Graduation Looms Nearer

Lily walked down to the Great Hall that Monday, accompanied not only with James, but also with all the Marauders (of course, without Peter). They were all laughing at the latest prank Sirius was planning to pull on Professor Slughorn.

"The only problem," Sirius was saying, "is that my Sticking Charm isn't the best. It wears off in a bout five minutes…at its best."

Lily stopped walked and stared into space for a moment, before snapping her fingers and smirking. "I've got it!"

Sirius stared at her in awe. "I never thought I'd see the day when Lily Evans helps the Marauders with a prank! Prongs, mate, you've done well with this one."

"Oh, shut up," Lily said, smiling. "Now, here's the plan: Since Muggles obviously don't have Sticking Charms, they use a paste called Crazy Glue. It sticks to anything."

"Brilliant!" James exclaimed, wrapping his arm around Lily's waist. "This is probably our best prank yet!"

"Just one thing," Remus said, a bit happier than he had been in a while. "How are we going to get what we need?"

"Why, Lily need only to write home for the Lazy Blue," Sirius said pompously, thinking that what he had said was extremely intelligent.

"It's called Crazy Glue," Lily said, laughing. She pulled open the doors of the Great Hall and walked towards the Gryffindor house table. "And I'll write to Petunia and ask her…well, maybe not Petunia…er, who else could I write to?"

"I've got it," James said. "I'll write to Arthur. He's a family friend, older than us. He collects Muggle things. He mentioned Crazy Glue once."

"Ol' Sluggy won't know what hit him," Sirius said, chuckling.

The group sat down, and James pulled a piece of parchment and a quill out of his book bag and began scribbling a letter. A clicking of heeled shoes came steadily closer, and Professor McGonagall's voice rang out. "Mr. Potter, Miss Evans, please come with me."

James shoved the half-written letter into his pocket in the jeans under his robes and shared a bewildered glance with Lily. Had McGonagall found out about their plans for pranking Slughorn? They walked in silence down the empty corridors. James fiddled with the hem of his sleeve, and Lily bit her lip nervously. McGonagall walked ahead of them briskly. "Keep walking," she snapped. "Look alive! We don't have much time before classes begin."

Finally, they reached McGonagall's office. McGonagall sat behind a desk with a shiny, polished nameplate bearing the words Professor McGonagall: Deputy Headmistress. "Sit," she said, conjuring up two straight-backed, wooden chairs in front of her desk.

"Erm, Professor, did we—erm, are we in trouble?" Lily asked quietly, rubbing her foot behind her other ankle nervously.

"Goodness, no," McGonagall said airily. Then her hawk-like eyes narrowed sharply. "Is there a reason why you should be?"

"Uh, no, no," Lily said quickly, "we just thought, you know, usually when someone comes into your office…" She let her words drift off into silence.

McGonagall cleared her throat. "Well, that is not the case here. No, Professor Dumbledore merely asked me to inform you that you will be planning your graduation party. This includes entertainment, what everyone will be doing, attire, location, and so on. You have until early May…around three months."

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Later that night, James and Lily sat on the couch in the Heads common room, with a low table in front of them bearing a blank piece of parchment and a quill. Lily and James both stared at the parchment intently, resting their heads in their hands and their elbows on their knees.

Lily's mind was wandering towards Jocelyn and Remus. They weren't speaking as much as they used to (and Lily guessed that they never would), but they now were able to hold a polite conversation with one another. And what about Shayna? Lily noticed that she was very distant towards everyone; she no longer yearned to know about how Lily and James were, or cared if Sirius was going to ask her on a date or not. The only person she seemed to really talk to was Sirius, if she was feeling a bit like her old self. Lily's mind strayed to Peter. Why would Voldemort want him? It wasn't like he had any magic skills or special—wait, he was an animagus, James had told her once. They all were. Except for Remus, of course.

James's mind had wandered, as well, but to less important things. He had sent the letter to Arthur asking for a container of Crazy Glue. The glue was now sitting on his nightstand, waiting for the morning, waiting for when the prank would begin.

Lily cleared her throat. "Er, James?" she said uncertainly, sitting up straight and turning to face him. "I need to talk to you."

James sat bolt upright, eyes wide. "Is this about us? 'Cause, you know, if I'm doing something wrong I swear by Merlin's left buttock that I'll fix it!" he exclaimed in a rush.

"No, you're…" Lily sighed, "You're perfect. No, it's about Peter."

James looked flabbergasted. "You're cheating on me with WORMTAIL?!"

"No, James, I love you. But, you don't think that he's acting a bit strange?" Lily raised an eyebrow. "Stranger than usual, I mean," she added as an afterthought.

"No," James said, scratching the tip of his nose in thought. "If anything, I'd say he's acting more normal than I've ever seen him…which, in itself, is pretty strange."

"That's what I meant," Lily said, sighing again. "You don't think he's a…a Death Eater, do you?" Lily knew that he was for a fact, but she was too afraid to say it out loud.

James laughed. "Lily," he said, putting his arm around her tense shoulders, "Peter's dumb. I'll admit that. But he's not that dumb!"

"Sometimes I'm not so sure," Lily said, biting her lip. "It would explain how the Death Eaters got into the castle the night they took me to my old home, and how Malfoy knew to find us at the Three Broomsticks."

"Lily, don't forget about Snivellus. He's foul enough to be a Death Eater. Peter's not a bad guy."

Lily frowned, aggravated. It was useless trying to convince James, or anyone else for that matter, that Peter was not as good as he seemed to be. "Okay, well, let's start planning," Lily said, picking up her quill and holding it poised about the parchment. "We should have the party outside, maybe by the lake."

James nodded. "Yeah. You know what would be cooler? ON the lake!"

"How would we do that?"

"Well, we could conjure a huge sheet of glass, and charm it to be unbreakable, and then fit it over the lake without it moving. Y'know, a Sticking Charm or something!"

Lily smiled, imagining the entire Seventh year standing on water. "That would be amazing! We could use a charm that I found, colloportus, to sort of squelch the glass to the grass on the edges of the lake. Imagine…walking on water!"

"What should everyone wear? Surely not school robes. I'm sick of wearing the same bloody thing for seven years!" James stood up, pulled off his robe so that he was wearing his jeans and a tee shirt, and threw it on the floor.

"Dress robes, of course! Pastel colors…or, I've got it! Everyone should wear either white or a shade of blue, to match the water theme!"

"I guess…What about entertainment?"

"We could get that new band to come…I think they're called the Weird Sisters? Anyway, they're only about two years older than us, so I'll bet they want to come back to Hogwarts."

James smiled. "Brilliant. We could write them a letter tomorrow morning. Let's write all this down, so we remember it."

"I think we'll remember," Lily said coyly, putting the quill on the table. "We have until May…by the way, James, you're much better at planning that I would have expected. You deserve a kiss." Lily kissed him lightly on his lips.

"I deserve two," James said, smiling and pulling Lily close to him. He pushed her hair behind her ear gently and ran his finger down to her chin, before tilting her face up towards his. His eyes flickered from her eyes to her lips, then back to her eyes again. He leaned forward and kissed her gently. Lily wrapped her arms around his neck and played with the hair at the nape of his neck. James's hand rested on the small of her back, while the other ran through her red locks.

Lily pulled back and smiled at him. "More than two," she whispered in his ear, and kissed him again.

A/N: So, in my haste to get 250 reviews, I was nice enough to add during the middle of the week too ) And now I have 240. Only 10 more to go, people! Next chapter's the prank; it's hysterical in my opinion…It was actually something that I've always wanted to do to one of my teachers…erm, anyways, review, please!