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 19: Senseless Thoughts

"Well, I think that's the last of it!" Remus exclaimed as he stood back from a large sofa. Lily had told her friends first thing when she got home that night after James showed her their new house and they had been thrilled. The next day they had offered, well took it upon themselves to help James and Lily move in that very night. So here they were.

"Yes, " Lily said appreciatively, coming to stand beside her friend, "Thanks for the help everyone."

"No problem." Cadence said as she levitated the last few dishes into the cupboards.

"Yeah, it wasn't too bad. I'm exhausted though." Sirius sighed as he collapsed into an armchair. Lily couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"You know muggles have to move all their stuff by hand." she informed the slouching man.

"By hand? You mean they have to lift this all?" Callidora exclaimed wide-eyed.

"Yes they do." Remus told her. He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

"Wow."

"What's going on?" James asked as he joined them from the kitchen. He walked up to Lily and wrapped his arm around her waist. She beamed at him as Alice took the liberaty of answering for the tired group,

"Sirius was just complaining about the hard work, and so we told him about muggle moving."

"Oh, "James laughed, "Typical." Sirius chucked a pillow at him which James blocked with a simple shield charm.

"Well we'd best be off." Frank yawned, intervening.

"Yeah, "Cadence agreed, "It's going to be lonely without you Lily."

"Aw, i'm sure you'll manage." Lily said feeling flattered. She abandoned James to hug her friend. "Besides, i'm sure you'll be here all the time. We were always at Alice's when she got her own place."

"True." Alice remarked as Cadence laughed.

"Alright bye Lily." Calli' said. "Enjoy!"

"I will. Love you girls." Remus and Frank shook hands with James and Sirius embraced him briefly.

"See you mate."

"Bye Sirius." James replied. Finally only Peter was left.

"Well, er, congragulations." he squeaked. Lily smiled at him warmly. The boy had looked ever so peaky since the illness of his mother.

"Thanks Wormtail. Be safe okay?" James said. Peter nodded and strode out the door. James aimed his wand at it carefully and it locked.

"Well?" he asked turning to Lily.

"It's lovely." she breathed. The house was now full of their possesions and an assortment of new furniture. "I can't believe we've got our own place now." Lily added after a moment of thoughtful silence.

"I know. It seems only yesterday I was playing pranks on everyone that I meant and you were hollaring at me. Mind you I quite enjoyed it." James told her mischieviously. Lily playfully smacked him on the arm as they walked into the kitchen together.

"Oh i'm sure. I mean you could really tell how much you loved my lectures by the way you moped for days afterwards after I rejected you." Lily told him. A look of surprising thoughtfulness shadowed James' face for a moment. He waited until they were both seated at their kitchen table before he spoke again.

"Why did you reject me all those times anyways?" he asked. Sure she had given him her countless reasons back then, but now that he was on speaking(not yelling) terms with her, he felt curious. Lily felt taken aback by the question. She recovered quickly,

"Because you were a stupid, arrogant prat." she informed him, "Then I mean." James looked hurt.

"Was I?"

"Oh i'm sorry James." Lily said suddenly feeling guilty. He looked like a wounded puppy. "I didn't mean it that way, although you were, well, rather immature..." James regained his composure with a startling grin.

"I know." he chimed. Lily laughed. "Well anyways, i'm tired. We should probably turn in for the night eh?" Lily felt a wave of nervousness completely stun her. She just realized, she would be sleeping with James for the first time. In the same bed. These thoughts swirled around her mind. She felt completely and utterly dazed.

"Lily?" James asked with concern. He leaned forward and touched her arm. Lily jumped.

"What!" she yelped. James frowned slightly,

"Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, er, fine." she lied. She didn't want James to think she didn't love him because she did with all her heart. She just felt apprehensive. She was still a virgin. What if James wanted to take their relationship farther now that they were living together?She wasn't ready for that yet, she was only eighteen.

"Well if your sure." James replied, not looking thoroughly convinced. He turned to leave the room, "You coming?" Lily glanced up at him then replied in a small voice.

"Yeah. Just a second, i'll just put these boxes away." James continued to gaze worriedly at her as she extracted her wand and gave it a swish. The last few piles of boxes disappeared without a sound. Then taking a deep breath she smiled bravely at her fiance and followed him upstairs.

00000

Lily stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She had taken as long as possible to get changed into her nightdress and was now finishing brushing her teeth and washing her face. James was already in bed, having not delayed the whole pre-bed ritual.

Lily's complexion was pale and her vibrant green eyes wide and bright, showing no hint of tiredness. Lily you're being stupid. James won't expect anything to happen. I mean you're not even married. Yet. Besides he loves you, he knows you're not comfterable with a more intimate relationship yet. This is just stupid anyways. Why should you be so worried? You love him, you've been going out with him for a year, and you're going to marry him. Merlin's sake, just get to bed already. It's nothing that big. Lily kept telling herself this stuff repeatedly. It made her feel slightly more relaxed.

Nervously, she tiptoed out of the washroom, flicking the light off behind her. She approached the bed cautiously and layed her wand on the end table on her side of the bed. James had taken the left which was good considering Lily always slept on the right side.

"Hey love." James greeted her affectionately.

"Hey James." Lily replied softly, sliding into bed and staring up at the ceiling. James turned out the lights with his wand.

"Night." he breathed and wrapped his arm around her. Lily tensed briefly but nothing else happened. She glanced over briefly and saw that he had already fallen asleep. An enormous sense of relief fell over her and she relaxed . Stupid, she thought snuggling close to his warm body.

Author's Note: Yes this chapter is really short. But I had to get this in, it's huge, although it may not seem like that. Imagine the story if I hadn't told you all how Lily settled in.

Anyways this chapter was extremely hard to write. Their relationship is deepening and we have to keep that in mind. I'm only fourteen and so I have to start writing a little bit more delicately. The rating is probably only going to go up a very slight bit. Although Harry has to come along some where i'm not going to go into details or anything. Wow, this chapter was extremely awkward. I hope it doesn't seem like that to you all, I really worked hard with this chapter.I was actually very nervous posting this chapter because it starts touching on bigger stuff and i'm not sure if I did a good job with it.

Anyways hope you enjoyed, please review!