Rules for Dating Lily Evans

Disclaimer: None of this is mine!

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Not being able to get your boyfriend out of your head isn't bad. Not being able to get your fake boyfriend out of your head is slightly less pleasant. Especially when you thought you couldn't stand him.

Lily was encountering just that problem. For two days since he disappeared through her fireplace, James Potter had been occupying her thoughts. And she really thought she was losing it.

'He's not even that great, anyway!' she thought furiously. 'Except of course for the fact that he's helping me get back at Petunia. And my mother absolutely adores him. And he's been so nice and quite fun. But other than that, he's really nothing special,' she thought, half-heartedly trying to convince herself of the fact.

"Lily! What are you wearing at the Christmas party on Friday?" her mother called to her from downstairs.

Oh, that stupid Christmas Party. Every year for as long as Lily could remember her parents had thrown a Christmas Party for all of their friends and relatives. Lily was usually bored out of her mind at this party, but there was no way to get out of it. The worst part was, Vernon would almost definitely be there. Yes, the annual Christmas Party was bound to be very boring.

Then, an idea came to Lily, and she bounded downstairs to talk to her mother. Maybe it didn't have to be boring, after all.

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Sirius was looking at the piece of parchment with all of the Lily's rules on it. "Let's see... You've used two hand-holds and one hug. Oh, and that kiss."

"Why exactly are you tallying this up, Padfoot?"

"So you'll know what you'll be able to do and get away with next time you see her."

James sighed, "She probably doesn't need me to come back. I think we've thoroughly convinced her family, don't you?"

Then, Lily's now familiar owl flew up to the window. "Doesn't need you to come back, huh?" Sirius said smugly as he untied the letter. James quickly snatched it away from him.

"She wants me to come to her parents' Christmas Party!" James said, pleasantly surprised at this latest turn of events.

"Really? Am I invited?"

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"James! Sirius!" Lily said upon seeing them arrive. They'd come early so no muggles would notice them walking (or in James' case, falling) out of the fireplace. She gave James a hug, since her mother was in the room.

"It's nice to see you boys again," Mrs. Evans said kindly. "Sirius, I do hope you're feeling better."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm feeling much better, thanks."

"That's good. Lily, don't forget to say high to all of your relatives when they arrive. Now, I have to go find your father and make sure his outfit matches."

"Thanks for coming, guys. These parties are always so boring," Lily told them.

"Well allow us to make things more interesting," Sirius said, pulling out his wand.

"Put that away, you prat!" Lily yelled. "Muggles are coming!"

"Fine. Spoilsport."

She turned to face James. "My family should be coming soon. Wanna make the rounds with me?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"No. Sirius, my mum set up the food in the dining room. Please try not to scare my relatives."

He saluted her and took off. Lily, once again holding James' hand, walked into the entry hall to greet the guests.

"Oh Lily! Look how much you've grown!" An elderly woman said upon entering the house.

"Hi Nana," Lily said, hugging her grandmother.

"And who is this lovely young gentleman?" she asked upon seeing James.

The next half-hour went along much like that.

Finally, when it seemed most of the guests had arrived, Lily once again dragged James by the hand. "Let's go find Sirius. I hope he hasn't gotten into too much trouble."

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Sirius, they found, had not gotten into trouble...yet. He was picking up some Christmas cookies off the table when his best friend approached with his fake girlfriend.

"Hey guys. Lily, some old lady came by and asked who I was, and then asked who I was again 20 minutes later..."

"That would be Nana Evans. I see you haven't gotten yourself into any trouble...yet."

"I'm hurt by your accusation," he said monotonously. Then, getting excited, asked, "Who's the lovely brunette in the red skirt?"

Lily found who he was looking at standing near the drinks table. "That's my cousin Lynn. She's twenty, a bit too old for you."

"Nonsense," he said, "I love older women." Then, he confidently strode over to the drinks table.

Lily shook her head and turned to leave, but James stopped her. "Hold on, I wanna see this."

"You think I should tell him she's seriously involved?"

"He'll figure it out," James said. "Hey, who's the big guy?" he asked, looking at the tall, muscular man who had just stepped behind Sirius.

Lily smirked. "That's her boyfriend. He's in the navy."

It was all James could do to stop himself from laughing out loud right then. He stuffed a cookie in his mouth and chewed it while they watched the exchange. "He doesn't look very happy, does he?" she said of the marine.

James shook his head. "Oh look, Sirius just noticed him."

Sirius strode quickly back to Lily and James. "I think I need some fresh air," he said, practically dragging them outside.

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"Lily," her mother called. Lily was in the dining room, where most of the guests were talking with each other. "Come help me, will you?"

Lily sighed audibly. "I'll do it," James volunteered. Lily and Sirius looked at him in confusion.

"Be my guest," she said, simply happy that she didn't have to go help her mother. It was very likely one small chore would lead to another, and she really didn't want to leave Sirius unsupervised in a house full of muggles.

James walked into the kitchen where Mrs. Evans was trying to balance several plates that had been restocked with food. He gracefully took two plates away from her and said, "Lily is being a good hostess at the moment, so I offered to help."

"Oh, how thoughtful. You know, I thought Lily hadn't given you boys nearly enough notice... Only a few days before the party. But she knew you would come, of course," she rattled on, barely realizing that she was talking to James at all. "She really wanted you to come, but of course you knew that. And she was so terribly sorry about the other night..."

James was not listening anymore. He was just grinning like an idiot.

Out in the dining room, Sirius was working on a few more cookies. "You're mum really makes awesome cookies. If I could, I would live off her cookies. And milk. You need milk with your cookies."

Lily, as usual, was ignoring him. She watched her sister sitting in the corner with Vernon, and scowled. "How does that happen?" she asked no one in particular. Not that this stopped Sirius from answering.

"Well, when a boy and a girl like each other very, very much..."

"Shut up, you moron. I mean, how does someone as completely dreadful as my sister get a boyfriend, while I have to fake the whole thing. I mean, even if he is completely repulsive, he seems to genuinely like her. I'm nicer than she is, and she gets a boyfriend! Karma sucks."

"You know, you could have a real boyfriend," Sirius said, looking at her carefully.

"What?" she asked. She followed his stare to where James was helping her mother set out more trays of food. "You mean James?"

"No, I mean the cold cuts. Of course I mean James! The boy is crazy about you."

Lily looked away, embarrassed. "I wouldn't say that..."

"I would. I live with him, and I know him pretty damn well. I repeat, the boy is crazy about you."

Lily stared at him laughing on the other side of the room, and without knowing it she involuntarily smiled to herself.

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Later that evening, most of the guests had finally left. Lily, having said her goodbyes, retreated to the living room, which was thankfully quite empty. Sirius fell onto the couch and closed his eyes. "Wake me up when it's time to leave, okay?"

"Fine," James said. He started a fire in the fireplace, and he and Lily sat down in front of it. James leaned back on his elbows, relaxing, and Lily rested herself on one arm, leaning towards James.

"Thank goodness this night is over. If I had to get told by one more relative "how much I'd grown!" I think would've puked."

James laughed. "Yeah well, I think you're grandmother must've asked me at least fifty times who I was," he countered.

"Yes, she's a bit senile. My family wasn't too hard on you, were they?" she asked with mock sympathy.

He shrugged casually. "I'll live." They sat in silence for a while, but it wasn't awkward like before. James turned his head toward her after a few minutes and asked, "When did you change your mind?"

She didn't need to ask what he was talking about. But she asked anyway. "About what?" He gave her a look that clearly said, I know, don't bother hiding it. She sighed. "I'm not sure. I guess some time this past week. You took me by surprise, really." Lily smiled at him.

James suddenly felt very bold, and said, "Well, I think I'm going to surprise you again."

Then, he leaned in and kissed her.

It felt so natural to Lily, and she didn't object. She pulled away from him after a short kiss and said quietly, "James, I don't think..."

"Don't think," he interrupted, putting his hand behind her head and pulling her toward him. The hand that wasn't supporting Lily moved to his cheek, as if she thought it was all a dream and touching him would make it real.

All perception of time was lost to them as they sat in front of the warm flames, allowing nothing but emotions to rule their actions. The sound of Sirius stirring on the couch behind them brought them back to reality.

He sat up and stretched, not noticing how close the two were. "What did I miss?" he asked groggily.

Lily smiled. "Nothing Sirius."

"Good. I'll be right back, I'm rather thirsty."

"I'm sure that wouldn't have anything to do with the three dozen Christmas cookies you ate earlier," James said to him as he walked away. Lily looked at him with a smile on her face. "What?" he asked.

"What I was going to say before," she whispered, leaning in close, "was that I don't think we need to pretend anymore."

He smiled broadly. "Who's pretending?"

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A/N: Only one more chapter to go! And only two more weeks before school! I think I'll be able to stick to my goal! Okay, enough with the exclamation points. I hope this chapter (and, in my opinion, infinitely better ending) makes up for the totally crappy ending in the last chapter. It's not too funny though, but oh well. I'll try not to make you wait much longer for the finale.

Reviews (and reviewers) are awesome!

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