Thanks to all my reviewers!
Disclaimer: Nope, still not JK Rowling.
SIX
Thursday came with blinding speed. Lily fell into the step of planning a party without even knowing it. Tracy had her selecting hors d'oeuvres, choosing music the band would play, and other seemingly pointless tasks that Lily felt completely inept to be handling. She had never had to make such decisions, and worried she would royally screw it up.
When Thursday did finally come along, Lily found herself awake at six in the morning, stressing over the day ahead. It was James' birthday today, the big event. And she had planned a lot of it. She fiddled with the pendant around her neck, looking at her reflection in the mirror. She looked anxious, she admitted.
Well, maybe a good, long shower would solve that.
By the time she emerged from the bathroom, dressed in old jeans and T-shirt, her hair wrapped in a towel, Jenna and Alicia were both awake, and were debating on what they were going to wear.
"I think the red will look good, Alicia," Jenna insisted, holding a very revealing red dress toward her friend.
"I would agree, if there was an actual dress to wear!" Alicia laughed. "Honestly, Jenna, why did you bring that?"
"It's very en mode," Jenna said dramatically. "But hell, how would I know? I went to Sweden for the summer, not France."
Lily shook her head at her friends, and proceeded to towel-dry her hair and run some miracle cream through it that prevented frizz and flyaways. She would swear by the stuff.
She then magically dried it, and manually brushed it and pinned the sides away from her face. It fell silkily to her shoulders, and she smiled at herself in the mirror. Not bad.
"Lily, what are you wearing?" Jenna demanded, holding several articles of clothing in her hands. "I don't know if I should be casual or formal!"
Lily laughed. "Casual for the day, Jenna, formal for the dance." She leaned toward the mirror, applying faint grey shadow to her eyelids.
"Casual as in a dress or slacks?"
"Doesn't matter, Jenna." Lily felt like she had to be endlessly patient with her friend. A difficult feat, sometimes. Lily dragged a smoky liner over her lash line, blinking constantly. She avoided makeup at all costs for this very reason; it was a waste of time.
Finally, Lily set down her brush and looked herself over once more. The smoky effect was bold, she noticed worriedly. Maybe too bold?
"Lily, please-" Jenna stopped short when she saw her friend. "Are you wearing makeup?" she almost squealed.
Lily reached for a cloth. "I was," she sighed.
"No, don't take it off! It looks awesome. You look awesome." Jenna winked at her in the mirror. "James wont know what hit him."
Lily smiled grimly. That was her plan.
-6-
"Happy birthday!" Someone was yelling in his ear, and James blindly flapped his arms at them. "Mate, get up! It's your bloody birthday, and you're gonna sleep through it? Wake up!"
James opened his eyes groggily, and blundered for his glasses. Once on his face, he could see Sirius looming above him, a mischevious expression on his face. He was holding a bottle of water. "Get your arse out of bed!" Sirius yelled again, beating his friend.
"All right!" James laughed, sitting up. "What were you going to do, dump water on my head?" He motioned to the bottle.
Sirius grinned slyly. "Ah, this isn't water, friend." Sirius opened it and let James take a whiff. "Premium Russian vodka! Left outside the door! Along with all sorts of goodies."
James felt his heart skip. Russian vodka could only come from one person: Eva.
"Come on, drink up!" Sirius passed him the bottle. "It's your birthday!"
James took a sip, and shuddered as the alcohol warmed him all the way down to his stomach. It would be enough until that night, when all the adults turned a blind eye and let the students go mad.
James stood up and stretched, mussing his hair as he did so. "What time is it?"
"About nine." Sirius was rummaging through the mass of foil-wrapped gifts and bottles he had dragged inside. "Oi! You've got a bloody jeweler's stock in here!"
"Just what I wanted," James mumbled, and made his way into the bathroom for a shower. He could hear Sirius critiquing all of his birthday gifts in the bedroom, quite loudly and with many profanities. James laughed.
When he did emerge from the bathroom, Remus and Peter had joined Sirius in appreciating all of the presents, ogling and adoring more like it. James rolled his eyes. "Come on! It's not that amazing!"
"James, have you looked at some of this stuff?" Remus sounded awed.
When he did finally go through some of the gifts, he realized why they were so dumbstruck.
He was too.
It was a mountain of invaluable, rare, priceless treasures. Books about old, powerful magic that had been lost for decades; pendants and rings that were emblazoned with his family crest; an old wand that appeared to be made of ebony; bottles of rum and old, expensive wine; bags of gold and jewels; even an ancient compass he recognized from fairytales that could point a man home in any circumstance.
He stared at it all, confounded. Then he looked at his friends. "Are there cards?" he asked weakly, not knowing how he would begin to thank his family and friends for such extravagant gifts.
"On the bed." James saw an equally frightening pile of cards on his bed, threatening to topple over. He went to the pile, and picked one up off the top. From a wizard he recognized only by name.
"Good Lord," he murmured to himself, and opened another, and another. How could all of these people, most of them strangers, afford to give him such gifts?
Oh, right. His name.
He suddenly felt mildly ashamed of himself. Flaunting his heritage and family tree for years, and bragging about his pure blood, and then finding himself in this situation, with no way to even begin to thank these people… It made him slightly sick.
"Lily was right," he said to himself, so his friends couldn't hear. Of course she was right.
He suddenly realized he hadn't seen her in the last few days. She'd always been with Tracy, or with his family, or with Jenna and Alicia. He missed her, he realized. He'd never missed her before. Lusted after her, sure. Thought about how he would win her over, definitely. But he had never felt loneliness without her.
"What time is it again?" he asked absent-mindedly, fingering the card in his hand.
"After nine, now. Almost ten."
James set down the card. They could wait. It was his birthday; and he was going to celebrate his way.
-6-
Lily was downstairs, half a bagel in one hand and a list in the other, watching little house elves decorate the main hall for James' dance. The dinner was going to be held outside, under a sky of tents under which magical lanterns glowed and gossamer was strung. The tables were already set up, draped with red clothes and gold centre pieces. The plates would be put out later in the evening, as well as the feast of food Lily had helped select. Having gone to school with James for years now, she knew which foods he liked and which he couldn't stand.
She had traded her old jeans for black slacks and a dark, dark blue blouse. It had looked too formal in the mirror, but Jenna had refused to let her change. On her feet were a pair of little heels, and she clicked as she walked, which she hated.
"Lily?" someone asked behind her. It was Lauren Bailey, who had been avoiding the teenagers for a few days, since the night of the intrusion, which Brian and Tracy had managed to keep a very tight secret. "Is there supposed to be a mob of people outside?"
Lily frowned. "No," she answered, and followed Lauren to the window facing the front lawn. Camped out on the grass in various-sized tents were straggly individuals, every single one holding a camera.
"Bloody hell," she breathed. This was insane.
She immediately went to find Brian, who quickly dismissed the reporters with a few words Lily was glad she couldn't hear. She resumed her tasks, slightly frazzled by all the attention this party was getting.
"This is insane," she muttered to herself, scratching another item off her list. "What kind of people would do this to their son?"
"Is that an insult to my parents?" a teasing voice asked close to her ear. She jumped a little, but felt goose bumps crawl on her arms.
She turned her head only, not her body, so he couldn't see the full effect of her look. "Absolutely not," she said in a low voice. "It was a mere curiosity."
He chuckled, and she found herself mesmerized by the moment. "Always so curious, Lily," he said, placing his hand on her arm. And he turned her around to face him.
She could see the astonishment in his eyes, and in his face. He looked like he was seeing something crazy, and completely shocking. And she was that something.
It made her feel really special.
"Wow, Lily." His voice was husky in appreciation. "You look amazing."
She smiled coyly, batting her lashes at him. "Why, thank you," she said in her girliest, fakest voice. "Only the best for your birthday."
He smiled crookedly. "Why so sarcastic?"
"That's just what I do."
He shook his head. "You do more than that."
"Do tell." She frowned. "On second thought, don't tell. I don't really want to know."
He leaned down and kissed her cheek tenderly, making her blush beneath her makeup. "Maybe later, then." His eyes glittered in the lamplight above. The sensation of being suspended in clouds hadn't diminished, Lily noted. He was playing it.
"Happy birthday, James," she said softly, not trusting her voice not to crack.
"Thank you, Lily." And he leaned down and kissed her, fully on her lips with such gentleness and care that she could only stand, rooted to the spot on the marble floor, stunned.
When he leaned away, he had a crooked grin on his face. "What, no backlash?"
She shook her head, as shocked as he was. "Not this time."
He feigned a childish expression of mock excitement. "Am I finally winning over Lily Evans?"
She laughed. "We shall see, Potter."
And they started to walk together, his protests to her reverting back to his surname echoing through the halls.