This super-short chappie is dedicated to Hotkat - who was awesome enough to PERSONALLY EMAIL ME! I was planning on updating sooner, actually, but I had to go to Conneticut for a Christian church thing (where, ironically, I got drunk for the first time in my life). That's where the hangover scene comes from. Anyway, I know that this is really short, but it's the best I could do, considering how things are at home at the moment. Hope it's all right! And I SHOULD update more often now...
After that, the days passed quickly. Lily was glad to finally have the chance to live a 'normal' life; attending classes, spending time with James, Sirius, Remus, and Rhia, and taking long walks around the grounds. The teens didn't speak much of Christmas night; the subject was almost taboo.
As the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months, Lily's sleep eased, and the haunted look in both her and James' own chocolate eyes began to fade, although it would never disappear completely. New Year's Eve was celebrated in Gryffindor Tower with an all-night party that included plenty of sweets and even more smuggled firewhisky. Lily, despite her own misgivings, tried a pint, and then another, until she found herself pleasantly smashed along with the rest of her house. Although she had been wary of the liquor before, she discovered that she could hold her ale as well as, if not better than, most of the boys in Gryffindor.
Of course, none of the merriment of the night mattered when she awoke to find the common room spinning and her body intertwined with James' on a couch. Luckily, they were both fully clothed, and her memory of the night was mostly complete, so she knew they hadn't done anything. She had gotten up slowly and made her way to the empty girls' dorm, stepping over unconscious bodies that littered the floor. Staggering up the stairwell, she had needed to trail one hand on the wall to keep her balance. Up in the room, she had paged through a worn textbook, and refrained from grinning, which only worsened her headache, when she found what she had been looking for. Figuring that Rhia wouldn't mind, she had ransacked her friend's potion ingredients, and quickly brewed 4 gallons of liquid. She finished just as the moans, groans, and thumps coming from below began to get audible. Walking delicately down the stairs, she began distributing the vile-looking potion to everyone that awoke, taking a break to quaff some for herself. It had worked immediately; her head cleared and the room re-anchored itself the earth. Ever since then, she had kept a vial of the hangover ready for the next party.
Now, it was early February, and the grounds were showing no sign of thawing. As she walked around the grounds in the early morning, holding hands with James, Lily was overcome with a feeling of peace so strong it was overpowering. Pulling James closer, she wrapped her arms around him and drew him in towards her. He moved the last inches, and kissed her tenderly as the sun came up over the rim of Scotland. A few moments later, she broke the kiss, although she hazily wondered if inhaling oxygen was really worth putting a centimeter between her and James. They sat together, in a low branch of the Whomping Willow (which was being quite considerate for once), their arms around each other. Lily snuggled into his shoulder, and he bent his head to kiss the top of her head.
"You know, I never actually asked you to be my girlfriend," he said pensively, inhaling the scent of her shampoo.
"I accept," Lily replied drowsily. James chuckled lowly, burying his face in her hair.
"Knew you would," he said, tilting her chin up towards himself. She looked him in the eye before reaching upwards to capture his mouth. Pulling on his bottom lip, she caressed his mouth with a braveness she had never showed before. James pulled away, returning almost instantly to kiss her forehead, each eyelid, her nose, the corners of her mouth, and then moving to sprinkle kisses along her jaw line, into the hollow of her throat, and outlining her collarbone. Now it was Lily's turn to draw away from him, but it was only to slip her small hands underneath his shirt, feeling the muscles stretched tight against his back. She kissed him back unrestrainedly, letting her hands explore his skin. James gave a muffled groan into her mouth, and she stopped.
"What's wrong?" she asked flirtatiously. "And here was me thinking I was doing a good job…" she whispered into his ear. Her breath stirred his hair, and he lunged for her mouth again. Five minutes later, he pulled away again, his hands itching to do something he would almost surely regret later.
"We need to stop. Now," he said hoarsely. Shower shower shower shower I really need a cold shower…
"I agree," Lily said shakily, trying to smooth her tousled hair. After a few minutes, James put his arm around her waist and drew her close, and they watched the sun rise until it was high in the sky.
So, yeah...lotta fluff in that chap, it just kinda came out that way...plus. I've been beating Lily up so much I figured I'd give her some happiness.
PS- http/s13. -- go there. register. have fun. It's an awesome RPG...funfunfun. And yes, that was a plug. As is this. GO READ MY OTHER STORY! One reviewer...not much love happening over there. Anyway, review review review!