A/N: Wow, I got eight reviews, good job guys! Now in this chapter, you all may get a little confused, because I'm going to skip about four or five weeks so that its around mid August. But don't fret! My madness always has a good reason behind it!

I'm sorry it's taken me sooo long to update, I've been having a lot of ... difficulties with my romance life, my family, school and my friends at times.

Oh and let's just pretend that they had the notebook back then, okay? Have fun reading! And make sure to review!

Chapter 23

Letters From Hogwarts

After Lily's elaborate and thoughtful birthday celebration everything seemed to fall back into place. Mallory still picked on Sirius, and Sirius still ran around screaming like a four year old little girl. Amanda and Remus were as reasonable, intelligent, and kind as ever and as for Lily and James... well, it seemed as if they'd been in love since they had been born. The tension that had been felt floating around in the air after Lily had found out about her surprise party, was gone.

A month had passed since then, and surprisingly no one had gotten sick of each other. They just seemed to grow, if possible, closer to one another each and every day. Mallory, Amanda and Lily, spent every Friday night together, without the guys, normally they went out to dinner and maybe shopped for a few hours. Tonight, they were planning on just having a little slumber party in Lily's room.

XxxxX

It was about three o'clock and the girls had gathered on the balcony outside of Mallory's bedroom, Lily had conjured up three glasses of French vanilla cappuccino and they were all sipping it quietly, while trying to figure out what they were going to do at their slumber party that night.

" Well, I still say we should make a pizza the muggle way," Lily protested sadly, making the famous puppy-dog-face at her friends.

Mallory groaned, " You know none of us can cook."

Amanda took a sip and nodded, " Yeah, remember that time we were making breakfast Lil? Not pretty."

" So! It could be fun! Come on... please? For me?" she asked, smiling at them.

" No," they said in unison.

" Well, we have to learn how to cook sometime! Practice makes perfect you know."

Mallory rolled her eyes, " Oh please,"

She snorted, " Well, fine, what bright ideas do you have? Huh?" there was a pause, " thought so, nothing! Why can't we make a pizza?!"

Amanda sighed and frowned, " You are being really annoying, Lily,"

" Yeah you sound like Sirius," Mallory added while taking another sip of her cappuccino.

" I wouldn't be talking Mallory, he is your boyfriend after all," she growled.

Mallory just shrugged, " We go together well."

Lily frowned again and took another swig of her cappuccino, " Why don't we camp out? In like a tent!"

If it weren't daylight Lily could've sworn she heard crickets.

Amanda gaped at her, " Are you serious?"

" There are... things, living out side Lily!" Mallory said, cringing at the word, "things"

She groaned angrily, " Oh, come on! What are you, a bunch of babies?!"

There was another pause and then they both nodded, " Yes," they said in unison.

" You two are absolutely hopeless."

Amanda smiled, " Don't you love it?"

Lily growled and stood up, " Well, I give up. I'm going to go... do... something. Sitting here is boring me."

Mallory smiled and waved, " 'Kay, see ya later, dearest."

" You're infuriating," she mumbled as she rolled her eyes and walked back into Mallory's room.

She made her way through the mess of dirty clothes and scattered shoes, they had been trying on different outfits to see which ones were worthy of taking back to Hogwarts and which ones would be sent to muggle charity. They decided on keeping fifteen of their twenty outfits.

Lily opened the door and just as she was about to step out into the hall she tripped and fell flat on her face, there was a loud thud and then she moaned, cappuccino was not only all over the floor, but in her hair and down her shirt.

" Bloody Hell, why do I always have to trip?" she asked her self out loud as she punched the hard floor with her hand, only making the situation worse, " Ouch! ... great."

A laugh came from behind her and she sighed, she knew James had been standing there the whole time.

" Why is it, wherever I am you are?" Lily asked as he held out his hand for her to take.

He pulled her up to her feet, " Dunno. I guess it is a bit of a coincidence that I always end up wherever you are, but really, it's not intentional."

" Uh huh, I'm sure."

He pulled out his wand and smiled, " You're a bit of a mess, Scourgify," with that the cappuccino disappeared and she once again looked clean.

Glancing down at the door way she saw the culprit, a red high heeled shoe, she picked it up and chucked it down the hallway, but that did no good, it just landed about ten feet away with a muffled thump.

" So, you seem tense, what's up?" James asked, smirking at her red face.

She frowned, " Nothing, my stupid friends just won't accept any of my ideas."

He looked at her blankly as they started towards the stairs, " Ideas? What ideas?"

" Oh," Lily said laughing, " sorry, um we were brainstorming ideas for what we were going to do tonight."

James continued to look at her blankly.

" You know... we always spend Friday nights together."

He nodded, and she couldn't help but notice he looked a little disappointed, " Oh, okay. So, er, why weren't they accepting your ideas?"

" Because they're dumb asses that don't know what they're talking about."

James still wasn't entirely sure what she was going on about, but he figured he best agree with her and just let her rant for a while because she seemed pretty aggravated.

" I see." he said simply, opening the doorway for her to continue rambling, which is exactly what she did.

All the way downstairs, through the foyer, around the mansion, and into the garden.

" And now I don't have the slightest idea what we're going to do tonight! It's maddening. Absolutely maddening." Lily concluded with a heavy sigh.

She plopped down on the edge of the fountain that was splashing about merrily behind her and looked up at James to see what he was thinking but for once in her life she couldn't read his expression, it was completely blank.

She stood up at his level and took his hand, " So, what's up with you? You look like you just drank a sour butterbeer." smiling she squeezed his hand.

James grinned and slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her close to him, " Nothing, I was just thinking."

" A penny for your thoughts?"

He frowned, " Huh?"

Laughing she shook her head, " Muggle saying... what were you thinking about?"

" It's not important really, I just forgot you three were spending the night together, I was going to take you somewhere, maybe to one of those... th- the-a um... thetear... no th-"

Lily laughed hard and cut him off, " A theater, a movie theater?"

" Yeah, I guess that's what they're called, you mentioned that you used to go to them all the time when you were little, so I thought you might enjoy going to see a .. movie..?"

" Yes, movie," she assured him, " and I would love to, but I promised them I'd spend the evening with them."

He frowned, " I know."

She couldn't help but giggle, he was such a little boy sometimes, " Maybe I could slip out around midnight and we could catch a late show."

He lifted his head and smiled, " You think?"

Lily nodded, " Yes, I think so."

She leaned up and kissed him lightly on his soft cheek, " Well, I'll go talk to Mal, and Mandy about it, I'll catch you around dinner time?" she asked

He grinned but didn't loosen his grip on her, " Alright,"

Lily struggled to untangle herself from him for a few seconds but succeeded after distracting him by saying, " Oh, look, something shiny!", just as expected he let go, " Oooh, where?"

She giggled and ran towards the mansion, leaving him in the dust, just as she opened the door she heard him growl, " Hey, not fair, Lily!" she giggled again and closed the door behind her, apparating back up to Mallory's room. It was nice to be able to finally use magic outside of Hogwarts. Amanda was also enjoying the new freedom of being of age, her birthday had been a few weeks ago. Unlike Lily's extreme celebration, Mandy's had been small and simple, the way she had requested it.

Lily didn't bother knocking she just walked in, the two of them were sitting on her bed, Mandy was painting Mallory's toes bright pink.

" Hey, Lils, we found this nail polish stuff in your room and decided to... borrow... it." Amanda said laughing, " Mal, here, doesn't exactly like the color too much."

Lily laughed as she noted the disgusted look on Mallory's face, she'd never seen her look so frustrated.

Amanda laughed again, " I charmed her so that she can't move."

" She's going to kill you," Lily said, laughing hard at how Mallory's eyes were darting from her toes, to the nail polish, to Amanda.

She shrugged, " Oh well, I have a wand now don't I?"

" True," Lily eyed Mallory and then scrunched her nose, " but I don't know if a wand will do you any good, she might just beat the snot out of you."

Mandy frowned and looked at her charmed friend silently then back up at Lily, " Nah. I'm too lovable," She smiled deviously at Mallory, playfully patting her on the cheek, " aren't I?"

Lily smirked and plopped down on the bed next to Amanda, she laid on her stomach with her feet in the air behind her, her arms held her head up as she watched Amanda paint her friend's toenails.

" So what's up? You just got up and left and now you're back here again." Mandy said as she finished up Mallory's pinky toe. " One more foot Mal," she said patting her on the head.

She smiled and shrugged, " I ran into James and he took me off into the gardens."

" Oh really? Details please?"

She rolled her eyes, " Nothing special, we just talked for a while."

" About?" Amanda pressed, Lily grinned, Mandy was in one of her happy moods, she loved it when she was like this.

" He wanted to take me to a movie."

She frowned and bit her lip as she dabbed Mallory's toe with some nail polish remover on a cotton ball, she had gone off the nail, " Movie? Like those muggle picture things that... flash... and are really loud in those really dark rooms?"

Lily laughed hysterically, she still couldn't get over how purebloods knew absolutely nothing about the muggle world, " Yes, that's exactly it."

" So, what'd you say?"

" That's just it," she said twirling a strand of red hair around her index finger, " he wants to take me out tonight. I came up here to talk to you guys about it."

Amanda finished up Mallory's last toe and put the polish away, turning her attention back to Lily, " Okay, well we always spend Friday's together, I don't see why you couldn't go out with James tonight."

She couldn't help but notice a slight look of disappointment cross her noble friend's face, " Well, I thought we could catch a midnight movie, so that way I could spend time with you guys and then some with James too."

" That sounds good, what'd you think Mal?" she asked turning to Mallory, who looked like she was about to explode.

Amanda frowned, " Oh, bugger, sorry Mal," she whipped out her wand and took the charm off of her.

Mallory growled loudly and pinned Amanda down, looking straight at her, " I. Don't. Like. Pink. Nail. Polish." She said slowly and clearly.

Lily giggled, " Told you," she chanted in a singsong voice.

Mandy merely grinned, " Okay, I won't do it anymore if you promise to leave this on until it wears off."

" No," she growled angrily, " It's bloody ugly," she looked towards Lily, " sorry Lils, but it is. Oh-" she added as an after thought " I think you spending the evening with James is fine."

Lily smiled and hugged her friends as best she could since one was being pinned and the other was glaring viciously at the pinned victim.

" Thanks guys! Well I'll just go tell James then, I'll see you two around dinner time."

Mallory smiled and then smirked at Amanda, " See you Lily, ... and now to deal with you."

The last thing Lily saw/heard before she left the room was a white flash and a few seconds later, a loud squeal. She giggled and ran off in the direction of the stairs before Mallory decided, for Merlin knows what reason, to attack her as well.

XxxxX

Mallory, Lily, and Amanda were all spread out on the floor of Lily's bedroom intently watching a muggle movie together, it was called 'Just Friends'. ((A/N: I know this just let out this year... but let's just pretend this was in their time okay??))

After Lily had left Mallory and Amanda alone and Mallory had attacked Amanda, the two had decided that a movie night sounded good for the girls too. Lily had conjured an old television from a muggle furniture magazine and had owled her mom for her new favorite movie.

She had seen this movie around seven times so when the end rolled around she wasn't surprised, angered, or overly emotional about the whole thing, instead she turned to Amanda and took in her new appearance that Mallory had so... graciously... given her.

Her hair was now much shorter, shoulder length to be exact, and slightly more curly, but what stood out most was the bright color. It was green, green with silver stripes in it. Mallory had charmed her with so much power, because she was so angry, that the spell was stronger than usual so when Amanda had tried to remove it and failed... things got ugly.

She turned to Mallory and grinned, out of Amanda's anger, she sent a spell right back at her, making her have inch long, bright pink fingernails that would last at least 8 months because she cast the spell so many times with such anger.

Lily was laying between the two of them just to make sure they didn't try to attack each other anymore.

She snapped back into reality when the credits started to roll and music started to play.

" Well, that's it." she said, waving her wand and turning back on the lights.

Mallory smiled, " That was a really good movie!"

Amanda nodded, " Yeah, we'll have to do this again next week."

As Lily placed the movie back in its case and shoved it into an envelope she nodded, " Okay, sounds good to me... hey what time is it?"

" Uhh, 11:25." Amanda answered, " aren't you supposed to be leaving now?"

She mumbled under her breath as she shrunk the envelope and stuck it to her owls leg, " Take this to Mum." Stella cooed and took off out her open window and into the dark sky dotted randomly by bright, white stars.

Lily turned back to her friends and gave each of them a quick hug, " Yes, I need to go, I was supposed to be downstairs twenty five minutes ago."

With that she sped out of the room, and adjusted her hair and clothes as she ran down the steps shooting off spell after spell. As expected James was sitting on the couch waiting for her, fiddling around with the hem of his blue polo.

" Hey there, ready to go?" She asked as she walked up to him coolly and smiled down at him.

He grinned and stood up, " Yup, just waiting for you."

XxxxX

They apparated to the theater in Lily's hometown, the one she had went to with her father on so many occasions. As they stepped up the the box office she snapped out of her memories and began to scan the listed movies. Among them were several of her favorites; Rose Red, The Notebook, Remember the Titans, and Beaches.

James looked over at her and grinned, " I was thinking we would see 'The Notebook', is that okay with you?"

She looked at him, completely shocked. That was definitely her favorite movie of all time, but it was also a major chick flick.

" Yeah that's fine with me, but, it's a chick flick, you know that right?" she asked.

He nodded, " Yeah, but I heard you really liked it so I don't mind, Plus it can't be that bad."

She smiled up at him and kissed him softly, " You're so sweet."

He just smirked and nodded again, " I know."

James then took his hand from hers and reached into his pocket as he leaned towards the speaker to the box office (( A/N: I hope its called a box office.. heh... not completely sure.))

" The Notebook for two please."

The elderly woman who had heard and seen everything smiled at him from behind her thick glasses in a proud sort of way and nodded.

In a quiet but forceful voice she said, " That'll be 6 pounds please."

He pulled out two galleons, eight sickles and nine knuts and muttered something quietly, he held his hand down low so the woman would think he was searching through his wallet. Lily watched as the money converted into 6 pounds.

He handed the money to the woman and thanked her as she handed him the tickets. The two of them made their way to the concession stand and there they ordered two drinks and a medium popcorn. Together they walked up to the person managing the tickets, he directed them to the theater and in minutes they were seated in the very middle of a dark theater.

" So, tell me," James started, leaning towards her and popping a kernel in his mouth, " how... mushy is this movie?"

She scrunched her nose, " Pretty mushy..."

She smiled at his slightly pouty look, he was just too cute.

" So is this going to make me want to kiss you in the middle of it?" he asked smirking at her.

Lily grinned mischievously, " Well, I hope so."

She leaned over, placing her hand on his arm to steady herself, and planted a gentle kiss on his lips.

He put his right arm around her and kissed the side of her forehead. Lily began to drown in his distinctive scent, so manly, but yet gentle and loving. It was confusing but at the same time delightful and so addicting, she nuzzled her head into the crevice of his neck and mentally smiled, she could sit there like that all night.

" I love you," she heard him whisper sweetly into her ear.

She looked up at him seriously, " I know." giving him another soft kiss, " I love you too."

Just as they pulled away, sound exploded throughout the theater, lights dimmed and the old projector could be heard clicking softly in the background. The movie had begun.

XxxxX

Two hours later the movie ended, James stood up from his seat and stretched, looking down at Lily he could see that she was trying to hide the tears from his view. He smiled slightly and lent down, taking her chin in his hand and lifting her face up towards him.

" Hey." he said quietly, " It was just a movie, no need to cry." He wiped a stray tear away and pulled her up.

Laughing sadly she nodded, " I know, but the end makes me cry every time."

He pulled her close to him as they left the theater and made their way out of the building. He had to admit that the ending was very... touching. James looked down at his wrist and struggled to read the time on his watch. His eyes widened,

" 2:37 in the morning." he said absentmindedly as they rounded the corner.

" Wow, no wonder I'm so tired." Lily said.

James took her hand and apparated them back to the Mansion. They appeared in the middle of the kitchen. With the flick of his wand, James turn on the lights and headed to the fridge. The cold air brushed lightly against his face and hand as he reached in for two butterbeers.

Lily had taken a seat at the bar and grinned at him as he handed her a bottle and stood next to her, not bothering to sit down.

He ran his hand through her soft hair and kissed her on the cheek.

" Why don't we go up to my room and lay down for a while?"

" Sounds good."

He helped her down from the stool and led the way up to his room.

The house was completely silent, as they made their way up the stairs the only sounds that could be heard wear their foot steps and the soft sound of their rhythmic breathing. James pulled out his wand and lit the way, checking back to make sure Lily was still there he glanced over his shoulder smiling at her.

She smiled back but inside her heart was pounding, she didn't like how quiet and dark the house was, she felt as if someone was behind her. Every few seconds she would spin around, clutching onto her butterbeer for dear life, struggling to see through the darkness, and every time, nothing was there. Lily swallowed hard and skipped up to where James was, taking hold of his arm.

" Something the matter?" He asked quietly as if he was afraid of disturbing the eerie silence.

They rounded another corner and approached his door.

" No, I just don't like how quiet it is out there," she responded with a sigh as she stepped into the room.

He laughed, " Oh, don't worry. Sometimes it gets like that here. It almost feels like someone's watching you."

He sat down on the edge of his bed and took of his shoes, laying his drink beside him. Lily put down her butterbeer and took out her wand.

" I'm going to go get into my nightgown, I'll be back in a minute."

James squinted at her and smirked, " Why do you need your wand?"

" It's dark!"

" You're room is two feet away from my door."

She frowned and smacked him playfully. " Oh, shut up."

XxxxX

A few minutes later Lily returned in a light peach colored gown made of silk that reached mid calf, it was one of her favorites. When she opened the door she saw James sitting on the bed, back resting against the backboard with his shirt off. In one hand he held his butterbeer which, by now was half empty, and in the other he held a piece of paper.

She crawled up next to him and slid her arm around his waist, letting her head rest on his firm chest.

" What's that?" she asked as she lightly grazed her fingers across his stomach, she smirked when the muscles quivered under her touch.

He grabbed her hand and looked down at her briefly as if she were making him nervous, " This," he said, shaking the paper, " Is a letter from my mother, she's coming home in a week... and don't do that to me."

She frowned playfully, " Why not?"

" Because it drives me crazy." he mumbled as he let go of her hand and continued to read.

Lily smirked and did it again, this time starting at his collar bone and running her hand all the way down to the lining of his boxers.

James jumped and pushed her hand away, " Lily! Stop that! I'm trying to read."

She laughed and pushed his arm down moving so that she was straddling him, she leaned down and kissed his cheek next to his ear.

" You know you like it," she whispered.

James smirked, " Of course I do."

He pulled her closer and kissed her hard, slowly he wrapped an arm around her waist, letting the letter from his mother flutter down on the floor next to the bed carelessly. James turned her over so that he was on top with out breaking the kiss and ran a hand up her thigh slowly...

All the sudden a sharp tap sounded throughout the room. Lily broke the kiss and jumped, James growled and bit his lip.

" Dammit..." he mumbled as he pushed himself off the bed.

" What was that?" Lily asked in a slightly panicked voice.

The sound resonated throughout the room again, this time they saw where it was coming from.

" It's Fawkes," James said, sighing heavily out of aggravation.

Although Lily was irritated as well she jumped off the bed hastily and followed James to the window. As soon as he had opened it Fawkes flew in and dropped two letters on the nightstand, without wasting a moment he flew back out the window into the darkness with a squawk.

" Don't care to stay, eh? Just like to interrupt..." James muttered angrily before slamming the window shut.

Lily bit her lip and smiled, she gave his hand a quick squeezed and grinned at him before grabbing the letter addressed to her.

" I wonder what this is for." she said quietly.

James groaned, " Well, all I have to say is that this better be damn important!"

Lily laughed, " I'm sure it is." her face grew more serious, " I just hope it isn't bad news."

A/N: Once again SO SORRY for the wait! I have the next chapter started already, make sure to review, trust me I go much faster when I get reviews.