Alright guys. This is the last chapter. I really hope you like it! I've been working hard. :)
Lily's eyes fluttered a few times. Something dark was hovering over her. As her view came in to sharper focus, she found that it was a dark-haired boy, and he was sitting on the edge of her bed, leaning quite closely over her.
She screamed.
He laughed. She recognized that laugh. She sat up and smacked him.
"Ouch. Gosh Lils, that hurt," Sirius pouted.
"Serves you right! And I thought you two looked sweet last night. You're terrible."
Sirius grinned.
"Yea, about that," he started.
"We'd sort of like to keep it quiet." Lily looked over to see Remus leaning on her doorframe.
'Well at least he has some decency.'
Lily rubbed her chin. Neither of them believed her. Fine. "I suppose I could comply."
"Ahh, thank you, my Lilyflower! I knew you'd come through." Sirius took her hand and kissed it.
Lily rolled her eyes and looked at Remus – he shrugged, an amused grin on his face.
"You disgust me. Now get up, I need to get dressed." Lily gave Sirius a rather large push and he nearly fell off the bed. Nearly.
"Fine. We'll just be in the common room then…" he muttered, mock dejectedly.
"Oh yes, I'm sure you will," she said, with a nasty smirk. The boys blushed. Lily tsk'ed and made her way to the bathroom. She made sure the door was locked before she started up the shower and undressed.
She was pulling her shirt over her head when she realized that she hadn't gotten James a Christmas present. She finished dressing quickly and bundled up, hurrying out of the castle. Halfway to Hogsmeade, she ran in to someone and both lost their balance and fell into the snow. Lily shook her head and looked at who she had bumped into.
"James!" she exclaimed in surprise.
"Lily?" she watched as he fumbled with his hands. She thought he was hiding something, but she saw nothing.
"What are you doing here?" she knew she wouldn't be able to get him anything now.
"I could ask the same …"
Lily shrugged. "I, er – needed to get a present for a friend. Forgot." She laughed nervously.
"Ah," he said. "Shall I help you?"
Lily blushed and fidgeted a little. "Actually … that friend is sort of sitting in front of me right now …"
James looked at her. And then laughed. She raised an eyebrow.
"I guess I could say that I've been here on the same business … but alas, I've had no luck!"
Lily grinned and took the hand that James offered. "How long have you been outside, then?"
"Oh, I don't know, a few hours." He shrugged.
"James!" she shrieked, slapping the arm she was holding. "You could get sick! We must go inside."
"Geez, okay, mother."
He instantly regretted his words. Lily looked up at him sadly. He didn't need to say it for her to know that he was sorry. She smiled weakly.
"Well, yea … you're right though … I wouldn't want you getting sick, either."
Arm in arm, they made their way back toward the grounds. James stopped by the tree at the lake and sat down. He beckoned to a place in the snow next to him. Lily obliged, though she would much rather have continued on to the castle.
"You know … this tree … it's really rather special to us Marauders …"
"Really?"
He glanced over at her. "Oh come on, don't look at me like that. It's true."
"Uh huh."
"In my first year –"
"Um … James?" Lily's teeth were chattering.
"Lily?"
"I'd really love to hear the story but … maybe like, in the summer … when it's not freezing outside …?"
James noticed her shivering and blushed. "Sorry. I've just gotten so used to the cold."
"Uh huh …"
"Right. Well then …" He promptly stood up, swept her up into his arms, and marched back to the castle. He got to the top of the steps and stood in front of the door, unsure of how he was going to get it open. He struggled with it for a few moments, and Lily sighed and interrupted.
"James, you know, you can put me down …"
"Oh. Right." His ears reddened and he gently placed her on her feet. He held the door open for her and they headed back to the dormitory. When they got back, Sirius and Remus were sitting on the couch with crossed arms and expectant expressions. Sirius quirked one of his eyebrows for his 'excuse-me-but-what-were-you-doing-together-without-letting-me-know?' look. Remus' grin could not possibly be any wider. Lily collapsed onto the couch and took off her winter gear, glad for the large fire that was already going.
Silence followed for a few moments while James and Lily huddled in front of the fire.
"Oh hell, if you're not going to tell us what you were doing together, alone, in the snow … then you could at least thank us for cleaning up the horrible mess," Sirius pouted.
"We weren't doing anything," James said, looking at Lily.
"If I remember right, you guys were the ones who made the mess in the first place. Who else was going to clean it up?" Lily added.
"That's beside the point. What were you two doing?"
"Shopping," they said in unison. They smiled.
"Did you find anything interesting?" Remus asked James.
"Just each other," Lily replied, unaware that the question hadn't been meant for her. James blushed. Sirius laughed. Remus smiled. Lily looked at them all like they were insane.
The day was well spent snacking, talking, playing games, laughing and joking.
Long after darkness had fallen and they were all beginning to lean back, they engaged in a game of exploding snap. Sirius started to make a model of Hogwarts, but it burst into flame as he reached the top towers and he shrieked madly as it threatened to engulf his perfectly groomed hair in flame. He glared at the remaining cinders from a distance as the rest of them laughed.
Remus made a perfect replica of the Trojan Horse, which he prodded with his wand so that it would roll around the table and neigh occasionally. It burned beautifully from the wheels up and gave a dying neigh before it became nothing more than a puff of smoke. Sirius glowered jealously. Again, laughter.
Lily made a brilliant heart with her cards, that throbbed steadily when she finished.
Sirius was starting to feel quite showed up.
James worked on his for a long time with is back to them. "You can't see it until it's finished," he said.
"What if it explodes before you finish?" Lily chimed.
"Yea, what if? I mean, that is the whole point of the cards…" Sirius bounced. He really was hoping that James would fail miserably and join him in exploding snap shame.
Meanwhile, Lily curled up her legs and held her feet, conversing with Remus and Sirius about what gawd-awful prank they had always wanted to attempt before they left Hogwarts. Sirius started explaining something very complex that involved green fairies and Cornish pixies and trick puddings and large explosions and so many other things that Lily started to nod dully just to pretend she was listening.
Eventually, James tapped her on the shoulder and she turned around in time to have her breath taken away. James had created the most incredible mosaic with the cards of him and Lily smiling at each other.
A snap pulled their eyes toward the mosaic, which began to explode one card at a time with a domino effect. Lily noticed, however, that some of the cards weren't burning.
James grinned. "Lily…?" he started. The ones that were left spelled out, 'will you go out with me?'
Lily turned to say something, a slightly troubled crease in her forehead, when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Sirius had leapt off the couch and was leaning across the coffee table, one hand planted on it for balance, the other stretched out as far as it would go. He was dangling something above their heads. James followed Lily's gaze slowly and a smile spread across his features to match Sirius' grin. Lily gaped.
Mistletoe.
James was pleasantly surprised. Lily was not-so-pleasantly shocked.
But what could she do?
"Go on, kiss, then," Sirius whispered. Lily rolled her eyes and turned to James.
And chose the worst time possible to blush.
James smiled sweetly and placed a hand on her face. She closed her eyes. She knew James was leaning. She could smell freshly cut grass, the willow tree, the breeze over the lake, butterbeer, and James' cologne. She could have melted in the scent forever. She felt his breath on her face. When their lips met, she opened her eyes.
In that moment, she discovered what love looks like.
They pulled apart, and Sirius and Remus clapped. They blushed furiously, remembering that they had an audience.
"Actually, Lily, I did have a little something for you …" James peered at her nervously.
"Okay."
"I had rather planned on waiting, but … well … I want you to have this." He pulled a small box out of his pocket. Lily's eyes began to water.
Neither Sirius nor Remus had seen this one coming.
"It belonged to my mother."
He handed her the box. She looked at it nervously, then back at James. He was rather afraid that she would refuse to open it. She did, with trembling fingers.
She stared at the ring for several moments without saying anything. James had to will himself not to get up and run away.
Finally, she looked up at James with tears in her eyes and, flinging her arms around his neck and burying her face in it, she began to cry.
James wrapped her in his arms and rubbed her back, giving Sirius and Remus a nervous grin.
Somehow, everything was going to be alright after all.
Orange Sky (The OC: Mix 1)
Alexi Murdoch
Well I had a dream
I stood beneath an orange sky
Yes I had a dream
I stood beneath an orange sky
With my brother standing by
With my brother standing by
I said "Brother, you know you know
It's a long road we've been walking on
Brother you know it is you know it is
Such a long road we've been walking on"
And I had a dream
I stood beneath an orange sky
With my sister standing by
With my sister standing by
I said "Sister, here is what I know now
Here is what I know now
Goes like this..
In your love, my salvation lies
In your love, my salvation lies
In your love, my salvation lies
In your love, in your love, in your love"
But sister you know I'm so weary
And you know sister
My hearts been broken
Sometimes, sometimes
My mind is too strong to carry on
Too strong to carry on
When I am alone
When I've thrown off the weight of this crazy stone
When I've lost all care for the things I own
That's when I miss you, that's when I miss you, that's when I miss you
You who are my home
You who are my home
And here is what I know now
Here is what I know now
Goes like this..
In your love, my salvation lies
In your love, my salvation lies
In your love, my salvation lies
In your love, my salvation lies
In your love, my salvation lies
In your love, my salvation lies
In your love, my salvation lies
In your love, in your love, in your love
Well I had a dream
I stood beneath an orange sky
Yes I had a dream
I stood beneath an orange sky
With my brother and my sister standing by
With my brother and my sister standing by
With my brother and my sister standing by
Well, I hope you guys liked it. I know it's not the story I usually think of when I think of how James and Lily came to be but … I wanted to write it. I hope it was good.