Before it Began
By. SkyQuill
Summary
James knew he was in love at first sight, but what would it take for Lily to love him back? Read their story leading up to their deaths and discover the dangers they faced and the loves and friendships they shared.
Disclaimer
I do not own most of the characters and places or anything else that may seem familiar. J.K. Rowling has the exclusive claim to this as well as the general plot that formed this fanfic.
Chapter 7: Unexpected Surprises
"Can you please repeat that?" Alice asked incredulously. Lily and her friends had all gathered in her dormitory and they were all listening with rapt attention to Lily as she retold her account of the night's events.
"James and I made peace." Lily replied as she unwrapped a chocolate frog.
"No the part after that." Alice said. Lily felt a blush creeping across her cheeks.
"Well, I er, looked up and...well...mistletoe." she mumbled indistinctly, suddenly overcome with uncharacteristic embarrassment. Suddenly Cadence punched a fist into the air,
"Hah, I knew it!"
"Wow." Serena cut in, "I"m still in shock. You and James not only made up, but you kissed."
"It wasn't really personal." Lily said defensively. Serena raised an eyebrow,
"Well okay I guess it was."
"Did you get him a gift Lily?" Alice asked serenely, watching the conversation amusedly.
"Oh no... Well it's not like I was expecting this to happen." Lily said feeling distinctly uncomfterable, knowing full well that James would have bought her a gift. To Lily's amazement, Alice smiled,
"Well I got Frank a large pack of Drooble's Best Chewing Gum and a box of Bertie Botts, then I found out he's not fond of candy so..." Lily flung her arms around Alice,
"Thanks Alice!" Lily exclaimed brightly. Lily caught Serena and Calli' exchange a smug smirk from the corner of her eye.
"Lily, for someone who absolutely hated James for so many years you sure are whipped over him now." Serena told Lily upon catching her glare.
"I am not whipped!" Lily protested as she began to wrap the sweets Alice had just retreived from her trunk.
"No, you're just falling madly and hopelessly in love!" Cadence replied in a tauntingly dreamy voice.
"Give it a break guys." Calli' said though she still had a wide grin painted on her face. Lily shot her a thankful look.
"Well girls, i'm getting to bed, busy day tomorrow." Alice said through a yawn. Lily nodded as she checked her watch,
"Night all." Calli' nodded and got up to leave, followed by Serena.
"So Lily, overall, did you have a good Christmas Eve?" Alice asked once they were both tucked into their blankets. Lily grinned into her covers,
"You know what? I think I did."
000
"So you kissed Evans? You actually kissed her Prongs?" Sirius asked for the millionth time that evening. The marauders were spending their Christmas Eve up in their shared dormitory, enjoying sweets and listening to James' tale avidly. James rolled his eyes,
"No, i've just been saying it for the last hour because i'm delusional." he remarked sarcastically.
"So how was it?" Peter asked curiously. Sirius shot him a scandalised look,
"What kind of question is that Wormtail?" Peter immediatly drew back but James smiled at him
"Perfect."
"So now what Prongs?" Remus broke in. James looked completely befuddled,
"What do you mean Moony?"
"Well all these years your main goal has been to catch Lily. And now that you've got her..." he replied curiously. James appeared to think hard about this for a moment,
"I suppose to keep her." Sirius nodded wisely and Peter snorted. James shot him a dirty look.
"Not that this isn't interesting or anything but I think i'm ready for bed." Sirius said after a long pause of silence.
"A minute ago you were all excited about the news." Remus said scathingly, ignoring his friends sarcasm. Sirius shrugged,
"I guess it gets old quick. I mean, James has been after her so long he would eventually have to make some progress." Remus rolled his eyes,
"Well I agree with you on the bed part. I'm exhausted." James nodded in agreement and still revelling in the evening's excitement, the marauders went to bed.
00000
Christmas morning dawned exactly as it should. Bright and merry. By the time Lily had awoken, Cadence was already half through her pile of presents.
"Thanks for the hand mirror, it's beautiful, where'd you get it?" Cadence asked when Lily had sat up in bed.
"A muggle jewellery store, I thought you might like it." Lily responded rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Hey Alice get up." Lily reached over and shook her still sleeping friend. Alice pushed her hair sleepily off her face and stretched,
"Happy Christmas."
"Happy Christmas." Cadence and Lily chorused together. Happily, Lily eyed the stack of presents at the edge of her bed. In good spirits, she seized the nearest parcel and tore it open.
"Thanks Alice." she said laying down a thick book beside her. She continued to open presents at a reasonable speed until there was only one remaining. James' gift to her was neatly wrapped in glittering red paper with a gold bow fastened around it. Smiling, she vaguely recalled last night. Gently, Lily unwrapped the paper and found a small box coated with black velvet. She opened it gingerly and gave a small gasp as it revealed a glittering silver bracelet.
"Nice bracelet Lily, whose that from?" Alice asked as she glanced up from her own pile of half-opened gifts.
"James." she nearly whispered, slipping the delicate chain onto a wrist, a small crystal heart dangling from it.
"How sweet." Cadence said somewhat flatly. She had finished unwrapping her own presents and was now cleaning up the mess around her beside, "All Sirius got me was a lousy package of chocolate frogs." Lily gave her a sympathetic look. Alice however was staring at something in her palm which Lily couldn't see from her angle.
"Alice you okay?" Lily asked tentatively. Alice turned her face to Lily, her eyes full of tears and nodded smally.
"What's wrong?" Cadence catching sight of her friend.
"Nothing's wrong!" Alice finally managed.
"Then what is it?" Lily and Cadence asked in frustrated unison.
"Frank's proposed!"
00000
"Good lot this year." Sirius exclaimed tossing the last box aside. Curiously he peered over at his friends piles. James was lovingly gazing at a box of sweets on his bedside and Peter was busy gorging on a large stack of mince pies. Remus however was reading a long letter.
"What'd you send Evans, Prongs?" Peter squeaked.
"Ahh just a bracelet. What about you Padfoot? What'd you send your girl?" James replied grinning. Sirius swore,
"I knew I was forgetting something!"
"Sirius how thick do you have to be to forget to send your girlfriend something?" Remus asked exasperatedly.
"I've been busy!" Sirius responded ruefully. Peter rolled his eyes,
"With what?"
"Helping Moony! Have you forgotten last week's full moon? He almost got out!" Sirius exclaimed, a note of embarressed frustration clouding his shout. Remus looked at the floor guiltily.
"Don't worry Moony, we know you can't help it. But Sirius, good luck explaining that to Cadence." James replied wearily. Sirius covered his face with his hands in stress. Meanwhile Cadence was fuming. After giving Lily the chocolate frogs (proclaiming she wanted nothing to do with her lousy boyfriend) she continued to rant and rave. Luckily, everyone else was too full of good cheer to be brought down by her rage. It was Christmas afterall.
A/N: Thanks everyone for the reviews. Yet another short chapter, but they will get longer as the plot thickens. anyhow, hope you enjoyed and please review if you can spare a moment.