Chapter 2: Hogsmeade
The weeks that followed went very quickly for both James and Lily. James had written several more songs and they were almost perfect when they played them in practice, and he had quidditch training everyday to prepare for the last match. Gryffindor was in the lead for the Quidditch Cup, but Slytherin, whom they were playing, was in a close second. Both were busy studying for exams. Lily had extra prefect duties in helping to plan the Farewell Ball. She was in charge of booking the band for the night and she didn't have one. She was also nearly finished with the menu for the evening.
***
"Gwen, I don't know who I'm going to get for the ball! I need to tell Professor McGonagal who the band is by Friday." Lily had been complaining and worrying about this for three days non-stop.
"I don't, WAIT A MINUTE! How could we be so dumb? Lily, why don't you ask James if the Marauders will do it?"
"Why didn't I think of that? Oh thanks a lot Gwen! You're the greatest!"
***
James was sitting with the guys with his back to Lily, so he didn't know she had come over until Sirius nudged him and pointed.
"Wha? Holy Merlin! Lily is walking over here!" He spun back around, facing Sirius.
"Umm, hey James," she said nervously.
He turns around and stands up to look at her. "Hey Lily. How's it going? Hey guys, scoot over so she can sit down." The guys all shift around and James motions for Lily to sit down. "Here you go Lily, have a seat."
"Uhh, thanks James. Umm, you know about the Farewell Ball, right?"
"Well yeah, of course."
"Well, I'm supposed to get the band, and I was wondering if, umm, if the Marauders want to play?"
James glanced around at the others. "Yeah, we do."
"Great! Thanks a lot guys! I can't wait!" Lily stood up, as did James.
"Yeah, me too. I'll see you around then."
"Yeah, thanks again."
James watched Lily walk away then said, "That makes three gigs left this year. We all have the new music down, so we'll be all right if we only have a couple of practices a week."
There were general comments of relief throughout the others because James usually liked to practice a couple of times a day.
Sirius turned to Remus. "Hey, you're a prefect Rem. Why didn't you volunteer us?"
"I guess I didn't really think about it. It wasn't one of my responsibilities."
***
The Three Broomsticks was packed on the next Hogsmeade trip. The Marauders were playing there. Lily, Gwen, and Eva were near the front and off to one side when the Marauders started playing. People would have been dancing, but there wasn't enough room with everyone packed into the pub. James was singing:
"He's everything you want He's everything you need He's everything inside of you That you wish you could be He says all the right things At exactly the right time But he means nothing to you And you don't know why"
Lily had to yell so that her friends could hear her. "THE GUYS SOUND WICKED TODAY!"
"THEY ALWAYS SOUND WICKED!" Gwen yelled back.
"Yeah, I CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR THEM AT THE BALL!" Eva added.
"SHH! THAT HASN'T BEEN ANNOUNCED YET!"
"LIKE ANYONE CAN HEAR US!" Eva retorted.
"AND AT LEAST WE'LL HAVE ROOM TO DANCE AT THE BALL!" Gwen shouted.
Lily looked back up at James. She really liked this song; they'd played it during a couple other gigs that year.
"I am everything you want I am everything you need I am everything inside of you That you wish you could be I say all the right things At exactly the right time And I mean nothing to you and I don't know why And I don't know why Why I don't know"
The song ended and everyone clapped and screamed.
"THANK YOU! THANKS!" Sirius yelled. "Thanks! That was "Everything you want" We're gonna take a quick break, I think Prongs here needs a butterbeer. We'll be back with our next set in a few!"
Everybody took this opportunity to get more drinks, unless they had thought ahead like Lily and bought extra butterbeers before it got crowded. The guys jumped off stage and headed toward Lily (dragging James along), Gwen, Eva, and Alice, their other dorm mate.
"Hello ladies," Sirius said charmingly.
"Hey guys. You all sound great!"
"Why thank you Lily," Remus said, "how nice of you to say so. Wasn't that nice James?" Remus nudged him.
"Uh, yeah. Thanks Lily." He smiled.
"Are you guys gonna sit down or just stand there? We have extra butterbeers." Gwen looked at them questioningly.
"Oh, well, we couldn't," Sirius started, "but if you insist." He grinned. Everybody shifted around so that they had four people on each side of the table. Remus was on the end. Gwen was next to him, Lily next to her, and Sirius next to her. James was across from Sirius, Eva was next to him, Alice next to her, and Frank was next to her. When peter managed to get to their table carrying five unopened butterbeers, he sat on the end. They all talked, well most of them talked for about 10 minutes before James, finally saying something, said, "Uh, guys, we gotta do the next set now." The guys downed the rest of their butterbeers and stood up. Everyone got quiet again when they got on stage.
Sirius addressed everyone in the audience in the pub. "We're gonna start this set off with everyone except James singing a song. To start, I'm going to sing (James did a cymbal crash and everybody laughed) ha ha James. I'm going to sing 'The Animal Song'. Remus is gonna sing, umm. What was it Moony?"
"Uh, 'Real World' Sirius, I'm gonna sing 'Real World'."
"Oh! That's right! What about you Frank? I forgot."
"'Affirmation', Sirius"
"Okay! That's right! So after those three we're gonna let James sing again. He's gonna sing a few that you should recognize by now, then he's gonna sing umm, that one was called, umm, well it's new so just be ready for us to rock your socks off!"
"It's called 'Unwell' Siri."
"Right! So anyway, here goes!"
James started the song off, then the others began playing. Sirius started singing:
"When superstars and cannonballs are running through your head
Television freak show cops and robbers everywhere
Subway makes me nervous people pushing me too far
Got to break away so take my hand now because
I want to live like animals
Careless and free like animals
I want to live
I want to run through the jungle the wind in my hair and the sand at my feet."
Everybody screamed again once the song ended and the Marauders started right into Remus' song.
"I wonder what it's like to be the rainmaker
I wonder what it's like to know that I made the rain
I'd store it in boxes with little yellow tags on everyone
And you can come and see them when I'm. done, when I'm done
I wonder what it's like to be a super hero
I wonder where I'd go if I could fly around downtown
From some other planet, I get this funky high on the yellow sun
Boy I bet my friends will all be. stunned, they're stunned
Straight up, what did you hope to learn about here
If I were someone else, would this all fall apart
Strange, where were you when we started this gig,
I wish the real world would just stop hassling me."
When the song ended, there were again screams and yelling before Frank's song.
"I believe the sun should never set upon an argument
I believe we place our happiness in other people's hands
I believe that junk food tastes so good because it's bad for you
I believe that beauty magazines promote low esteem
I believe I'm loved when I'm completely by myself alone
I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned
I believe you can't appreciate real love until you've been burned
I believe the grass is no greener on the other side
I believe you don't know what you've got until you say good bye."
It got louder than before as James started to sing the other songs. The Marauders barely paused long enough to let James get a sip of water in between songs.
It got really quiet as they started to play the last song. Everybody was waiting to hear the new song. They always got quiet just before it started.
"All day
Staring at the ceiling making
Friends with shadows on my wall
All night
I'm hearing voices telling me
That I should get some sleep
Because tomorrow might be good
For something
Hold on
I'm feeling like I'm headed for a
Breakdown
I don't know why
I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell
I know right now you can't tell
But stay awhile and maybe then you'll see
A different side of me
I'm not crazy, I'm just a little impaired
I know right now you don't care
But soon enough you're gonna think of me
And how I used to be
See me
Talking to myself in public
And dodging glances on the train
I know
I know they've all been talking 'bout me
I can hear them whisper
And it makes me think there might be something wrong
With me
Out of all the hours thinking
Somehow
I've lost my mind
I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell
I know right now you can't tell
But stay awhile and maybe then you'll see
A different side of me
I'm not crazy, I'm just a little impaired
I know right now you don't care
But soon enough you're gonna think of me
And how I used to be
Talking in my sleep
Pretty soon they'll come to get me
They'll be taking me away
I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell
I know right now you can't tell
But stay awhile and maybe then you'll see
A different side of me
I'm not crazy, I'm just a little impaired
I know right now you don't care
But soon enough you're gonna think of me
And how I used to be
Yeah, how I used to be
How I used to be
I'm just a little unwell
How I used to be
I'm just a little unwell"
As James finished, the yelling and screaming was so loud that Sirius couldn't even be heard yelling into the mic, saying that they were going to take another break before their last set.
After they fought through the crowd, they once again joined the girls in the corner.
"They loved that one, Prong ol' boy!" Sirius was saying.
"So, what'd you all think?" Remus looked at the girls expectantly.
"Oh, well, it was all right," Gwen said.
"Yeah, nothing spectacular," Eva added.
"It was okay," Alice nodded.
"Yeah. It was. Oh how should I put it?" Lily grinned, "It was bloody wicked!" The girls laughed. The guys' disappointed looks turned into scowls, then grins.
"That was mean!" Sirius grumped, trying not to laugh.
"Yeah, you guys are gonna hurt James' feelings," Frank said, trying to hide his smile.
"That's right. I'm done. Never writing a song again. The Marauders no longer exist," James said with a sad, but determined look on his face.
Lily looked horrified. "OH NO! JAMES! James, please, no! We didn't mean it! I need you guys for the ball!"
James looked at the girl hanging off his arm, pleading with him not to quit. His face broke into a grin. "Now really, do you honestly think I'd give up that easily?"
"James! You prat!" Lily punched his shoulder.
"Ow. Lily, you've injured me! Now I can't play the last set! I guess you'll have to play for me."
"Yeah right James, you do want to have a reputation after today, right?"
They laughed, and joked, and drank butterbeer.
"You girls wait for us, after we play this set?" Remus asked as they were standing up to go back on stage.
"Sure," Gwen said after glancing at the other girls, "yeah, we'll wait."
After they finished the set, there were some groans and disappointed mutterings amongst the yelling and cheering. They screamed even louder when Sirius reminded them of the next Hogsmeade weekend. Before anyone could move to leave, Lily got up on stage and took Sirius' mic.
"Umm, I have an announcement!" she said. Everyone looked up at her and she went on. "At this year's Farewell Ball, we're going to have a very well- known and wicked band! Our very own Marauders will be playing!" Everyone screamed louder than they had all day. Lily smiled and stepped down off the stage.
The girls sat in the corner chatting while the guys packed up all their stuff. When they finished, they sat down with the girls and had a butterbeer while just talking. Frank and Alice were talking to each other and ignoring everyone else. Lily noticed this and pointed it out to Gwen. They smiled and then pointed it out to the others. This was a bad idea.
"OY, Frankie!" Sirius called, "your monopolizing my sweetheart! Alice, why don't you come over and sit on Papa Sirius' lap, huh?"
Alice blushed deeply. Her face got even darker, if that was possible, as Frank put his arms around her possessively. He looked at Sirius and said, "Why don't you go find a different girl Black, my boy, 'cause I just stole this one away from your evil clutches."
Sirius feigned a pained expression, he put one hand on his chest, "Alice, how could you? I thought you loved me!" He put the back of his hand on his forehead now, and leaned back on Lily's shoulder. "Lily, my darling, I have been wounded, only you can save me from my horrible demise. Please, take my hand nay take my heart! I'm yours!" He batted his eyes at Lily.
Lily looked down at him, put a hand on his chest. "Sirius, my dear." she slapped his chest hard, ".get a life!"
Sirius grinned and sat up, rubbing his chest where Lily had hit him. "Now Lily, violence is not the answer. Besides that, I'm beginning to think that you really don't like our little band. First you nearly break James' arm, and now look, you're trying to beat me up as well!"
They continued on joking and talking until James, noticing it getting dark, said, "I think we've missed dinner. Would you all like to go to dinner? I know this place just around the corner where we could sit down and eat." They all agreed and left the pub.
James led them to a small but eloquent restaurant. They entered and were greeted a short, squat witch. She smiled and quietly spoke to James. Her smile broadened as she led them to a private dining room in the back of the restaurant. She passed out menus and said that a waitress would take their drink orders in a moment. When the waitress arrived with glasses of water, James ordered a bottle of their finest wine.
"James, you're only 17, you can't buy alcohol!" Lily scolded as the waitress walked away.
"Hmm, right.umm, right. Excuse me miss," he called back to the waitress, "I'm afraid that I neglected to ask for requests from my friends here, and we've decided that instead of the wine, we'd just like some butterbeers." The waitress nodded and walked away.
"Thank you James." Lily smiled shyly at him.
"No, really, it was my fault, I should have checked to make sure everyone was okay with what I was ordering." He smiled and looked around the room, no one had even been paying attention to Lily and him. They were all talking amongst themselves, mostly about what they were planning to order, but he also heard bits of other dialogue.
"Yeah, all the Slytherins wound up flopping around on the floor like fish out of water. We all had a good laugh before McGonagal made us reverse the spell. Yep, only three detentions for that one," Sirius was telling the others about one of the many exploits of the Marauders.
James shook his head laughing. "Hey Padfoot! Why don't you tell them about that time when your solo prank backfired and you wound up with pink- and blue-striped hair growing."
"That's enough, Prongs!" Sirius interrupted, blushing scarlet. They shared a laugh at Sirius' expense before the waitress returned with their drinks and took their orders.
They sat and ate much as they had at the Three Broomsticks, just eating and laughing until they agreed it was time to head back up to the castle. Once they arrived, they walked up to Gryffindor tower and sat in the common room. They stayed up talking until Lily, being the good prefect, sent everyone to bed.
A/N: Thanks to everyone that reviewed. I am very very sorry for not updating sooner, I was trying to finish up this chapter and I was stuck with the beginning of the restaurant scene. Thanks for reading, and please review! Let me know especially what you thought of the ending, it would really mean a lot! Thanks!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize. That's easy. The songs in this chapter were: 'Everything You Want" by Vertical Horizon 'The Animal Song' by Savage Garden 'Real World' by Matchbox 20 'Affirmation' by Savage Garden and 'Unwell' by Matchbox 20
The weeks that followed went very quickly for both James and Lily. James had written several more songs and they were almost perfect when they played them in practice, and he had quidditch training everyday to prepare for the last match. Gryffindor was in the lead for the Quidditch Cup, but Slytherin, whom they were playing, was in a close second. Both were busy studying for exams. Lily had extra prefect duties in helping to plan the Farewell Ball. She was in charge of booking the band for the night and she didn't have one. She was also nearly finished with the menu for the evening.
***
"Gwen, I don't know who I'm going to get for the ball! I need to tell Professor McGonagal who the band is by Friday." Lily had been complaining and worrying about this for three days non-stop.
"I don't, WAIT A MINUTE! How could we be so dumb? Lily, why don't you ask James if the Marauders will do it?"
"Why didn't I think of that? Oh thanks a lot Gwen! You're the greatest!"
***
James was sitting with the guys with his back to Lily, so he didn't know she had come over until Sirius nudged him and pointed.
"Wha? Holy Merlin! Lily is walking over here!" He spun back around, facing Sirius.
"Umm, hey James," she said nervously.
He turns around and stands up to look at her. "Hey Lily. How's it going? Hey guys, scoot over so she can sit down." The guys all shift around and James motions for Lily to sit down. "Here you go Lily, have a seat."
"Uhh, thanks James. Umm, you know about the Farewell Ball, right?"
"Well yeah, of course."
"Well, I'm supposed to get the band, and I was wondering if, umm, if the Marauders want to play?"
James glanced around at the others. "Yeah, we do."
"Great! Thanks a lot guys! I can't wait!" Lily stood up, as did James.
"Yeah, me too. I'll see you around then."
"Yeah, thanks again."
James watched Lily walk away then said, "That makes three gigs left this year. We all have the new music down, so we'll be all right if we only have a couple of practices a week."
There were general comments of relief throughout the others because James usually liked to practice a couple of times a day.
Sirius turned to Remus. "Hey, you're a prefect Rem. Why didn't you volunteer us?"
"I guess I didn't really think about it. It wasn't one of my responsibilities."
***
The Three Broomsticks was packed on the next Hogsmeade trip. The Marauders were playing there. Lily, Gwen, and Eva were near the front and off to one side when the Marauders started playing. People would have been dancing, but there wasn't enough room with everyone packed into the pub. James was singing:
"He's everything you want He's everything you need He's everything inside of you That you wish you could be He says all the right things At exactly the right time But he means nothing to you And you don't know why"
Lily had to yell so that her friends could hear her. "THE GUYS SOUND WICKED TODAY!"
"THEY ALWAYS SOUND WICKED!" Gwen yelled back.
"Yeah, I CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR THEM AT THE BALL!" Eva added.
"SHH! THAT HASN'T BEEN ANNOUNCED YET!"
"LIKE ANYONE CAN HEAR US!" Eva retorted.
"AND AT LEAST WE'LL HAVE ROOM TO DANCE AT THE BALL!" Gwen shouted.
Lily looked back up at James. She really liked this song; they'd played it during a couple other gigs that year.
"I am everything you want I am everything you need I am everything inside of you That you wish you could be I say all the right things At exactly the right time And I mean nothing to you and I don't know why And I don't know why Why I don't know"
The song ended and everyone clapped and screamed.
"THANK YOU! THANKS!" Sirius yelled. "Thanks! That was "Everything you want" We're gonna take a quick break, I think Prongs here needs a butterbeer. We'll be back with our next set in a few!"
Everybody took this opportunity to get more drinks, unless they had thought ahead like Lily and bought extra butterbeers before it got crowded. The guys jumped off stage and headed toward Lily (dragging James along), Gwen, Eva, and Alice, their other dorm mate.
"Hello ladies," Sirius said charmingly.
"Hey guys. You all sound great!"
"Why thank you Lily," Remus said, "how nice of you to say so. Wasn't that nice James?" Remus nudged him.
"Uh, yeah. Thanks Lily." He smiled.
"Are you guys gonna sit down or just stand there? We have extra butterbeers." Gwen looked at them questioningly.
"Oh, well, we couldn't," Sirius started, "but if you insist." He grinned. Everybody shifted around so that they had four people on each side of the table. Remus was on the end. Gwen was next to him, Lily next to her, and Sirius next to her. James was across from Sirius, Eva was next to him, Alice next to her, and Frank was next to her. When peter managed to get to their table carrying five unopened butterbeers, he sat on the end. They all talked, well most of them talked for about 10 minutes before James, finally saying something, said, "Uh, guys, we gotta do the next set now." The guys downed the rest of their butterbeers and stood up. Everyone got quiet again when they got on stage.
Sirius addressed everyone in the audience in the pub. "We're gonna start this set off with everyone except James singing a song. To start, I'm going to sing (James did a cymbal crash and everybody laughed) ha ha James. I'm going to sing 'The Animal Song'. Remus is gonna sing, umm. What was it Moony?"
"Uh, 'Real World' Sirius, I'm gonna sing 'Real World'."
"Oh! That's right! What about you Frank? I forgot."
"'Affirmation', Sirius"
"Okay! That's right! So after those three we're gonna let James sing again. He's gonna sing a few that you should recognize by now, then he's gonna sing umm, that one was called, umm, well it's new so just be ready for us to rock your socks off!"
"It's called 'Unwell' Siri."
"Right! So anyway, here goes!"
James started the song off, then the others began playing. Sirius started singing:
"When superstars and cannonballs are running through your head
Television freak show cops and robbers everywhere
Subway makes me nervous people pushing me too far
Got to break away so take my hand now because
I want to live like animals
Careless and free like animals
I want to live
I want to run through the jungle the wind in my hair and the sand at my feet."
Everybody screamed again once the song ended and the Marauders started right into Remus' song.
"I wonder what it's like to be the rainmaker
I wonder what it's like to know that I made the rain
I'd store it in boxes with little yellow tags on everyone
And you can come and see them when I'm. done, when I'm done
I wonder what it's like to be a super hero
I wonder where I'd go if I could fly around downtown
From some other planet, I get this funky high on the yellow sun
Boy I bet my friends will all be. stunned, they're stunned
Straight up, what did you hope to learn about here
If I were someone else, would this all fall apart
Strange, where were you when we started this gig,
I wish the real world would just stop hassling me."
When the song ended, there were again screams and yelling before Frank's song.
"I believe the sun should never set upon an argument
I believe we place our happiness in other people's hands
I believe that junk food tastes so good because it's bad for you
I believe that beauty magazines promote low esteem
I believe I'm loved when I'm completely by myself alone
I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned
I believe you can't appreciate real love until you've been burned
I believe the grass is no greener on the other side
I believe you don't know what you've got until you say good bye."
It got louder than before as James started to sing the other songs. The Marauders barely paused long enough to let James get a sip of water in between songs.
It got really quiet as they started to play the last song. Everybody was waiting to hear the new song. They always got quiet just before it started.
"All day
Staring at the ceiling making
Friends with shadows on my wall
All night
I'm hearing voices telling me
That I should get some sleep
Because tomorrow might be good
For something
Hold on
I'm feeling like I'm headed for a
Breakdown
I don't know why
I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell
I know right now you can't tell
But stay awhile and maybe then you'll see
A different side of me
I'm not crazy, I'm just a little impaired
I know right now you don't care
But soon enough you're gonna think of me
And how I used to be
See me
Talking to myself in public
And dodging glances on the train
I know
I know they've all been talking 'bout me
I can hear them whisper
And it makes me think there might be something wrong
With me
Out of all the hours thinking
Somehow
I've lost my mind
I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell
I know right now you can't tell
But stay awhile and maybe then you'll see
A different side of me
I'm not crazy, I'm just a little impaired
I know right now you don't care
But soon enough you're gonna think of me
And how I used to be
Talking in my sleep
Pretty soon they'll come to get me
They'll be taking me away
I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell
I know right now you can't tell
But stay awhile and maybe then you'll see
A different side of me
I'm not crazy, I'm just a little impaired
I know right now you don't care
But soon enough you're gonna think of me
And how I used to be
Yeah, how I used to be
How I used to be
I'm just a little unwell
How I used to be
I'm just a little unwell"
As James finished, the yelling and screaming was so loud that Sirius couldn't even be heard yelling into the mic, saying that they were going to take another break before their last set.
After they fought through the crowd, they once again joined the girls in the corner.
"They loved that one, Prong ol' boy!" Sirius was saying.
"So, what'd you all think?" Remus looked at the girls expectantly.
"Oh, well, it was all right," Gwen said.
"Yeah, nothing spectacular," Eva added.
"It was okay," Alice nodded.
"Yeah. It was. Oh how should I put it?" Lily grinned, "It was bloody wicked!" The girls laughed. The guys' disappointed looks turned into scowls, then grins.
"That was mean!" Sirius grumped, trying not to laugh.
"Yeah, you guys are gonna hurt James' feelings," Frank said, trying to hide his smile.
"That's right. I'm done. Never writing a song again. The Marauders no longer exist," James said with a sad, but determined look on his face.
Lily looked horrified. "OH NO! JAMES! James, please, no! We didn't mean it! I need you guys for the ball!"
James looked at the girl hanging off his arm, pleading with him not to quit. His face broke into a grin. "Now really, do you honestly think I'd give up that easily?"
"James! You prat!" Lily punched his shoulder.
"Ow. Lily, you've injured me! Now I can't play the last set! I guess you'll have to play for me."
"Yeah right James, you do want to have a reputation after today, right?"
They laughed, and joked, and drank butterbeer.
"You girls wait for us, after we play this set?" Remus asked as they were standing up to go back on stage.
"Sure," Gwen said after glancing at the other girls, "yeah, we'll wait."
After they finished the set, there were some groans and disappointed mutterings amongst the yelling and cheering. They screamed even louder when Sirius reminded them of the next Hogsmeade weekend. Before anyone could move to leave, Lily got up on stage and took Sirius' mic.
"Umm, I have an announcement!" she said. Everyone looked up at her and she went on. "At this year's Farewell Ball, we're going to have a very well- known and wicked band! Our very own Marauders will be playing!" Everyone screamed louder than they had all day. Lily smiled and stepped down off the stage.
The girls sat in the corner chatting while the guys packed up all their stuff. When they finished, they sat down with the girls and had a butterbeer while just talking. Frank and Alice were talking to each other and ignoring everyone else. Lily noticed this and pointed it out to Gwen. They smiled and then pointed it out to the others. This was a bad idea.
"OY, Frankie!" Sirius called, "your monopolizing my sweetheart! Alice, why don't you come over and sit on Papa Sirius' lap, huh?"
Alice blushed deeply. Her face got even darker, if that was possible, as Frank put his arms around her possessively. He looked at Sirius and said, "Why don't you go find a different girl Black, my boy, 'cause I just stole this one away from your evil clutches."
Sirius feigned a pained expression, he put one hand on his chest, "Alice, how could you? I thought you loved me!" He put the back of his hand on his forehead now, and leaned back on Lily's shoulder. "Lily, my darling, I have been wounded, only you can save me from my horrible demise. Please, take my hand nay take my heart! I'm yours!" He batted his eyes at Lily.
Lily looked down at him, put a hand on his chest. "Sirius, my dear." she slapped his chest hard, ".get a life!"
Sirius grinned and sat up, rubbing his chest where Lily had hit him. "Now Lily, violence is not the answer. Besides that, I'm beginning to think that you really don't like our little band. First you nearly break James' arm, and now look, you're trying to beat me up as well!"
They continued on joking and talking until James, noticing it getting dark, said, "I think we've missed dinner. Would you all like to go to dinner? I know this place just around the corner where we could sit down and eat." They all agreed and left the pub.
James led them to a small but eloquent restaurant. They entered and were greeted a short, squat witch. She smiled and quietly spoke to James. Her smile broadened as she led them to a private dining room in the back of the restaurant. She passed out menus and said that a waitress would take their drink orders in a moment. When the waitress arrived with glasses of water, James ordered a bottle of their finest wine.
"James, you're only 17, you can't buy alcohol!" Lily scolded as the waitress walked away.
"Hmm, right.umm, right. Excuse me miss," he called back to the waitress, "I'm afraid that I neglected to ask for requests from my friends here, and we've decided that instead of the wine, we'd just like some butterbeers." The waitress nodded and walked away.
"Thank you James." Lily smiled shyly at him.
"No, really, it was my fault, I should have checked to make sure everyone was okay with what I was ordering." He smiled and looked around the room, no one had even been paying attention to Lily and him. They were all talking amongst themselves, mostly about what they were planning to order, but he also heard bits of other dialogue.
"Yeah, all the Slytherins wound up flopping around on the floor like fish out of water. We all had a good laugh before McGonagal made us reverse the spell. Yep, only three detentions for that one," Sirius was telling the others about one of the many exploits of the Marauders.
James shook his head laughing. "Hey Padfoot! Why don't you tell them about that time when your solo prank backfired and you wound up with pink- and blue-striped hair growing."
"That's enough, Prongs!" Sirius interrupted, blushing scarlet. They shared a laugh at Sirius' expense before the waitress returned with their drinks and took their orders.
They sat and ate much as they had at the Three Broomsticks, just eating and laughing until they agreed it was time to head back up to the castle. Once they arrived, they walked up to Gryffindor tower and sat in the common room. They stayed up talking until Lily, being the good prefect, sent everyone to bed.
A/N: Thanks to everyone that reviewed. I am very very sorry for not updating sooner, I was trying to finish up this chapter and I was stuck with the beginning of the restaurant scene. Thanks for reading, and please review! Let me know especially what you thought of the ending, it would really mean a lot! Thanks!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize. That's easy. The songs in this chapter were: 'Everything You Want" by Vertical Horizon 'The Animal Song' by Savage Garden 'Real World' by Matchbox 20 'Affirmation' by Savage Garden and 'Unwell' by Matchbox 20