Chapter Nine: "Your Song"

Elton John

Time, as it always does, passed on, and as the days turned to weeks, the whole school buzzed even louder than before with excited end of term chatter. The only damper set on the upcoming holiday was that exams loomed over the students like a dark and dreary thundercloud, just waiting to explode. A ticking time bomb, which now had only five days until it was due to erupt, at which time students would fill the classrooms and take their final, end of year examinations, sealing their fate as to what final grade they would receive and have to bring home to their parents.

So, one Saturday morning, the last Hogsmeade weekend of the term, James, Lily, Remus, Meredith, and Sirius all clamored down the stairs from Gryffindor tower into the foyer outside the Great Hall. (Peter was "sick" and wanted to stay at the castle instead of going out) In celebration of the end of school, they were planning on heading down to the Three Broomsticks for a couple of Butterbeers and then they were going to split up- Marauders and Girls to go look for presents for each other's boyfriend/girlfriend.

They reached Hogsmeade village after a short walk that was filled with corny or dumb jokes (thanks to Sirius) and also deep conversations (Remus and everyone else's doing). Well, at least James and Sirius tried to make meaningful conversation, but they spent most of the "thoughtful" time in silence, nodding their heads periodically. It was Remus, Lily, and Meredith who carried the conversation, discussing topics like what was on their exams, and somehow or another, they got to talking about Quidditch. Lily wasn't exactly sure how, but she was pretty sure that James and Sirius had a hand in it by hook or by crook.

"The Quidditch Cup Final game is on Wednesday," James said as they entered the Three Broomsticks, taking a seat, Lily sliding in next to him with Meredith, Remus, and Sirius, "and I swear Captain Romero was about to die when we told her that we'd promised you girls to go to Hogsmeade this weekend."

A slight grin traced its way across James' face as he checked his watch, and glancing sideways at the other Marauders, he burst into a fit of giggles. Lily whipped her head about and faced him, demanding to know what was so funny. James only laughed harder, which caused everyone else in the place to look over at James, whose face was red from lack of oxygen; his laughing was causing him to become breathless! Sirius and Remus had trouble suppressing laughs, and soon Meredith turned on Remus, demanding also to know what in the world was happening.

"It's… I just… oh Lily ya wouldn't believe… oh! Ouch… it hurts… laughing too hard…" James managed to sputter out through deep breaths and giggles.

"James Potter, what on earth are you talking about!?" Lily yelled, attracting even more (if possible) attention to their table. Suddenly, as if to answer her question, Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy entered The Three Broomsticks, fuming.

As soon as they caught sight of James, Sirius, and Remus, Snape flung his wand out and pointed it at the four of them, with Malfoy standing beside him, his wand out at the ready also. James and Remus concurrently grabbed Lily and Meredith, shoved them underneath the table, and whispered for them to stay down.

Lily was a little taken aback by this sudden movement and she too flipped out her wand under the table, nudging Meredith to do the same. Aiming for Malfoy and Snape's feet, they both whispered "Insendio!" and hid next to the Marauders legs, watching at the flames caught onto their robes. Above the table, James smiled at obviously Lily's cunning. Setting Slytherins' robes on fire was an excellent idea, especially from below where they were positioned.

Swiftly a hand reached down and grabbed Lily's wrist, pulling her from underneath the table. Another dived under and grabbed Meredith by the forearm, nearly ripping the sleeve off of her casual robes. As they were being yanked out, Malfoy's face came into view, a wretchedly evil grin spread across his pale white face.

"So, Potter, Black, Lupin, you thought it funny to conveniently leave all those toads in the Slytherin Dormitories?" his cold drawling voice cutting through the silent bar. Snape had his fist wrapped tightly around Meredith's arm, his wand pointed straight in between her soft brown eyes that were currently sharp and flashing with panic.

"Well, we thought that you might like some company. You know a couple of your close relatives." Sirius replied.

James' teeth were clenched, as were Remus', their eyes fixated with a steely glare on the two Slytherins. Malfoy laughed at James' anger, pulling Lily toward him so close that James saw Lily recoil with abhorrence. James' blood smoldered thinking of Lucius Malfoy drawing Lily nearer to him like that.

"Hmm, I see you haven't gotten yourself a girl here Black." Snape drawled with a sneer, his black eyes glimmering with insanely impious cruelty.

"I see that you don't either Snivellus. But you see it's expected of me to have a gal, whereas you, well, never do." Sirius replied coolly with his usual grin.

"Well maybe I don't always need a girl around to prove my worth." Snape retorted.

"Is that the reason you never have a girl? I always thought it was because they all don't like your hair… I can see why…" Sirius finished with a mock thoughtful expression, and just as Snape was about to pull a comeback, James interrupted their teasing.

"Malfoy, you leave Lily alone!" James roared as he watched the Slytherin's grip tighten on Lily's wrist.

A clear and cold laugh proceeded to echo through the angry and scared atmosphere of The Three Broomsticks. Some of the students left, dreading what might happen if these two groups continued with this fight. Everyone knew that Malfoy and his pureblood loving cronies were the worst enemies of the Marauders of Gryffindor, and whenever the two met, a surefire duel would ensue.

"Look, Potter is getting a little grouchy over his mudblood girlfriend… aw, poor little mudblood, what ya going to do when the big bad Slytherins get a hold of you?"

"DO NOT CALL HER THAT!" four of the Gryffindors bellowed, leaving only Lily, who was shaking so violently with fury at Malfoy that words had escaped her.

"Oh, I can see we're sensitive about little Miss Mudbl -" Malfoy began, but no sooner than the start of the word 'mudblood' had been spoken, he and Snape were hit with several curses at once.

"Stupefy!"

"Expelliarmus!"

"Impedimenta!"

"Petrificus Totalus!"

A chorus of voices shrieked, sending beams of light in multicolored rays sailing out from every direction, and at first James was taken aback by all the flashes, but then the owners of the cursing wands ran forward and grabbed Malfoy by the arms. Every Gryffindor in The Three Broomsticks was now clutching either Snape or Malfoy, obviously all appalled with the Slytherins disgusting verbal and physical assault. It seemed as though they had all been sitting, biding their time, waiting for the perfect time to curse the living hell out of them both.

Lily and Meredith broke their arms free of the now petrified, stunned, and knocked out clenches that had once held them, and began rubbing their forearms profusely, turning away from the two despicable, worthless excuses for people. With her right arm throbbing and her temper flaring to insurmountable heights, Lily defiantly whirled back around, and spat in Malfoy's face. If it weren't for the fact that he was completely inanimate at the time, he surely would have been outraged, but the stories that would be spread throughout school by the time they returned to Hogwarts would definitely make up for any kind of unknown humiliation.

Remus immediately grabbed Meredith and hugged her, as though she might have disappeared. Usually the Marauders wouldn't have feared anyone or anything, especially Malfoy and his group, but now that they were going into their 7th year soon, Remus noticed more and more dark activity going on with that selection of Slytherins. And dark wizards probably weren't the best people to try and tango with, especially the pureblood loving Malfoy family.

Meredith was furious, and Remus hugging her, what would have normally made her happy, would do nothing for her fervor now. That slimy Snape and his buddy Malfoy had crossed the line. There were the normal stupid Slytherin comments about Gryffindor and such, but to take her and Lily captive and then call her best friend a mudblood was overstepping the boundary by far. She could tell that James, Remus and Sirius saw this also, because the look on all three of their faces when she and Lily were pulled from the under table was pure and utter rage. She looked over Remus' shoulder to where Lily was standing, still massaging her arm.

(A/N: Music is coming eventually!! Patience is a virtue!! :-D enjoy)

So livid that she was afraid if she touched anything that it might melt on contact, Lily just stood there with her arms crossed, shaking. She wasn't known to be able to do magic with pure emotion, but if she could, setting fire to one of the wooden tables that was near her wasn't a good idea. She saw from the corner of her eye James, standing there, glaring at the Slytherins being carted off and thrown into the street by fellow Gryffindors with such hatred that his emotion frightened Lily a bit. He was that upset because Malfoy had called her a foul name! It was that fierce loyalty to friends that she loved most about James. He felt so passionate about his friends that anyone who provoked them would end up with a broken nose, or worse.

Suddenly, Lily was wrapped in strong, warm arms, and as she began to wonder who it was, she felt a affectionate cheek press next to hers. Closing her eyes and sighing, Lily's mind filled with images of James, undoubtedly the one hugging her. Those hazel eyes that usually held a rapt and bright glance, the messy black hair accompanied by his hand, and his gorgeous "drop everything and stare" smile.

"Lily," a voice near her ear broke into her thoughts, "Lily, I'm sorry about all that mess."

The arms removed themselves and Lily opened her eyes to see James facing her, care and concern shadowing his already dark eyes. Lily waved her hand nonchalantly as if it meant nothing, as if Malfoy and Snape calling her "mudblood" didn't hurt her. The truth was, no matter what anyone ever said, everything that really mattered were her family and friends.

"It's alright James, truly. I mean, Snape and Malfoy are just gits. All that doesn't really faze me, just as long as I know my friends are there, I'll be just fine." She smiled and upon hearing the word "friends" Remus, Sirius, and Meredith smiled back. Lily wrapped her arms around James and Meredith's shoulders, which caused them, in turn, to put theirs around Sirius and Remus, laughing as they joined the huddle.

About an hour later, at Honeydukes Candy Store, Lily and Meredith stood ogling hungrily the mounds and mounds of Chocolate Frogs, Ice Mice, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Caramel Crèmes, and other assorted confections. Each of them had three or four shopping bags from different shops- Gladrags (dresses for the End of Term Ball), Magical Menagerie (Owl Treats for Meredith's Owl), and other places in Hogsmeade Village. They purchased all they could without going bankrupt and then headed down to the corner by the Shrieking Shack.

(A/N: PAITIENCE!!!)

--

Down the street, Zonko's Joke Shop was the Marauder's store of choice, and they appeared there so often that the store owner knew them all by name. James sighed. He had no clue what to give Lily, and they were supposed to meet the girls back at the end of the street by 2:30. Slowly he checked his watch. It looked lazily back up at him and said in a deep voice,

"Its only 2 o'clock mate. You've got a while to get something for your girl."

He rolled his eyes at his watch.

"What should I get Lily, Remus?" James turned to Moony.

"Well, I got Meredith this butterfly clip thing from Dervish and Bangles… I'm not sure exactly what they do, but the person at the counter said that it was for her hair. I know, go figure." He replied.

They spent the rest of their time in Zonko's thinking up different things to do to the Slytherins. 2:30 rolled around, and Remus finally grabbed Sirius and James' collars and dragged them out of the shop and down the street to where Meredith and Lily were standing, bags in hand.

"Hi guys," Meredith said brightly as she saw Remus dragging the two others behind him.

"Hello Meredith," he said, kissing her on the cheek, "Lily," he said, hugging Lily, "how are you doing?"

"Just fine thanks." The girls replied in unison.

James and Sirius stood behind Remus, but not for long as James peeked around his shoulder and then strode over to Lily, kissing her on the cheek. She blushed a cute scarlet color and smiled, and started playing subconsciously with an auburn-red curl.

"Oh Remus!" Meredith said as she pulled out a bag from Zonko's and handing it to Remus, who opened it with excitement.

"WOW!" he exclaimed at the gift. "It's amazing, it's wonderful, it's… what is it?" he answered as politely as possible.

"Don't be silly you, it's Fizzing Whizzbees! They've just gotten a new shipment in, and I thought that you might like them to cause a little end of term havoc." She blushed; her inner prankster was peeking out for a little mischief.

Remus thanked her, hugging her again. He reached into his front robes pocket and pulled out a large ornamental butterfly. As it came into the light, it began flutter its wings, sending glitter everywhere. Meredith giggled and took it graciously from his hands.

"Oh Remus, thank you, It's simply divine!" she laughed and threw her arms around his neck, swinging him from side to side playfully.

"So, you," Lily said, glancing sideways at James, "What did you get me?"

Sirius and Remus both shook their heads, knowing that James, in fact, hadn't bought Lily anything. But to both of their surprise, James grinned with a sly look of knowing better than to forget a present for his girlfriend. Sirius shrugged, and Remus gaped. Lily looked from the other two Marauders to James with a puzzled expression.

"You did get something for me, right?" she asked, mocking concern. James wasn't that stupid.

"Well, I… I did, but it's something I would like to show you later." He said a twinkle in his dark chocolate eyes.

"Alright, well, I got you something too, but since you feel compelled to keep yours a secret, mine will be also." Lily replied without skipping a beat.

"Fine then,"

"Alright, then,"

The five of them walked back to the castle, the girls chatting unconcernedly as their three guy friends struggled underneath the weight of all their shopping bags. They had tricked the boys into promising to carry all their stuff back to the common room. Lily smiled, James didn't seem to have much difficultly managing her things, he actually was laughing jokingly as Sirius and Remus kept trying to shoulder their bags onto one another.

Ten minutes later, they were all sitting in the common room, the Marauders were grouped together talking (Peter was back now, he had "made a recovery"), while Lily and Meredith sat in two armchairs, discussing the end of the year Ball. Both were excited, because it was to be a Medieval Masquerade, and those were always thrilling and scary because you have no idea who it is that you're dancing with. So as they were talking, Lily got an idea. She stood up and strode over to James and tapped him on the back.

"Yes, Lily?" he said, turning around to look at her.

"I believe that you, mister, owe me an end of year present."

"As do you, Lily dear." He said with a grin

She rolled her eyes with a smile, and added in a low whisper so that only they could hear,

"Fine, meet me back here at eleven thirty p.m. and then we'll exchange gifts. Deal?"

"Deal."

--Thirty Minutes to Midnight, The Gryffindor Common Room--

Lily sat in a crimson squishy armchair, her present for James sitting next to her. She had bought him something from Quality Quidditch Supplies, and she really hoped that he liked it. Lily herself was a Quidditch player, deep down, but since Quidditch was James' thing, she had avoided it at all costs before they were friends. Personally, Lily wished that she was on the house team, feeling racing the wind as a chaser, and feeling the overwhelming surge of joy as the game was won.

Her thoughts disintegrated as James' footfalls were heard from the stairs behind her chair. Lily turned and looked at him. He wasn't carrying anything. This puzzled her, and for a fleeting moment she thought that he might have forgotten about the present. What if he didn't get me a present at all? She thought to herself. Oh I swear if he stiffs me then he'll be in so much trouble…

"So, where's your gift?" she said with a twinge of hurt.

"Right here," he said, patting his windpipe.

"What?"

"I mean, it's a little bit funny, this feeling inside, I'm not one of those who can easily hide. I don't have much money, but boy if I did, I'd buy a big house where we both could live." he sang to her, stepping closer and taking her hands into his.

"James, what-" he cut her off with his deep voice, singing the song that he had practiced and practiced for nearly weeks, ever since He, Sirius, Remus, and Peter had planned out this whole day.

"If I was a sculptor, but then again, no, but a man who makes potions in the traveling show, I know it's not much, but this I can do."

"James, its lovely, but-"

"My gift is my song, and this one's for you and you can tell everybody, this is your song. It might be quite simple but, now that it's done, I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind, that I put down in words how wonderful life is now you're in the world." He sang, gazing deeply into Lily's emerald green eyes that were sparkling along with her face that was currently blushing furiously.

"That's fine with me." She said, replying to the song he was singing to her, in honor of her, and it was in her opinion the greatest love song of all time.

"Sat on the roof and I kicked off the moss. These next verses, well, they got me quite cross. But the sun's been kind while I wrote this song, its people like you who keep it turned on." He grinned and pulled her a little closer to himself, still staring into her eyes.

Lily's heart leapt into her throat at the last verse, but she remained calm, this musical tribute to her was very cute and very much appreciated.

"So excuse me for forgetting, but these things I do, see I've forgotten whether they're green or they're blue. Anyways, the thing is what I really mean; yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen." He sang on, picking her up at the waist and holding her high above his head. She was light and he was fairly strong, so this was pretty easy to do. Lily's hair fell forward into her face, but she didn't move it, she was focusing on James' hazel eyes.

"And you can tell everybody, this is your song. It might be quite simple but, now that it's done, I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind, that I put down in words how wonderful life is now you're in the world!"

James slowly brought her down and as she was about an inch from his face, he softly kissed her. He then set her gently on her feet, making sure not to break away from her. He smiled, well, as well as a person could smile while they were kissing another person. James' plan had worked, she loved the song, and as soon as she broke away from him, Lily hesitated a couple inches from his face, and whispered to him.

"That sure beats my gift"

A/N: Aw James is so cute! J Anyways, if you were wondering the version that I wrote this chapter to is from Moulin Rouge. I love that movie!! It's so sad but I love it! "It's a love story!"

"The greatest thing that you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return"

Aww!! :-D

Thanks Reviewers!!

Especially Lizzle, who submitted my gasp! 50th review!!!!

Ourlittlesecret7: lol yeah, I wish I was British… oh well! I love the word "brilliant" too! And "bloody" is cool too! It's too bad I'm American… but it's ok, I so totally love being Southern! ;) Ha-ha! Thanks for the review!

Lizzle: yeah, I just heard that song on the radio, and well, some of the lyrics are much racier than I would like in my story. Anyways, if I see any of those stories, I'll email you them! Ya know I like those too! I like Remus ones the most because he was nice, smart, and cool, so who wouldn't want to go out with him? I mean, nobody knew he was a werewolf! Thanks for the review!

AllAroundGold: thanks! ;)

Daniel-Radcliffe's-Girl: k :-D I'll try my best!

Padfoot4eva: haha if I ever get more time to! All I have time for is school, homework, Volleyball, voice lessons, cheerleading, Choir, eating, and sleeping. Ha. Like I'll ever get anymore time.

Sneak peek of Chapter Ten!!!

"Meredith," he said as calmly as possible, holding her hands in his, "I need to tell you something but you have to swear to me your secrecy."

"Sure, anything Remus," she answered hesitantly, her eyes trying to read his expression.

"I-," he whispered, "Wait, come here."

She leaned toward him and he whispered into her ear the secret that had plagued him ever since his youth. Almost as far back as he could remember he had had this problem. Now telling someone for the first time in six years was almost as difficult as telling his best friends the first time ever.

Meredith leaned back with her leather gloved hand covering her mouth in shock. He dropped his gaze into his hands.

She hates me. Watch, she's going to stand up, turn around and run away. It's simple, I'm a werewolf, and now that she knows, shes-

The preview stops there! Oh la la! Now you have to read the next chapter to find out everything!!

Love you guys! eMeRaLd