Disclaimer - It's not mine. Never was. All character rights go to J.K. Rowling, and the rights to the lyrics go to Ms. Parton.
A/N - Okay, here's the next chapter. There is more wonderful Lily/James interaction. This scene is actually set during the Christmas break, so there are fewer students at school. Hope you enjoy.
Later,
A.A.
Chapter 2
The Christmas party in the Gryffindor Tower was one to remember. Piles of food, bottles of butterbeer, and stacks or present could be seen all around the Common Room on Christmas Eve night. The Gryffindor students who had stayed for the holidays had planned the party, headed by Sirius and James, of course.
Now, most of the students, at least the ones who had not passed out from the alcohol laced butterbeer, were sleepily making their way to the dorms. Sabine watched as the party winded down. She was one of the few who were still able to walk straight, seeing as how she had not drank any of the alcoholic butterbeer. Her other friends, unfortunately, had not been as lucky. Sirius was completely smashed, and Peter was not too far away from being too far gone as well. Remus was only slightly inebriated, and James had a decent buzz going on. Everyone else was either already passed out, or on their way to their dorms to pass out.
"I think it's time to call it a night, gentlemen." she called out, watching as Peter stumbled up the steps towards his dorm.
"Oh, come on Sabby-kitten," Sirius slurred. "We was jus' getting' to da fun part." Sabine raised her eyebrows in question and waited for him to continue. Sirius was a one man show when he was drunk, and she was waiting for the show to start.
"And what part would that be, Padfoot?" James asked, decidedly more sober than his friend.
"I'z gonna dance." Sirius slurred, a goofy grin on his happy face. Sabine hid a grin and James chuckled.
"I think it's time you went to sleep, Padfoot." James said, nodding towards the staircase.
"But I wanna dance." the taller boy whined, pouting like a child.
"You can dance tomorrow, Padfoot." Sabine said gently, holding back a snicker at her friend's drunken antics. "For now, let's get you to bed."
"You gonna tuck me in, Sabby-kitten?" he asked, grinning at her.
"Yeah, Padsy. I'll tuck you in." Sabine said, frowning at the pet name Sirius only used when he was: a) purposely trying to annoy her, b) trying to make her feel better, or in this particular case, c) drunk as all Hell.
"Need some help, Sabine?" Remus asked, hefting one of Sirius' arms over his shoulder to help stabilize the taller boy.
"Yeah, let's see if we can get him up there before he decides to do the hula." Remus grinned and the two slowly made their way up the stairs and into the dorms. After getting the now passed out Sirius in his bed, Sabine excused herself and left to go back to the Common Room. Halfway down the hallway leading back, she heard James' voice, and Lily's nervous laugh. Ducking behind a corner, and peering out from behind the suit of armor, she listened in on what was going on.
"Cute bracelet, Evans. Where'd you get it?" James asked.
"That's none of your concern, Potter. Now get out of my way." Lily said firmly. Just from her voice, Sabine could tell that the Head Girl had ingested some of the alcohol laced beverages, and was starting to feel the affects.
"Aww, come on now, Evans. Where's your Christmas spirit?" James prodded.
"Tucked away somewhere safe, I assure you." the red head had answered firmly.
"Such a grump, and on Christmas Eve, too. I'll bet you don't even follow normal Christmas traditions." James teased.
"Yes, I do." Lily said defensively.
"Then you know what that is, don't you?" James asked. Sabine heard Lily's gasp and the creak of the stairs as she backed up one more step.
"Don't even thing about it, Potter. Mistletoe or not, I'm not going to kiss you." Lily said firmly.
"Scared, Evans?"
"No." Lily said.
"Prove it then." James challenged. Sabine rolled her eyes at James' challenge. 'This just proves that both of them should never drink alcohol.' she thought grimly.
"How?" Lily asked, confused.
"Follow Christmas tradition." James said. Sabine watched as he took another stop towards the red head, closing the space in between them once more.
"I'm not kissing you, Potter."
"Because you're scared." James teased.
"I'm not scared." she said defiantly.
"Yes, you are. You're scared you might actually like it."
"Anybody ever tell you that you're awful conceited?" Lily fumed. Sabine could tell the girl was quickly loosing her patience with James.
"I'm not conceited, just convinced." he said. "And I'm convinced that you owe me a kiss."
"Not going to happen, Potter. Now move!" Lily said.
"You know, Evans, you're cute when you're angry." James said, as though making a comment about the weather. Sabine watched as Lily flushed prettily and tried to regain her composure after receiving such an unexpected compliment.
"And do you realize that I know enough hexes and curses to send you to St. Mungos for the remainder of the year?" she countered.
"Ouch. Feisty, aren't we?" James said.
"I'm warning you, Potter…." Lily ground out.
"Okay. I give, I give. You win." James said, backing away from the girl and letting her go up. Sabine quickly ducked behind the suit of armor and waited for Lily to pass.
"Thank you." Lily said primly.
Sabine heard Lily begin to climb the stairs and was about to come out of her hiding place when James called out to Lily one more time.
"What have I got to do, Lily, to get a Christmas kiss?"
"You're a wizard, Potter. Next time, just use the magic words." Lily said with a grin. And with that, Lily went into her old dorm, shutting the door with a soft 'click'. Sabine sank down next to the wall, tears threatening to break out as she heard James' whoop of happiness.
Lily was giving into him, and it was breaking Sabine's heart. Lily's last statement had been enough to prove it too her. Half drunk or not, Lily would never have said something like that if she had not meant it. Things were starting to fall apart, and Sabine was one of them.
After a few minutes, Sabine stood up and made her way to her own dorm. Two of her roommates were passed out in the Common Room, an the other had went home for the Christmas break. Once again, she pulled out the journal and turned to the well worn page once she reached the relative privacy of her four-poster bed. Instead, this time, she read the second verse on the page.
Your beauty is beyond compare, with flaming locks of auburn hair,
With ivory skin, and eyes of emerald green
Your smile is like a breath of spring,
Your voice is soft like summer rain,
And I cannot compete with you, Jolene.
That next morning, when everyone had come to the Common Room to open their gifts, Sabine had noticed that James seemed awfully nervous. When everyone had finished unwrapping their gifts, and was about to head to breakfast, a lone owl soared through an open window, and landed in front of lily. Sabine watched as the girl took the package, and opened it after giving the owl a pat on the head, and an owl treat. Sabine also noticed that James seemed suddenly fidgety and Sirius was snickering. A few seconds later, a gasp was heard form Lily as she lifted up a necklace from the box.
It was a golden lily-shaped pendant with a red ruby in the center. Sabine felt her mouth go dry. It was the same necklace that she had jokingly told James to buy Lily for Christmas. She had meant it as a joke, but obviously he had thought it real advice, and listened to her. She felt the bile rise up in her throat and a serious pang of jealousy shoot through her stomach when she saw Lily's face take on a happy expression after reading the note attached to the box.
The present was from James, and Sabine knew it. She also knew that he would not have signed the card because he would not have wanted her to throw the gift back in his face. Secretly, she was wishing that Lily would throw the necklace back into the box. But it seemed fate was not on her side that morning, because Lily put the necklace on and secured it around her neck before leaving the Common room for breakfast.
Sabine chanced a look at James, and frowned when she saw the relieved grin on his face, confirming her earlier suspicions.
The necklace HAD been from him, and he had just melted another piece of Lily's heart, along with breaking a piece of her own.
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A/N - Okay, here's the second chapter for you guys. I hope you are enjoying this little story. It's not going to be too long, probably only four or five chapters in total. However, I really want to know what you guys think about this.
So, with that said, please remember to review.
Later,
A.A.