Author's Note: Hey guy's sorry for not updating sooner. I was swamped with
school work while still trying to have a social life. So here is the next
chapter. The next couple I think are going to be mostly filler with some
romance like stuff thrown in. I'm moving so slowly and I feel bad and then
backtracking. I'm supremely sorry.
*IMPORTANT NOTICE* I am bumping up the rating with this story because there is some mild sexual innuendo and I'm pretty sure that PG doesn't cover that any longer. So, bear with me! PG-13 will now be the rating and I hope that doesn't keep anyone from reading. I'm doing it to keep myself from getting kicked off.
So here are my thanks to all my great reviewers:
Anarane- *smiles* You'll see dear, you'll see.
Ggal- Minor PMS contained within. I'm sorry for the torture, but I don't want this story to be uber romantic considering the circumstances. I thank you for the compliment; I think I was in an angsty mood at this part of the story. I'm very glad that you like Catherine, and I hope you continue to like her.
Celine- Thank you so much. I've been trying to make sure that the descriptions are up to par and that the pictures are appearing its good to know that I'm succeeding. *grins at another Catherine fan*
MegHarts- Glad you liked the pillow fight. I wasn't sure if it would fit, but I wanted something to relieve the tension surrounding things.
Black-cat-on-the-wall- *smiles* I'm glad I keep surprising everyone.
Liz411- *hands candy to the five year old to keep her placated* I'm really glad you liked it.
I o u a name- You've got it right about who the important thing is about. but if you didn't catch it I cannot say any more and more clues shall not be coming for a while as I just wrote Catherine back in. and I'm in a whole different notebook now.
Manny2003- If he can survive Lily's wrath. yes he shall.
Poetbrit- Thanks for your support. I'm trying to keep up with everything.
Cassie- Sorry about the wait. You get to see what happens when they wake up. I'm very pleased that you like Catherine now and I'm even happier that you got over your dislike of her.
JCtigerwolf4e- *smiles* I'm glad you like it and I feel bad that I can't find better words to thank you. Sorry about the wait!
Kristatwen
Lily 101- Sorry about the whole Bella thing. I'm glad to have a new reviewer. It makes me feel all spiffy. You'll see soon enough what happens. Sorry for the delay.
Zebragurl- I'm amused by your Sirius pun. *smiles* The uncertainty is going to get even more uncertain in the future, trust me. I'm not even completely sure how things are going to play out. I'm sorry that Catherine freaks you out and Lily and her feelings will be a mystery for a bit, I believe.
Khel-shay- *smiles* I'm glad for another reviewer, sorry for the wait! ^_^
Laina3- Unique! Yayness, that's exactly what I'm looking for.and if you read anything like it, let me know, I'll have some peoples to attack with rabid printers.
OwLPoStAgAiN- *grins* So do I, which is why it's gone on so long!
Bell- Welcome back! Sorry about the lack of Voldie action. I've been unmotivated in that respect. *sighs* At the current moment I think he's gathering intel and seeing when and where would be the best way to hit Lily and James to cause the most devastation. O_o. I'm actually not even sure what Voldie is doing! Ack! And you should know me by now Bell; do you think there is a catch? Trust your instincts; it will lead you in the right direction.
Casey- Yes, I am, and I sent you an email. sorry for such a long delay. I've been swamped with homework.
Sissy-6- I'm trying to keep it up. *sighs* Thanks for the review!
So here is the chapter. wow that's a lot of reviews! I think I'm going to have to just start writing names and answering questions when possible.
Chapter Thirty-Nine: Not Before My Coffee
The next morning Lily was the first to wake up and found her situation rather interesting. Sometime in the night she and James had become an entangled mess. Their arms were wrapped around each other and their legs, well, they resembled a pretzel. Lily sighed wondering if there was anyway to get out of this lovely complication without waking James. Lily carefully moved one of her legs that were trapped between James' and her thigh brushed across something that caused her to blush so furiously that a can of Coca-Cola would have been jealous. Even more carefully she pulled her leg free and was completely still for a moment as James shifted slightly and held Lily closer nuzzling his face in her hair. Lily sighed and in a painstakingly slow process managed to pull away from James and edge off the bed without waking James. She tiptoed out of the room closing the door silently behind her.
As soon as Lily was in the hallway she was able to breathe more easily and she pushed away from the door and tiptoed down the hallway. She nearly screamed when Sirius' door opened but she managed to strangle it in her throat. "My gawd Sirius! You nearly gave me a heart attack," Lily said clutching her chest and trying to even out her breathing once again.
"What are you doing coming out of James' room at seven in the morning?" Sirius asked with a smirk and raised eyebrow.
"James wouldn't clear my room of the feathers and so, I, well, I slept in his room," Lily said honestly and watched Sirius with wide green eyes.
"And all you did was sleep?" Sirius asked dubiously and crossed his arms over his chest.
Lily scowled. "Yes, and if you think otherwise I'll make sure that you never get a chance to do what you believe James and I did last night again," she said, turned on her heel and went to her room, closing the her door behind her with a snap.
Lily looked around her room and wanted to scream but didn't. She just put on a pair of sandals and walked down to the kitchen. It was a mess. Remnants of Dumbledore's breakfast from the day before were still sitting on the table and she proceeded to clean them up by hand, throwing the garbage in the bin and starting to wash the dishes. How dare Sirius even think that she and James had had sex! All males thought on the same wave length; it was disgusting. She continued to clean, wasting away her angry energy and trying to suppress a desired to strange Sirius Black.
Upstairs Sirius was standing in the hall still looking rather shocked. 'Lily sure has a temper,' Sirius though and decided to go talk to James. He opened the door to find that James was still sleeping peacefully and decided to wake him up. Sirius climbed onto the bed where James lay on his back and started bouncing. The motion woke James in moments.
"What the hell Sirius?!" James said and the other man landed cross legged next to James.
"Morning James," Sirius said brightly his hair still damp from a quick shower earlier.
"You prat, why did you wake me up?" James said and buried his face in a pillow to block out the morning light that was streaming into the room through the curtains handing over the window.
"I'm bored and Lily's annoyed with me," Sirius said still grinning though he now resembled the Cheshire Cat he was showing so much of his white teeth.
"And why is Lily annoyed with you Padfoot?" James asked his words slightly garbled as he was speaking into his pillow.
"For the fact that I implied that you and her had tender wild monkey sex," Sirius said and grinned ever wider.
James pulled the pillow of his face and eyed Sirius contemplatively, "You what?" he asked.
"Well she was walking out of your room and she said she spent the night in here because you were too lazy to rid her room of the after effects of our pillow fight Prongs," Sirius said still grinning.
James looked clueless. He couldn't remember anything after he had climbed into bed and then the hazy half sleeping memories came to him. "I told her to stay and passed out soon afterwards," James said with a sigh. "You'd better go apologize before she finds a way to kill you Padfoot," he said mildly amused as he pushed his covers off of him and sat up. "And I'd better go deal with those feathers," he muttered and threw on a gray tee shirt and grabbed his wand and glasses before heading for the door.
"You don't think she'll really kill me do you?" Sirius asked as he got up and followed James out into the hallway.
James seemed to contemplate the point as they approached the door into Lily's room. "I don't know Padfoot. Anything is possible," he said with a smirk and knocked on the door when he got to answer he opened the door to find it empty and that sounds of activity were coming from the kitchen. "Seems as if she's in the kitchen," James said and looked around the room muttering a few spells: one to return the feathers to the emptied pillows and another to replace the pillows on the bed and make it neatly. James then left the room and walked down to the kitchen the long way as Sirius followed rather reluctantly.
They entered the kitchen to find Lily washing and drying dishes the muggle way and muttering to herself under her breath. "Stupid annoying git," was the only thing they managed to catch.
"Is that about me or Sirius?" James asked standing just inside the doorway.
Lily jumped slightly before turning to look at them. "At the moment I'd say just Sirius, but it could change," she said and blew a strand of her hair out of her face.
"I'm sorry about last night. I didn't even think to clean up the mess before I left I was so tired, forgive me?" James asked as he walked further into the kitchen and Sirius followed slowly.
"Yeah, whatever," Lily muttered and turned back to the dishes. "Breakfast will be ready in about an hour if you want to go clean up and wake the others," she said scrubbing at a plate with a hard bristled brush.
James smiled and said, "Okay, I'll leave Sirius here to keep you company," and he disappeared from the room in the blink of an eye before either of the two could protest.
Lily growled in annoyance, determined to ignore Sirius until it became necessary to do otherwise. Sirius sighed and walked a little further into the room. 'It's now or never,' Sirius thought and cleared his throat. "Listen Lily, I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't mean to offend you or anything," he said and wondered if his attempts would just make her angrier.
"Oh, you didn't offend me Sirius, you royally pissed me off," Lily said turning around holding a dull butter knife in her hands.
"I didn't mean to. It's in my nature to crack jokes, especially about James. I thought that maybe you two had, well, started a relationship already but I'm thinking now that I was mistaken," Sirius said quietly.
"I'll let you in on a little secret Sirius. I don't plan on having sex until someone takes me down the aisle and marries me, so you can just forget about James and I having sex. Secondly unless you see me with a cup of coffee or very strong tea, don't get me pissed off," Lily said and turned back around.
"You mean that you're a virgin?" Sirius asked quietly, pure curiosity keeping him from rational thinking.
"Whether I am or not is none of your business and unless you want to know this knife intimately, I would stop with the impertinent questions," Lily said without turning to look and Sirius and finished the dishes quickly before looking through the cupboards and refrigerator for ideas for breakfast.
Sirius, realizing he'd just pissed Lily off even more, whispered, "I really am sorry. I say things before I even think about what's coming out of my mouth. I'll let you get back to breakfast," he said and began to leave.
"Wait," Lily said sternly and turned to look at Sirius again. "I'm grouchy, so don't worry about it. Go on up and help James wake Peter, I know he'll need it," she said and turned back to the fridge to grab a few items basically stating that Sirius was forgiven and that the topic was closed for discussion.
Upstairs James had easily woken Remus and now the both of them were trying unsuccessfully to wake Peter, who was a notoriously heavy sleeper, worse then Remus who could sometimes not be woken for at least ten minutes near the full moon. "He is impossible!" Remus exclaimed and scratched his belly as he yawned desperate for the sleeping boy to wake.
"You are too sometimes," James muttered and prodded Peter again, who didn't even shift a millimeter.
"Not this bad! He's practically dead!" Remus said in an annoyed manner just as Sirius entered the room.
"No luck yet, I see," Sirius said quietly and rubbed his chin as if thinking about some way to wake Peter. His face brightened with an idea and he pulled his wand out of his pocket and conjured a large brass gong out of thin air. It stood near the side of the bed that Peter was laying on and a mallet rested on its frame. "Cover your ears boys," Sirius said as he grabbed the mallet and put away his wand. In the next second Remus and James covered their ears and Sirius beat the gong; a loud echoing clang emanated from the brass and resounded around the room and the rest of the house.
Peter jerked awake, his eyes wide as he muttered, "Where's the war?"
"It's time to wake up Wormtail, Lily's making breakfast," Sirius said brightly and the gong disappeared a moment later with a flick of his wrist.
Peter groaned, climbed out of bed and stumbled toward the bathroom without a word and shut the door behind him. "Well that was mildly interesting. I'm going to go take a shower," Remus said and yawned before turning and leaving the room.
James and Sirius followed Remus out of Peter's room and down the hall toward James. "I'm going to shower as well, why don't you go bother Lily or something," James said as he opened his door.
"Nah, Lily's just barely not annoyed with me any longer. I'll go to a crossword or something," Sirius said and went into his room where he found an owl tapping on the window pane asking for admittance. Sirius opened the window and the owl swooped in, dropped the morning edition of the Daily Prophet on his bed and stood on the back of a chair waiting for payment. Sirius quickly dug five kunts out of his pocket and put them in the little bag tied to the owls' leg and the owl swooped out of the room. Sirius closed the window again, grabbed a pencil and opened the newspaper to the crossword. He lay on his bed doing the crossword until he heard Lily calling them down to eat.
James met a different owl in his room that was also carrying a copy of the Daily Prophet and handed over the correct payment before the owl flew away. James sighed and left the paper on a table after a brief glance showed that no mysterious deaths or disappearances had been reported in the night, it didn't give him a relieved feeling. Voldemort was only quiet when he was planning something big. He sighed again and proceeded to the bathroom for his shower. Turning on the spray and stepping into it James finally had time to actually think. He and Lily had slept in the same bed and he couldn't remember ever having a better night's sleep. James exhaled and rinsed the suds from his hair. The same thought kept coming to his mind. 'I slept with Lily,' and it brought something to his attention. He wanted her, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well, and he had no idea how to attain her.
James' mind which could think of a plot for a prank in about ten seconds flat had no idea how to win Lily's heart. "What?" James said aloud, "Win her heart? That's just preposterous," he said and tired to clear his mind of the thought but only succeeded to a point. James smacked himself a few times and finished his shower a few minutes later.
James toweled himself fry, put on a pair of jeans and a gray tee shirt on and headed down stairs as he was hearing Lily call them down for breakfast. He was the first into the kitchen and he smiled as he watched Lily take a sip of coffee. "Good morning," James said and looked at the table that was set for five.
"Morning James," Lily said and sashayed around him piling some food on his plate. "Sit, eat," Lily said and did the same for everyone's plates quickly just as Sirius wandered into the kitchen.
"Smells absolutely delicious," Sirius said and sat down at his normal seat.
Lily eyed Sirius, who hadn't yet picked up his fork and said, "Eat Sirius, before it gets cold," and Sirius smiled charmingly at her.
Remus came in followed by Peter. "Good morning Lily," Remus and Peter said at the same time.
Lily grinned, "Good morning boys," she said handing Remus a cup of coffee and Peter a glass of pumpkin juice. "Sit down, I'll be there in a second," she said handing James and Sirius cups of coffee as well.
James watched Lily rush around the kitchen putting things away in a green tee shirt and a pair of gray shorts that revealed much of her cream colored legs and he said "Sit down and eat, worry about putting things away later."
Lily looked over her shoulder at James and stuck out her tongue. "Gimme a second," she said as she refilled her coffee cup and walked over to the table to set it down. James grasped her wrist lightly when he saw her start to turn away again and just looked at her. "Fine!" she said with a laugh and sat down.
"This is wonderful Lily," Peter said pointing to the plate with his fork.
"Thank you Peter," Lily said with a smile, placed her napkin on her lap and picked up her fork. That was when she noticed that Peter was the only one who'd started eating before she'd sat down. She smiled and laughed quietly and started to eat. "So what is on everyone's agenda for today?" Lily asked and looked around the table.
"I have to go into the office and hope that Moody doesn't chew me out too badly after I explain about yesterday," James said and took a sip of his coffee.
"I'm glad I'm not you today James," Sirius said with a cheeky grin. "I don't really have any plans today," he said and was contemplating going to see if Arabella was okay.
"I've got nothing to do either," Remus said quietly.
"I have to make arrangements for," Peter started and then paused for a moment to gain his composure, "For the funeral," he finished sadly and received sympathetic looks from everyone at the table.
"What about you Lily?" Sirius asked to change the subject.
"Probably a little house work, so when we're done eating it might be smart to set out your laundry," Lily said with a smile and they nodded accordingly.
Peter finished first and said quietly. "I'll be back sometime this afternoon, I guess," he stood and walked dejectedly from the room.
"I should head into the office now, I'm not sure when I'll be back," James said quietly and stood touching Lily's shoulder briefly before he walked out of the kitchen and upstairs to set out his laundry, gather his things and head to work.
Lily finished eating and started to gather up the plates and such from the meal. "You want company?" Sirius asked while Remus finished eating and Sirius picked up his plate to bring it to Lily.
"Firstly, put the plate back down and secondly the company is welcome but not necessary," Lily said with a smile and Sirius set the plate back down on the table.
"Okay, well I'm going to go and talk to Bella then," Sirius said and walked out of the kitchen.
"I think I'll stick around and keep you company," Remus said quietly.
"That's fine with me," Lily said and walked back to the table to get Sirius and Remus' plates.
"After you deal with the laundry what's your plan?" Remus asked curiously and helped Lily to pile plates and cups together so she wouldn't have to make another trip.
Lily carried the collage of dishes to the sink. "I'm not sure really. I thought I might go clean up everyone's rooms a little bit and read a few of those books James gave me," she said with a sigh as she filled the sink with soapy water.
"Okay, well I suggest the defense books, but that's just my personal tastes," Remus said and walked over by the sink leaning against the countertop.
"You wanted to be a teacher right? Or was that a phase?" Lily asked and started to scrub at one of the plates.
"No, I'd still like to but I don't think it will happen. No one will want me around their children," Remus muttered with a sigh.
Lily paused and looked at Remus. "Grab a towel and start drying," she said and she pushed a clean wet plate at him.
Remus smirked, "Wanting help at last?" he asked as he took the plate from Lily and set it down briefly to roll up the sleeves of his black shirt before he took to drying the plate.
"This is a one time only thing," Lily said with a laugh. "It's for your benefit really," she said and handed him another plate.
"Really? Well I won't breathe a word to James, you know he'll get jealous if he finds that we did the dishes together and how is this for my benefit?" Remus said and laughed aloud again.
"Oh how jealous James would be!" Lily exclaimed sarcastically and handed Remus a cup. "And it's to get you busy, keeps you from thinking depressing thoughts," she said lightly.
"Ah! I knew you had some sort of ulterior motive," Remus said with a grin.
"You're silly," Lily said and laughed at Remus.
"I'm silly? I thought that was Padfoot," Remus said and then threw up his hand, "Oh, wait, he's Sirius," he said and laughed.
"What about me?" Sirius asked as he walked into the kitchen again. Lily and Remus snorted with laughter and Lily wound up bent over she was laughing so hard. Sirius looked at the two of them who were laughing like deranged hyenas. "What?" Sirius asked again which just caused Lily and Remus to laugh more. "Er- right, my laundry is near the door and James and Peter have already gone. I'm off to Bella's," he said and shook his head at the two of them before disappearing from the house.
It took Remus and Lily nearly ten minutes to stop laughing hysterically because they kept looking at each other and laughing uncontrollably again. They finally calmed down enough to finish the dishes and managed not to drop or break any of them.
Remus headed off to the library to read while Lily went around collecting laundry and checking pockets for forgotten items. When she got to her own room she picked up the previous days' jeans and found the letter from Snape in the back pocket. She sighed and set it on her desk to write a reply once she'd finished the laundry which was just over an hour later.
A/N: Hey guys. I need suggestions on things you want to happen. beyond Lily and James getting together because that sadly isn't going to happen for a while. *sighs* Please review!! I need input! I've developed a minor case of writers block!!! ~Frankie~
*IMPORTANT NOTICE* I am bumping up the rating with this story because there is some mild sexual innuendo and I'm pretty sure that PG doesn't cover that any longer. So, bear with me! PG-13 will now be the rating and I hope that doesn't keep anyone from reading. I'm doing it to keep myself from getting kicked off.
So here are my thanks to all my great reviewers:
Anarane- *smiles* You'll see dear, you'll see.
Ggal- Minor PMS contained within. I'm sorry for the torture, but I don't want this story to be uber romantic considering the circumstances. I thank you for the compliment; I think I was in an angsty mood at this part of the story. I'm very glad that you like Catherine, and I hope you continue to like her.
Celine- Thank you so much. I've been trying to make sure that the descriptions are up to par and that the pictures are appearing its good to know that I'm succeeding. *grins at another Catherine fan*
MegHarts- Glad you liked the pillow fight. I wasn't sure if it would fit, but I wanted something to relieve the tension surrounding things.
Black-cat-on-the-wall- *smiles* I'm glad I keep surprising everyone.
Liz411- *hands candy to the five year old to keep her placated* I'm really glad you liked it.
I o u a name- You've got it right about who the important thing is about. but if you didn't catch it I cannot say any more and more clues shall not be coming for a while as I just wrote Catherine back in. and I'm in a whole different notebook now.
Manny2003- If he can survive Lily's wrath. yes he shall.
Poetbrit- Thanks for your support. I'm trying to keep up with everything.
Cassie- Sorry about the wait. You get to see what happens when they wake up. I'm very pleased that you like Catherine now and I'm even happier that you got over your dislike of her.
JCtigerwolf4e- *smiles* I'm glad you like it and I feel bad that I can't find better words to thank you. Sorry about the wait!
Kristatwen
Lily 101- Sorry about the whole Bella thing. I'm glad to have a new reviewer. It makes me feel all spiffy. You'll see soon enough what happens. Sorry for the delay.
Zebragurl- I'm amused by your Sirius pun. *smiles* The uncertainty is going to get even more uncertain in the future, trust me. I'm not even completely sure how things are going to play out. I'm sorry that Catherine freaks you out and Lily and her feelings will be a mystery for a bit, I believe.
Khel-shay- *smiles* I'm glad for another reviewer, sorry for the wait! ^_^
Laina3- Unique! Yayness, that's exactly what I'm looking for.and if you read anything like it, let me know, I'll have some peoples to attack with rabid printers.
OwLPoStAgAiN- *grins* So do I, which is why it's gone on so long!
Bell- Welcome back! Sorry about the lack of Voldie action. I've been unmotivated in that respect. *sighs* At the current moment I think he's gathering intel and seeing when and where would be the best way to hit Lily and James to cause the most devastation. O_o. I'm actually not even sure what Voldie is doing! Ack! And you should know me by now Bell; do you think there is a catch? Trust your instincts; it will lead you in the right direction.
Casey- Yes, I am, and I sent you an email. sorry for such a long delay. I've been swamped with homework.
Sissy-6- I'm trying to keep it up. *sighs* Thanks for the review!
So here is the chapter. wow that's a lot of reviews! I think I'm going to have to just start writing names and answering questions when possible.
Chapter Thirty-Nine: Not Before My Coffee
The next morning Lily was the first to wake up and found her situation rather interesting. Sometime in the night she and James had become an entangled mess. Their arms were wrapped around each other and their legs, well, they resembled a pretzel. Lily sighed wondering if there was anyway to get out of this lovely complication without waking James. Lily carefully moved one of her legs that were trapped between James' and her thigh brushed across something that caused her to blush so furiously that a can of Coca-Cola would have been jealous. Even more carefully she pulled her leg free and was completely still for a moment as James shifted slightly and held Lily closer nuzzling his face in her hair. Lily sighed and in a painstakingly slow process managed to pull away from James and edge off the bed without waking James. She tiptoed out of the room closing the door silently behind her.
As soon as Lily was in the hallway she was able to breathe more easily and she pushed away from the door and tiptoed down the hallway. She nearly screamed when Sirius' door opened but she managed to strangle it in her throat. "My gawd Sirius! You nearly gave me a heart attack," Lily said clutching her chest and trying to even out her breathing once again.
"What are you doing coming out of James' room at seven in the morning?" Sirius asked with a smirk and raised eyebrow.
"James wouldn't clear my room of the feathers and so, I, well, I slept in his room," Lily said honestly and watched Sirius with wide green eyes.
"And all you did was sleep?" Sirius asked dubiously and crossed his arms over his chest.
Lily scowled. "Yes, and if you think otherwise I'll make sure that you never get a chance to do what you believe James and I did last night again," she said, turned on her heel and went to her room, closing the her door behind her with a snap.
Lily looked around her room and wanted to scream but didn't. She just put on a pair of sandals and walked down to the kitchen. It was a mess. Remnants of Dumbledore's breakfast from the day before were still sitting on the table and she proceeded to clean them up by hand, throwing the garbage in the bin and starting to wash the dishes. How dare Sirius even think that she and James had had sex! All males thought on the same wave length; it was disgusting. She continued to clean, wasting away her angry energy and trying to suppress a desired to strange Sirius Black.
Upstairs Sirius was standing in the hall still looking rather shocked. 'Lily sure has a temper,' Sirius though and decided to go talk to James. He opened the door to find that James was still sleeping peacefully and decided to wake him up. Sirius climbed onto the bed where James lay on his back and started bouncing. The motion woke James in moments.
"What the hell Sirius?!" James said and the other man landed cross legged next to James.
"Morning James," Sirius said brightly his hair still damp from a quick shower earlier.
"You prat, why did you wake me up?" James said and buried his face in a pillow to block out the morning light that was streaming into the room through the curtains handing over the window.
"I'm bored and Lily's annoyed with me," Sirius said still grinning though he now resembled the Cheshire Cat he was showing so much of his white teeth.
"And why is Lily annoyed with you Padfoot?" James asked his words slightly garbled as he was speaking into his pillow.
"For the fact that I implied that you and her had tender wild monkey sex," Sirius said and grinned ever wider.
James pulled the pillow of his face and eyed Sirius contemplatively, "You what?" he asked.
"Well she was walking out of your room and she said she spent the night in here because you were too lazy to rid her room of the after effects of our pillow fight Prongs," Sirius said still grinning.
James looked clueless. He couldn't remember anything after he had climbed into bed and then the hazy half sleeping memories came to him. "I told her to stay and passed out soon afterwards," James said with a sigh. "You'd better go apologize before she finds a way to kill you Padfoot," he said mildly amused as he pushed his covers off of him and sat up. "And I'd better go deal with those feathers," he muttered and threw on a gray tee shirt and grabbed his wand and glasses before heading for the door.
"You don't think she'll really kill me do you?" Sirius asked as he got up and followed James out into the hallway.
James seemed to contemplate the point as they approached the door into Lily's room. "I don't know Padfoot. Anything is possible," he said with a smirk and knocked on the door when he got to answer he opened the door to find it empty and that sounds of activity were coming from the kitchen. "Seems as if she's in the kitchen," James said and looked around the room muttering a few spells: one to return the feathers to the emptied pillows and another to replace the pillows on the bed and make it neatly. James then left the room and walked down to the kitchen the long way as Sirius followed rather reluctantly.
They entered the kitchen to find Lily washing and drying dishes the muggle way and muttering to herself under her breath. "Stupid annoying git," was the only thing they managed to catch.
"Is that about me or Sirius?" James asked standing just inside the doorway.
Lily jumped slightly before turning to look at them. "At the moment I'd say just Sirius, but it could change," she said and blew a strand of her hair out of her face.
"I'm sorry about last night. I didn't even think to clean up the mess before I left I was so tired, forgive me?" James asked as he walked further into the kitchen and Sirius followed slowly.
"Yeah, whatever," Lily muttered and turned back to the dishes. "Breakfast will be ready in about an hour if you want to go clean up and wake the others," she said scrubbing at a plate with a hard bristled brush.
James smiled and said, "Okay, I'll leave Sirius here to keep you company," and he disappeared from the room in the blink of an eye before either of the two could protest.
Lily growled in annoyance, determined to ignore Sirius until it became necessary to do otherwise. Sirius sighed and walked a little further into the room. 'It's now or never,' Sirius thought and cleared his throat. "Listen Lily, I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't mean to offend you or anything," he said and wondered if his attempts would just make her angrier.
"Oh, you didn't offend me Sirius, you royally pissed me off," Lily said turning around holding a dull butter knife in her hands.
"I didn't mean to. It's in my nature to crack jokes, especially about James. I thought that maybe you two had, well, started a relationship already but I'm thinking now that I was mistaken," Sirius said quietly.
"I'll let you in on a little secret Sirius. I don't plan on having sex until someone takes me down the aisle and marries me, so you can just forget about James and I having sex. Secondly unless you see me with a cup of coffee or very strong tea, don't get me pissed off," Lily said and turned back around.
"You mean that you're a virgin?" Sirius asked quietly, pure curiosity keeping him from rational thinking.
"Whether I am or not is none of your business and unless you want to know this knife intimately, I would stop with the impertinent questions," Lily said without turning to look and Sirius and finished the dishes quickly before looking through the cupboards and refrigerator for ideas for breakfast.
Sirius, realizing he'd just pissed Lily off even more, whispered, "I really am sorry. I say things before I even think about what's coming out of my mouth. I'll let you get back to breakfast," he said and began to leave.
"Wait," Lily said sternly and turned to look at Sirius again. "I'm grouchy, so don't worry about it. Go on up and help James wake Peter, I know he'll need it," she said and turned back to the fridge to grab a few items basically stating that Sirius was forgiven and that the topic was closed for discussion.
Upstairs James had easily woken Remus and now the both of them were trying unsuccessfully to wake Peter, who was a notoriously heavy sleeper, worse then Remus who could sometimes not be woken for at least ten minutes near the full moon. "He is impossible!" Remus exclaimed and scratched his belly as he yawned desperate for the sleeping boy to wake.
"You are too sometimes," James muttered and prodded Peter again, who didn't even shift a millimeter.
"Not this bad! He's practically dead!" Remus said in an annoyed manner just as Sirius entered the room.
"No luck yet, I see," Sirius said quietly and rubbed his chin as if thinking about some way to wake Peter. His face brightened with an idea and he pulled his wand out of his pocket and conjured a large brass gong out of thin air. It stood near the side of the bed that Peter was laying on and a mallet rested on its frame. "Cover your ears boys," Sirius said as he grabbed the mallet and put away his wand. In the next second Remus and James covered their ears and Sirius beat the gong; a loud echoing clang emanated from the brass and resounded around the room and the rest of the house.
Peter jerked awake, his eyes wide as he muttered, "Where's the war?"
"It's time to wake up Wormtail, Lily's making breakfast," Sirius said brightly and the gong disappeared a moment later with a flick of his wrist.
Peter groaned, climbed out of bed and stumbled toward the bathroom without a word and shut the door behind him. "Well that was mildly interesting. I'm going to go take a shower," Remus said and yawned before turning and leaving the room.
James and Sirius followed Remus out of Peter's room and down the hall toward James. "I'm going to shower as well, why don't you go bother Lily or something," James said as he opened his door.
"Nah, Lily's just barely not annoyed with me any longer. I'll go to a crossword or something," Sirius said and went into his room where he found an owl tapping on the window pane asking for admittance. Sirius opened the window and the owl swooped in, dropped the morning edition of the Daily Prophet on his bed and stood on the back of a chair waiting for payment. Sirius quickly dug five kunts out of his pocket and put them in the little bag tied to the owls' leg and the owl swooped out of the room. Sirius closed the window again, grabbed a pencil and opened the newspaper to the crossword. He lay on his bed doing the crossword until he heard Lily calling them down to eat.
James met a different owl in his room that was also carrying a copy of the Daily Prophet and handed over the correct payment before the owl flew away. James sighed and left the paper on a table after a brief glance showed that no mysterious deaths or disappearances had been reported in the night, it didn't give him a relieved feeling. Voldemort was only quiet when he was planning something big. He sighed again and proceeded to the bathroom for his shower. Turning on the spray and stepping into it James finally had time to actually think. He and Lily had slept in the same bed and he couldn't remember ever having a better night's sleep. James exhaled and rinsed the suds from his hair. The same thought kept coming to his mind. 'I slept with Lily,' and it brought something to his attention. He wanted her, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well, and he had no idea how to attain her.
James' mind which could think of a plot for a prank in about ten seconds flat had no idea how to win Lily's heart. "What?" James said aloud, "Win her heart? That's just preposterous," he said and tired to clear his mind of the thought but only succeeded to a point. James smacked himself a few times and finished his shower a few minutes later.
James toweled himself fry, put on a pair of jeans and a gray tee shirt on and headed down stairs as he was hearing Lily call them down for breakfast. He was the first into the kitchen and he smiled as he watched Lily take a sip of coffee. "Good morning," James said and looked at the table that was set for five.
"Morning James," Lily said and sashayed around him piling some food on his plate. "Sit, eat," Lily said and did the same for everyone's plates quickly just as Sirius wandered into the kitchen.
"Smells absolutely delicious," Sirius said and sat down at his normal seat.
Lily eyed Sirius, who hadn't yet picked up his fork and said, "Eat Sirius, before it gets cold," and Sirius smiled charmingly at her.
Remus came in followed by Peter. "Good morning Lily," Remus and Peter said at the same time.
Lily grinned, "Good morning boys," she said handing Remus a cup of coffee and Peter a glass of pumpkin juice. "Sit down, I'll be there in a second," she said handing James and Sirius cups of coffee as well.
James watched Lily rush around the kitchen putting things away in a green tee shirt and a pair of gray shorts that revealed much of her cream colored legs and he said "Sit down and eat, worry about putting things away later."
Lily looked over her shoulder at James and stuck out her tongue. "Gimme a second," she said as she refilled her coffee cup and walked over to the table to set it down. James grasped her wrist lightly when he saw her start to turn away again and just looked at her. "Fine!" she said with a laugh and sat down.
"This is wonderful Lily," Peter said pointing to the plate with his fork.
"Thank you Peter," Lily said with a smile, placed her napkin on her lap and picked up her fork. That was when she noticed that Peter was the only one who'd started eating before she'd sat down. She smiled and laughed quietly and started to eat. "So what is on everyone's agenda for today?" Lily asked and looked around the table.
"I have to go into the office and hope that Moody doesn't chew me out too badly after I explain about yesterday," James said and took a sip of his coffee.
"I'm glad I'm not you today James," Sirius said with a cheeky grin. "I don't really have any plans today," he said and was contemplating going to see if Arabella was okay.
"I've got nothing to do either," Remus said quietly.
"I have to make arrangements for," Peter started and then paused for a moment to gain his composure, "For the funeral," he finished sadly and received sympathetic looks from everyone at the table.
"What about you Lily?" Sirius asked to change the subject.
"Probably a little house work, so when we're done eating it might be smart to set out your laundry," Lily said with a smile and they nodded accordingly.
Peter finished first and said quietly. "I'll be back sometime this afternoon, I guess," he stood and walked dejectedly from the room.
"I should head into the office now, I'm not sure when I'll be back," James said quietly and stood touching Lily's shoulder briefly before he walked out of the kitchen and upstairs to set out his laundry, gather his things and head to work.
Lily finished eating and started to gather up the plates and such from the meal. "You want company?" Sirius asked while Remus finished eating and Sirius picked up his plate to bring it to Lily.
"Firstly, put the plate back down and secondly the company is welcome but not necessary," Lily said with a smile and Sirius set the plate back down on the table.
"Okay, well I'm going to go and talk to Bella then," Sirius said and walked out of the kitchen.
"I think I'll stick around and keep you company," Remus said quietly.
"That's fine with me," Lily said and walked back to the table to get Sirius and Remus' plates.
"After you deal with the laundry what's your plan?" Remus asked curiously and helped Lily to pile plates and cups together so she wouldn't have to make another trip.
Lily carried the collage of dishes to the sink. "I'm not sure really. I thought I might go clean up everyone's rooms a little bit and read a few of those books James gave me," she said with a sigh as she filled the sink with soapy water.
"Okay, well I suggest the defense books, but that's just my personal tastes," Remus said and walked over by the sink leaning against the countertop.
"You wanted to be a teacher right? Or was that a phase?" Lily asked and started to scrub at one of the plates.
"No, I'd still like to but I don't think it will happen. No one will want me around their children," Remus muttered with a sigh.
Lily paused and looked at Remus. "Grab a towel and start drying," she said and she pushed a clean wet plate at him.
Remus smirked, "Wanting help at last?" he asked as he took the plate from Lily and set it down briefly to roll up the sleeves of his black shirt before he took to drying the plate.
"This is a one time only thing," Lily said with a laugh. "It's for your benefit really," she said and handed him another plate.
"Really? Well I won't breathe a word to James, you know he'll get jealous if he finds that we did the dishes together and how is this for my benefit?" Remus said and laughed aloud again.
"Oh how jealous James would be!" Lily exclaimed sarcastically and handed Remus a cup. "And it's to get you busy, keeps you from thinking depressing thoughts," she said lightly.
"Ah! I knew you had some sort of ulterior motive," Remus said with a grin.
"You're silly," Lily said and laughed at Remus.
"I'm silly? I thought that was Padfoot," Remus said and then threw up his hand, "Oh, wait, he's Sirius," he said and laughed.
"What about me?" Sirius asked as he walked into the kitchen again. Lily and Remus snorted with laughter and Lily wound up bent over she was laughing so hard. Sirius looked at the two of them who were laughing like deranged hyenas. "What?" Sirius asked again which just caused Lily and Remus to laugh more. "Er- right, my laundry is near the door and James and Peter have already gone. I'm off to Bella's," he said and shook his head at the two of them before disappearing from the house.
It took Remus and Lily nearly ten minutes to stop laughing hysterically because they kept looking at each other and laughing uncontrollably again. They finally calmed down enough to finish the dishes and managed not to drop or break any of them.
Remus headed off to the library to read while Lily went around collecting laundry and checking pockets for forgotten items. When she got to her own room she picked up the previous days' jeans and found the letter from Snape in the back pocket. She sighed and set it on her desk to write a reply once she'd finished the laundry which was just over an hour later.
A/N: Hey guys. I need suggestions on things you want to happen. beyond Lily and James getting together because that sadly isn't going to happen for a while. *sighs* Please review!! I need input! I've developed a minor case of writers block!!! ~Frankie~