Summary: He thought she hated him. She thought she was just bragging rights. He kept missing his chances. She was running away scared. A story of love that follows Lily and James from 6th year until graduation. R/R!
Disclaimer: So no one sues me, I'm not JKR, I could never compare to JKR and you all know that. She is the almighty goddess of all things Harry Potter/magic. Her riches are not mine. Enjoy!
Chapter Eighteen Summary: The aftermath of Lily and James finally getting together. Sirius keeps saying hell froze over, James pays Remus fifty galleons, Lily isn't afraid of what the school thinks, James is in bliss. There is still evil going on despite the happiness, and Voldemort has gone to see Dumbledore about getting the DADA position.
A/N: Last chapter was a total cop-out. I'm sorry. I had the urge to write it but didn't have time to make a full thing of it, and I didn't want to wait a hundred years to stick it onto this chapter. Please forgive me ((dazzling smile)) and enjoy!
Lily had never really enjoyed Quidditch. Over the years, there had been exciting moments, and the after parties in the common room were always great fun, but the overall sport had never made her go crazy with anticipation like everyone else in the school.
This game wasn't exactly different for Lily. Once again, the overall game wasn't keeping her on the edge of her seat. There was one thing that was, though. One person to be exact.
She had never truly admired how well James flew. Lily supposed because she spent so many years pretending James was worthless; she had denied the fact he was outstanding at Quidditch, pranking, and schoolwork. Now that she was seeing clearly, the grace and beauty of James' flight was apparent. His diving, weaving, flipping and scoring was breathtaking. James seemed to glide more than any other player on the field, although there was an edge, a need to his flying that gave Lily the strangest thrill. Watching his desperation made her need him more.
That was the greatest part, the realization that Lily's need was easily remedied since she did have him, and she wasn't letting go any time soon, never if she could help it. She had been such a fool, stubbornly believing she hated him. It had only hurt them both nearly beyond repair in the end. If only she had known she would have this glorious feeling of belonging to him and him belonging to her, Lily would have caved months sooner. Possibly even years.
"Potter scores again! That's 130 to 110, Gryffindor!" the announcer screamed. Lily came out of her James cloud and cheered with Aurelia, Remus and Peter in the stands.
"Ravenclaw is getting angry!" Peter shouted.
Remus nodded. "Rita needs to hurry up and get the Snitch, before Ravenclaw gets their edge back."
"She'll get it!" Peter said confidently.
Just as Peter spoke, Tom Vanpelt, Chaser for Ravenclaw, scored on Gryffindor's new 4th year Keeper, Roland Dale. The Gryffindors and supporters groaned as the score became much too close for comfort.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this game just became a nail biter!" the announcer screamed. "Mackenzie has possession of the Quaffle, passes to Woods, then Potter, then Woods, then Mackenzie, then Potter – look at him fly! –"
I know, Lily thought to herself, the same possessive and proud feeling coming over her as she watched him zoom towards the goal posts.
"Potter prepares for the shot – no! He throws it to Mackenzie who scores! 140 to 120, Gryffindor! Towsley in possession, passes to Vanpelt. Furbish beats back a Bludger sent by Black…AND GARBUNKAL HAS SEEN THE SNITCH!"
The crowd rose to its feet as Rita went zooming upwards, followed closely by Ravenclaw's Seeker and only female teammate, Hannah Kirbie. They twisted in the air as the Snitch tried desperately to hide away. Rita dodged a Bludger sent by Furbish, but Hannah was not so lucky. Her fellow teammate's tactic meant to wound the opposing team backfired and the whole stadium heard the crunch as the Bludger made contact with Hannah's knee. She crumpled against her broom and began to fall. Madam Hooch slowed her down so she hit the ground with an only slightly unpleasant thump as Rita caught the Snitch.
"AND GRYFFINDOR WINS! 290 TO 120!"
Lily screamed with the rest of the Gryffindors as the team huddled around Rita, congratulating her. Sirius kissed her full on the mouth in front of the entire school. McGonagall, who was next to Lily in the Professors' box, severely pursed her lips and Lily had a feeling Sirius would be earning a detention for that stunt.
As Lily turned her gaze back to the huddle in the sky, she saw a figure on a broom fast approaching her. A second later she recognized James, zipping to her with a huge grin on his face that made her heart melt.
"What are you doing over here?" Lily teased once he was close enough to hear her over the screaming. "Shouldn't you be receiving congratulations with the rest of your team?"
James landed and ignored the crowd patting him on the back, looking into Lily's eyes with a small smile on his face. "I wanted a congratulations from you," James whispered. His lips were so close Lily could feel the vibrations of his voice.
Unable to resist, Lily connected their lips and gave more congratulations then she could ever say. She broke away when McGonagall scandalously said, "Mr. Potter and Ms. Evans! Please desist!"
Lily's face turned scarlet and James gave her a lopsided grin. "Yes ma'am!" James said importantly to McGonagall and squeezed Lily's hand before he hopped onto his broom and followed his team into the locker rooms. Lily watched him go, wishing she could even get on a broom, much less fly with the exquisiteness James did, and then let herself be pulled back to the castle by her friends.
"Have you seen James?" Sirius asked as he entered the dorm room, throwing down his book bag as he did so.
Remus looked up from his book. "Not since Potions with you. Why?"
Sirius shrugged as he pulled off his cloak. "Just haven't seen him since Potions. He was supposed to get together with me on our free period and get our Transfiguration homework for the week out of the way. But he never showed up."
"He was probably with Lily," Remus said absentmindedly, turning back to his book.
Snorting, Sirius removed his shoes and tie and then flopped backward on the bed, sighing irately as he did so. Remus looked at his best friend, then put his book down next to him on the bed. He sat up and said, "Okay. What's wrong?"
It didn't take much effort to extract information from Sirius. He immediately began his tirade. "I only ever see him alone after Quidditch practice or here. But he's barely in here." Sirius sighed again, then looked sideways at Remus. "Don't get me wrong, I'm bloody happy for him. It's nice to see him happy. But…" Sirius trailed off , looking down at his bedspread.
"But you miss him," Remus finished for him. Sirius shrugged.
They sat in silence for a moment. Remus finally said, "I feel the same way–"
Sirius punched the bedspread. "Thank you. I thought I was just being a horrible friend."
"Let me finish. I feel the same way, but we have to remember how we were when we first started dating Rita and Aurelia. How often did we hang out with James?"
Sirius waved his hand dismissively. "That's different. He was still spending all his time with Lily."
"Only because–"
"I talked to Rita, she says Lily still finds plenty of time to hang out with her and Aurelia. It's just a problem James has…" Sirius continued, ignoring Remus.
Sighing, Remus picked his book back up. It was no use trying to make Sirius to see reason.
"Bloody good practice, everyone," James said enthusiastically to his team some weeks later. "We should be in good shape for the Slytherin match. Everyone rest up this weekend, catch up on homework, because I'm going to start double practices–"
Everyone groaned loudly.
"–to be ready for the match," James continued over the groans. "Again, good work. Team dismissed."
His team began complaining about the amount of work they had to do as they walked off the pitch. Rita held her hand out for Sirius to walk to the locker room with her, but he simply kissed her cheek and whispered, "I'm going to talk to James, I'll see you later."
Rita nodded. "Good luck," she whispered back, and made her way to the lockers.
Sirius watched her walk away, then went over to James who was closing the lid on the equipment box. "Want a hand?" he asked.
"Yeah, mate," James said, grabbing one handle and offering the other to James.
They walked in silence for a minute. Sirius decided to test James before he started his discussion. "When we get, changed do you want to work on that prank we talked about this summer? You know, the contortionist one?"
James wrinkled his nose. "I didn't really like that one. Plus, I think Lily is expecting me. We haven't had much alone time lately."
Sirius snorted as they stowed away the equipment box and began changing. "Really? You seem to be around her all the time."
Shrugging, James said, "Not really. We are always around other people or studying."
Sirius finished changing and looked incredulously at James. "Last night you ditched me and Peter because you were off with her. And I know you weren't studying because Remus was on patrol and caught you two on top of the Astronomy Tower."
James started laughing. "First off, ditched is a strong word, and are you having Remus follow me?"
Without warning, Sirius slammed his locker shut. James jumped and started to ask what was wrong when Sirius said, "Whatever. Treat it as a huge joke. See if I care."
With that, Sirius stormed out of the locker room, heading to the castle. He didn't slow when James raced after him, calling his name or when Rita asked him what was wrong as he stomped through the common room and up to the dormitory. Once he got there, he growled angrily and the dormitory door shut with a bang on its own accord. Sirius threw himself onto the bed, kicking a post on the way.
A second later the door burst open and James marched into the room, stowing his wand away. "What the hell was that about?" he demanded.
Sirius sat up on the bed and began shouting. "You are always with her! I'm with you at meal times, on breaks, and during class, but she's always there! I see you alone at practice for about five minutes, and then in the morning here, but that's only enough time to complain about homework and rave about how wonderful Lily is. I feel like I don't have a best friend anymore!"
James sputtered, "That's not true!"
"Oh yes it is, James."
"Where did all this come from?" James asked. "Lily and I have been together for a month and you haven't even hinted that you were pissed off."
"Let's see," Sirius said sarcastically, putting a finger to his chin, "maybe because I never see you. That couldn't possibly be it!"
James held his hand up. "Don't be like that."
"Like what?"
"Like I'm a complete imbecile for not realizing you were angry. Just because you're mad I'm finally happy."
Sirius gaped at him. "I'm mad you're happy? Where is the logic in that? I am beyond glad you two idiots are finally together."
"Don't call her an idiot!"
"I was calling you one, too!"
"When you and Rita first started going out, I never saw you. Ever. And I didn't like it, but I knew it made you happy so I supported you!" James shot at him.
"Oh please!" Sirius said. "You used the little time we were apart to get cozy with Lily!"
"But I wanted my best friend!" James protested.
"Well, now you know how I feel."
James ran a hand through his hair and glared at Sirius. "Look, I'm sorry you're jealous of Lily–"
"Jealous? You think I want to spend my free time snogging you?" Sirius snapped.
"You know exactly what I mean," James said as calmly as he could. "You are jealous she is getting all of my time–"
"You just think you are so important, don't you?" Sirius interrupted again.
"Fine!" James finally growled, unable to deal with him when he was being like this. "You say I spend too much time with her, and then when I say you're upset she is getting all of my time, you get pissed off. Be that way, Sirius. When you figure out what exactly you're upset about, let me know."
James left the dorm, slamming the door behind him. When he reached the common room, everyone was looking at him and James realized that their shouting must have been quite loud.
"I'm guessing you guys didn't settle anything," Rita said when James reached the sofa all of his friends were at.
"You knew he was upset?" James asked.
Rita nodded. Lily took James' hand and pulled him onto the sofa. "Let him calm down," she said quietly. "And you do need to make more time for him. I make time for Rita and Aurelia."
"If you think I'm making time for that prat…" James started angrily, then diffused it mid-sentence. He looked at Remus, who was sitting on the floor next to Aurelia. "Am I really ignoring you guys that much?"
Remus looked uncomfortable. "It's true we don't see you very often. I mean, we haven't done a prank since the first week of school. Not that I'm complaining…"
James shut his eyes and let out a breath of air. "I'm sorry," he said, then rested his head in the crook of Lily's neck. "Now I feel like a prat."
"It's not your fault," Lily said, brushing his messy hair. "It's mine, too. In fact," Lily sat up a little bit, "I'll go talk to him."
James gave a short laugh and pulled Lily back down as she tried to stand up. "Yeah right. He might be madder at you than at me. And you wouldn't like him when he's angry."
"He's been angry at me before," Lily said confidently, kissing the tip of James' nose. "I'll be right back, and I'll be perfectly fine. If the shouting gets really bad, Rita can come up."
James looked like he would protest, but Lily gave him a puppy dog look, and he nodded reluctantly.
Hesitantly, Lily knocked on the door of the boys' dormitory. "You can go away James, or Remus. If it's Rita, I'll talk to you tomorrow," was the voice that answered her.
"Wrong on all counts. It's Lily, can I come in for a second?"
The silence was so long that Lily took that to mean she wasn't welcome. She was turning to leave when she heard an angry sigh and the heavy padding of feet when the door opened. "How can I help you?" Sirius sneered.
"I just wanted to talk for a second," Lily said calmly.
"Why, so you can tell me to shut it and let James spend all his time with you?" Sirius lashed.
Lily looked at him seriously in the eyes. "Do you really believe I would think that, let alone say it?"
Sirius looked at his feet and shook his head once. "The old Lily might," he said, trying to maintain his anger.
"Can I come in?" Lily persisted.
Sirius swung the door further to let her in. Lily walked to the bed she knew was James' and sat there. Sirius rolled his eyes at her selection. "Marking your territory?"
"Would you rather I sat on your bed?"
Laughing sincerely, Sirius shook his head. "James would murder me. Rita too, probably."
Lily smiled with him. "Then I'll just stay here."
Shrugging, Sirius sat himself on his bed, his eyes a little less dark. "What did you want to say?"
Lily thought being straightforward was the best way to handle the situation. "There is no need for you and James to be fighting. I'm sorry I've stolen so much of his time. We have just waited so long to be together–"
"Too true," Sirius injected.
"–and we are finding it a little difficult to manage our priorities."
"You seem to be managing yours much better than him," Sirius said bitterly.
Lily laughed. "I have lots of practice. James, you and James, are more of the spur-of-the-moment kind of guys."
Smirking a little, Sirius said, "Maybe you should help with that during all that time you spend together."
"I'm going to try really hard to not make me an issue in your friendship ever again," Lily promised. "Remember last year, when you basically told me to grow up and stop messing with James?" Sirius nodded. Lily stood and went over to his bed, taking his hand. Sirius smiled at the irony of the situation. "You have no idea how much you helped me, how much you helped both of us. For that I owe you, and if giving you more time with James to do things that I probably won't approve of–" Sirius sniggered "–is the least I can do, I will gladly give it to you."
"Even if what we are doing is planning a way to make it impossible for freaks like you to study non-stop for N.E.W.T.'s?" Sirius joked.
Lily mock-grimaced. "Just don't tell me what you're doing in advance."
Sirius laughed and patted her hand. "You're alright, Evans. I'm happy my idiot of a friend is with you."
Lily grinned. "I'm glad my idiot of a boyfriend has you for a best mate."
Author Notes: Sucky chapter, I know. Part of the reason it took me forever to get this out, and the last chapter (besides mountains of real life blocking my path to the computer), is because I was not looking forward to transitioning into Lily and James' relationship. I wrote a Sirius jealousy scene in Hogsmeade Kiss that I thought was pretty good, but I wanted to make this one a little different. I struggled with that, and that is why it sucks. Plus I feel all guilty for not working on more of my original stories and instead playing in JK Rowling's world. I promise the next chapter (whenever it comes out) will be much fluffier.
Please R/R!