Bound in Matrimony

By: Jasmine

Chapter 4

"Surprise!"

James closed his eyes serenely, feeling the gentle breeze caress his face. His lips stretched slowly to form a small smile as an image of Lily formed at the back of his eyelids. He ruffled his hair quickly, snapping his eyes open and looking around. He stood outside the Hogwarts castle, awaiting Lily's arrival. He'd looked himself over in the mirror quite a few times that morning before Sirius pointed out to him that he was acting like a girl and that he should stop, which James found surprising he hadn't noticed himself.

"Girls take forever to get ready." He thought to himself aloud, hands in pockets as he strode around in a small personal circle, staring at the ground and counting his steps. He didn't even notice Lily slouch toward him huffily. She watched him a moment longer before clearing her throat to get his attention. James jumped, abruptly halting his pace. "Heh, heh... Didn't see you there, Lils..."

"Or anyone else, apparently, because I'm guessing that you'd be sensible enough to not do that in public." Lily cut in scathingly, an eyebrow quirked at his peculiar behavior. "And don't call me Lils." James's cheeks were tinged magenta, not from embarrassment but the amount self-control it took him to not respond back cockily as he usually would've done.

"I guess so..." He muttered, suddenly very interested in the way his runners' laces looped through the numerous holes in his shoes. Be a man, James. It's your wife you're talking to, after all! a voice yelled in his head angrily. James nodded and glanced up at Lily, who was staring at him expectantly. "Shall we...?" He said in a deeper voice, holding out an arm to lead the way.

Lily marched off, leaving James behind, who promptly ran after her. "So..." Lily began, realizing how extremely rude she was being. He's not being very bull-headed, so I might as well not be either... she thought to herself, looking up at the cloudless sky. She turned toward him, this time no glare in sight, though neither was a smile. He wasn't exactly at that level yet. "Where're we headed?"

"Oh!" James replied, his voice high. He was startled at the question. He'd been so busy that morning getting ready that he'd never thought of where to go. His mind raced through the shops of Hogsmeade as if he were actually there. He couldn't take her to Zonko's. That was somewhere you went with your mates, not your girlfriend, as he'd come to referring to Lily because 'wife' was just too much for him to handle.

The Three Broomsticks might be suitable, considering all sorts of people go there, so no one would think anything of it. It didn't seem like enough, though. It was his first real 'date' with Lily, all the same. He definitely couldn't take her to Madam Puddifoot's around the corner. According to Sirius, it was the place to take a bird you were serious about and give her a nice long snog without having strange looks thrown your way because everyone else there was busy doing the same. She's probably give him a nice tight slap across the face before leaving him alone to be mortified in front of more than half of the school.

No. Madam Puddifoot's was a definite no, for now at least. Maybe they could go roaming around for a bit after a butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks, find themselves a nice little shop. That way he could get to know her a bit better and find where she'd like to go as well. "James?" Lily's voice cut into his thoughts impatiently. He turned to find her emerald eyes boring into his hazel ones.

"Er... the Three Broomsticks?" He said, cursing at himself for asking rather than commanding. He should be the one planning things out, he'd been the one to ask her out! Lily, however, nodded and stated her approval, walking on and humming a soft tune under her breath. Only then did James get a chance to notice her appearance. If he wasn't quite mistaken, and he rarely was, Lily's spruced herself up a bit. No more than usual, but it seemed she'd put a little extra effort into getting ready that morning, as he had. He grinned at himself while she wasn't looking, satisfaction drowning out all nervousness. He finally felt things were going right, when...

"Oi! James!" The pair spun around to find Sirius running at them, his sapphire eyes glinting mischievously. James stared at him questioningly, his eyes wide as beach balls, trying their hardest to get through to Sirius. But Sirius's skin was thick as leather, and he following them all the way to the Three Broomsticks, even taking a seat at their table. "Thought I'd join in for a moment or two."

"Well, three moments have passed, so I guess you should be going." James snapped hastily, standing at pushing at Sirius's shoulder, but without luck. Sirius wasn't about to budge, and James knew there was more than stupidity at work.

A pretty waitress stumbled over to their table, her heels seeming to be a bit too high for her to handle. She held up a little black notepad, quill held steady over it as she stood stiffly ahead of them. "And what can I get you, loves?" she recited monotonously, her soft grey eyes flicking passed the three of them.

Sirius jumped immediately, making the waitress lose her balance and throw a hand out to Sirius's shoulder to keep standing. Sirius smiled a knee-weakening smile, saying in a deep voice, "I firewhiskey, if you please." He wiggled his eyebrows up and down, obviously trying to act mature. James glared. "We men need our whiskey."

"Yeah, I'm sure." said the waitress tonelessly, pretending to scratch her quill across the notepad. Then, staring straight into Sirius's blue eyes, she continued, "And I'll be more than happy to get you a firewhiskey, soon as you're out of school, love." Sirius frowned. "So, what'll it be?"

"I'll have a two butterbeers, if you please." James said, glancing in Lily's direction to receive a nod of approval. "And just get him a butterbeer as well." He ordered for Sirius as well, causing Sirius to slap a hand on the table loudly, his chair screeching as he stood.

"No one orders for Sirius Black!" He exclaimed, glowering at James, almost humorously. He then spun around to face the waitress, who was rolling her eyes irritably. "I'll have a butterbeer, please!" James snorted, and Lily smiled amusedly. "And a peanut butter and jelly sandwich." He nodded his head and sat back down, half of the pub now staring incredulously at their table. Some were even snickering behind their hands.

The waitress rolled her eyes and strode off, stumbling quite a few times on the way. James shook his head at Sirius's peculiarity and turned around to face Lily, who was staring around, looking very bored, but, in James's eyes, very prettily so. "Anyway," James began, trying his best to ignore Sirius, who was, oddly enough, seated very quietly. "Er..." James now realized he had no clue about what they could converse.

"Thank god McGonagall canceled that homework assignment, eh?" Lily covered, seeing as James was grunting apprehensively. The silence was quite deafening and annoyingly so. James nodded his head approvingly, looking very relieved. "I thought I was going to have to skip this Hogsmeade." She continued, wondering why on earth she was being so kind to him.

"Same here." James added, turning slightly in his chair to face her better. The two had a very (meaningful in James's words) insignificant conversation for the next five minutes until the veil of silence fell once again over their heads. It was broken this time with the clacking of the waitress's heals as she made her way back to their table with their orders. "Thanks." James called out to her retreating back.

He handed Lily her butterbeer and left Sirius to pick up his own food. He hadn't been invited anyway, so why should he act hospitable toward him. James smiled at Lily, both sipping their butterbeer at the same time. He set it down and placed at elbow on the table, readying himself for another conversation with Lily. However, instead of the hard surface he thought his elbow would come into contact with, he felt a very squishy object, within which his elbow dug deeper. He ignored it, though, trying his best to keep his face straight as he listened to Lily talk.

"You stuck your elbow in my sandwich!" Sirius cried out furiously, pointing at the obvious.

James turned his head very slowly in Sirius's direction, his eyes ablaze. Then, through gritted teeth he mumbled, "Deal with it. I am." Lily bit her lip, trying her best to not laugh at the situation. Poor James, she thought. Trying so hard to impress me. You git, all you have to do is be yourself! However, she then mentally slapped herself for having even the indecency of letting such a thought cross her mind.

James lifted his elbow out of the peanut butter sandwich at a snail's pace, both his and Sirius's noses cringing as they watched. "Oh! My shirt!" James moaned as he stared at the damage. Abruptly, he sent a glare in Sirius's direction before turning toward Lily and rapidly saying, "Mind if we go?" Lily shrugged and the two left Sirius alone, who was still crying about his PB & J.

"What about paying?" Lily asked suddenly, stopping in mid-step to return to the pub, but James held her back, saying, "Oh, Sirius'll get it." Lily gaped. "No, really. He deserves it. He shouldn't have been alone anyway."

"Right." Lily pursed her lips and nodded her head, walking on. They passed quite a few shops. Lily noticed James glanced longingly into many quidditch equipment stores and little shops she'd never even think of stepping foot into. However, when James threw a pining look in direction of Zonko's, she couldn't help but ask, "D'you want to go in?"

James turned to ogle into her emerald eyes unbelievingly. It seemed he was about to nod yes and run off like a child who'd been let loose in a candy shop, but then he shook his head slightly and 'came to his senses', in his own words. "No, no. Where would you like to go, Lily?" He asked in a very strained tone, forcing himself to let the words slip past his lips.

Lily nodded again, getting bored very quickly. As they strode on in silence, Lily noticed the shops seem to change color. They went from their usual grayish color to bright peaches, pinks, and pastels. They were entering the zone of the loving couples. She stiffened, feeling James do the same beside her. As if n response, the distance between the two widened ever so slightly, both of them noticing and laughing nervously.

Lily decided to break the tense silence, muttering, "Mind if we get a coffee?" James's gaze following Lily's finger as his sight set upon Madam Puddifoot's shop. His eyes widened and his throat got caught up, causing his voice to come out high and out of place.

"Actually, I'd rather not." He mumbled rather slowly, fiddling with his thumbs. Lily's expression changed from apprehensive to livid in a flash. James backed away hastily, startled by the sudden change in the air about them. He waved his hands ahead of him defensively, explaining, "I really don't think we're ready to go in there." He nodded toward Madam Puddifoot's.

"In where, Potter?" Lily hissed, her eyes narrow. She placed her hands on her hips slowly, an eyebrow quirked inquiringly. She knew exactly what he'd meant by that phrase, but she wanted to hear it straight from his own lips before she began making false assumptions and embarrassing herself in the middle of the street.

"Well, there." James replied fearfully, a shaky finger pointing behind her. "I didn't really think it'd be appropriate for us to go in there... You know, at the stage we're at in our relationship—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Lily halted, throwing a hand up, cutting James off. "First of all," She held a finger up. "There is no relationship between us, unless you consider loathing a relationship, so there's no way there can be a stage. Second, all I wanted was to grab a coffee from the shop and leave. I never in my wildest dreams would have thought you'd take such a simple statement that way!"

James gaped, his temper rising. "Well, I'm really very sorry, Lily." He began hotly, losing his gentle tone. "I mean, of all the pubs we could've gone into, you chose that one, so what else was I supposed to think? It is the best place for a good snog, so—"

"So you thought I'd invite you into Madam Puddifoot's on our first date for a snog!" Lily exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "You know, Potter. I always thought better of you, even if you were always a prat! I never imagined you'd think so lowly of me."

"I don't! That's why I didn't take you in for a snog. I mean, I didn't think you'd want to, anyway..." His voice trailed off and he threw a sideways glance in Lily's direction, but his expression did not falter and he stood his ground, as did Lily.

"Oh, so I'm not good enough or something for you to take in to Madam Puddifoot's!" Lily shrieked, causing many stares to come their way, even a few from within Madam Puddifoot's. "And what makes you think I wouldn't want to!" Lily threw a hand over her lips immediately, shocked at what she'd said.

James smirked. "So you do want to snog me." He concluded smugly. "Then go ahead, no one's stopping you." He added, taking a step closer toward Lily, who backed away disgustedly.

"No way, Potter! You misunderstood me." She concealed. "I meant that I don't think you should make false accusations and decide what I'm thinking, because my mind is much too complex for yours to comprehend or even handle." She took a step closer, glaring. "And as for the snogging thing," She poked his chest threateningly. "The only way I'd ever snog you is if we were—we were married!" She then laughed hysterically at the 'ridiculous' thought, spinning around and stomping off.

James glared at her for a moment before setting his mind. He wasn't about to let her get off the hook that easily. He marched right after her, taking hold of her hand and spinning her around so their faces were barely an inch apart. James stared straight into Lily's eyes intensely, his lips hardly moving as he muttered, "You know what?"

James then pressed his lips against Lily's, kissing her passionately. He felt his eyes flutter shut, as did Lily's, and, to his great amazement and joy, Lily's body relaxed as her fingers inched across his shoulders, coming to set around his neck. The crowd began whooping and cheering, and a few who knew them began shouting their names in astonishment.

To Lily and James, however, all was background noise, insignificant to their being. They continued, unawares of the crowd growing as students of all ages, and even teachers came to watch the scene. No one would believe Lily and James were kissing unless they saw it with their own eyes, it seemed.

Without notice, an odd sound echoed through the streets. All heads turned toward the direction of the sound, and the crowd parted to find Sirius clapping his hands, a lopsided smile upon his face. "Brilliant." He muttered, laughing his head off. Lily and James parted, staring at each other oddly before Lily's eyes widened as she realized the 'sin' she'd committed. She backed away, wiping her lips on the side of her sleeve. "So, did you tell her yet?" Sirius asked unexpectedly.

"What?" James muttered before realizing what he was speaking of. He held his hand up to halt Sirius's speech, but, as known to all, when Sirius's mind was set to something, it was going to be done, no matter at how large or small a scale.

"That you're married, you prat!" He cried, laughing again. Remus, who'd appeared at the other side of the crowd, slapped his forehead, shaking his head sympathetically. James fell to his knees amid the loud, unified gasp that seemed to crush his very essence.

Lily, however, stared between Sirius and James, an eyebrow quirked, an uneasy look about her face. Her sight set upon James and she muttered, "Potter, what's going on?"

There you go. I kind of had to force myself to write this. It's kind of speedy and not very funny, but I don't really expect this story to be very long. Probably around 15 chapters, no more. If you want a lengthy story, read Transformations and Transfiguratins, also by yours truly. Anyway, no, it is NOT over. It's only just begun. Heh. I love that phrase. Anyway, I've got a few good ideas and stuff, but don't be expecting the next chapter too soon because I'm going to be busy... I'll try to update soon, but until then, just... enjoy! heh...

Please Review!