A/N: I can't believe this is the last chapter! I've really enjoyed writing this story and I want to thank everyone that reviewed my fic, I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels special when I get reviews. Thank you Phyllis, for helping me with the last few chapters, and thank you J.K. Rowling for creating Harry Potter! Oh, honestly, the way I'm carrying on you'd think I won an Oscar!
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling, and I do not own either of the songs used in this chapter.
"James?" said Lily once she had found her voice. "What do you mean it's James?"
"I mean that he was the one you…err…danced with at the last ball, but he felt guilty about lying to you and he knew you'd be angry if he found out it was him so he started sending you those letters."
"Well, why did I get a letter when we were still together, then?"
"Because Peter saw the letter and thought he'd do James a favour and put it in your bag."
Lily bit her lip, and buried her face in her hands. Morgana put her arm around her and offered her a tissue. "Oh, Lily, I'm sorry" she whispered. To her astonishment, Lily pushed her away roughly and jumped up. "Oh, save it for someone who believes you, Morgana!" Lily was extremely formidable-looking when she was angry, because her face turned as red as her hair, and gave people the impression her head was on fire. " I suppose he's sick of that man-eating vixen and decided to try and get me back, so he tied up my secret admirer and left him in a dungeon somewhere and made up a ridiculous story so I'd come crawling back to him! Well, you can tell him from me that I wouldn't come near him with a ten-foot broomstick, since you two seem to be such good friends!"
She pulled something off her wrist, and then stormed outside.
Morgana bent over and picked up the thing Lily had dropped. It was a small silver bracelet that had the words "Lily and Morgana-Best Friends Forever" on the inside.
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I'm standing on a bridge
I'm waiting in the dark
I thought that you'd be here by now
There's nothing but the rain
No footsteps on the ground
I'm listening, but there's no sound
Lily sat down on a bridge and looked at her reflection in the lake. Tonight really was supposed to be her night. She had said that about the last ball, but this was different. This time she was supposed to have a date, someone who would want to dance with her even if she showed up dressed as a hag. And then, in a second, it had all disappeared, like someone had waved a magic wand and performed a Vanishing Charm on her secret admirer, and that someone happened to be James Potter.
Isn't anyone trying to find me?
Won't somebody some take me home?
It's a damn cold night
Trying to figure out this life
Won't you take me by the hand, take me somewhere new
Don't know who you are, but I, I'm with you
I'm with you
She had been right about James all along…or had she? Was the sweet, thoughtful, romantic James she had fallen in love with really capable of tying up an innocent person who was not named Severus Snape and leaving them in a freezing cold dungeon or unlocked classroom and putting a Silencing Charm on them? Could James really be the tall, messy-haired mystery man with eyes that gave her butterflies?
...Wait a second, thought Lily. Tall…dark, extremely untidy hair…athletic build…eyes that make me swoon…why does that description sound so familiar? OH, MERLIN, WHAT HAVE I DONE?
Oh, why is everything so confusing
Maybe I'm just out of my mind
Yeah yeah yeah…
Lily stamped her foot on the ground angrily, causing several fairies to glare at her and flutter off in search of a more peaceful location. How could she have been so stupid? Morgana's explanation had been a little outrageous, but this was Hogwarts. Everything was outrageous. But she knew one thing. She had to get to James, and she had to do it now.
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Lily stood at the snack table, trying to spot James and Anita. Suddenly, she spotted a pair of fluffy rabbit ears making their way out the door, into the Entrance Hall. There was only one person in Hogwarts (besides Morgana) who would wear a costume like that, and her name was Anita Black. Lily looked around to make sure none of her evil minions were around, and then followed the ears into the Entrance Hall. Either Anita was meeting James to do goodness knows what, or she was up to something.
She hid behind a stone gargoyle, and spotted Anita talking to a short brown-haired girl named Mildred Nightshade, who was in Lily's Advanced Potions class. Mildred was quite an ordinary witch, except for one thing-she could make the best Love Potions at Hogwarts, and Lily was pretty sure that Anita and Mildred were not discussing the weather. She leaned a bit closer, and heard Mildred saying "- in his goblet, and if you kiss him at the stroke of midnight, then he's yours." She handed Anita something small that must have been a flask of the potion. Anita's eyes glittered evilly, and she gave Mildred what appeared to be a Galleon.
Lily gasped. If Anita gave James that potion, she'd lose him forever! She waited until Anita and Amanda left the Entrance Hall, and then she crept out from behind the gargoyle and tiptoed back inside.
If she was going to stop Anita, then she needed a plan. And if she needed a plan, then she needed the Marauders and Morgana. She took a deep breath and walked up to the table where Sirius, Morgana, Remus and his date Amanda were sitting. She could see them staring at her icily, but she tried not to let it bother her. "Look, I know you must all hate me, and all I can say is I'm sorry I've been such a complete muffin."
"Apology accepted!" said Morgana, grinning. "We knew you'd come to your senses soon, Lily."
"Group hug!" said Sirius, but Lily gave him a look that worked better than any Silencing Charm and told then what she had just overheard. When she had finished, Sirius was the first to speak. "Why, that conniving little vixen! What on earth is she doing in Gryffindor?"
"I don't know, but we need a plan, and we need it fast! We have exactly ten minutes!" replied Lily, looking pointedly at Sirius.
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"Now, Jamesie, I have something very serious to ask you" said Anita. "Do you think that this costume…"
"–Makes you look fat? Of course not."
"How did you know what I was going to say?"
. "Just a lucky guess, I suppose-and the fact that you've asked me that question about fifty million times already"
"What was that, Jamesie?"
"Nothing, nothing at all."
James sighed. He never thought he'd say this, but he was actually missing having intelligent conversations.
"Oh, Jamesie?"
"What Anita?"
"You look awfully thirsty. Why don't I just refill your goblet for you?"
"OK,whatever" James had learnt early in the "relationship" that it was easier to just agree with whatever Anita said if he didn't want to spend the rest of the day listening to her whine. This explained why he was sitting here dressed as Anita's "knight in shining armour". Knight in uncomfortable armour would be more like it, he thought.
Sirius, who had been standing nearby, winked at Morgana and Sirius and they made their way over to Anita's table.
"Padfoot! Moony!" exclaimed James. "Oh, you have no idea how glad I am to see you!"
"It's good to see you too, Prongs, but we have something extremely important to discuss with my favourite cousin…Anita, my dear, you look stunning tonight."
Anita blushed and giggled rather stupidly. She could never resist a compliment, even if it was getting in the way of her evil scheme. "Oh, stop it!"
"Now, Moony, what was that extremely important thing that we needed to discuss?"
"Oh dear, I seem to have forgotten…Care to refresh my memory, Morgana?"
"Who, me? Oh…err…yes, Anita… I wanted to discuss the…um…the fact that…you stole my…idea! Yes, that's it, I wanted to wear a rabbit costume this year, you…you…costume-thief!" She tried to scowl convincingly. "How could you!"
Sirius let out a sigh of relief as Anita's eyes narrowed and she put her hands on her hips.
"I didn't steal your idea, you stole mine! I've had my eye on that catsuit in Gladrags Wizardwear all year, but then you got to try it on before me and you bought it! Now who's the costume thief?"
"Well, I did you a favour; it wouldn't have fitted you anyway!"
"Are you calling me fat, Morgana Ballycastle?"
"You said it, not me"
"Take that, Quidditch-girl!'
"Ouch! Take that, costume-thief!"
Sirius noticed something shiny fall out from behind one of Anita's ears and onto the table. He looked at Anita (who appeared to be trying to strangle Morgana with her own tail) and a familiar mischievous grin spread across his face (and made a couple of fifth-years faint.) He had a much better use for the potion…
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Lily was almost sorry when Sirius gave her the signal (pink and green sparks out of the end of his wand), because she had such a perfect view of Anita and Morgana from where she was hiding behind a giant Christmas tree. But she tore herself away reluctantly and made her way up to where the band was playing. She had exactly five minutes to do what she had to do. She aimed her wand right at the lead singer, and whispered "Stupefy!"
Sure enough, a jet of red light hit his chest, and he fell to the floor, dropping the magical microphone. People started crowding around him, and Lily knew she had to move fast. She ran onto the stage, grabbed the microphone and said "James!"
Out of all the boys, you're not like the others
From the very first day, I knew we'd be lovers
He looked up, and nearly fell off his chair when he saw her.
In my wildest dreams, my darkest desire
Would I declare to you, your love takes me higher.
She looked at the clock. Two minutes to midnight. Normally, she would be too embarrassed to even consider getting up on stage, and see the Slytherins snickering softly to themselves, or the Gryffindors and Dumbledore smiling encouragingly, but secretly thinking she's a bit of a muffin. But it was either this, or seeing James walking down corridors hand in hand with Anita for the rest of the year. "I just want to say I'm sorry for everything I've put you through. You know that someone else I dumped you for? It was you! It's a bit of a long story, so I won't bore all of Hogwarts with the details, but basically, there was a huge misunderstanding and I received a letter that I wasn't supposed to receive and I dumped you for the secret admirer, which was really you."
Just when we both thought our lives were set in stone
They shone a light, and brought us together
She noticed James was looking a bit confused, so she decided to get straight to the important part. "Anyway, the point is, James, I love you. If you're already in love with Anita, then I suppose there's nothing I can do about it, but if you're not, then d'you think you could forgive me for being such a complete and utter muffin?...James, where did you go?" Lily had been so wrapped up in her speech she failed to realise that James was no longer in his seat. Her heart sank.
"I'm right here, Lily." Lily turned around, but didn't have a chance to say anything because James swept her off her feet and kissed her, scattering fairy dust everywhere.
We are two in a million
We've got all the luck we could be given
If the world should stop, we'd still have each other and no matter what
We'll be forever as one
It's a crazy world, where everything's changing
One minute you're up and the next thing you're breaking
When I lose my way, and the skies they get heavy
It'll be okay, the moment you're with me
The whole school started cheering loudly just as the clock struck midnight, except for Anita and the fan girls. However, Anita was anything but upset. It turns out Sirius had found an excellent place for the Love Potion- Anita's goblet. And it just so happened that the very next thing that her lips touched after drinking the potion was her lipstick. It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship that lasted for about three weeks because it takes a very powerful antidote to overcome the power of love.
And as for Lily and James? Well, they're still together. In fact, James is planning on proposing to Lily tonight. But that's another story
No one would have guessed we'd be standing strong today
Solid as a rock, and perfect in every way
We are two in a million
We've got all the luck we could be given
If the world should stop, we'd still have each other and no matter what
We'll be forever as one
