"I suppose we ought."
***
"And then you just walked away from each other?" Shannon cried, sounding completely and totally aghast.
The three Gryffindor girls were walking down by the lake, discussing the events of the day. It was sunset, and the day's events were winding down quickly. Lily nodded in response to Shannon's question.
"What else were we supposed to do? Start snogging right there in the hall? I mean it was obvious, to me at least, that he didn't want to," Lily defended, reaching down to pick up a handful of pebbles. She threw one at the surface of the lake, skipping it a few times before watching it sink below. "Maybe he's stopped liking me."
"No!" Both Anaral and Shannon stopped walking at that and turned to face Lily.
"Lils, that would never happen. James likes you more than you can even imagine!" Anaral exclaimed. "Sirius tells me. . ."
"Does he now?" Lily asked, throwing another rock at the lake where it landed with an unceremonious plop. "And how, pray tell, does Sirius know that the information he is receiving is entirely accurate?"
Anaral sighed. "Lily, give it up already. James likes you, he always has and probably always will."
Lily was tired of the subject. "How are your plans for you and Sirius' anniversary coming?" she asked Anaral. Shannon shook her head and sighed and Anaral looked at Lily crossly.
"Don't think you're getting out of it that easy, Lily Catherine Evans," she threatened. "We're going back to our room, and I'm going to show you Sirius' new sword. And then we're going to talk about you and James, and that's all there is to it."
"Too right," Shannon concurred. "Come on Lils." She took Lily's left arm and Anaral grabbed the right. Together, they marched Lily back up to the castle, turning a deaf ear to her protests until she was seated in their bedroom. She pressed her lips together stubbornly as Shannon sat down on the bed beside her and Anaral made a great deal of pomp and ceremony about pulling a long, sheathed sword out of her armoire. She drew the sword and listened to Shannon and Lily gasp in amazement.
"That is quite possibly the most amazing piece of metal I have ever seen," Lily commented, finally. And so it was. Perfectly balanced and light as a feather, the sword was a brightly white shade of silver that gleamed in the candlelight. A flowing engraving was woven around the blade, a language that Lily could not identify.
"It's Sindarin," Anaral explained, simply. "From the Lord of the Rings books. High Elvish, I think."
"What does it say, Annie?" Shannon asked, standing to get a better look at the blade.
" 'My love will be with you always,'" Anaral quoted, running a thin finger along the engraving. "It's a working sword, too."
"So he could actually use it," Shannon commented softly. "It's brilliant, Annie."
Anaral looked suddenly sober. "His father was supposed to give him the family sword for his eighteenth birthday, but that's obviously not happening. So I thought I'd give him his own sword, so that someday, he could pass it to his son. . ."
"He'll love it, Annie," Lily assured with a warm smile.
"No doubt," Shannon agreed quickly, the words sounding like nails being pounded into a coffin. "Now, Lily, about you and James. . ."
"Oh come off it!" Lily exclaimed, frustrated. "Yes, I like him. I don't know if he likes me and I don't want to rush anything! Is that okay with both of you?"
"We just wanted to talk about it, Lily." Anaral looked concerned. "You never know. Talking about it might help you realize some things about him that you hadn't before."
"Like what? I doubt there's anything that I haven't noticed about him before. If you remember, I was the one telling you two about all of his worst traits at this time last year!" Lily exclaimed.
"Let's start at the beginning, Lils," Shannon said firmly, folding her legs under her. "What made you change your mind about James? When did he turn from 'that arrogant little bastard' into," she paused and sighed a dramatic, wistful sigh, "Jaaaaaaames?"
Anaral stifled a giggle and Lily rolled her eyes. "He's never been 'Jaaaaaaaaames' nor will he ever be, at least not to me."
"Alright, then. What turned James from toad of the century into Prince Charming?" Shannon rephrased. "That better?"
"I guess," Lily shrugged and thought back to the moment at Stonehenge when she'd noticed James staring at her. She reluctantly shared the details of that encounter with Shannon and Anaral, who sighed pathetically when she'd finished. This made Lily roll her eyes again. "It's not like suddenly the stars aligned and everything was all perfect and wonderful with violins and birds or anything," she pointed out, annoyed.
"No, but close," Shannon commented, still grinning. "And you've been hooked ever since."
"Has he ever looked at you that way since?" Anaral asked, gently.
"No fewer than a dozen times." Lily sighed. "And every time, I just snap at him or something. He must hate me."
"I doubt that," Anaral said, softly. "You've probably confused the hell out of him, but James could never hate you."
"How are you so sure?" Lily whispered, suddenly feeling more vulnerable than she would ever let herself be in front of James.
"Because I've seen the way he looks at you, too," Anaral answered, putting an arm around Lily's shoulders. "He would die before he ever stopped loving you."
Shannon's grin had become less teasing and more genuine. "Now the only question is. . .how are we going to get you two together?"
Lily reached behind her and found a pillow to throw at Shannon.
***
". . .and so concludes our section on Patronum. Rest assured that they will be on your N.E.W.T. examination for this class. Now. . ." Professor Dumbledore was smiling congenially at the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, all of whom had finally managed to produce corporeal Patronum, ". . .how many of you read the articles I gave you on the rise of dark wizards in ages past?"
There was a cough, some muttering, and only Remus timidly raised his hand. Anaral and Lily grinned at each other conspiratorially-this was to be expected-but everyone else remained silent and nervous. Professor Dumbledore simply continued to smile gently.
"That is as I expected. Ten points to Gryffindor for the conscientious nature of Mr. Lupin," he pronounced, and James and Sirius patted Remus on the back merrily. Professor Dumbledore, meanwhile, had clapped his hands, and the entire nature of the room changed. Everyone was now standing in a field of stars. Lily watched as a comet skimmed past her head and everyone drew in their breath sharply.
"Wow," Anaral whispered, reaching for a tiny star just above her head. "This is amazing."
"This, Miss Karadhras, is the field of memory. We are all going to take a journey back through time and learn about dark wizards past and how they were defeated. Today will simply be an overview and the assigning of projects and partners for your term project," Professor Dumbledore explained. Out of the corner of her eye, Lily thought she saw Narcissa Black nudging Antonio Zabini and laughing. "In any case. . ." Professor Dumbledore clapped again, and they stood on a barren desert field. Men and women dressed in Egyptian garb began milling around, talking silently as Professor Dumbledore lectured. "For as long as there have been human beings who had the knowledge and understanding of magic, there have been human beings who used this knowledge-and the power that came with it-to control, manipulate, and hurt multitudes of people." An impending looking Egyptian with a long black robe suddenly appeared. He revealed a wand made crudely from a reed, pointed it at several people in rapid succession, and laughed silently as they slumped to the ground, dead. "These people have had the power to instill terror in the hearts of all witches and wizards around the world. Muggles call them. . ."
"Terrorists," Lily whispered as Professor Dumbledore looked pointedly at her. He nodded gravely.
"Terrorists-ones who bring terror." The scene changed. Now they stood in what appeared to ancient Greece. A man was standing protectively in front of his wife and child while a wizard in a dark toga laughed and pointed his wand at them. The man fell to the ground, writhing in pain, while the woman screamed. Lily felt sick to her stomach. "For their own reasons, these wizards decided that it was their duty to take over the wizarding world. Most of them had the desire to see the extinction of all Muggles and had the idea that pureblood wizards were somehow better than others." Lily cast a glance at the Slytherins, who looked oddly unmoved by the entire ordeal. The scene changed again. It seemed that they were now in England, albeit a very ancient England.
"Most dark wizards also had a vendetta of sorts against part-humans, though they often found them useful in combat. Once the battles had ended, however, they would often dispose of their 'helpers', execution-style." The lecture continued; Lily thought Remus looked pale as they watched a surly- looking old woman executing a line of centaurs and humans; Lily raised her hand, and Professor Dumbledore nodded at her. "Werewolves, Miss Evans," he explained, and Remus seemed to shrink back. James put a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder, but Narcissa Black snickered cruelly, and the scene changed again to post-WWII England. Someone was weeping over a body.
"The most recent of the dark wizards was Grindelwald in the 1940s. He was defeated in 1945. . ."
"By Dumbledore himself," Anaral whispered to Lily, who nodded and continued to listen as the scene slowly faded back to the star field.
". . .however, the possibility is always there for a new dark wizard to arise." There was a clap, and the room was back to its usual state. Lily blinked as the light seemed too bright. "Therefore, it is now time for me to assign partners for the term project. It would be preferable that all of you read the articles I gave you about dark wizards, however, it is mandatory that all of you start working on the project I am about to explain to you."
"I will be putting you in groups of two. I want each group to come up with a creative and plausible way to defeat any dark wizard who may rise in your lifetime. Please take into account new technologies that may arise and every bit of magic you have learned in this class and in others," Professor Dumbledore finished, and a wave of whispers rose up in the room. Professor Dumbledore continued to smile and flicked his wand. Immediately, a piece of parchment appeared on everyone's desk. "The name of your partner is written on this parchment. Please schedule a time to get together with your partner and work on the project, and then you are dismissed."
Lily hurried to her desk and reached for the parchment. She expected the name "Anaral Karadhras" to be written on the other side, but it wasn't. She nearly choked when she read the name written in loopy script on the other side of her parchment: "James Potter."
She was still staring in surprise when Anaral came running over. "I was hoping for at least you or Sirius, but he stuck me with Narcissa! Can you believe it?" she asked. Lily didn't answer, and Anaral looked over her shoulder at the parchment. "Oh my god, Lily!"
Lily still didn't respond. She didn't respond to anyone until James himself approached her, grinning good-naturedly. "You and me, eh Evans?" he asked.
She snapped out of her daze. "Don't think that I'll be enjoying it, Potter," she snapped, and immediately regretted her words. She dropped her gaze. "I'm sorry. When do you want to do some work on this thing?"
"I'm free tomorrow afternoon."
"Alright. Tomorrow at two, then."
"Right."
***
Lily still regretted her words by the next afternoon at two. It hadn't helped at all that James had been so nice about the whole situation, acting as if nothing had happened. Lily suspected that it might have something to do with the fact that the two of them hadn't been alone together since they'd been assigned as partners. Consequently, she was more nervous than she'd ever been when she met him in the library on Friday afternoon.
And the nervousness was only half from the fact that she was facing James again. The other half came from a cleverly concocted plan from the mouths of Anaral and Shannon (Lily had contributed very little as she already had enough to worry about with James being her partner). Shannon had said it first: "Lils, this is the perfect opportunity for you to learn more about what might have happened to Professor Beata!"
"What does Professor Beata have to do with dark wizards and how to defeat them?" Lily asked, stupidly.
"Um, hello?" Shannon said rudely. "Professor Beata used to be an Auror, and a damned powerful one at that. There's no doubt, in my mind at least, that she was killed by a dark wizard."
"I agree," Anaral answered. She had been altering her black dress all that evening and had finally reached a look that satisfied her. "I think it's what my parents have been all worried about. Sirius and Remus are doing something similar with their project, and I would do something similar with mine if it wasn't for Narcissa. I think it's a great idea."
Lily had to admit that they were right-a Defense Against the Dark Arts project was the perfect cover for searching for more information on their former DADA professor. Still, the idea of what kind of information she might find was unnerving, almost as much as the fact that she would be spending the afternoon with James as her main companion.
She was now watching the library door impatiently, waiting for him to show up so she could stop being so nervous. Shannon had hurried her out of Basic Concealment, telling her to go and get there early. Lily had rushed all the way from the classroom and burst into the library, to the frustration of Madam Pince, the librarian. That had been thirty minutes ago, and James was running late.
He finally ran through the door, breathless, and spotted Lily. Ignoring the scathing glance Madam Pince was shooting at him, he walked casually over to Lily's table and sat down. "Sorry I'm late, Evans," he apologized, smiling at her genuinely. "What've you got so far?"
"Oh, nothing, really. I thought it might be a good idea to. . .ah. . . research what events led to the revelation of dark wizards throughout history. I think that detection and prevention would be the perfect method," Lily proposed, breathless. James laughed softly.
"And while we're at it, we'll look into the mysterious death of Professor Beata," he finished for her with a merry wink. Lily stared at him blankly.
"How on earth did you know that?" she asked, finally, and James laughed, this time a little more loudly.
"We boys discuss these things, too, Evans. I figured that since Remus and Sirius were planning something along these lines, you would, too." He lowered his voice. "Especially since you were so close to Professor Beata."
Lily lowered her eyes quickly to the pages of the book. "Let's just get started," she said in a low voice. She could feel James watching her with concern, but ignored it and pretended to be flipping purposely through the book. An uncomfortable silence hung in the air between them for a long time. Lily tried to concentrate on the pages of the book, but for some reason, they kept blurring as her eyes kept filling with tears. She tried to avoid letting James see, but she knew he couldn't have missed the tear that dripped off of her nose and onto the book before she could stop it. She felt his hand on top of hers.
"Evans," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to upset you."
"You didn't," she whispered, feeling shy. "I haven't cried at all for Professor Beata. I guess it's just been building for a while."
"Still. . ." James let the word hang between them. Lily looked up and managed a watery smile at him, which he returned. "You haven't read any of that, have you?" he asked, gesturing to the book.
Lily suddenly giggled, quietly. "Not a word," she admitted, then sobered. "Potter. . .you must hate me."
His brow suddenly furrowed in confusion. "Why do you say that?"
"I'm so mean to you. I don't mean to be," Lily confessed, not sure what had prompted her to be so honest with James, "but I guess I just let my emotions get the better of me too often."
"Evans, I could never hate you," James stated firmly, clasping his hands around hers. "You could never do anything to make me hate you."
Lily felt awkward having this conversation with James. "Really?" she managed to ask.
"Really really," James answered with a gentle laugh. "Let's get to work."
The rest of the afternoon passed very pleasantly, Lily realized later. She and James laughed companionably as they did their research, and while nothing was particularly enlightening, Lily felt significantly better knowing that she was doing something to investigate the death of her favorite teacher. She and James had also seemed to grow in their friendship, she reflected as she headed back to her room. It was a good feeling-it seemed like any awkwardness that had been between them was fading. And her hand still tingled where he had touched it.
She was smiling dreamily when she walked into the bedroom where Shannon and Anaral were sitting, seemingly waiting for her to get back and share with them the details of the afternoon. "You look happy," Shannon spoke up first.
"I am," Lily sighed, lying dramatically across her bed. "Very happy."
"I don't think this is stemming from finding out a whole bunch of information about how Professor Beata died, so I'm guessing that you had a lovely afternoon with James?" Shannon continued the line of questioning. Anaral sat down next to Lily on her bed.
"Did he kiss you? Was it romantic? Are you going together now?" she asked, and Lily laughed.
"No, no, no. No kissing. No romance. And we're not going together. But he doesn't hate me," she stated as if it was the most romantic thing that had ever happened to her.
Shannon laughed loudly. "And they all lived happily ever after, not hating each other. Well, that's good news at least."
Anaral gave Lily a pleasant smile and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Who knows what will happen next then, Lils? First comes hate, then comes love, then comes marriage. . ." she recited in a sing-song voice.
"Oh hush!" Lily laughed, playfully shoving Anaral. "When is your date with Sirius, anyway?"
"We're leaving for Hogsmeade at six," Anaral answered, her face suddenly looking dreamy.
"Well, then, we'd better get going. It's four-thirty, and you need to look your best!" Lily sat bolt upright and marched to the closet. "No more talk about Lily's love life. It's time to give Anaral and Sirius the time of their lives!"
***
"Dress robes, Padfoot?" Remus was sitting on the edge of his bed, watching Sirius get dressed for his evening out with Anaral. Sirius was slowly buttoning up a set of black dress robes with a low white collar.
"She wanted me to look nice, and I have no doubt that she will make it worth my while," Sirius laughed. "Watch and learn, Moony, my friend. You and Shannon will be going through this stuff soon enough."
Remus grinned wildly, and it was evident that he was more than a little happy to be with Shannon. James, meanwhile, was lying on his bed, playing with the Snitch again, to the delight of Peter, who was supposed to be doing homework, but couldn't seem to concentrate. "Spare us the details, Padfoot. I don't want to know what happens between you and Annie behind closed doors," he commented.
"We've never had sex," Sirius admitted. "I love her more than anything, but we've never had sex."
"That's good, mate. Better for you to wait until you're more certain, you know?" Remus advised. "I'm sure it makes her respect you more. Girls are. . .like that."
James laughed. "Like that, indeed. They go from calling you by your surname for seven years to randomly saying your given name one day, for no reason," he commented with a grin. Peter suddenly stopped smiling at James and turned back to his books, not really commenting.
"Still living off of lovely Lily saying your name, eh Prongs?" Sirius teased, flashing a shining charm at his shoes. "That's the first step, you know. Before too long, you'll be shagging up a storm."
"I would never 'shag' Lily. She means too much to me."
For a moment, the Marauders stared at each other seriously before bursting out in companionable laughter that comes with knowing each other so well.
***
"No, you have to keep your eyes closed until she gets down here!"
It was six o'clock on the dot, and Sirius was waiting in the common room for Anaral. James, Remus and Peter were sitting on the nearby couches, watching with interest, as were several other Gryffindors of varying age. At around five forty-five, Lily and Shannon had hurried downstairs and ordered Sirius to close his eyes and wait. And so he had stayed for fifteen minutes before opening his eyes a slit. Lily and Shannon had descended on him like a pair of harpies.
"You'll ruin the surprise, Sirius! Keep your eyes closed!" Lily was laughing, covering his eyes with her hands, playfully.
"If the woman wasn't always running so damn late. . ." Sirius muttered, but before he could get any further, a gentle voice called from the top of the stairs.
"I'm coming down!" Anaral's voice said.
"Okay!" Lily called back, removing her hands from Sirius' eyes. "Keep them closed."
"I am."
Everyone had to admit that Sirius made a sweet sight. His dress robes looked perfect on him and he'd tied his hair back into a loose, suave ponytail. His eyes were closed and his face was tilted slightly upwards with an expectant smile playing on his lips. The smile became genuine when he heard the reactions of his friends to Anaral's arrival. Finally, Lily and Shannon cried, "Open your eyes!" and he did, catching his breath in amazement.
Anaral was dressed in a black, strapless dress that ended just below her knees. It was flared, and Sirius thought he caught a peek of some dark crinolines beneath. A wide, silver sash was tied around Anaral's waist, and she wore a dark choker with a small silver heart dangling from it. Her hair had been pulled back into a loose ponytail and tumbled around her shoulders flirtatiously. It was held back with another silver bow, which matched the silver bows that tied her black shoes to her feet. She smiled at him with matte red lips.
"Hey, Sirius," she said quietly.
He blinked and closed his mouth. "Hey, Annie. Are you ready to go?"
"Almost," Anaral answered. Everyone else in the room was completely forgotten as she approached him, though they were still watching. "I wanted to give you your gift before we left. It'll match your dress robes." She looked over at Lily who produced-seemingly from out of nowhere-a long, black velvet box. For a moment, Sirius thought it might be a giant necklace and felt odd about giving Anaral the same gift, but his logical side told him that necklaces are not made that big. Anaral opened the box with her back to him and turned around with a sheathed sword in her hands.
"For me?" he asked, amazed. She nodded, coyly, and Sirius removed the sword from its black sheath. It was light and so beautiful and mobile that it seemed to sing. It gleamed in the candlelight, and Sirius saw the engravings by the hilt. He held the sword up to inspect the engraving. "My love will be with you always," he read, but couldn't speak anymore. Instead he pulled Anaral into a tearful and grateful embrace. "Thank you. I love you."
"I know," she teased. "I love you, too."
Blinking quickly, he produced the long, slim box from his coat pocket. "For you," he whispered, and delighted in hearing Anaral gasp as she removed the necklace and watched the mini-Sirius tell her that he loved her. She teared up and hugged him, and he realized at that moment that a person doesn't necessarily have to say the words "thank you" to show how grateful they are for the one they love. He made a mental note to tell her about the protector charm later.
They left to a chorus of "have funs!" from their friends.
***
Late that night, the friends of the couple of the hour were still sitting in the common room, waiting for them to return, though not all of them were still awake. Peter was drooling on his copy of "The Standard Book of Spells- Advanced". Shannon was lying down on the couch with her head in Remus' lap, and they were both sound asleep. Only Lily and James were still awake, talking in hushed voices.
"They're really lucky to be together this long," Lily said softly. "I don't know anyone who's been together this long. Except my folks."
"Well, there's Narcissa Black and that Malfoy character she's been dating since fourth year," James commented. "Nasty couple, if you ask me."
"I agree."
Lily leaned closer to the fire, shivering a little. "I wonder if I'll ever be that much in love." James didn't answer, and Lily realized that she'd been a bit too forward. "I mean. . .well, do you ever wonder those kind of things?"
She inwardly chastised herself, but James looked at her tenderly. "I don't need to wonder. I know."
"Do you, now?"
"Yes."
"And how, pray tell, do you know?" she asked, but before James could answer, Sirius and Anaral reentered the common room, hardly looking like a couple who had had the time of their lives on an anniversary date. Anaral was pale and Sirius looked furious. Their entrance jolted the others out of their previously peaceful slumbers, and they all surrounded the couple, asking them what happened.
"Oh, I'll tell you what happened," Sirius barked, pushing his hair out of his face and putting an arm around Anaral protectively. It was then that Lily noticed that his sword was drawn and was dripping in blood. "We were attacked."
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A/N: Sad. I wanted this chapter to have a nice, happy, lovey-dovey ending, but instead, I write them getting attacked. Ah, well. Lily and James were getting too close towards the end anyway. And it gives me something for the next chapter.
Next Chapter: We'll find out what happened to Annie and Sirius on their date. We'll see connections between the Zabini family and Professor Beata. We'll see how Shannon reacts to her boyfriend's first night with the full moon. And we'll see more awkwardness between James and Lily-would you expect anything else?
R/R. Happy reading!
