Sunlight streamed through the window and onto Lily and James's faces. Feeling supremely comfortable and content, Lily slowly opened her eyes, then stiffened. There was an arm draped over her possessively. She could feel body warmth coming from behind her and she was—by jove, she was spooning!
She turned over slowly and saw James. Memories of the night before came rushing back as she remembered how he stayed with her. As she studied his handsome, serene face, she knew without a doubt that she had fallen in love with him. She knew he liked her—but how deep did his feelings go?
Before she could muse upon it any longer, James mumbled in his sleep, pulling her closer. He was only half-asleep, it appeared, for his eyes snapped open when he realized that he wasn't alone in bed.
"Morning," Lily said amusedly.
"Morning," James said, his voice husky with sleep.
They just looked at each other for a moment and just when reality set in, and she began to feel shy, Lily said, "Thank you."
"For what?" James answered softly.
"For staying with me," Lily replied. "I tend to get nightmares my first night back and… usually once I wake up, I don't go back to sleep."
"Glad I could help," he said genuinely.
It both seemed to hit them that they were still in bed with each other. And as they were "only friends", the situation became quite awkward.
"What time is it?" James asked, hoping to break some tension.
"About…" Lily pushed herself up to see beyond James and to her clock. "Eight thirty."
"What time's the wedding?" James asked.
"One," Lily replied. "We'll probably leave here about eleven thirty."
"So three more hours," James said.
"Three more hours and Petunia will become Petunia Evans Dursley," Lily said.
"Ped," James said suddenly.
"Ped?" Lily laughed at his randomness.
"Her initials," James said. "Too bad it wasn't Tursley—she could be 'pet'."
Lily rolled her eyes.
Lep, James thought in his mind. If Lily married me, she would be Lep. Like a Leprechaun. Then, he chastised himself. Getting a bit ahead of yourself, aren't you, mate? You too aren't even going together!
… But you're in a bed together, aren't you? Another sly voice answered.
I've had enough of you! James thought once and for all, turning back to Lily.
He heard her say, softly under her breath, "Lep."
James held his breath. "What was that?"
Lily flushed hotly. "Oh, nothing."
"Tell me."
"No."
"Please?"
"Nuh-uh."
"Come on!"
"No. Way."
"You leave me no choice."
"And what choice is that, Mr. Potter?"
"The Tickle Choice," and with that, he started to tickle her.
It ended in a few moments, with him pinning her to the bed. "Gotcha!" James chuckled. "Right where I want you."
Lily made a face and both realized how close they were. Before James knew it, the gap was closing between the two and his lips were on hers.
It reminded them both of "The Christmas Shrubbery Incident" (aka Operation Mistletoe, to Dumbledore). The kiss was gentle and slow and all about savoring the moment.
James ran his tongue along her bottom lip, and she granted him access, their tongues languidly rubbing against the other. For air only, the two broke apart, and before Lily could react, James had his lips at her throat again.
He kissed his way back up and he gave a quick peck to her lips and forehead before pulling away to look at her.
"Is this all right?" He asked the question casually, but inside, his heart was racing. This was it. Yes or no. The defining moment in their relationship.
For Lily, the answer was simple. I mean, when you're in love with a boy, what else do you tell him?
"Perfectly all right," she answered, and leaned in to kiss him again.
0 0 0 0 0
They laid like that for another half-hour, kissing and quietly talking.
"How long?" James asked.
"What?" Lily said, confused.
"How long… have you had feelings for me?" James wanted to know. The two were facing each other, on their sides.
"I'm not sure," Lily answered honestly. "Maybe ever since you dyed my hair green," she teased.
"Ha ha," James rolled his eyes. "But seriously, when?"
"I'm really not sure," she said. "But when did I become aware of them? After we called off our truce. I missed you, and being me, I had to keep asking myself why? Why did I miss you, if years before, you were nothing but a nuisance to me? And underneath it all, was something that I hadn't figured out until this morning," Lily said, trying to keep her voice light, but inside she was quite nervous.
"And what did you figure out?" James wanted to know.
"That… I love you," she said, trying to gauge his reaction.
James couldn't believe his ears. Was he dreaming? Did Lily Evans just admit that she loved him?
One word unconsciously slipped out.
"Finally."
Lily laughed. "The correct response would have been, 'Lily, light of my life, I love you too.'"
"You know me," James grinned, feeling happier than ever, "I never abide by the rules."
Lily giggled. "Don't I know it."
The two kissed again, and James broke it, leaning his forehead against hers.
"But for the record," he said softly, with a look of tenderness in his eyes, "I do love you, Lily. So very much."
0 0 0 0 0
Lily and James came down to the breakfast table hand-in-hand, not pretending any longer.
"Although, we haven't been pretending at all during this trip, have we?" James asked with a light smile on his lips.
"I know I wasn't," Lily replied truthfully. Subconsciously, she wasn't pretending. Everything she did—and said—to James was what she would have said if they were a couple.
And now that they were—well, there was only one thing left to say.
"So," Lily said, wrapping her arms around his waist and looking up at him with an eyebrow raised, "when are we going to find time to savor another moment?"
0 0 0 0 0
The wedding itself was elaborate, and Lily was quite glad she wasn't in the wedding party. Every single dress was poofy and overdone and really, Lily doubted that if she wore one that she wouldn't rip it while walking.
Lily's dress, however, was quite sleek and, as Americans would say, very Hollywood. A dress of deep emerald green, it had a square neckline and cap sleeves, and the satin dress ended at her matching emerald open-toed heels. She styled her hair in large, soft waves that fell down well past her shoulders. Really, she almost gave poor James a heart attack when he saw her.
Although my boyfriend (her heart does an internal dance) looks quite scrummy as well, Lily grinned to herself.
And he did. With some minor, temporary tailoring spells, Remus's clothes fit James quite well. He wore a simple white dress shirt, black slacks, and black dress shoes. He managed to semi-tame his hair, but Lily liked it all sticking up—slicked down and he reminded her of Severus Snape (shudder).
Lily almost groaned when she saw Shannon and her date (today it was Barry). Slinking in with quite the ensemble, Shannon definitely wasn't going for simple. Her pink-brown-black—whatever color dress—was ruched (that is a word) in the front, with spaghetti straps and ruffles that ended below her knees. She was in strappy heels and Ben was in a suit.
Once she spotted them, she came slinking their way. "Lily, James, my how nice you two look!" She cooed. "Very nice look, James. Classy and simple. I told Barry to wear something simple, but did he listen? No, he wore this outrageous pink tie! Goodness, Barry darling!"
Lily and James could have sworn they heard Barry mutter, "You told me to wear this tie."
"Well, we better go congratulate the bride and groom—ta-ta!" Shannon said and turned and sashayed away.
James raised an eyebrow. "Glad that's over."
"You're telling me," Lily rolled her eyes. "Come on, my parents are leaving for the reception hall."
0 0 0 0 0
Though the decorations (all Petunia's choices) were rather outrageous, the food was good and the DJ played all types of music. Lily taught James how to do the polka and James had great fun in spinning and dipping Lily. Shannon tried to cut in numerous times but somehow Lily and James always evaded her. Finally, finally getting the point, Shannon left the reception early, not used to being so scorned and snubbed.
She also left alone. Barry found one of Petunia's bridesmaids and they were hitting it off quite well.
Ah, karma was sweet.
0 0 0 0 0
A/N: …And really, that's what we've all been waiting for. They finally got together, folks! Yay!
But that's not the end. I've estimated it, and three more chapters to go. I'm leaving for vacation on the 9th, and I don't get back until the 16th, when the book comes out, so guess what, kiddies? This will be finished by the 9th!
Describing Shannon's horrific dress was terribly hard and badly done, so if you want to see the picture for it, the site is on my user page. Lily's dress is there too, but they didn't have it in green (it's in red) so if you want to see the real thing, you'll have to use your imagination for color.
To everyone who reviewed: 18 reviews for one chapter! You guys rock!
PREVIEW FOR NEXT CHAPTER (up late tonight or early tomorrow): Lily and James return to Hogwarts, where everyone learns their new status. We find out the extent of Sirius and Estella's relationship and James gets an interesting letter from his mother.