A/N: Sorry that this so late, but I've been unrealistically busy. Today was our last day of school, so I should have my chapters up sooner.

And I still don't own Harry Potter.

The Surprise Couple

That Christmas was the worst of Lily's life. After she left the Potters' home (at around ten on Christmas morning), Lily came home to find her mother and sister planning her father's funeral. And as if that weren't depressing enough, she desperately wanted to tell her mother what had really killed her father. She felt guilty, but how are you suppose to tell, no, explain, to a Muggle how some wizards kill innocent people? Lily had never told her parents about the threat of Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. She had been secretly believing that the terror that the wizarding community lived with everyday would never hit her family; but it had been false hope.

The funeral was held a few days later. James, Alice, Sirius, Elizabeth, Remus, Dorcas, and Peter had all come, and Lily was very grateful for it. She didn't know how she could have gone through it without her friends.

0000

The days until the new term started could not have gone fast enough for Lily. Her house had become grieving central for much of the small town in which she lived. Mr. Evans had been very popular, as he was the towns' local doctor. Nearly the whole town had been to the funeral, come to visit Lily's home, or both. Her home had become a small jungle form all the plants sent by fellow mourners.

Lily was relieved to be back on Platform 9 3/4. Through the break, her home had not felt like home without her father. But now she was back to what she knew: magic.

Suddenly, a pair of strong arms grabbed Lily around her waist and pulled her close.

"Hello to you too James" Lily laughed.

"How did you know it was me?" he tried to ask innocently as he spun Lily around so he could see her better.

"Who else would it be?" she smiled.

He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. "I love you" he whispered.

"I love you, too"

"You two better not plan on keeping this up for the rest of the year!" yelled Sirius from somewhere.

James and Lily turned to see Sirius, followed by Remus and Peter, laughing at them. They greeted each other warmly before they made their way to the train. As they searched for an empty compartment, Lily noticed a lot of girls give her odd looks as she passed. They finally found a compartment towards the end of the train where Alice, Elizabeth, and Dorcas were already in.

Soon after they entered the compartment, the girls took turns hugging Lily. "How are you doing?" asked Alice.

"I'm okay" she replied with a hint of a smile. Lily was very grateful for friends like hers.

"Now" said Elizabeth, turning to the boys, "you guys need to find a different compartment; we need to girl talk"

"What, like you can't talk in front of us?" asked Sirius.

"Trust me" said Alice. "You really don't wanna hear this"

"Try me" said Sirius stubbornly.

"Alright" said Dorcas. She turned to the other girls before saying, "Girls, I've been having really bad cramps late--"

"Okay, okay" said James, throwing up his hands in surrender. "That's enough! We'll go find a different compartment"

The boys grudgingly gathered up their trunks and left to find their own compartment.

"So how are you really doing, Lils?" asked Dorcas.

"Really?...I'm okay" Lily tried to sound confidant.

"How's your mum handling it?" asked Elizabeth.

"Horribly. I don't think she's stopped crying since it happened." Lily was quiet for a few moments before continuing, "I know this may sound bad, but I couldn't wait to get out of my house, I can barely take it anymore. I hate seeing my mum so upset. And Petunia certainly isn't helping any."

"What's she up to now?" implored Alice.

"She's just so damn self-centered, ya know? I mean our father is dead, and all she can think about is planning her damn wedding. And if I ever see the color pink again, it'll be too soon."

"What's wrong with pink?" asked Dorcas, slightly confused.

Lily laughed slightly. "She wants everything pink. Flowers, the bride's maid's dresses, decorations, everything. It's driving me mad!"

Though the rest of the way to Hogwarts, the girls caught up on everything. Alice had told her friends that her and Frank Longbottom had actually talked about getting married over the holiday. The girls went crazy at this news. They spent a good portion of the day talking about the many different ways that Alice and Frank could say "I do", none of which included anything pink.

Once the train pulled into the station, Lily and James had to direct everyone to the carriages. Finally, Lily and James were able to climb into a carriage by themselves. Neither of them spoke during the ride to the castle; Lily laid in James' arm while he ran his fingers through her hair.

They stepped out of the carriage and walked through the Entrance Hall. Lily paused at the marble staircase.

"What's wrong?" James asked.

"I think I'm just gonna go lay down."

"Are you sure you don't want to eat something?" James sounded slightly worried.

"I'm sure, we had a lot of snacks on the train."

"Okay, I'll see you later." James kissed Lily's forehead.

"See ya."

Lily started up the marble staircase, feeling James' eyes on her all the while.

Ever since her father's death, Lily had wanted to be alone a lot. But often times, when she was alone, she would want to be with people. She couldn't make up her mind. And while it was true that she and the other girls had bought a lot of snacks from the trolley on the train, Lily had eaten very few of them. In fact, Lily hadn't eaten a full meal since her father's death.

Lily finally reached the Heads' common room. She lit some candles and took a long, hot bubble bath. It was amazing how much Lily could unwind by simply taking a bath. She changed into a shirt that she had stolen from James and a pair of comfy shorts and laid on the couch beside the fire place to read a book that Alice had given her for Christmas.

She had gotten pretty far in the book by the time James came in, absolutely beaming

"You are never gonna believe this" he said without introduction.

"What?" asked Lily as she caught James' infectious smile

"Peter has a date!"

"Really?"

"Yeah,...he disappeared for a while on the way here and he comes back saying that he's got a date this weekend"

"Who's the girl?" Lily asked.

"Josefine or something like that"

Lily's smile faded. "That's odd...the only Josefine that I know is that Slytherin seventh year girl"

"Nah, that can't be the same girl...Peter would never date a Slytherin" James dismissed.

Lily smiled again. "You know, this time two years ago I said I'd never date you"

"That's different" James dismissed as he sat next to Lily.

She wanted to tell James that he shouldn't judge people just on the house they're in, but, seeing as that would probably lead to a fight, she let it pass, and enjoyed laying in his arms.

0000

Lily and James entered the Great Hall the next morning, hand in hand. As Lily glanced at the students already eating breakfast and noticed something odd.

"Does anyone know why nearly every girl in fourth year and above are glaring me?" Lily asked as she and James sat down with their friends, except Peter wasn't there.

The other girls traded knowing looks. "We think we know" said Alice, as Elizabeth and Dorcas nodded.

"Why?" Lily felt very confused.

"When we were going home for Christmas break," began Elizabeth, "you know – when you two were sleeping in–" she gestured at Lily and James suggestively "a lot of people asked us what was wrong with you at the dance and why James ran after you...We didn't give them the full story, but we did tell them that you guys are together."

"But how does everybody else know?"

"Oh, come on Lil, you know how gossip spreads like wildfire around this place." said Dorcas. "Besides, and I don't mean to make James' head even more swollen than it already is, but you made one of the school's most infamous eligible bachelors unavailable."

Lily glanced at James, who was smiling smugly. She rolled her eyes at him before continuing, "So your telling me that this girls are just jealous? That's so dumb."

"Yes, they're jealous and, yes, it's very dumb" said Alice

"I know how to shut them up" said James, still smiling arrogantly.

"How?" asked Lily.

He never answered; instead, James pulled Lily into a kiss. But instead of shutting everyone up, the whole hall seemed to break into whispers.

Soon after, Peter sat down next to them, but there was a girl with long, dark brown hair and chocolate colored eyes was with him.

"Guys, this is Josefine Anderson" Peter said, beaming.

Lily and the girls were the first to introduce themselves. Josefine seemed fairly nice, but slightly shy. No wonder she's with Peter, Lily thought. James and Sirius, however, didn't say anything at first. They had noticed the Slytherin emblem on her robes.

But before they said anything to Josefine, Sirius said, "James, I left my History of Magic book in the common room. You wanna go and get it with me?"

It didn't take James two seconds to get the hint. "Sure"

As they got up to leave, Remus caught on as well. "I'm gonna come with you. I left my parchment in the dorm."

As soon as they were out of the Great Hall, Sirius turned to his to friends and said, "She's a Slytherin!" James and Remus both knew they were talking about Josefine.

"You should give her a benefit of the doubt. Just because she's a Slytherin doesn't mean she's evil" said Remus reasonably.

"It's not just that." said Sirius, seeming to have calmed down slightly. "Did you see what Snivellus or any of the other Slytherin slime balls looked like when Peter introduced Josefine?" When James and Remus responded, he continued, "They all looked pretty pleased with themselves and they were lookin' right at us. Why would they be so happy about this?"

"That's a good point," said James. "But Remus is right; we can't attack her just because her house mates are a bunch of assholes."

0000

As the year continued, Lily and James' relationship wasn't the only one's to progress. Peter and Josefine spent nearly all of their time together. Sirius seemed to be the only one who was skeptical of the whole situation. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, he thought to himself more than once.

But then again,... maybe not...