A/N: -Sits unnaturally still- ...IT'S DONE! -Sobs and laughs at the same time. Readers stare- I'll miss this so much.
This chapter was probably the most difficult for me to write, mostly because I knew how it'd end, but I had a lotta trouble building up to it. So I had to write it in weird spurts. Trust me, it's no easy feat.
I felt like making this a ramble chapter, but I would never do that to you guys, so I changed it. Drastically. So be happy that I care so much about my lovely readers, even if those of you who don't review. -Grumbles- But thanks to Daisy Pixie, Akt5us,click here, Nicole, thatwasthelasttheyeversawofher, Zemmie, and ilovedrew88 for reviewing! I love you guys!
Nicole: Thanks so much, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
click here: Doesn't it though? But it's a shame Lily gave up her maiden name too, I guess...thanks, though!
Note: There's a big circlish hill surrounding the big lake. Just giving you some background information.
I'll do the Disclaimer at the end.
So, onto the conclusion of Don't Let Him Go...
Don't let him go
"Ah, thank God it's the weekend," Claire said, stretching her arms up above her head as she, Lily, Alice and Sarah walked down to the Great Hall for lunch right after Transfigurations.
"Yeah," Lily replied, pulling her ponytail out. She shook her head, her hair falling in cascades down her back.
"Um, Lils, is there any particular reason why you're primping yourself so much?" Claire asked, eyeing Lily suspiciously.
Glancing at her friends, who were all wearing similar expressions, Lily said, "I am not 'primping myself', I was just taking my hair down. It was bothering me up."
"Riiiiiight..." Claire said, running a hand through her own curly locks. "So adding your lovely long hair to your beauty this morning doesn't by any chance have anything to do with a certain boy asking you to Hogsmeade tomorrow?"
Lily looked at Claire, "What are you talking about? Have I ever cared if a boy asked me out?"
"Oh, so someone did ask you out, then?" Alice asked, her eyes staring intently at Lily.
Lily rolled her eyes and sighed. "I get the hint, guys, and no, no one asked me. And quite frankly, I don't care. I've got to finish that monster of an essay Slughorn gave us."
"Oh," Sarah said. "Well, we're all going to Hogsmeade with dates."
"Really? All three of you?" Lily asked, stopping.
"Yup! I'm going with Frank!" Alice said brightly.
"I'm going with Alec Diggory, you know, the guy you turned down the day before the holidays?" Claire said, re-applying her lip gloss.
"What happened to Shawn? You know, your boyfriend?" Lily asked.
"We broke up the day before the holidays. Didn't I tell you about that?" Claire said, stowing her makeup back in her bag.
"Um, no," Lily said, crossing her arms. "And just how many boyfriends have you had this year, Claire Dubois?" she asked with an annoyed expression on her face.
"Uhhh, let's see," Clare said, counting off her fingers. "There was Sirius Black (Lily blanched), Aoi Kyogoku, you know, that hot Japanese guy in Ravenclaw, um... oh yeah, Ryan Galazka, and Shawn."
Lily, Alice and Sarah all stared. "Wait, Ryan Galazka? The Goth guy who graduated last year? How did you guys hook up?" Alice asked.
"Yeah," Claire replied with apparent relish. "He lives in Hogsmeade. We started talking a while ago, and you know how much I love bad boys. Well, I couldn't keep myself away." she said, grinning slyly.
"And Alec?" Sarah asked.
"Well, he just asked me to Hogsmead. We're not going out. Yet."
Lily rolled her eyes. If she didn't know better, she would've thought that Claire was the world's biggest slut. But she did know Claire, and knew that she would never go at it with a guy until she loved him, and, judging by the fact that she went through boyfriends as quickly as she did, she wasn't in love. That, and Hogwarts housed some pretty big sluts in itself.
"Anyways," Lily said, getting the subject off Claire, "Who're you going with, Sarah?"
Sarah's shoulders slumped. "She doesn't know." Alice answered for her.
"We're setting her up on a blind date," Claire replied.
"That's so mean." Lily answered.
"You think it's mean? They won't even tell me what house he's in, if it is a he!" Sarah said. "For all I know, they could be setting me up with the giant squid!" Sarah cried indignantly.
Lily laughed and slung an arm over Sarah's shoulders. "Don't worry about it, Sarah," she said comfortingly. "There's no way they're that mean." She shot a nasty glare at Claire and Alice, who merely smiled.
"Well, Sarah here won't know until she sees for herself." Claire said.
"Yeah," Alice said, rummaging through her bag. "Oh no - guys, I left my Arithmancy book in the dungeons. I'll meet you guys in the common room." And she ran off back towards the potions room.
After a few seconds, Claire said, "You know, I think I should go with Alice. She can be a little..."
"Absent minded?" Lily supplied.
"A bit," Claire responded. "I'll go catch up to her. See you later!"
Lily and Sarah turned around and continued their trek back to the common room. After a few minutes, the saw a group of seventh year Hufflepuffs heading down towards the potions room. Alec Diggory was with them. As he passed, he winked at Lily, who rolled her eyes and ignored him.
Once the Hufflepuffs had passed, Lily said, "I hope Claire knows what she's doing with the Diggory guy. He seems like a right little womanizer."
"Don't worry about it, Lily," Sarah replied. "Claire's had what, five boyfriends this year? She'll be fine."
Lily sighed. "You're right. I sound like a mother hen with her chicks."
Sarah laughed. "But you know," she said, sobering up almost instantly. "If Alec's down in the dungeons with Claire, there's no telling when she and Alice'll get back. Maybe we should go down there and pull them away from each other..."
It was Lily's turn to laugh. "You're right, Sarah," she responded. She then turned and started walking down the corridor.
"Oh, Lily, wait!" Sarah said loudly. Lily stopped and turned around. "Don't you have to finish that essay for Slughorn?"
"What? Oh - yeah! Thanks for reminding me!" Lily said. "But...do you think you'll be able to wrench Claire and Diggory apart by yourself?"
"Alice is down there too, remember?" Sarah said, walking quickly down the hall. "We'll be fine!" And with that, she hurried out of sight.
Lily smiled and headed back to the common room to finish her essay. My friends are so nice, caring about me and my well-being like that, she thought.
But she had no idea just how much they cared about her well-being.
Just down the corridor, in an unused classroom, Sarah, Claire and Alice were sitting on the floor discussing what had just happened.
"That went better than I thought," Claire said, impressed.
"Yeah, up until the part where Alec Diggory passed us and winked at Lily." Sarah said,frowning slightly. "It's a miracle he didn't ask her to Hogsmeade right there."
"That would've let tosome awkward questions," Alice added.
"Yes," Sarah piped. "But I'm surprised that Lily couldn't tell we were lying before that."
"It's not like we were too obvious, though. I mean, settingyou up on a blind date is exactly the type of thing we'd do."Claire injected.
"I'm surprised she didn't ask you guys who it was with, though," Sarah said, relieved. "I thought that'd be our downfall."
"Naw, Lily's been too preoccupied." Claire replied. "I'm guessing she didn't even think to ask."
"So, step one of the plan is complete," Alice exclaimed, pulling out a piece of parchment and a quill. She wrote a check next to Leave Lily Alone with James.
"Now all we've got to do is stand back and let nature take its course." Claire said, rolling up the parchment and stowing it in her bag. "Just watch, girls. Lily and James will get together and they'll never know that we made it happen."
"Let's just hope it stays that way," Sarah said.
Baby, don't let him go
Lily was sitting in an over-sized chair, reading her latest paperback novel. Claire, Alice and Sarah were all off on their dates at Hogsmeade, leaving Lily alone in the huge castle. But it wasn't like she minded. After all, what better use of time is there than reading?
...That is, until Lily finished her book. Sure, the book had a happy ending, but she felt a bit depressed, as she always felt when a book ended. Sighing, Lily leaned her head back on the top of the chair, closing her eyes.
"Well, well, well, who do we have here?" A familiar voice asked from behind Lily's chair. Opening her eyes, she saw that James was leaning over so that his upside-down eyes was looking into hers. "Miss Evans, I presume."
Lily rolled her eyes in mock annoyance, while in truth she'd been waiting for him to come up and talk to her. It was very unusual for them to be left alone, even more so on a Hogsmeade weekend. "Who are you, Sherlock Holmes? I would hope you know who I am, James Potter."
"And why's that?" James asked, righting himself and walking around to the front of Lily's chair. "Finally joining my fan club, are we?"
Lily laughed. "You wish," she said.
"So, what're you doing?" James asked, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of her. It seemed very odd to Lily that she had to look down in order to see James' face properly. After all, he was a good nine inches taller than her.
"Just reading," She replied, indicating toward her book.
James raised his eyebrows. "What? Lily Evans, reading? Who'd've thought?"
Lily whacked James playfully with her book, but he was too quick for her. He grabbed the book right out of her hand and opened it to a random page. "Hm, let's see what dear Lilykins reads, then, shall we?"
He glanced at Lily, who crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow as if to say, "Whatever, but you're not gonna like it."
James cleared his throat. "Let's see...Annie stood on the pier, lost in her deep thoughts. The wind tugged at her chocolate brown tresses, blowing them into her deep sapphire eyes. Her thin white dress blew about her legs and she shivered. Suddenly, she felt arms encircle her waist, instantly warming her. She turned her head to look the person in the eyes, and as she did, her lips were caught up in a passionate kiss. Annie surrendered herself to the wind, completely caught up in the moment of love she now felt with this perfect stranger-" James stopped and looked up at Lily. "How can you read this without gagging?" He asked with a disgusted expression on his face.
Lily laughed and shook her head. "It serves you right to read the part right before he throws her in the ocean and she drowns. Anyways," she said tucking her legs under her, "What're you doing?"
"Oh, nothing much. Just thought I'd ask if you fancied going for a walk, seeing as everyone else is gone and we have absolutely nothing to entertain us." James replied, shrugging. Lily however, knew that he was not as completely indifferent to her company as he pretended to be.
"Hmmm...I don't know," Lily said glancing out at the snow-covered grounds. "It's a tad cold, don't'cha' think?"
James shrugged again. "Not really. We were practicing Quidditch outside yesterday at 7:30 in the morning, and only three of us suffered from frostbite," he said, smirking. When Lily raised an eyebrow, James said quickly, "Really though, it's not too bad outside. Besides," he said, ruffling his hair a bit, "I seem to recall someone say that she loved the snow."
Lily raised an eyebrow. "I'm amazed that you actually remembered that." She said, glancing back outside.
"So will you come?" James asked. Lily's face adopted a skeptical look, so James pouted. "Pwease?" He asked, making his eyes go round like a little kid's.
Dammit, he's so cute when he pouts, Lily thought, blushing slightly. Then, laughing at the adorably obnoxious look on James' face, she said, "Okay, fine, let me grab my coat..." She stood and started up the girls' staircase.
Once in her room, Lily slid her arms into her black pea coat, pulled a pair of scarlet gloves onto her hands, shoved a black beanie onto her fire-like tresses and topped the whole thing off with her red and gold Gryffindor scarf. She then turned and hurried down the stairs to meet James in the common room.
Once Lily got there, she saw James' eyes scan her body quickly, taking in her somewhat tight, dark denim jeans, her irresistibly red hair flowing down her back, and her slight display of Gryffindor pride. Lily, in somewhat of an awkward position, found her eyes looking at James' slightly worn jeans, his faded leather jacket, his Gryffindor scarf, his adorable messy hair...her fingers itched slightly - how she wished she could run her hands through his hair, just once.
Wait, what am I thinking? Lily's head blared. This is JAMES POTTER I'm thinking about. My God, I'm actually having romantic thoughts about JAMES!
Apparently Lily's inner battle had given her a somewhat glazed look, because James said, "Er, Lily? You okay?"
"What?" Lily asked, coming out of her trance. "Oh, yeah, just - just thinking..." Great, now I'm stuttering, too. What the hell is going on?
"Ready to go, then?" James asked, ruffling his hair again.
"Yup!" Lily said, smacking herself when James' back was turned.
It took them a few minutes to get out to the grounds, but once her feet touched the snow, Lily was glad she had decided to come. After all, winter was her favorite time of year.
The two headed toward the lake, all the while talking about random things, such as-
"What's your favorite color?" James asked, his face turned to Lily.
"Violet," Lily answered without hesitation. "Then black and scarlet. Yours?
"Red and green." Was the reply.
"For Christmas?" Lily asked.
"Well, that, but mostly for other reasons," James answered.
Turning to look at him, Lily saw that he was staring at her with rapt interest. She suddenly realized why red and green were his favorite colors. Blushing, Lily turned her head back toward the lake. "Oh," she said to fill the silence.
James laughed, then said, "You know, I have to agree with you, winter is beautiful."
Lily let out a breath. "Isn't it, though?" She said, turning to face him again. "I love everything about it!"
"I really like the scenery," James said, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. Lily didn't notice, and the two walked a little ways in silence, Lily taking in the beauty of the outdoors, James taking in the beauty of, well, other things.
He stopped suddenly at the top of the hill that separated the lake from the rest of the grounds. "You know what the best thing to do in the snow is?" He asked.
"What?" Lily asked back, also stopping.
"Rolling down hills in it." James replied, his face alive with mischief.
Lily raised her eyebrow. "Oh, really." She said, taking a step back from him. She had a feeling that she knew what was going to happen next.
"Really, really." James said, taking a step closer to her. Before Lily could protest, James had lay down on the snow and started rolling, grabbing her arm in the process, sending her tumbling after him.
"Ahhhhhhhh!" She screamed in delight, bringing her arms up to cover her face from the frozen ground and its twelve inches of snow.
And then it was over. Lily opened her eyes and found her self on top of James, his arms around her waist. He'd apparently caught her before she reached the lake.
Smirking up at her, James said, "I'm guessing that you really love being in this position, seeing as it's the second time it's happened."
Lily blushed and started whacking James' chest. "Take that back!" She shrieked indignantly.
But James avoided her blows by flipping her onto the ground, with him on top instead. He was propped up on his elbows, his torso leaning slightly on hers. Lily chose to ignore the currently deafening beat of her heart and said, "Take it back."
"No," Was the reply.
"Yes," Lily said, glaring up at him.
James laughed. "You'rereally prettywhen you're flustered."
"Flustered? Who said I'm flustered?" Lily demanded.
"Well, for starters, your face is about as red as your hair." James smirked again.
"What?" Lily said, putting her gloved hands to her face. She hadn't even felt the blush come on.
James laughed again as Lily's hands left her face defiantly. "Wanna know how else I can tell?"
"How?" Lily asked automatically.
"Because I can feel your heart beating really fast," He said, his face suddenly serious. He grabbed her hand and held it to his own heart. Lily felt it beating rapidly under her palm.
Looking into his eyes, she said, "James, I-"
But what she was going to say was never heard, because at that moment, James lips had swooped down, covering her mouth with his own in a sweet kiss. Lily found herself paralyzed there with James Potter on top of her.
Buta few seconds,James realized what he was doing. His eyes flung open and he pulled back from her swiftly, sitting up. "I'm sorry," he said hoarsely. "Lily, I'm really, really sorry, I-"
Lily grabbed him by his scarf and pulled his mouth back to hers. Closing her eyes, she felt James relax into the kiss and soon his tongue traced her bottom lip, asking for entrance to her mouth. She readily granted hi request.
They lay there, kissing each other sweetly for a few minutes before they broke apart, each breathing heavily, looking into each others' eyes. Then James got to his feet and pulled Lily gently to hers. "It's still early," he said, somewhat hesitantly. "Wanna go to Hogsmead and get a Butterbeer?"
She laced her gloved fingers with his and smiled."I'd love to," she replied. James smiled back.
This feels so right...Lily thought as the two walked, hand in hand, across the school grounds.
Claire, Alice and Sarah stood behind Hagrid's hut watching as the couple made their way up to Hogsmead. They all had smiles on their faces, and Alice was sobbing at the romantic-ness of it all.
"Don't let him go, Lily," Claire whispered after her friend's retreating back. "Don't let him go."
Don't let him go
Just give him a chance to grow
Take it easy take it slow
And don't let him go
Don't let him go
Oh my God, it's OVER! -Sobs-
Disclaimer: I don't own HP or related topics, or the song DLHG. Ryan Galazka is my gothic cousin who actually did graduate last year and is now studing comic design. Aoi Kyogoku (Flippy) is my favorite character from one of my favorite mangas, Imadoki.
-Sighs- Ok, now for the real question...
I have four ideas for what I should do for my next story. They are:
1. (A darker Lily/James story.) Lily's a huge nerd - thick glasses, braids, the whole geek thing. But one day, James sees her in a complety awkward moment and realized that if she stopped pretending to be geeky, she'd be the most beatiful girl in school. The problem starts when the rest of the school startsrealizing that too.
2. (Another L/J fic.) Lily's a quiet maid, James is a rebelious prince. When James disguises himself as a peasent and sees Lily working in the palace kitchens, will he be able to keep himself away? Lily, of course, isn't making it easy. When she finds out he's the cocky, womanizing prince whose familyoppresses her and the rest of the palace servants, will she be able to accept him?
3. (A Harry/Hermione fic.) Ever heard of Love Hina? It'sthe hilarious manga about aklutzy andslightly perverted guywho becomes the landlord of a prestegious yet slightly crazy girls' dorm.And this boy is none other than Harry Potter, whois forced to endure thesometimes less-than-ladylike behaviors of the dorms occupants: Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Cho Chang, Katie Bell, and Luna Lovegood.
4. (A Moaning Myrtle/Tom Riddle fic. Don't roll your eyes. ) Myrtle's anawkward girl who's badgrades inTransfigurations force McGonagal to give her a tutor - none other than Tom Riddle. Intriged by herimaginative veiws and actual personality, Tom accepts. But what happens when the love of Myrtle's life finds out she's muggleborn?
Ok, so those are the choices.Tell me which one you'd like to see next!
And don't forget, this is the last chapter. SO IF THERE WAS EVER AN OPPRITUNITY FOR YOU TO REVIEW AND REDEEM YOURSELF IN MY EYES, NOW WOULD BE THAT TIME. Thank you.
Thanks so much for sticking by my fic! I love you all!
Hugs and fuzzles
MM360