Hello Everyone! Yes I know, don't faint, but I have finally updated. Due to the recent masses of owls containing notes begging, threatening and badgering me about updating, I finally have had some time to finish the chapter and update. Try not to be too mad at me for the long delay, but I have been extra busy and have little desire or time to write. I know that sounds horrible and I have punished myself in ways that would even make Dobby say "ouch!" But hopefully you guys are not too mad at me and I hope that you enjoy the chapter. I wanted to let you know that the reviews are just too many for me to answer in my story and that one very clever and computer savvy reviewer mentioned that I should set up a discussion group on Yahoo! And that's just what I did. The only catch is that you have to sign up for a yahoo account, but the good news is that it is free to do so. My group name is under, what else, WEFFLES81- SEVENTH YEAR MEMORIES and I hope that all of you will sign up and beome apart of this great discussion group. This is the best way to communicate with me directly, now that I have more free time until the middle of January when I head out into the ghetto and teach the juvenile delinquents that will be my students for seven weeks.
On a side note, there will be no Marvin this chapter because I simple do not feel like writing it. Sorry, but I will post it next time, I promise.
Enjoy!
Chapter 28: New Year's Eve Party
The next couple of days went by rather quickly for Lily now that she wasn't the only teenager stuck inside her house. Faith was the best company she could have hoped for. Secretly, Lily had always wished that Faith was born her sister and when the two girls were together, they were inseparable. Even Lily's parents seemed to enjoy Faith's company inside the house. Her mother frequently sat with the girls and chatted over tea about various things. Lily's mother seemed rather interested in both of the girls love lives and Lily was amazed and perhaps a little horrified atsome of thethings she learned about her mother and father during these girl talks. Lily's father also got along really well with Faith. He was very interested in the Wizarding community and would engage both girls in what felt like continuous hours of discussion.
The only person who did not seem to be very happy with Faith's presence was Petunia. Petunia received a nasty shock the day after Faith arrived when she came over to visit with her mother only to find Lily and Faith occupying the house. Lily saw the old familiar nasty expression that Petunia usually saved only for her, spread across her face as she glared at Faith. Faith on the other hand felt that her birthday had come early and took it upon herself to make Petunia's visit very entertaining by following her around the house and teasing her with her wand. Petunia, with eyes wide as saucers, left the house in a hurry, muttering something about having to go to the store. When asked why she didn't hex her, Faith simply replied that sometimes it more fun to let the victim's imagination run wild with possibilities than it was to actually do something. Plus, she didn't want to disrespect Lily's parents since they were so kind to let her camp out for a few days.
The days leading up to the party were somewhat uneventful. Liz had come over to see Faith and exchange Christmas presents. The girls spent a nice day together laughing, gossiping and doing what all best friends do best; discussing and analyzing the latest events and dramas in their lives.
"Oh Lily! They are gorgeous!" exclaimed Liz as she admired Lily's earrings. "They must have cost a fortune!"
"Thanks, I think they are beautiful. I almost fell over when I unwrapped them," grinned Lily, letting her long hair fall back over her ears. "I couldn't believe that he spent that much on them. It nearly took my breath away."
"Well just think Lils, if you ever get in a pinch and need some fast money you could probably get at least 100 galleons if you pawned it," grinned Faith as she laid on a bean bag that sat on Lily's floor by her closet.
"Faith you are horrible!" grinned Lily, shaking her head. "If you could have seen the way he looked when he gave them to me…I could never pawn them."
"If there is one thing I have learned, it is never say never," grinned Faith, laying back lazily.
"Do you want to see what Remus gave me?" asked Liz excitedly.
"Yes!" said Lily sitting up a little on her bed and leaning towards Liz. Liz extended her right hand towards Lily.
"Oh Liz that I beautiful!" exclaimed Lily as she examined a tiny white gold ring on Liz's middle finger.
"Well, it's not an emerald or anything, but I think it is pretty," blushed Liz.
"Very nice Liz. Remus did good," said Faith getting up to look at the ring a little more closely. "Hmm, both of those boys seem to know how to pick out beautiful things. I sure hope that their style rubbed off on Sirius."
"You haven't gotten your Christmas present yet?" asked Liz looking concerned. Faith shook her head.
"Nope and he hasn't gotten his either. We decided not to send it by owl and wait until we saw each other at the party," said Faith simply as she leaned back into the bean bag chair.
"You haven't seen him at all and you have been here for two days?" asked Liz amazed. Faith shook her head again.
"I told him that I wanted spend some girl time with Lily and that I'd see him soon enough," shrugged Faith.
"Faith you are horrible do you know that," laughed Liz, looking at Faith in disbelief. "The poor boy hasn't seen you in almost three weeks and you shrug him off when he is an apparition away?"
"You know what they say 'absence makes the heart grow fonder'," shrugged Faith with a smirk.
Over the next few days, the weather had grown blustery and colder. By the time New Year's Eve rolled around, Lily and Faith were quite ready to get out of the house and rid themselves of the cabin fever that was developing. The excitement built as theclock ticked closer to the time of the party. At five o'clock the girlssprangup off of the couch in Lily's living room and ran up the stairs to get ready. In a matter of minutes, Lily's once clean room had looked like a piñata filled with clothes had been burst open and spewedits contentsall over the place. Neither one of them could find anything to wear that they liked. They mixed and matched each other's tops with skirts and pants, but nothing seemed to please them.
"Uggh! Why can't I find anything that I like?" shouted Faith in frustration as she flung a black shirt across the room.
"Well what was wrong with that one? It looked fine to me?" asked Lily as she examined a newly concocted fashion creation in the mirror.
"It clung to my side fat," said Faith, digging through a pile of clothes that she had ripped out of her trunk.
"You don't have side fat. You run and exercise more than anyone I know," laughed Lily, deciding that she liked the black pants, but not the blue shirt that she had on with it. "Anyways, Sirius will be so glad to see you that you could be wearing a potato sack for a dress and he'd love it."
"Aha! I found what I was looking for!" exclaimed Faith, as she pulled out a black tight fitting, off the shoulder sweater from her trunk. "This would look great with the black pants I have in here!" She dove head first back into the trunk and flung clothes out as she searched for the black pants.
"Where did you get that?" asked Lily curiously, as she took off the blue top and pants and reached for a brown skirt and a dark rose colored v-neck sweater.
"When I was shipped off to my aunt's house last summer for three weeks in New York City," said Faith as she pulled herself out of the trunk with the black pants in hand. The girls dressed themselves and finally were satisfied with their outfits.
"Look at my room," laughed Lily as she surveyed the damage. "It looks like a war zone in here." Faith laughed as Lily flicked her wand and all the clothes were sent streaming back to their original places of origin. Half an hour later, the girls were completely ready. They bounded down the stairs and into the living room where Lily's mum and dad were seated watching television. They both looked towards the doorway as the girls entered.
"Well how do we look?" asked Lily, spreading her arms out and slightly modeling her ensemble. Lily's mother smiled warmly as she surveyed the girls.
"You both look beautiful." Mrs. Evans looked them both over carefully. "Faith, dear, why are you wearing all black?" asked Mrs. Evans with a concerned expression.
"I like black, it is my signature color," smirked Faith slyly and turning to grab her coat.
"Oh, is that what attracted you to Sirius? His last name? You love the color black so much that you would marry him just to be called Mrs. Faith Black," teased Lily.
"Oh shut your face, Mrs. Lily Potter," teased Faith right back. "At least I am not a flower that needs to be 'potted'. You can't get more ironic than that." Lily gave Faith a playful shove and reached for her coat.
"Well, on that note, we are off," said Lily, buttoning her coat.
"Have fun girls and be careful," said Mr. Evans from his arm chair by the fireplace.
"What time are you coming back?" asked Mrs. Evans worriedly.
"Um, I don't know, five," smirked Faith. "You know, that is standard for a New Year's Eve party." Mrs. Evans frowned in disapproval.
"She's kidding, mum. We'll be home aroundthree at the latest," reassured Lily. Mrs. Evans nodded.
"Have a good time girls," she called as the girls walked to the front door.
"Thanks!" Lily and Faith yelled in unison. With a loud, echoing pop, the girls had vanished from the hallway of Mr. And Mrs. Evans cozy home. Instead, the girls found themselves upon the door step of a big, dark mansion.
"This is where James lives?" asked Faith in amazement. Lily nodded her head, in awe of the house herself.
"I guess so." She examined the lion shaped knocker in the center of the door right in front of them. "I guess we knock it."
"Go for it. It's your boyfriend's house," said Faith looking up at the glowing windows above them. Lily grabbed the knocker and with a deep breath pounded on the door three times.
James's house was filled with the sound of bustling downstairs. His mother had bewitched practically everything in the house and twice he almost fell over from a rogue broom. His mom had spent the past two days laboring away in their kitchen in an effort to prepare enough food for the guests of their annual New Year's Eve party. By the time five o'clock rolled around, their house was ready to receive guests. The house was still decorated in Christmas garb and that suited James just fine. He had always loved his house decorated for Christmas. Somehow he seemed to feel that it made it cozier and less spacious.
"So, getting ready to party down tonight?" asked Sirius as he entered James's room and made himself comfortable on his bed.
"Of course," laughed James, trying to get his hair to lay a little flatter. "Dad is all ready bragging about kicking our arses tonight. I say we give the old man a run for his gold."
"I'm planning on it," smirked Sirius, placing his hands behind his head. "There is no way we can lose. We have most of our team coming tonight with Faith and Liz. Remus isn't too shabby himself and as long as we keep the quaffle away from Peter in the goal we should be all right. I'd say that we bet your dad and his mates ten galleons."
"Well, we do have a good chance of winning and his mates are pretty old," thought James out loud. "Why not. I can afford ten galleons to lose."
"Excellent," smirked Sirius obviously satisfied. He looked around James's room with a bored expression. "So what time is everyone coming over?"
"Um, I think my mum said around six. At least that's when I told Lily, Remus and Peter to get here." James tried to flatten one stubborn piece of hair, but unfortunately his efforts were wasted and with a sigh, he turned away from the mirror. "So, are you excited to see Faith?"
"A little," said Sirius, trying to act nonchalant and failing. "I suppose it will be nice to see what she got me for Christmas."
James couldn't help but laugh as he took a seat across from Sirius. "Come off it mate, you know better than to pull that load of dung by me." Sirius turned his head to look at James and smirked. James secretly knew that Sirius had been itching to see Faith since she arrived back in England.
Six o'clock came faster than James had realized. Most of his parent's friends were arriving consistently and he had to admit that it was nice to see some of them again. A little after six Remus and Liz showed up and James was glad to see someone that he did not have to address as Mister or Misses. Peter arrived shortly after Remus and Liz and he excitedly brought his broomstick along with him in preparation for the midnight Quidditch game. James just had poured himself a glass of wine when the doorbell rang. Immediately he walked to the door and opened it.
"Happy New Year's Eve!" beamed Lily happily. It had only been a few days since they had seen each other, but all James wanted to do was take her in his arms and kiss her in front of everybody.
"Happy New Year's Eve to you too, love!" he stepped aside so that the girls could step inside and gave Lily a kiss as she stopped in front of him for a second.
"Hey, merry belated Christmas, Potter," smiled Faith, handing him a bottle. "There a little something to make sure that the New Year starts off on the right foot." She winked at James and looked down at the bottle. The label read "Fire Whiskey".
"Thanks Ravenwood, the same to you," he leaned in and gave Faith a friendly hello kiss on the cheek as she did the same.
"Oy! I can't leave you alone for a second with my girlfriend before you start hitting on her," laughed Sirius as he entered the foyer.
Faith immediately broke out into a broad grin and rushed over to him. Lily laughed as Sirius and Faith embraced and kissed. She looked at James and he hugged her, breathing in her familiar and sweet perfume. James took the girl's coats and hung them up.
"Would you like the tour?" asked James, holding his arm out to escort Lily. He took Lily into the family room where Liz, Remus and Peter were all sitting down chatting comfortably with a glass of wine. Liz got up immediately and hugged Lily and Faith.
"James, your house is amazing!" said Lily as he gave Lily, Liz and Faith the tour of his house. Remus, Sirius and Peter tagged along even though they had been over dozens of times over the past seven years.
"Thanks, it's been the family for ages," said James leading them up to the third floor where the bedrooms were. James showed them his room and winked at Lily, who blushed and hit him playfully on the arm. Sirius pulled Faith into this room as they passed and the group left them alone so that they could exchange their Christmas presents.
"Your house is so beautiful, James. I absolutely love it!" exclaimed Liz as they made their way back to the empty parlor.
"Thanks. I like to call it home," said James pouring two glasses of wine and handing it to Lily and Liz.
"Well it's gorgeous," remarked Lily taking the glass.
"Ah, James, there you are!" exclaimed Mr. Potter happily as he entered into the parlor. "I was wondering where you had gone off. Ah, your friends are here I see."
"Yeah, dad," said James clearing his throat. "Er, dad you remember Lily of course." James gestured to Lily.
"Of course Lily, dear, glad you could make it," said Mr. Potter taking her hand and smiling warmly at her.
"It is good to see you too, sir. Your home is lovely," said Lily, trying not to blush.
"Thank you, we like it." Mr. Potter let go of her hand and turned to Remus. "Hello Remus, how are you?"
"Excellent Mr. Potter," said Remus extending his hand. Mr. Potter smiled at him and his gaze shifted to Liz.
"And who is this lovely young lady?"
"This is my girlfriend Liz Corentine," said Remus proudly.
"Nice to meet you, sir. Thank you for having all of us here for New Year's Eve," said Lily cheerfully as she shook his hand.
"Well your quite welcome. Hmm, your last name is Corentine?" Liz smiled and nodded her head. Mr. Potter's hand shot to his chin, as it usually did when he was in thought. "Hmm…Any relation to Edward Corentine?"
"Why yes! He is my father!" said Liz happily.
"I thought so. You are the spitting image of him. Good man, Edward. Worked on the same floor at the Ministry for years," smiled Mr. Potter. "Please tell him hello when you see him."
"I will, sir," smiled Liz.
"Peter, ol' chap, good to see you!" greeted Mr. Potter, extending a hand to Peter.
"Halo Miztew Pottew," mumbled Peter through a fresh mouthful of cheese and crackers. Mr. Potter laughed and looked around the room.
"Where's Sirius?" he asked looking at James.
"Well we lost him and Ravenwood when I was giving the tour. I think they are exchanging presents," said James as the rest began to giggle or try to hide their broadening grins.
"Very good then," said Mr. Potter pouring himself a smoking drink.
"Ah Potter, I figured you be in here next to the cocktails," smiled a rather stocky gentlemen with salt and pepper hair.
"Well it's not a party without a few drinks. Care for one, Darren?" asked Mr. Potter grabbing a glass.
"Well I am never one to turn down a drink," laughed the man.
"Oh, kids, this is my good and oldest friend Darren McQueen," said Mr. Potter as he poured the smoking drink into the glass. "Darren, these are my son's friends from Hogwarts."
"Ah James, how is Quidditch going this year? I hear you are finally captain," said Mr. McQueen as he took the drink from Mr. Potter.
"That's right and it is going swimmingly. But then I guess you will find out first hand when we stuff you tonight," said James playfully.
"Oh is that a challenge I hear?" laughed Mr. McQueen. He turned to Mr. Potter who's eyes were twinkling at the upcoming possibility of a bet. "Potter, I think you son thinks that he can beat us? Hmm…what is your loss record? Three years in a row?" Both of the older men began to chuckle as they sipped their smoking drinks.
"Well this year we have practically our whole team here so it won't be so easy," said James half-teasing. Lily caught Liz's eye and both of them tried to suppress their grins.
"James, my son, you could bring the best players from each of the four teams with the fastest brooms and you still wouldn't beat us," poked Mr. Potter; his eyes twinkling in the all too familiar mischievous way that Lily had seen hundreds of times throughout the years from James.
"Oh we won't need the best players from all four teams, because we have the best players here in this room," grinned James proudly, looking at his friends who were half laughing and shaking their heads. Mr. Potter and Mr. McQueen turned to look at each other; both with matching smirks plastered across their faces.
"Hmm…sounds like a bet to me, Darren," said Mr. Potter.
"Most definitely," said Mr. McQueen. The men stood there for a moment in silence before turning their attention back to James.
"Okay son, here is the annual bet that you will lose," smirked Mr. Potter. "The loser has to clean up the mess and wear a woman's dress, complete with hat, gloves and high heeled shoes for the entirety of New Year's day. Do we have a bet?" James thought about it for a moment. He was sure that they would win tonight. After all, he had his whole team there. Plus, the image of his father walking around in his mother's clothes was just too good to pass up. James looked at Remus, Peter and Liz, who were all smiling mischievously. There was no way he could lose.
"All right dad, you have a bet," smirked James. "Prepare to be humiliated."
"Who is going to be humiliated?" asked Sirius as he walked into the room with Faith entering behind him. Lily tried to catch Faith's eye, but Faith wasn't looking at her.
"My dad and Darren when they lose tonight," said James pleasantly.
"Oh don't count your chickens, buster," said Mr. Potter teasingly. He turned his attention to Sirius. "Sirius, you remember my good friend, Darren."
"Of course! How are you?" asked Sirius, extending a hand.
"Good, Sirius, but I'll be better once we win," smirked Darren, taking Sirius's hand.
"Darren! Come here please! I want you to meet the Anderson's!" said a tall, slender woman with blonde hair that was pulled back into an elegant bun at the base of her neck.
"Sorry, duty calls," said Darren, turning from the group and walking towards the woman. Mr. Potter laughed and turned back to the group.
"And who is this lovely young lady," asked Mr. Potter looking at Faith.
"I'm Faith. Nice to meet you Mr. Potter," said Faith extending a hand.
"Ah, so you are the American that has bewitched Sirius," smirked Mr. Potter, shaking her hand. "It is nice to finally meet you." Faith smiled and returned her hand to her side.
"Well, all of you have a good time. I'll see you a little later," said Mr. Potter refilling his drink and exiting the room.
"So, what do you say we turn up the music and get this party started?" said James, addressing the group. All of them agreed and the four boys headed to the other side of the room to where the radio was.
"So, what did you get!" asked Lily excitedly, grabbing Faith by the arm and leading her away from the boys.
"Did you get a ring or something?" asked Liz curiously, looking at Faith's hands.
"Not exactly," said Faith a little downcast. "Unfortunately he doesn't have the same sense with gifts as James and Remus."
"So what did you get!" pressed Lily. Faith moved in a little closer and looked them both straight in the eyes.
"A package of Bernie Botts Every Flavored Beans and book on advanced hexes, curses and jinxes that are used by Aurors," said Faith, barely moving her lips.
"Are you kidding?" asked Lily a little shocked. Faith raised her eyebrows at her and Lily knew that she wasn't kidding.
"Oh, Faith! I'm sorry!" said Liz sympathetically. Faith shrugged and shook her head.
"Well, it could have been worse. He could have gotten me a dart board or attempted to buy me some cheap and foul-smelling perfume." Faith let out a sigh. "It's a good thing that he's attractive," smirked Faith as the music began to blare through out the room.
For the next few hours, the room was filled with a combination of eating, drinking, laughing, singing and dancing. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, and both Lily and James had never had so much fun with each other. Faith tried to teach Lily and Liz some new dance moves that she picked up over the break, however, either due to the wine or the silliness that seemed to be abundant in the air, her efforts were unsuccessful.
The living room seemed to be designated to only the group. Lily was surprised at how little she saw any adults at all. She had only ran into Mrs. Potter twice; once when she was trying to find the bathroom and again when she ran into the kitchen for a glass of water. Mr. Potter would pop in once and a while with a guest or two, but only to refill his drink and before Lily knew it he was gone. Not that she really minded of course. It was a nice break not to be under the constant watchful eye of an adult or two. In a way, she felt like she was back at Hogwarts in the common room party after a Quidditch match.
"Okay, you two have to know how to do this one!" shouted Faith above the music. She turned her back to Lily and Liz and began to undergo a series of complicated and rather silly looking dance steps.
"Faith, I think you make half of this stuff up!" yelled Liz after watching her for a moment.
"Maybe it's an American thing or something, Liz. I've never seen anyone dance like that," laughed Lily, taking another sip of her wine.
"What in the name of Merlin are you doing!" shouted Sirius, as the boys walked over from the liquor-filled table by the entrance way.
"Are you drunk? What does it freaking look like I'm doing? I'm dancing you idiot!" yelled Faith as she continued.
"That is not dancing. It looks like you are having a fit or something," laughed James.
"Well then I'd like to see you do better, if your such a superb dancer!" yelled Faith, stopping in mid-step.
"My pleasure!" said James very matter-of-factly. James started doing a weird little jig thing that reminded Lily of a fish out of water and struggling from suffocation.
"Prongs, you look like your trousers caught alight!" laughed Sirius.
"Either that or someone put a jelly legs hex on you," laughed Remus shaking his head.
"Potter, I thought that you said that you were going to do better than me!" smirked Faith as James continued his strange, limb swinging dance.
"Hmm…well that's because to make this truly great, I need a partner," smiled James as he looked right at Lily.
"Oh no! Don't you even think about it!" smiled Lily apprehensively and starting to back away slowly.
"Come over here my little love muffin!" said James, with a wide and malicious grin as he started to dance towards her. Lily screamed and turned to run away, but one of James's flaying hands caught her around the wrist and before she knew it she was locked into James's odd dance.
"Come on love!" urged James as he tried to move Lily's arms in the same pattern as his.
"You are a git, James!" laughed Lily and reluctantly tried to imitate James.
For the next hour the group laughed and tried to imitate the weird dancing styles that were products of their imagination, or more accurately from the intoxicated induced imagination.
"All right, I need to sit down," said Lily, feeling a little tired from all the dancing and laughing.
"Me too! And I think I've had enough wine," said Liz, plopping down on one of the couches.
"If we have any more than we aren't going to be able to fly tonight," laughed Remus, taking a seat right next to Liz.
"Yeah, I don't know if I trust you with a bat after having some wine in your system," smirked Sirius as he grabbed Faith by the waist. "You might try and ruin any New Year's presents you still have to give me."
"Black, the only New Year's present I have left to give you is my foot up your butt," laughed Faith, lightly elbowing Sirius in the side.
"Love, I like it when you talk dirty to me," whispered Sirius, as he snuck around her elbow and dipped her. "Say it again." Faith laughed as he kissed her on the lips and then tipped her back upright.
"Hey! It's almost midnight!" shouted Peter pointing to the clock.
"Oh you're right, Wormtail!" said James, grabbing Lily by the hand and leading her over to the table where two bottles of champagne were buried in ice. "Here, come and get your glasses for the toast!" James took out his wand and tapped both of the bottles. Immediately the corks burst from the bottles and a jet of bubbly liquid trailed behind them. Lily and James each took a bottle and began pouring the champagne into the seven crystal glasses.
"Hurry up, it's almost time!" said Liz excitedly hopping up and down on the balls of her feet as she took her glass.
"Okay, everyone got one?" asked James looking around. The group either nodded or said 'yes' and hastily they walked over to where the old antique grandfather clock was. The WWN had stopped playing music and a young witch and wizard were now commentating on the time. Within a few seconds, they began to count down from thirty.
"Okay guys, get ready!" shouted James, as he flung his arm around Lily's shoulders. The clock's second hand began to slowly move closer to meet it's brother in the upright position.
"Ten…nine…eight…seven…six…five…" the group all shouted excitedly. "Four…three…two…one….Happy New Year!" The radio burst into a classic rendition of "Auld Lang Syne". From the other rooms of the house, Lily could hear the adults singing to the song.
"Happy New Year, my love," whispered James in Lily's ear.
"Happy New Year to you too," whispered Lily right back, turning to give him a long kiss.
Remus and Liz had their arms around each other's shoulders and were kissing and slow dancing as the adults and the radio blared out the familiar words, 'Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and auld lang syne?' Peter stood off to the side and had a traditional joke wand that shot confetti and phrases like "Happy New Year" out of it randomly. Sirius and Faith were locked in a passionate kiss by the wall near the clock. Lily and James parted and stood there with their arms around each other's waist, swaying slightly as they gazed into each other's eyes. As James smiled at her, she swore that she saw a glimpse of something in his eyes that was not there before. But what it was she did not know. He leaned in again and kissed her. Lily and James both enjoyed the kiss so much that they hadn't realized that the song had ended.
"Okay, break it up! I don't want this to become a room of teenage hormones!" said a half teasing, half serious voice from the entrance of the room. Immediately all the blushingly broke away and looked at the source of the voice. Mr. Potter and two of his friends, including Mr. McQueen, walked into the room with enormous grins plastered on their faces.
"Another few seconds and we could have walked in on something truly horrible," laughed Mr. McQueen, swirling and downing what was left of his cocktail.
"Oh dad, we weren't doing anything," smirked James, trying to conceal his reddening face. Lily laughed slightly as she gaze up at James. In all of her years of knowing him, she had never seen him blush before. But then again, maybe she just had never noticed.
"Well that is about to change, son. Are you lot ready to get your arses kicked in Quidditch now?" Mr. Potter set his empty glass of ice on the table and stood up straightly as he addressed his son.
"Oh those are strong words for an old man," teased James, straightening up himself.
"An old man am I?" teased Mr. Potter right back. Lily could see the familiar twinkle in his eye that James inherited. "Well let's get out there and see how old I really am?"
"All right, let's go!" shouted James in a mock-angry voice. The older men turned from the room talking in loud, excited voices.
Ten minutes later, the whole group and most of the adult guests were outside standing in the snow covered yard in their hats, coats and mittens. The Potters had a small, makeshift Quidditch pitch in their side yard and Lily speculated that this had been where James had spent many long hours of summer vacations and winter holidays. James walked over to the shed on the edge of the pitch and took out several broomsticks. Lily peaked inside and saw that it was loaded with old quaffles, a box of bludgers and a few old broomsticks that looked to be antiques. James handed a broomstick to Lily and she smiled apprehensively as she took it from him. She had not been on a broom in a long time, let alone try to play Quidditch in an even longer time. She had never been any good at it and suddenly she was feeling sick to her stomach.
"It will be all right. They don't play for blood," said James smiling warmly at her. Lily nodded nervously as she felt the wine coming up in her throat.
"Prongs don't lie to her!" teased Sirius putting on his elbow pads.
"Well they will take it easy on the girls. They aren't monsters you know," said James giving Sirius a dirty look.
"Yeah, just leave the hard stuff to us," said Sirius in a mock-concern tone, as he poked Faith in the side with his bat.
"Well, we can be the secret weapon then if they aren't expecting us to be good Quidditch players," said Liz excitedly. "Just give the Lily, Remus and I enough time to score a few goals so that we are in the lead and then catch the snitch." Liz looked around for approval.
"Yeah because it will go that smoothly," said Peter sarcastically. The girls gave him an startling look. Lily had never heard Peter utter anything remotely sarcastic in all of her years knowing him. "We always get our arses kicked. And I always have to be the keeper. Why do you guys insist on me being the keeper when they always score on me?" Peter looked around nervously.
"Because that is where you wanted to play when we first started this thing," remarked Sirius annoyed. "Stop your complaining and just do it okay?" Sirius threw Peter an evil eye and Peter shrunk back a little.
"Okay, that's enough guys. Peter, you an excellent keeper and this year will be different," said Remus encouragingly. Peter gave a weak smile and tightened his hat around his head.
"Okay wizards and witches, this is going to be an easy game. All we have to do is stay on our brooms and remember the drills and we are going to be serving some shame-pie!" laughed James excitedly.
"Hey are you lot ready or are we going have to wait until next year?" called out Mr. Potter from ten yards away. The adult men started to mount their brooms.
"We're ready!" yelled James. The group walked over to the center of the yard and mounted their brooms. Lily could definitely feel everything she had consumed in the past few hours begin to make its' way up to her throat.
'Please don't let me throw up!' she begged the stars. She would feel so embarrassed if she did.
"It will be okay, Lils! Just leave it up to Remus and I," said Liz encouragingly from beside her. Lily nodded and gave a weak smile. As she lifted off the ground the cold December night air swirled around her face.
'This feels good,' thought Lily to herself. She took in a long deep breath, trying to steady her mounting nerves. Mrs. Potter walked to the middle of the hovering circle with the quaffle. Her eyes twinkled and reflected the starlight as she looked up at the group.
"All right now? I don't want to take anyone to the hospital tonight, so let's keep in mind that this is just a game and not for blood! Do you hear me Potter and Potter Jr?" said Mrs. Potter eyeing her son and husband.
"Come now we know it is just a game," said Mr. Potter anxiously.
"Come on mum! Throw the quaffle!" said James annoyed.
"Okay. One…two…three!" She threw the quaffle up into the air.
To Lily's relief the game didn't last very long. After having next to no experience playing Quidditch, she thought that the flying and the little bit of quaffle handling she did was not half bad. Even though the group lost by sixty points, Lily couldn't help feeling relieved when James caught the snitch and she could finally come back down to the ground. Unfortunately, not everyone felt as relieved as she did. Everyone else seemed to want a rematch, but Mr. Potter and his friends knew that they wouldn't be able to survive another match.
The clock in the living room struck three in the morning and Lily knew that it was time for her and Faith to go back home. Liz, Remus and Peter also decided that three in the morning was on the verge of being out too late and said their goodbyes to everyone.
"Did you have fun tonight?" asked James, as he threw his arms around Lily's waist.
"Yes I had an excellent time!" said Lily throwing her arms around James' neck. "I'm sorry that I have to leave and cut the night short." She smiled at James as his face broadened into a grin.
"So I guess that I will see you at the Platform then, since we only have two days before we have to head back," said James, flexing his arm muscles and pulling Lily closer to him.
"It will be so odd to go back. Especially since I have seen how you really are outside of Hogwarts," smiled Lily.
"Oh and how am I?" inquired James, playfully looking at her skeptically.
"Well, in a word…normal," teased Lily as James laughed.
He pulled her closer to him and kissed her. Lily wanted desperately not to have to leave, but instead to stay in this moment forever. She looked at the clock as she pulled away and realized that she could not dawdle any longer. She pulled away from James and James obliged by letting her go, even though he didn't want her leave. Lily walked over to Faith and Sirius, who were just finishing saying their goodbyes.
"Are you ready?" asked Lily tiredly.
"Yeah," said Faith pulling away from Sirius.
"We will see you girls at the platform," said James, smiling at Lily. They nodded.
"Thanks for the great evening Potter," said Faith, smiling at James. "Tell your dad that he better work on his flying if I really wants to beat us next year."
"Oh you can count on it," laughed James as he returned his gaze to Lily. She smiled at him for a few seconds.
"Goodbye, I'll see you soon," said Lily to James. James nodded. Suddenly he felt sad. He knew that he would be seeing her in only two days, but for some reason, he really did not want her to leave. He mentally shook himself out if it and mustered by a smile. With a slight pop, both of the girls were gone and James and Sirius were the only ones left standing inside the living room.
Stay tuned for a Banana Theater special Christmas movie: Santa Chimp and the Five Bananas that Saved Christmas.