Ok, I just realized that the Emily's that have been replying have been two separate Emily's. Sorry for that you guys! I'll give you separate mentions from here on.
emily, she's definitely going to get the back with some pranks. And if you read on, you shall find out what their surprises are!
To mookiemoooo, yay! Another great chappie…you're just too kind! Haha. :) And to the answer to Lily and James' baby… well it could be Harry, and it might not be Harry. You'll find out soon enough.
Emily, James' parents' reactions will be found out in later chapters. As to Leala and Remus…read on!
Tanya J Potter, you're very welcome for the chocolate chip cookies. They're my specialty! Haha. Thanx for the review!
Zippy-Wings, you're welcome for the chappie :) here's the next one!
And now, on to the next fabulous chapter…
Lily and Leala worked quietly in the girls' dormitory after classes were over. Their homework abandoned, they focused all of their energy on the surprise for James. Lily was so sure he'd love it.
Little did they know, but James was secretly scrambling as well. While he had the plans for his surprise all laid out, he hadn't actually finalized them. He and Sirius were running madly around the school to finalize the magic plans. He couldn't wait to show Lily. Remus helped too, and between him and Peter, they had James' homework done. They would make Sirius do his own, because he was just along with James to get out of his own homework. Remus had his own private chuckle over Sirius' coming reaction.
"You know," Leala said to Lily as she tinkered with a small piece of James' gift, "This was a brilliant idea. He'll never guess. He's probably thinking that you're going to get him something girly and overly mushy."
The girls laughed, "Well, this way I can prove to him that I care about what he loves too," Lily said rationally. She prodded a piece with her wand, and began to put it together.
"I still can't believe you managed to conjure everything," Leala commented, handing Lily another piece.
"Well, I did practice a lot…" Lily said modestly.
"You're only the cleverest witch in our year," her friend complimented her, with a slight bit of sarcasm.
"Well, that doesn't take much!" Lily joked, "Look at the dummies we've got in our year!" the laughed, knowing full well how untrue this was. James, Sirius and Remus – not to mention Leala herself – provided ample competition. And that was just in Gryffindor!
"Done!" Lily exclaimed, putting the finishing touches on the gift. "Let's try it out, shall we?" she suggested.
"You know nothing about Quidditch!" Leala laughed. "Let me do it." Leala prodded the miniature model of a Quidditch pitch with her wand. Players began to move around it, a Quaffle being passed between three Chasers, dressed in scarlet robes. A tiny player clad in green got hit with a miniature black Bludger.
"Watch," Lily said. She prodded the stadium, and the players in green changed into canary yellow robes.
"That's great!" Leala giggled, "Our little Quidditch captain is going to love it!" The girls enjoyed the fact that the gift was finished, and put it carefully into a box that Lily had conjured. For good secrecy measures, she wrapped it in pink paper with little hearts that blinked.
"Our homework!" Leala suddenly remembered. She glanced at her watch. It was already 10:00. "Crap," she muttered.
Lily pulled out her books, and ran down into the common room. "Follow me," she said.
Remus and Peter were still up, James checking over his essay with a grin. Sirius looked downright furious.
"Why would you do his homework and not mine?" he whined in a very un – Sirius like way. As soon as he saw the girls however, he became more dignified.
"Remus," Lily said sweetly, "Do you think that you could help Leala and I with our essays? We're so very tired, and we've got to get up early. We've been working so hard." She finished, with a pointed look at James. Remus, thankfully, got the message.
"I see," he said, "Come here," he patted the couch beside him. Sirius' face contorted with fury, but he kept his mouth shut. He turned to James, and together they began to write Sirius' essay.
The next morning, Lily awoke thankfully feeling fine. She dressed in her robes, running her hands gently over her still perfectly flat stomach. She sighed, thinking of what it would be like all too soon. She wove her hair quickly into a loose plait, and pushed a real white lily into it. She grabbed her books, and went down to breakfast.
James was surprised to see her there. He pushed Peter into Remus to make room for the girl of his dreams. Peter whined, and Remus just rolled his eyes and slid further down the bench. Lily sat down beside him with a smile.
James accidentally put his elbow into his bacon as he looked at her stunning beauty. 'She is even more radiant than usual today,' he thought. She did look better. Her face was becoming rounder again, and she didn't look sick. The large circles under her eyes were receding, and she looked happier.
"I can't wait for your surprise," she said as she sat down and helped herself to the first warm piece of toast she'd had in a long time. She grinned as she took her first bite, as the hot toast was an almost foreign feeling. James stared at her. She was so cute.
Lily caught him staring. "What?" she asked with a tinkly laugh.
He shook his head, "Nothing." He said quickly.
She looked at him suspiciously.
"You're just so beautiful," he caved. Sirius snorted apple juice into his eggs. Lily ignored Sirius, and proceeded to eat the rest of her hot meal in silence.
After the last class of the day – Potions with the Slytherins – James caught up with Lily. Finally he could surprise her! He covered her eyes. "Guess who?" James said in the deepest voice he could conjure, hoping she'd get it wrong. She laughed and pushed his hand away.
"Sirius," she joked.
James pretended to be hurt. "I'm appalled! Maybe you won't get your surprise after all," he pouted.
"Oh come off it," she said lightly.
"Come on let's go then!" he said eagerly.
"Whoa there, I still have to drop off my books, and get YOUR surprise," she said with a smile.
"Ok, ok." He put his hands up in mock surrender.
They laughed and went their separate directions. When she came down from the dormitory with her big pink box, Sirius was waiting there, all dressed up in a muggle tux. He looked slightly unhappy about being dressed like that, but nevertheless, he was there.
"Shall I escort you to your – er – surprise?" he asked in a formal tone.
Remus whipped out his wand, and pointed it at her. She was worried for a moment, but then realized she was wearing a sparkling dress of the palest green. Tied around the neck, the low scoop back was more revealing that anything Lily had ever owned. It showed off her perfect stomach, and swept right down to her feet, which were now clad in small, sparkling heels of the same colour as the dress.
"This is beautiful!" she said, twirling a little. She went to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, only to find that her hair was pulled into a gorgeous up-do, and there were curly strands brushing her face. "Thank you," she said to Remus.
He blushed, amazed at how well the spell had gone, "It was nothing…" he muttered modestly.
"He looked through muggle magazines," Sirius said, smiling at the beautiful Lily. He indicated his own outfit. "James thought it would be entertaining to dress me in a suit fit for a wedding.
They all laughed. Sirius regained his stately manner, and offered Lily his arm. "Madam, your… er… your James awaits."
She took his arm with a small giggle. They went off down the halls, up to the 7th floor. Lily was very aware of the stares she was getting. As they reached a now familiar hallway, Sirius let go of her arm, and walked, as if pacing, in front of a small section of wall. Finally, a handle appeared, and he opened the door for her. She stepped inside.
"Thanks Padfoot!" James' voice sounded from inside the room. It was furnished the exact same way as the last time they were here, except instead of a bed; there was a small table with candles and an empty vase.
Lily clapped her hand to her mouth. James stepped out from the shadows at the back of the room, and offered her a huge bouquet of very red roses. She took them and put them in the vase on the table. She was fighting the urge to grin like a maniac. This was fabulous! She looked again at James.
He was dressed in a suit similar to Sirius', only he'd taken off the jacket. He was dressed in black, with a white tuxedo shirt, and a black bow tie. Typical James style, the bow tie was crooked, and his hair was a mess. She loved the effort anyways. He spent the time gawking at her. "You're gorgeous," he breathed.
"Thanks," she joked, "You didn't notice before?"
They smiled, and James pulled the chair out for her. She suddenly remembered the box. She thrust it into his arms before sitting down.
James was appalled by the wrapping paper, yet he didn't show it. He opened it carefully, hoping this pleased the radiant Lily. He pulled off the top –
"It's a Quidditch stadium!" he exclaimed, "Just like the one in Quality Quidditch Supplies!" he moaned. They both knew he'd wanted it, but it was so many Galleons…
"You couldn't have bought that! It's way too expensive!"
She grinned and blushed. "I made it. Well, Leala and I," she corrected herself modestly.
"Wow! It's amazing!" he said. He laid it on the floor and began to poke at it, making the players zoom around the stadium. Lily cleared her throat. However pleased she was that he loved her gift, she was not the type to sit and stare at miniature Quidditch models.
"So sorry," he said, getting up off the floor, looking slightly embarrassed. He sat down. After dinging a tiny bell on the table, two house elves ran in carrying trays. There were tiny cakes, and rose petal tea – Lily's favourite.
"This is so sweet!" she said, taking a tiny cake off the tray before it was laid to rest on the table. "Thank you!" she said to the elves as they bowed out of the room."
The pair began to eat and talk, James amusing them both by sipping tea with his middle finger stuck out, and dabbing at his mouth with a cream linen handkerchief. Finally it was time to go. James looked at his watch, and to the surprise of both of them, they'd been in the room for nearly 3 hours.
They walked arm in arm back to Gryffindor tower. They talked and laughed, and James had the lurid pink box under one arm. He couldn't wait to show his team all of the strategies he'd come up with.
When they clambered into the common room, they were surprised to find it nearly empty, except for Peter in the centre of the room, pouring over a thick book and muttering to himself.
"Where is everyone?" James asked him.
"They left me to do my homework alone," Pettigrew squeaked.
"Ah, well. It's about time they did that," he muttered. "Where are they?" he asked again.
"I don't know…" Peter said, wringing his hands.
James let out a heavy sigh. "Where's Leala?" Lily asked, although she already suspected what the answer would be.
"With Remus," he said matter of factly. He had ducked his head back into the book, and didn't see Lily and James' reactions. They stood there open mouthed.
"Studying, by any chance?" Lily asked weakly.
"No, no I don't think so," Peter said vaguely.
"Alright then…" James said. "I think I'm going to bed," he said, he kissed Lily lightly, and started towards the stairs. Lily grabbed him by the sleeve.
"I don't think so," she said. "We have homework, and NEWT's coming up."
He sighed, but turned around anyways. "Accio books!" he said, and moments later, there was a crash, and 3 books came hurtling down the Boys' stairwell. Lily went up to get hers, and then they set to work.
Just as they were finishing up their work – and Peter's too – Remus and Leala came bursting into the common room, flushed and giggling. Yes, Remus was giggling. (A/N: I apologize, but I am REALLY tired… if you don't like that Remus is giggling, then… ignore it please!)
They stood there looking at each other across the room.
"Well, I guess that's out now," Remus said, unnecessarily smoothing his robes.
That's all for now, folks. You may not get another update for about 2 weeks, as I am going on vacation, and I won't have access to a computer… I'm terribly sorry about that. I would like to thank my fantastic beta reader Emily for her fabulous editing. That's all for now, chocolate chip cookies to all! Maybelline
