Falling
Chapter 8: Planning
"So, Nadia, how was your date with Richard?" Lily asked over dinner.
"Oh, it was great. He was so sweet the whole time, and he took me dancing. Then after that we walked around this cute little garden for a while, it was really nice." She gushed.
"Aw, that's so sweet. Sounds like the perfect date." Lily commented.
"Oh, it was. And we're seeing each other tomorrow afternoon, too. For a picnic on the grounds, by the lake. I can hardly wait." She said excitedly while filling her plate with second helpings of mashed potatoes.
"Nadia, you have to tell us all the details later. Maybe tomorrow, over studying?" Isis proposed. Lily had the slight suspicion that she, too, wanted to tell about her date with Remus. And who could blame her, really? Lily only wished she had such things to talk about. Considering the state of her nonexistent love-life, she was forced to live that part of her life through her friends.
"And you'll be spilling details, too, missy." Lily said to Isis with a wink. "And no one's leaving anything out, I have to live through you guys since I have no romance in my life." She added, chuckling, but only half-joking.
"I'm sure James would love to help you with that, Lily." Sirius remarked, wriggling his eyebrows suggestively. Promptly, James smacked Sirius on the back of the head, and continued devouring his food.
"Mm, I dunno, Sirius, he seems pretty occupied with his dinner at the moment."
James scowled. "Hey! I didn't eat lunch, okay? I'm hungry. And you should be one to talk, Lily, Miss Third Helpings."
"Well, I didn't eat lunch either, remember? I was out with you! Obviously you weren't considerate enough to consider the fact that I might be hungry after walking around for hours; how boring! So excuse me if I was exhausted and hungry, and now that I've eaten, I'm going to bed. Good Night." She said grumpily and stormed out of the Hall.
"Umm..." James said dumbly, staring blankly at the empty space that Lily had occupied just a few moments ago.
"Well, I'd say you messed up pretty badly, and you should probably go talk to her, mate."
"Sod off, Sirius." And with that, he too stomped out of the Great Hall.
"Geez, what's their problem tonight, anyway?" Sirius grumbled as he stabbed at his plate.
On his walk to the common room portrait, James had cooled down considerably, and decided he needed to apologize to Lily.
As he approached the portrait he heard a thump and a muffled "stupid". What the.. He thought to himself. He stood in front of the portrait and furrowed his brows.
Thump
He muttered the password and the portrait swung open, Lily falling out of it. He caught her before he hit the ground, set her up right and helped her back inside before closing the entrance. He turned to face her.
"Um...Lily?" she looked up at him, blushing and seeming a bit embarrassed and flustered. "What was that all about?" he asked confusedly, but then shook his head, changing his mind. "Actually, nevermind, I don't want to know. Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to take it that way, I was just joking."
She sighed. "I know, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have lashed out at you like that. You don't need to apologize, you didn't do anything wrong. I'm just a little cranky, I guess."
"It's okay, I understand completely. We're both tired, we should rest."
"Yeah. And I'm sorry for what I said about today being boring, I really didn't mean that, I had a great time."
"No, no. You were right, it was pretty boring. I think I'm losing my touch! But I promise to make it up to you." he grinned, "And I've just got the perfect idea. Rest up, love. I've got plans for you tonight, so take a little nap, refresh yourself. I've got some planning to do." he said mysteriously as he walked back out of the portrait. Lily could practically feel him scheming.
She shrugged to herself and decided to take his advice; a nap sounded just fine about now. Lily had to admit she was excited for tonight, any time she got to spend with him lately was becoming increasingly wonderful. She never would have thought that she'd ever fall for James Potter, but she could no longer deny it. She smiled sleepily as she curled up on the couch in front of the fireplace, not even having the energy to make it to her bedroom.
James checked the time; 6: 45. Sirius, Remus and Peter should be done with dinner by now. He went to the Gryffindor common room to go find them. After all, he couldn't plan this by himself.
The Marauders were all sitting in the 7th year boy's dorm, helping James perfect and carry out his plan for tonight. He wanted to show Lily that she was special to him, and that he could be unique and sweet and romantic.
"Okay, we don't have that much time to carry this out, but I think we'll be able to pull it off. After all, we are the infamous Marauders."
"Yeah, yeah, Sirius, just get on with it, you're wasting precious time." James said impatiently.
Sirius huffed. "Fine, fine. Okay, here's the deal: Remus, you go down to the kitchens and get some desserts or something, a few butterbeers, perhaps, whatever you think is appropriate." Remus nodded in understanding. "Next, James... Go up to the Astronomy Tower and set up a little spot for you guys to sit. Something comfortable, obviously."
"Got it."
"Okay. And Pete and I will take care of the Fireworks. Set them up, and set them off. Have your mirror with you so you can give me the cue when to start, alright?"
"Of course." James replied.
"Good! Okay, Marauders, break!" They all dispersed around the castle, Sirius and Peter transfiguring some spare parchment into fireworks, packing them up and taking them out to the grounds. They set them up in a place where they would be visible from the astronomy tower, then set up a little camp for them to wait at for James.
Remus went down to the kitchens and asked the elves to fill a small basket with 2 butterbeers, and some brownies. He carried the basket up to the tower under the cover of James' invisibility cloak, where James was setting up a spot for Lily and him to sit and watch the fireworks.
There was a fluffy blanket set up on the ground and a few floating candles around the area for light. Remus set the basket down next to the blanket and looked outside to where Sirius and Peter were setting off a few practice rounds.
"They look good." He commented, referring to the fireworks.
"Yeah, this spot has a perfect view."
"I like the decorations, James. I only wish I had thought of this idea for Isis. Now when Lily tells her friends about tonight, you'll make us all look bad." he joked.
James chuckled. "Yeah, so how are things going with you and Isis, anyway?"
"Great. I wish I would've had the courage to ask her out earlier, but, better late then never, right?"
"Right. Definitely."
James pulled the two-way mirror out of his pocket and spoke into it, "Sirius," Sirius' and Peter's faces appeared in the mirror. "They look good, mate. Relax for a little, I'll be back in a bit."
Sirius nodded and saluted James, "Yes, sir. Peter and I are standing by."
James chuckled and shook his head. "Remus will be down shortly to join you, he says. He's got the map with him, could you keep a lookout for me? I've got the cloak, but I don't want this night to be ruined. Not taking any chances."
"Sure thing! Sirius out."
Sirius' face disappeared from the mirror, and James slipped it back into his pocket, going back to his common room to wake Lily.
"Lily," he whispered, shaking her gently. "Wake up, I want to show you something."
Her eyes fluttered open, and she yawned widely. "Okay." she whispered back sleepily. Lily sat up slowly and blinked a few times.
James smiled at her and pulled her from the couch by her arms. He flung the cloak over them, and they walked silently to the astronomy tower.
James threw the cloak off of them as they entered the tower, and led her to the blanket. Lily sat down on the blanket as James kneeled in front of the basket, pulling out two butterbeers.
Lily accepted the butterbeer from James and took a swig, set it down, and leaned back on her arms. "So. Why exactly are we here?" She asked curiously.
James just smiled at her mysteriously and leaned back as well. "You'll see." He pulled the mirror back out of his pocket and contacted Sirius. "We're ready. Light 'em up." he spoke into the mirror, and Lily saw Sirius nod once before his face disappeared from the glass.
She raised her eyebrow at James. "Ready for what?"
He reached out and turned her head to the fireworks, "Watch." he said simply.
Her face lit up with delight as the first fireworks began bursting in the sky. Sparks of red, gold and purple lit up the sky. Followed by green, blue and white. It really was a fantastic show. The fireworks were in the shape of animals, and they would move about. There was a majestic red dragon that flew across the sky, breathing gold and red sparks.
Lily's favourite, however was the lion that roared proudly as the golden sparks of his mane drooped down over the lake, reminding her of the fireworks she saw as a child, the ones that she always thought looked like a giant willow tree, with the sparks falling and leaving behind a gold trail of light.
She looked over at James, eyes gleaming and found that he had been watching her, instead of the spectacle in the sky. She blushed a bit, but reached over to hug him, whispering, "Thank you for doing this, James. It's very sweet." As she pulled back, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek, making her blush harder and both of them smile stupidly, looking back to the fireworks.
After a while, James reached over to grab Lily's hand. She looked up at him, he looked sort of nervous. A new look for him, definitely.
He cleared his throat. "Lily...there's something I want to ask you. I've been really good all year, and I haven't asked you out once, but I can't hold back any longer. So...Will you go out with me?"
Lily smiled so widely she thought her face was going to break in half. "Of course I will...I've been wondering when you would ask." she giggled.
James let out a long breath. "Good. Because as much as I've missed you turning me down everyday, I was really hoping you would say yes."
She shifted closer to him and leaned her head on his shoulder while he put his arm around her and they both turned back to the fireworks.
After a few more minutes, Lily yawned widely. "Mm..I'm getting a little tired."
"Okay, do you want to go back, then?"
"Yeah, if we don't leave now I think you'll end up carrying me back." she laughed.
"I wouldn't mind, but I'll tell Sirius to wrap it up. One more for the grand finale." He pulled out the mirror again, and Sirius' face instantly appeared.
"Did you ask her, mate?" he asked eagerly.
James rolled his eyes, but couldn't help the smile forming on his face. "I'll tell you about it later, Padfoot. Can you wrap up the fireworks, though? Lily's getting tired."
"Sure thing, but we're not done talking about this." He smiled and his face disappeared.
About 20 minutes later, Lily and James were back in their common room. After the grand finale, Lily insisted on helping clean up the blanket and food, even though James told her she needn't worry about it, and that he would get it later. Remus, Sirius, and Peter packed up the fireworks and such and headed back up to their dorms.
"Alright, Lil, you're tired, go to bed. I'll see you in the morning." James said as they stepped into the common room.
"Mmhmm, I'm going, believe me." she said through a yawn. She turned to him and put her arms around his neck in an embrace, while he put his around her waist.
"Can I kiss you?" James asked as they pulled back.
Lily chuckled and shook her head. "James, you don't have to ask."
He smiled and kissed her sweetly on the lips. "Goodnight, Lily." he said as he pulled away.
"Good indeed." she said as she went into her room and passed out as soon as she hit the pillows.
James went into his room and flopped down on his bed. This year is definitely looking up. He thought to himself as he drifted off to sleep.
"Okay, I've got the list." Nadia cleared her throat during breakfast as she read down the long list of names for their Halloween bash. "The obvious ones: Lily, Isis, me, Sirius, James, Remus, Peter and Richard. Alice Thatcher, Frank Longbottom, Lorraine Burkhart, Felicia Jones and Nathan Wallace from Hufflepuff. Then from Ravenclaw we've got Oliver Perry, Robert Schmidt, Tina Georges, Harriet Patman, and John Patil. Anyone have something to add?" She finished.
They all thought about it and shook their heads.
"Good! Then it's all ready and we can start making invitations tonight. It's only 2 weeks 'til Halloween, and we've got a lot of planning to do."
"Well at least we don't have to worry about decorations or a place to have the party. All we need to take care of are the invites and food and entertainment." Remus pointed out.
"And we don't have to worry about the alcohol, either." Sirius winked and Peter smiled mischievously.
James smirked. "We never have to worry about that."
"Well one thing we do need to think about is costumes. I have no idea what I'm gonna be." Lily said as she ran a hand through her hair.
"Oh my gosh, Lil, you're right! I didn't even think of it!" Nadia exclaimed.
"Me neither. We need to do some major shopping next weekend. I knew we were forgetting to do something at Hogsmeade yesterday." Isis added.
"Relax, ladies. Look who you're talking to. The Marauders don't need some stupid permission slip or teacher supervision to go to Hogsmeade." Sirius smiled slyly and looked to James.
The girls sighed, relieved. "Oh, thank Merlin. I knew we were friends with you guys for a reason."
A/N: well...that took a little longer than I hoped, pretty fluffy, I know..but still enjoyable hopefully. Please review:)