Sirius's Top Ten

Whoah, a lot of stuff happens in this chapter. If you need me to, I'll recap everything in the next chapter. Please, please, please R&R it motivates me to write. And feel free to post ideas!

J.K. Rowling owns every character, aside from ones you'll meet later.

Thoughts are in italics.

Hehehe. Anywho, quick recap, since I think Chapter 10 was kinda confuzzling.

Sirius and James make a bet that he can snog all of Sirius's Top Ten Prettiest Girls at Hogwarts. One of them is Lily. While getting to know Lily, James falls for her. She finds out about the bet at the Yule Ball, and is mad at James, dates Oliver Field, who has liked her from the beginning. James makes a apology to all the girls in the school, and especially Lily, so she forgives him, but doesn't trust him. James, Sirius, and Remus, along with Cass and Abby (Lily's friends) decide to break up Lily and Oliver, and form CARIO, pretending its a tap group. In the process, Abby and Remus reveal their feelings for one another, and are now a couple. Dippet is retiring as headmaster over Christmas. Lily admits she likes James, but doesn't trust him. Cass admits she likes Sirius, but begins to act bitchy because she has to move to America. Abby offers to have her stay with her family, so Cass stays. Lily and James are trying out a 'probation' relationship... We'll see how that goes...

Chapter 11: Probation is Over

"LILLERS!!! WAKE UP!!!" Abby screamed into her friend's ear, early Christmas morning. Lily groaned in response, wondering why her parents had thought inviting Cass, Abby, and Abby's family to spend Christmas with them was a good idea. The girls had discovered, when they met their families on the train platform at King's Cross, that Lily's father had been good friends with Abby's father at Oxford, which had prompted several lunches and meetings, and finally, her parents had invited the entire Scott family to join them for Christmas.

"Not now, I'm busy." Lily muttered from her pillow.

"LILY!!!!!!!!!" a loud yell came from the hallway, before a small boy came bursting in, knocking the door open and jumping on to Lily's bed. He had the same, flaming red hair as Lily, but softer, blue eyes inside of Lily's vibrant green ones.

"Go away, Charlie. Go annoy Petunia." Lily muttered again, though she had lifted her head from her pillow as Charlie stepped on her leg. She brushed her hair from her face and rubbed her eyes.

"She's already left! She went to 'ernon's!"

"Vernon's?" Lily repeated, watching her very hyper younger brother nod vigorously.

"Tig…" Cass whined from the corner, where she was pulling a wool shawl over her shoulders. "Let's go open presents…"

"Fine." Lily muttered, pushing herself from the soft mattress.

Charlie led the group downstairs, anxiously showing Lily how he had sorted everyone's presents into piles. Lily nodded slowly, yawning, and Mrs. Evans laughed.

"Good sleep dear?"

"Yeah, mum."

"Open this one first, Lily!" Charlie said with excitement, bringing forth a small package wrapped messily in red wrapping, with a gold ribbon tied in a knot around it.

"Who's it from, Charlie?" Lily asked curiously, taking the present from him, and trying to flip open the tag with her tired, sleepy fingers.

"Some guy named James." Charlie muttered, going off to retrieve more presents. Mrs. Evans raised a brow, and Cass and Abby giggled, sitting by Lily's feet on the floor. Lily smiled weakly. "He's a friend, Mum. The one I wrote you about."

"Yeah, but now they're on a trial relationship." Cass said with a mischievous grin.

"A trial relationship, dear? Isn't that a little cruel for the old chap?" Mrs. Evans asked in surprise.

"No." Lily replied indignantly, opening the note and reading it quietly.

Dear Lils,

How are your holidays? Happy Christmas! Things here with Sirius are dull, so I hope you're enjoying yourself. I miss you! I hope you like your present.

Love,

James

Abby and Cass watched her read it quietly, Abby, surprisingly able to pry her eyes from the pretty skirt Remus had given her, as well as a bag of heart-shaped chocolates.

"How is he?" Cass asked, holding the sweater Lily had given her up to her chest and imagining how it would look.

"Fine." Lily replied, neatly unwrapping the present, to reveal a small jewellery box, and a bag of Sugar Quills, Lily's favourite. Timidly, Lily opened the small, black, velvet box, to reveal a small square shaped stone that resembled a diamond, with a square shaped emerald on either side, all hooked on a silver chain.

"It's so pretty, Tig…" Cass said in awe, dropping the cheap-looking Beatles t-shirt Lily had given her.

"It is… It must of cost a fortune. I feel so cheap." Lily murmured.

"What did you get him?" Abby asked curiously.

"That book I was telling you about. But this…"

"Will look beautiful on you." Sirius finished, grinning as the girls gave him looks of disbelief.

"What are you doing here?" Cass demanded.

"Visiting my favourite ladies on this beautiful Christmas morning." Sirius replied, winking at Cass, who blushed, realizing how awful she must look. None of the girls had really woken up – Lily's hair was everywhere, Abby had bags under her eyes, and Cass, in addition to those other problems, was dressed in the shawl, and a large t-shirt. She looked like a slob.

"How did you get here?" Lily asked incredulously.

"On my broom." James said with a smile as he ducked into the room.

Charlie stood up from where he had been near the tree, staring at James and Sirius in disbelief and amazement. James felt his eyes and glanced at the young boy, smiling again. He was almost like a replica of Lily, aside from the whole gender thing, and his eyes, but James could tell he was a lot like her just from the look in his eyes.

"You two are WIZARDS?" He asked, his amazed look earning a laugh from his mother, who entered the sitting room again.

"Err… yeah." Sirius said, slightly scared.

Seeing Lily's mother, James smiled and quickly walked up to the woman. She had the same captivating eyes as Lily, although they were a more faded colour.

"Mrs. Evans? Nice to meet you. I'm James Potter, this is my friend Sirius Black. I'm sorry to burst in and ruin your Christmas celebrations, but – "

"Oh, nonsense darling! It's a pleasure to meet you. Michael! Come meet more of Lily's friends from school!" Mrs. Evans called happily.

Within seconds, a tall man appeared in the door, followed by two other adults, who James assumed were Abby's parents. Lily's father was built strongly, and had a smile across his face until his eyes fell upon the two sixteen-year-old boys standing in his sitting room with his daughter and her friends. Mr. Scott held a similar expression.

"Boys, Charlotte?" Mr. Evans asked in disbelief.

"They just dropped in to say hello, Michael dear, be polite."

"Oh, course." Mr. Evans replied gruffly, approaching James and offering a hand. He looked very stern, which surprised Lily. Of course, she hadn't really mentioned the whole I'm-hanging-out-with-lads-now-too-Daddy thing yet. "Nice to meet you…" Mr. Evans paused, waiting for James to offer his name.

"James, sir. The pleasure is mine." James said with a courteous smile.

Mr. Scott broke into a smile. "You're not this Remus chap I've been hearing about, are you?" he asked Sirius, who looked a lot more relieved now that at least one of the fathers was friendly.

"No, sir, Sirius Black, at your service."

Mr. Scott smiled and Mr. Evans offered a weak smile. Trying to cover up any awkwardness her husband was causing, Mrs. Evans spread a warm smile across her face. "Will you boys be joining us for breakfast? Girls, head upstairs and get dressed."

"Yes, Mum." Lily muttered, smiling briefly at James. She stopped it at that, deciding that easing her father into whole boys thing would be much nicer for everyone.

The girls headed upstairs, and Sirius, being infamous as a terrible guest, grinned broadly. "Perfect! Now we don't have to cook our own food!"

Both the Evanses and the Scotts looked quite perturbed, and James had flushed a nice shade of red, but Sirius and Charlie were oblivious to that.

"Can I try your broomstick, Mr. Black?" the young boy asked anxiously.

"No, sweetheart." Mrs. Evans answered for him. "But you can watch the boys, I s'ppose, just stay low so that the neighbours don't see…"

Charlie pouted, but Sirius led him toward the backyard, James smiling awkwardly at the parents before following.

"What a nice surprise, them coming to visit!" Cass gushed as the girls changed in Lily's room.

"You only think so because you fancy Sirius." Abby complained, pulling a soft blue t-shirt over her head.

"And you're only not happy because Remy isn't here." Cass retorted, pulling up her jeans. Abby stuck out her tongue.

Lily laughed, sitting on her bed in a deep green t-shirt and a pair of jeans, her normally messy curls straightened and pulled back in a ponytail. It was nice of James to come visit, although I'll have to talk to him about this present. Lily looked down at the velvet box she held in her hands. It was just too much.

A knock on her window startled Lily, and as Abby opened the blinds, she stifled a scream, surprised. James was grinning at her, floating comfortably on his broom, obviously quite pleased with her reaction. Abby laughed and opened the window.

"A ride, milady?"

"James! It's bloody freezing!"

"Then put your cloak on." Cass said reasonably, with a wicked smile.

Lily sighed and pulled her cloak from her trunk, sliding it over her arms before she carefully climbed out the window. Edging herself off the window ledge and onto the broom in front of James, she gripped the broom nervously. She wasn't the greatest at flying. In fact, it was terrifying for her.

James laughed. "Don't worry, Lils, I gotcha."

"You know I'm not fond of flying…" She muttered, her eyes widening as James steered the broom higher into the sky. "James! Go lower, the neighbours will see!"

"Don't worry… They won't see…"

"How can they not?!?" Lily replied. James could see she did have a point, they were at least fifty metres up into the sky. But what Lily didn't know, was that he had hung his invisibility cloak beneath his broom, preventing anyone beneath them from seeing the broom.

"Trust me." James replied, realizing afterwards that it was a bad choice of words. "Hey, Lils?"

"Hmm?"

"About my present… my Christmas present from you… It's great, but too much. I mean, 200 galleons?"

Lily laughed, slowly rotating herself on the broom so she was facing James. She ignored the fact that their faces we so close, and that James had his arms around her to control the broom.

"That book? It didn't cost 200 galleons!" she laughed, looking at James's puzzled look.

"But… Sirius said he saw it in Quality Quidditch Supplies… Cost 200 galleons…" James muttered incoherently, before Lily placed a slender finger on his lips.

"I found it in a muggle bookstore. The woman said some man had left it there and never came back for it, so she gave it to me for five quid."

"Oh."

"But I wanted to talk to you about my present from you, too… I mean, it's beautiful James, and I love it, but I think it's a bit too much as well."

"What, the necklace? No, Lils, it wasn't that expensive. Please keep it."

"Fine." Lily said softly, the cool winter wind blowing her hair into her face. Lily began to move so she could turn around again, but before she could, James's lips met hers. She felt her knees turn into jelly, and despite what she had said earlier about 'probation', she felt her resolve on that idea fading.

James broke away after a few moments, inwardly cursing himself for being such an idiot. You're on PROBATION. She probably hates you now. But it had felt so right.

"Lily, I'm so sorry, I don't know what – "

James was interrupted as Lily's lips joined his again, softly. This time it was his turn for his knees to turn to jelly.

"Why the hell have they been up there this long?" Sirius complained loudly, receiving dirty looks from Cass and Abby.

"Don't swear in front of Charlie!" Cass hissed, while Abby looked up at the empty-looking sky.

"What? 'Hell' is a swear word now?" Sirius replied dubiously.

"Well, no. But he's only ten and Mrs. Evans will find him using it and think that I taught it to him." Cass conceded.

"Fine." Sirius said with a smile. "Charlie?"

"Yessir?" The young boy had taken quite a liking to James and Sirius already, and saluted to Sirius as he was addressed.

"You will never use the word 'hell' in front of your mother." Sirius commanded.

"Or your dad. Or your sister for that matter." Cass added.

"Got it?"

"Yessir!"

Suddenly, Lily and James appeared out of thin air, hovering only a few feet from the ground, their faces flushed, Lily's red hair flying in the wind. Lily was sitting in front of James on the broom, and James had his arms wrapped around her and holding onto the front of the broom. Slowly, James's broom descended, and he helped Lily off the broom.

"Where'd you guys come from?" Cass asked in shock.

"Jimbo has a invisibility cloak." Sirius offered, as if it were common knowledge.

"Oh." Cass said, before glancing at Abby. "Looks like it was cold up there. Look at their cheeks. They're both beet red."

"I'm pretty sure it wasn't just the wind, Cass." Abby whispered with a sly smile.

"You mean, you think?" Cass sputtered.

"Yup. I think probation's over."