Chapter 12: New Year's Surprises

The next few days went by quickly. Everyone was getting things ready for the New Year's Eve party. Sirius, Remus and Peter were busy getting food and drink and arranging for them to arrive early the day of. Lily, James, and Emily (when she came over) were getting decorations and deciding where to set things up and where to move the furniture to. At the end of every day, they were exhausted mainly from running around so much.

Finally, New Year's Eve arrived and they were super excited. All day they set up tables and moved the furniture to give dancing room. The food and drinks arrived around five and were set up accordingly. They also got candy from Honeydukes to give to the guests to take home. James' parents left around six and people didn't arrive until around seven.

The first to arrive were Emily, Mary, Frank and Alice. Next were several Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw seventh years. All the sixth year Gryffindors arrived together and were followed by the sixth year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. By eight the party was in full swing. People were talking and dancing, eating and drinking. Some people had found the tables they set up for games and were playing those.

Lily was thankful that talk was all happy and nothing was about the impending war. This was supposed to be a happy event and talk of Voldemort would just bring the mood down. Currently, James was entertaining his friends and Lily was talking with hers.

James pulled Lily away to the dance floor. James began to twirl her around and they were joined by Alice and Frank and Sirius and Emily. Remus asked the other seventh year girl to dance and a seventh year Ravenclaw asked Mary. Soon everyone there seemed to be on the dance floor.

The next several songs were fast and then it slowed down. This was technically James and Lily's first slow dance together. They held each other close, stared into the other's eyes, and never said a word. The three couples surrounding them could just feel the love radiating off of them. It was slightly sickening but romantic nonetheless.

After a few more dances, Lily pulled James toward the drinks table. They grabbed a couple of butterbeers and headed toward a table on the outskirts of the dance floor. Shortly, they were joined by Sirius, Frank, Emily and Alice. For a while no one said anything because they were watching the others dance. But the silence couldn't last and Sirius was the one to break it with a very loud belch.

"Padfoot" James said disgusted.

"Don't give me that. You have done it too."

"I know but now that I have a wonderful girlfriend in my life, I try to act more discreet."

"Lily, doesn't care about that stuff."

"Actually Sirius, I'm glad that James is discreet about his bodily functions" Lily laughed.

"Well, I'm not your boyfriend or your girlfriend, and Emily doesn't mind."

"Er, I actually would like it if you were more discreet, at least in public" Emily admitted. Sirius gaped at her.

"What? You're taking their side!"

"Oh, don't overact Sirius. I don't care if you do it in front of us but when there are other people present, discretion would be nice."

"Fine" Sirius huffed and walked toward the food table, Emily followed behind him.

"I wish he wouldn't eat his problems" James said with a light chuckle.

"James, you know he only does it because he never gains any weight. He is like a bottomless pit" Lily laughed.

"Lily, come on, I need to use the loo" Alice said getting up. Lily followed after giving James a kiss on his cheek. Once they were out of earshot Frank spoke up.

"Why do girls always go to the loo together?"

"So they can talk about us without being overheard" James shrugged.

"Well, I still don't get it. Anyway, I heard from a little birdie that you were planning something special for Lily tonight."

"Sirius" James sighed "he can never keep a secret. I'm glad I didn't tell him what I was planning, otherwise, it wouldn't have been a very good surprise."

"Whoa, I didn't say it was Sirius."

"Well, he is the only one I told about my special plan."

"Oh. So what are you planning?"

"I'm not telling. You will see for yourself when the time comes."

"And when exactly is that time?"

"You will know soon enough" and with that James got up and joined Lily as she reappeared.

Meanwhile in the loo…

"Okay, Alice, what did you want to talk to me about? Because obviously you don't have to go" Lily said as Alice looked herself over in the mirror.

"Well, I just wanted to see if you were alright since I haven't seen you since Christmas."

"I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?"

"Lily, this is your first New Year's without your parents, and I know Christmas was hard for you. And I never got a chance to talk to you about it."

"Oh, well, I'm a lot better than I was. It is hard but it's getting better. I just want to enjoy this time with James and my friends."

"If you're sure Lily. But I heard from Frank who heard from a little birdie that James is planning something special for you tonight."

"Alice, don't tell me that. You know I love being surprised and now that I know there is one coming, I won't be as surprised."

Alice huffed, she really did enjoy that exciting kind of gossip, but she let it go. She finished primping herself and dragged Lily back to the party.

Back to the party…

James led Lily back onto the floor to dance. While they danced a few more songs, some sixth years from all three houses said their good-byes and thanks to James saying they had another party to go to. After they left, there were only seventh years and a few leftover sixth years.

At about eleven, the rest of the sixth years left and all the seventh years left too. The only people left were Frank, Remus, Peter, Sirius, James, Alice, Mary, Emily and Lily. They were kind of confused as to why everyone left before midnight but decided that they had other parties to go to.

Because they had an hour left before the New Year, they put the furniture back in place and cleaned up the trash and leftover food. They put the games away and when they were finished it was eleven-thirty. They sat down by the fire and listen to some new year's talk show on the radio. Lily had made hot cocoa, which she spiked in honor of the holiday, while they cleaned up and they shared the leftover candy.

No one really talked except for a comment or two every once in a while. They were enjoying the peace and quiet of their last Christmas break while at school. With ten minutes to midnight, James disappeared upstairs for a couple minutes before rejoining them. He looked more nervous than anyone had ever seen him, including those times because of the House Quidditch Cup finals. James asked to meet the guys in the kitchen. Once everyone was in, James locked the door and put a silencing charm on it before he spoke.

"Prongs, buddy, what's up?" Sirius asked, concern filling his voice. He had never seen James like this before.

"I don't know if I can give Lily her surprise" he said nervously pacing back and forth.

"James, what is Lily's surprise?" Remus asked while trying to get him to stop pacing.

"Alright, if I tell you, you must promise that you won't act differently when we go back in there. Especially, you Sirius."

"What? I am great at keeping secrets" he said faking his hurt. Everyone gave him a look that said otherwise, but they dropped that subject.

"Wait, I know what is going on" Frank said.

"What's that?" Peter asked clearly confused.

Frank lowered his voice so much that they barely heard him. When he finished, all but James stared at him with their mouths open, almost to the floor.

"Remember, you promised not to act differently. Oh no, I only have five more minutes."

"James, buddy breathe. You will be fine" Frank reassured him. James nodded and took several deep steadying breaths.

"We should probably go in there so we don't miss the New Year."

They all filed back in after James lifted the charms. The girls looked at them curiously but no one said anything about it.

"Oh look, only three minutes to midnight" Emily said excitedly.

When James reached Lily, he pulled her into a hug and led her over to the window. He pulled the curtain aside and they gazed at the moon. It was almost full and knew that Remus wasn't feeling the greatest but was glad that he lasted this long tonight. He always got tired and sick a few days before the full moon.

"James, why did you pull me over to the window?"

"I don't know. I just thought looking at the moon would be more romantic.

"More romantic for what?" Lily asked turning to him.

But Lily never got her answer because Alice squealed that there were only thirty seconds to go. James and Lily were facing each other counting down with the rest of them.

"Ten…Nine…Eight…Seven"

James reached into his pocket and pulled something out but Lily didn't notice this.

"Six…Five…Four…Three"

James got down on one knee and looked into Lily's eyes.

"Two…ONE!"

He opened the little box in his hand to reveal a gorgeous engagement ring. It was an oval cut diamond with smaller emerald stones trailing down the white gold band. Lily's mouth dropped open in shock.

"Happy New Year love, will you marry me?" James smiled.

After the kisses from the couples, no one in the room dared make a sound. They all stopped to see what her answer was going to be. The girls looked shocked but excited and the guys looked excited. James looked at Lily expectantly, waiting for her answer.

Finally, Lily found her voice "Yes, of course." As James got up, she jumped on him for a huge hug and a kiss. Everyone else cheered and finally said happy New Year to each other. Lily and James finally stopped their spinning kiss.

"I love you" Lily said as he slipped the ring on her finger.

"I love you too" James said giving her a kiss.

After their kiss, they were surrounded by their friends, shouting congratulations and the girls were squealing to see her ring. After the excitement died down a little, they finally made their way back to their spots in front of the fire.

"James, the ring is so beautiful. I love the emeralds because they match my eyes so perfectly."

"Good, I'm glad you like it. I was surprised to find that the ring's emeralds matched your eyes so well."

"Wait, so this isn't a new ring?" Emily asked.

"No, it belonged to my Grandma Potter. She had very green eyes and funny enough red hair too. At least when she was younger, she had red hair."

"Wow, so do the men in the Potter family have a thing for red heads?" Alice asked.

"No, I don't think so" James said "why?"

"Well, you say your grandma had red hair, your mother had red hair and so does Lily."

"Hmm, I never really thought of that. Maybe."

James got up, saying he would be back in a minute and rushed up the stairs. The girls were still admiring Lily's ring while the guys dipped into conversation about something or other. It wasn't very happy talk but something was bothering them about going out into the real world once they finished school. James bounded back into the room with what looked like a photo album in his hand.

"So, I remembered that my parents had this photo album of sorts that has the wedding photos of all the Potter family weddings. Whether it was a Potter woman marrying into a different family or a Potter man marrying a woman. I'm not sure how far back these pictures go but I think most are in color. Emily, what you said about red headed woman got me thinking if it has always been this way" James said as he sat down on the floor.

He opened the album and began looking at all the pictures. There were captions saying who they were, when they got married and who their kids were if they had any. The girls giggled at some of the ridiculous wedding dresses as James flipped through the album. But there was a distinct similarity between all the pictures. When a Potter man was getting married his wife was a red head and when a formerly Potter woman was getting married her husband had unruly black hair.

"Well, Prongs it looks like there is some kind of Potter curse going on" Sirius laughed as James continued to look through the album.

"A curse, Padfoot?"

"Yes, Moony, a curse. The men are destined to marry fiery red heads and the woman are destined to marry men with unruly black hair, thus their offspring will either be redheaded or unruly black haired."

Lily laughed and shook her head at Sirius' ridiculousness. "Sirius, I would hardly call that a curse, more like a strange coincidence."

"Oh, Lilykins, so naïve. It is a curse because it takes a certain kind of person to deal with fiery redheads, such as you."

"Oh, really Sirius. It takes a certain kind of person to deal with me. And what kind of person would that be?" Lily asked a bit threateningly but with a hint of humor in her voice.

"Umm, well, you see…" Sirius trailed off when James gave him a glare.

"Alright, I think we get that there is something in the Potter genes that make them attracted to certain people. I think this should stop before our very own fiery redhead, emits fire" Remus said with the tone that he used to steer his friends away from a dangerous prank.

"Thanks you Remus, and I do think that we should get to bed. It's already one and I know my mother will make us a huge breakfast like always. Plus, I'm a little tipsy and think that if this goes on longer, we might all be drunk" James said pulling Lily to his side.

There were some tired mumbles of agreement as they headed upstairs. Everyone left was staying at James' especially after the few drinks they did have. Alice and Frank were staying in one room while Sirius and Emily were in another. James and Lily stayed in James' room while Mary, Remus and Peter stayed in the remaining rooms. They bid each other goodnight and went to their specified rooms.

As soon as James' door closed Lily pushed him up against it and kissed him so fiercely that it took both their breaths away. Once Lily pulled away she beamed up at James. She was the happiest she has ever been. She had thought about marrying James quite a lot in the past few weeks. To her it just seemed like the right thing to do. She knew in her heart that James was the one, the one she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. The one she wanted to create a life after school with. There was nothing she wanted more. She knew they had only been dating for four months but it didn't matter to her. She felt as though they had been dating since the beginning of sixth year.

"Lily, what was that for?" James beamed right back.

"Because, I love you and I am so happy about this" she showed him the ring he gave her "I know this may sound silly but the past few weeks I have been thinking about getting married…to you. Alice and Frank's upcoming wedding has just got me thinking and made me realize that I'm ready for this, I'm ready to take this big step with the one I love. I know in my heart that marrying you will be the best decision of my life because I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"Lily, I am so happy that you have said all that. It's exactly how I feel too. I was so nervous to ask because we haven't dated for very long but it feels like a lot longer and I wasn't sure if you were ready and felt that connection. I love you, with all my heart" James leaned down and kissed Lily again.

The kiss deepened and became quicker and more passionate. Neither was sure if it was the leftover alcohol in their systems or the happiness of the New Year but they couldn't stop snogging. Slowly they made their way to James' bed and laid down never breaking the kiss. James suddenly remembered the door was unlocked; he picked up his wand, still kissing Lily and flicked his wand toward the door. It locked and he said a few other charms just in case Sirius got any bright ideas.

Lily brought his attention back to her when she started taking his shirt off. James suddenly broke apart and stared at her. She blushed a little under James' stare realizing that she and James had never talked about this before.

"Lily, I-I, are you sure?"

"I know we never talked about it bu…" Lily was cut off by James putting his finger to her lips.

"I know we never have but if you think you're ready, then I'm ready."

Lily nodded, she knew she was ready. She wanted to be with James in a many ways possible. James gave her a look that said "are you truly sure?" and at her nod, a smirk appeared on James' face and he pressed his lips back to Lily's with a new kind of passion.

James let Lily finish taking his shirt off while his hands wandered down to her waist to take her shirt off. As soon as Lily's shirt was off, James momentarily stopped their progress. He had forgotten how beautiful she was with her creamy white skin. Lily was admiring James' upper body, remembering that summer at the lake. After their momentary staring time, they quickly got back into the swing of things.

Their smooth skin pressed against each other as they moved in sync with their kissing. Lily was working on unbuttoning James' pants while he moved his lips down her jaw, onto her neck, across her collar bone, back up her neck to her ear, which he gently nibbled on, smiling a little when she moaned a bit from the nibbling. His mouth met hers again as he began kicking his pants off. Once off James rolled with Lily on the bed so that she was on top of him. He began working on her pants while their kissing became fierce and urgent but sexy at the same time.

As soon as Lily pants joined James' on the floor, Lily broke the kiss and sat straddling James' hips. He was a little confused as to what she was doing but figured it was going to be wonderful. She reached behind her back and unhooked her bra letting it join the rest of the clothes. James' eyes widened a bit but he was happy nonetheless. The kissing began again as Lily gently lay back on James. James was rubbing his hands all over Lily's smooth, bare back admiring the softness. Shortly after, and they weren't sure how it happened, but neither of them had any clothes on.

That night, or rather morning, James and Lily were lost with each other in tangled sheets, fierce kissing, and steamy passion.

For being the first of January, it was sure bright and sunny out. Light was streaming in the windows, casting a warm glow on the floors throughout the house. But in one certain room the light was streaming on the bare back of one Lily Evans.

James woke up bleary eyed and blindly searched for his glasses. Once he found them, he felt a slight pressure on his chest and when he glanced down he saw Lily's arm draped across his chest. He smiled as memories of the early morning swam back into his mind. He looked back down at Lily and saw how the sunlight was resting on her back, making her glow and even more beautiful than ever before.

Lily stirred, breathing in deeply before raising her head. She blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the morning light, when she noticed James smiling at her. She smiled back, memories flooding back to her. She realized that they had both fallen asleep naked, so when she turned on her side, she pulled the sheet around her. James chuckled softly.

"What?" Lily asked playfully.

"Lils, I have seen it all, remember. You don't need to cover yourself up."

"I know, but maybe I want to. I don't want to tease you too much."

"Too late. Just seeing you, lying next to me like that, while I'm like this" he gestured to himself "is teasing enough."

Lily laughed and planted a kiss on his lips and then snuggled back into his arms. He wrapped his arms securely around her and they stayed like that for what seemed like hours, until there was a pounding on the door.

"James, Lily! Wakey wakey! It's New Year's day breakfast and I can smell all the deliciousness. Get your arses out of bed and down to the kitchen!" Sirius shouted.

"Yes, yes, Sirius. We'll be right down" James responded.

"I guess we should get dressed. I don't think anyone would appreciate us being naked at breakfast" Lily laughed, rolling over James and onto the floor, pulling the sheet with her.

"Oh, well, I personally was going to go down to breakfast like this. Shake things up a bit. Make a statement of sorts."

"By all means, precede downstairs nude. But I am positive that your mother and father plus the rest of our friends might not appreciate it all that much."

"Well, when you put it that way. Getting dressed might not be so bad."