Chapter 15:

Lily lay on her bed upstairs and stared at the ceiling. A few minutes went by and she rolled over onto her side to stare at the clock instead. The time read 6.32 - James should be here any minute now.
As if reading her thoughts, the doorbell rang.
DING DONG!
Lily sat up in bed and sighed deeply. "Here we go."

Lily waited up in her room while Remus talked to James alone. She hadn't seen him since she had told him about Jason, and Lily couldn't help but assure herself that this was the end of her relationship with James - not mention his friendship with Remus.
She listened carefully for any sign that James was shouting at Remus, or the breaking of a lamp or the slamming of a door, but none of that came. Instead, Lily had to endure almost half an hour of silence, wondering what was going on downstairs.
Suddenly, Lily heard footsteps on the stairs. She sat up in bed as a knock fell on her door. She swallowed before answering, "Come in!"
As the door opened, Lily saw James standing across from her. His hair was more disheveled than usual - he must have been pulling on it while he talked to Remus.
Lily couldn't stop her lower lip from quivering as she looked at James and he sighed deeply as he stood in the doorway.
"Hi," she whispered feebly.
James gave her a weak smile and stepped further into the room, shutting the door behind him. He walked over to the bed and Lily moved back on the mattress to create space for him. James rubbed his face tiredly before plopping down next to her.
James was silent for a few minutes, staring at the bedspread, at the wall, at Lily. She didn't know what to do or say, so she just kept quiet and waited for James to say something.
Finally, he spoke. "Look, Lily," he sighed, turning to face her once again. Tears threatened to fall as Lily feared the worst.
She bit her lip nervously and watched James as he formulated what he wanted to say.
"Remus told me everything, not just about you two, but also what happened with the creep at Hogwarts," He told her. Lily nodded and wondered where James was going with this. "Look, I realize now that I maybe overreacted when you told me about Jason, and the way I acted after you told me clearly didn't help our relationship at all," he almost smiled as he said it.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is, I won't forget what you did with Jason, and I certainly won't forget what you did with Remus, but I can forgive you for that. I understand now that you had to make some stupid mistakes to get us here, but I think that - in the end - this will make us stronger," he took Lily's hands as he talked to her; Lily's face was glistening with tears.
"I want to be with you, Lily, and if you promise that this is the end of the stupid mistakes, then we can go back to the way we were before all this happened, ok?" he asked her.

Lily sniffled loudly. She nodded her head and managed a small, "Yes."
"Well good, because I don't think I could have lost you, Lily!" James told her. Lily smiled as the tears ran down her cheeks. "I love you," he told her.
"I love you, too!" she replied. James wiped away the tears on her cheeks with his thumbs and caressed her skin. Then he pulled her to him and they kissed.
"I missed you so much," Lily whispered against his ear as he hugged her close. He rubbed her hair and smiled.
"I missed you, too."

--

"James! We're going to be late!" Lily called from the bathroom. She was putting in her new pair of earrings and fixing her makeup for the final time. "James!" she called again.
Lily looked in the mirror and smiled. She smoothed down her dress across of slim figure and walked out into the bedroom. Picking up her purse, Lily slipped her heels on and sprayed a spritz of perfume.
"JAMES!" she yelled out into the hallway. A second later, James appeared in the doorway of their bedroom, half a sandwich in his hand, the other half in his mouth.
"Wa? I'hm rhedfy," he said, accidentally spraying bits of turkey onto the carpet.
Lily saw him and sighed. "Why are you eating that now?" she asked.
James swallowed and nodded to the sandwich. "This?"
Lily put her hands on her hips and tapped her toe as if to say, "Yes, that! What else?"
James got the hint. "I was hungry," he explained, taking another large bite.
Lily shook her head. "James, we're going out to eat," she reminded him, stepping carefully across the carpet in her heels towards him. James swallowed his bite and plopped the remainder of the treat in its place. "I'hm ahware!" he replied, trying to sound sophisticated but instead sounding even more stupid than usual.
"Let's go..." Lily sighed, walking past him out into the hallway.

"Do you have your wallet?" Lily asked as they reached the door.
James licked the crumbs off his face before replying. He felt in his back pocket. "Check!" he announced, very pleased with himself.
"Well done," Lily told him in a condescending tone.
"Well done, meh meh meh mehhhh," James responded in a similarly mocking tone.
Lily hit him lightly. "You are so immature!"
"You are so immature!" James repeated.
Lily disregarded this and turned to face him. "You got crap on your face," she told him, rubbing the mustard off with her finger, "And your clothes are wrinkled!" She sighed heavily.
James dropped his mocking voice. "What - I'm not allowed to sit down tonight!" he asked.
"No," Lily simply shot back. "Now get your coat."
James used one hand to grab his coat and grinned as he used the other to grab Lily's tush. She gave a little squeal and turned to face him, her hand on the doorknob. "James!" she yelled, but she was smiling. Then under her breath she added, "I can't take you anywhere..."

When Lily opened the door, she saw Sirius standing across from her, his finger poised to press the doorbell. He stared back at Lily for a second, and then noticing the way they were dressed, he lowered his finger. A blush crept into his cheeks.
"Hey, er, guys..." he said awkwardly.
"Hello, Sirius," Lily replied coolly. "Can we help you with something?" she asked.
Sirius looked up at James. "Dude, what are you doing here?" the latter asked the former, his eyebrows raised.
"You uh..." Sirius leaned into whisper something to James. "You said we were going out tonight." He pulled back and James laughed softly.
"I meant Lily and I "We", not you and me "We"...idiot!" he added, and Lily worked to suppress a laugh.
"Oh," Sirius' face fell visibly.
"Wow..." was all Lily could get out through her giggle fit.
"Ok man, we'll call Carmen and see if she can be ready to go, and we'll swing by and pick her up - since you got all dolled up and everything," James told Sirius, motioning to his crisp button-down and tie. "We'll make this a double-date, ok?"
Sirius nodded, embarrassed. "Ok."
"I'll call," Lily told them, walking back into the house.
James looked over at Sirius. "Well come in, mate!" he told him, shaking his head and chuckling.
Sirius stepped through the doorway. "Shut up!" he said, hitting James on the arm, who was still shaking with laughter.

--

"Can I take your order?" the waiter asked as he appeared at the table. Lily looked up from her menu and around the table.
"Uhh, I'm going to need another second or two; why don't you guys start if you're ready," she offered Sirius and Carmen.
"Ok - I will have the duck and a small garden salad with the dressing on the side, please," Carmen told the waiter.
"A great choice - our duck is excellent!" he told her with a smile.
Sirius gave him a mean stare and jumped in. "Yes, well, I will have the duck as well, but is there any chance I can get fries on the side instead of a salad?" he asked seriously.
"Sirius!" Carmen chastised his childish order.
Lily held back a giggle and James just shook his head.
"What!" Sirius replied, but a small blush managed to creep into his cheeks and he scowled in the direction of his napkin.
The waiter just smiled. "Of course we can do that for you, uh, sir," he told Sirius.
"Thanks..." he mumbled to the table in a disgruntled tone.
The waiter turned to James. "And for you, sir?" he asked.
"Yeah, can I please have the soup for starters and the lamb for the main course. Extra mint jelly, please," James replied, looking up from his menu.
"Very well," the waiter said. He looked at Lily, "And for you, miss?"
"I think I'm just going to start with a side salad and I'll have the pasta with alfredo sauce for the main course," she told him.
"Yes, ma'am," the waiter replied, and he flashed Lily a smile as well. James saw this, but reacted much better than Sirius had, simply placing his arm around Lily's shoulder and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. She smiled over at him and the waiter's face fell.
Carmen collected the menus and handed them to him. "Thank you!" she said cheerily before taking Sirius' hand. The waiter nodded and sulked off towards the kitchen while Sirius beamed.

--

"Ughh, I'm so full!" Sirius exclaimed at the end of the meal. He wiped his chin with his napkin and placed a few more fries in his mouth. The kitchen staff had had to search high and low to find Sirius some ketchup for his fries.
"Then why are you still eating?" Lily asked him, raising her eyebrows.
Sirius shrugged. "I hate leaving food on a plate," he answered.
"Then take it home with you...God knows you can't embarrass us any more tonight," Lily added, rolling her eyes.
Sirius shot her a look, but she smiled. "Cold, soggy fries? No thank you!" Sirius replied, and the girls giggled.
"I'm going to go to the bathroom before we leave," Carmen announced. "Lily, you want to come with?" she asked, standing up.
Lily nodded and moved her seat back. "Definitely!" she replied, also getting up.
James nodded his head and Sirius swallowed the food in his mouth.
"Ok...go to the bathroom..." Sirius told them as the girls looked at him. They rolled their eyes and turned to leave. "We'll just be here...talking about you!" He added, having to yell the last three words as they got further and further away.
James looked over at his friend and sighed. "And I'd forgotten why it is that we can never take you out," he joked.
Sirius made a mad face. "Ok c'mon...you know you love me!"
James shook his head," No, I don't!"
"C'mon, Jamsie, crack a smile! Let me see those teeth," Sirius provoked James loud enough to make other people stop eating and look over. An old woman shook her head and muttered something about "hooligans..." before turning back to her salmon.
James finally gave in and cracked a smile.
"On second thoughts, don't smile," Sirius laughed.
"Shut up!" James told him, still grinning.

James left a tip on the table and the guys waited by the doors for their girls.
"Where are you guys going now?" James asked Sirius and Carmen, once the girls returned from the bathroom.
Sirius put his arm around Carmen's waist. "I think we're just going to go back to my place..." he told them.
"What a good idea!" Lily replied, squeezing James' hand. She wanted a little alone time with James to get their relationship going again, and she was getting a little anxious after their 'just the two of us' dinner had been squashed.
James got the hint. "Uh, yeah...us too!" he said.
"I'll call you tomorrow, Lily!" Carmen called as Sirius led her out through the doors. "We'll go shopping before you have to back to sch-ool!" she squealed the last word as Sirius pinched her side.
Lily giggled and waved them goodbye as she and James walked out into the night to find some place to apparate home.

A/N:

I finished this story, so the chapters will be coming quicker once I get back from Penn. On Thursday – ENJOY!

Jes xo