Hello(: A big thanks to Weasley-and-Proud, MKaseyM, JessandDarcy, computer geek, SnowandJames4eva, Jannice Sace, and pixies114 for reviewing!
I want to dedicate this chapter to best friends, having lost mine four years ago, I know what a treasure they really are. And a big thank you to the ladies that were there to help me pick up the pieces: Caitlin, Ellie, Jasminne; this is for you too(:
Sirius POV
"So," I said to Alice, "we know something happened, we are just not sure what."
"James hasn't told you?" she asked incredulously.
"No!" I almost shouted, and it was driving me crazy. I mean really, not telling his best mate? Was he mental? The curiosity was killing me!
"Well someone obviously isn't as trustworthy as they thought," Alice said smugly.
"Wait, Lily told you? SHE FREAKING TOLD YOU?"
"Not everything, she just told me that things are different with James now and that he really understands what she's going through. I'm glad, it's good that she finally has someone to really talk to."
"So whatever Lily went through is something James would understand?"
"I just said that you idiot."
I was slowly putting the pieces together, but my brain was stubbornly hoping that my conclusions weren't true.
"Mad Hatter, I must bid you adieu. There is a certain dark haired gentleman I must speak with."
"Whatever weirdo," she said with a laugh before I lowered my mirror. I made my way out of the secret spy den (aka my bedroom) down to the only place James and Lily could be found these days; the gazebo in the willow grove.
Of course, they were right where I thought they'd be, and in the same position too. For the past week, Lily and James sat out here for at least two hours a day, heads bent close together in deep conversation. I think I finally knew what they were talking about.
"Lillian!" I called from a good distance away, "Do you mind if I borrow our dear James here for a moment?" She looked startled to hear me; it was an unspoken rule that no one bothered James and Lily when they were out here.
"Sure," she said after a moment, "I'll just go in and start dinner." She got up to leave, but only after giving James a kiss on the cheek; well, that was a new development. I made my way to the gazebo, sitting across from an angry James.
"Really? You had to show up now?"
"What? Were you about to snog?" he shot me a look, "Holy shit! You were about to snog!"
"Well, I guess we'll never know now!" he snapped.
"You'll have plenty of time, a whole year in fact."
"Yeah, well," he brushed it off, "so what did you want to talk about?"
"Did Lily's parents die?"
Whatever he had been expecting, it wasn't that. He shot me a look before answering, "How did you know that?"
"So they did."
"Did she tell you?"
"No…I just…had a feeling."
He sighed before seeming to deflate, "Yeah, yeah they did. That's what we've been talking about for the last week."
"Does she know? About Mum and Dad, I mean."
"Yeah, she knows. She gets it, you know? All that anger I had toward everyone disappears with her. Every other girl makes me so mad because I just picture them living their perfect lives and thinking of me as some object who would fit in with their life so well; but not Lily. She knows me; I'm just a person to her. I don't know, that probably sounds so girly-"
"No, mate, I get it." We sat in silence for a little while; both lost in our own thoughts.
"She's good for you, you know," I said, almost conversationally. James smiled a rueful smile.
"I know. I just wish there was something I could do for her. I really fancy her, Sirius and I just don't want to screw this up."
"You won't. Girls may think you are an asshole, James, but you aren't. Have you asked her out yet?"
"No, we haven't talked about that too much, but I'm pretty sure she fancies me. I don't just want to ask her out, I want it to be something special."
And suddenly, the wheels in my brain started turning again and I knew exactly what James had to do.
"Mate, I got it!"
Lily POV
"Seriously, what is it with you and taking me on super secret trips?" I half complained while James jumped around me like a child.
"They are just a lot of fun! C'mon, you can't tell me you don't like it."
"Yeah okay," I said with a smile, "I like it a little."
"A little?"
"Fine!" I said with a joking stomp of my foot, "I like it a lot."
"That's what I thought. Are you ready to go?"
"I was born ready for this," I said in an overly enthusiastic voice.
"Just shut up and take my hand."
"Anytime." He smiled at me once more before pulling me into oblivion.
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"Where are we?" I said before I even had a moment to look around.
"We," James replied in an overly dramatic voice, "are at your senior trip. Well, not exactly your senior trip, but close enough to it."
For a moment I was struck speechless. All the feelings that I had been trying to put aside for the past week and a half came up to the surface. Before I could think too much about it, I ran into James' arms and attacked him with a bear hug.
"Thank you," I whispered into his neck, "you didn't have to do that."
I felt rather than saw his responding smile, "But I did, Lily. Come on, you need a tour."
He led me around a beautiful lake that had trees surrounding it and a dock in the middle. Up the path from the lake stood a solid log cabin; big enough for six.
"How did you do this?" I asked in wonder, "this is almost exactly what we had planned for the trip!"
"A little birdie told me," he said with a smile, "now let's go inside!"
The inside of the cabin was gorgeous; exposed beams, thick carpets, and plush furniture added a homey yet sophisticated feel to the room. Leading off the main room was a kitchen, game room, and two bedrooms and up the stairs sat a bedroom loft with an attached ensuite.
"This is definitely nicer than sharing a cabin with forty other people," I sighed happily.
"So I take that to mean you like it?" James asked nervously.
"I love it, thank you."
"Anything for you, Lils," he said with a smile. For a moment, I get lost in James' eyes; but before we have time to move any further than that, he speaks.
"So, should we unpack?"
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"Dinner is ready, James!" I call from the kitchen.
"I'll be right there, Lily!" he says as his feet pound down the stairs.
"And here I am, miss me?" he asks cheekily.
"Never, you giant toad. Now, sit down and eat before your supper gets cold."
"Yes, mother," he says with a roll of his eyes. For a moment we both tense at the mention of mothers, but we manage to skate over it.
"Lils," he says after a few minutes of intense eating, "this is bloody delicious!"
"It's just some homemade pizza, James. Nothing that special."
"That's what you think," he says with a snort, "you could totally sell this as a drug."
Now it's my turn to snort, "hilarious, Mr. Potter."
"You think I'm kidding, but I'm not."
"Oh, just eat!"
"Whatever the madam says."
I stick my tongue out at him and in a moment we collapse into a fit of giggles. And not for the first time that week, I hold on to the hope that James will reach across the table and kiss me. Of course, he never does.
James POV
"Why the bloody hell aren't you kissing her?" I whisper to myself for what feels like the one hundredth time this weekend. For the last two days, Lily and I have enjoyed countless perfect moments: swimming in the lake, cooking dinner together, laying staring at the stars at night, taking long walks through the woods. Each and every one had that perfect 'first kiss moment', and I let every moment pass me by. And now, here we are, our last night alone here with only two weeks before school starts.
"James!" she calls from the house, "are you coming in soon? It looks like it's about to rain."
"I'll be there in a minute, Lils! Are you almost done packing?"
She makes a face before answering, "Sadly. Oz, I don't want to leave here. What would you say if we stayed here forever and just skipped our final year of school?"
"I'd be all for it, but I don't think Remus would be too happy if I left him alone with Sirius and Peter."
"Can't say I blame him," she giggles, "just hurry up and come inside, alright?'
"Sure thing," I call back. Slowly, I make my way out of the water, savoring my last dip in the lake. From my peripheral I see Lily stare at my bare chest; when she catches me spying, she seems to clear her head and then makes her way inside. Well, at least I know she's interested.
"Make your move, James," I mutter as I walk slowly back to the cabin, "time is running out."
Lily POV
This is just getting ridiculous. I'm sitting outside looking at the stars, James is inside swearing at the suitcase he is attempting to pack; I giggle to myself because he keeps seeming to forget he has the ability to do magic.
But that is not what is ridiculous. It's the fact that after countless opportunities, he still hasn't kissed me. That's it. Time to take things into my own hands.
James POV
From my place upstairs I hear the cabin door slam open.
"Lily?" I call, "Is that you?"
"Yes it's me." she answers with an attitude, "I have a serious question to ask you." She says once she has made her way to the loft, "why the hell haven't you kissed me yet?"
Okay, that definitely wasn't what I expected.
Lily POV
"Um, well, it's just-" he splutters before I interrupt him.
"A straight answer, James. Why?"
"I just couldn't find a good moment," he manages to get out.
I snort in derision, "couldn't find a moment? Are you kidding me? There have been at least ten good moments today!"
"Well I'm sorry that not all of us have the balls that you do!" he shouts, getting angry.
"So you want to kiss me?"
"Of course I do! I've wanted to kiss you for the past month!"
"Good." And before I have time to think about it, I stride across the loft, grab his face between my hands, and kiss him. For a moment he stands there shocked. Once he registers what I'm doing his lips respond to mine. He wraps his arms around my waist and presses me back against the wall. I smile against his lips; he backs away for a moment.
"What?" he asks, his dazzling smile matching my own.
"Nothing," I said with a shake of my head, "just kiss me."
"Gladly, Miss Evans," and then I'm lost.
James POV
"So," I say later that night as Lily and I cuddle in the upstairs bed, "when we tell this story to people here's how it's going down. We had a fight in the kitchen, and in a fit of pique you put on your suit and swam all the way to the dock. I followed you, jumped on the dock and walked right up to you and kissed you with the passion of a thousand fiery suns. You collapsed in my arms and we proceeded to do unspeakable things to each other in the water. A convincing story, if I say so myself."
She giggles from her place in my arms, "Yeah okay, because that sounds so believable."
I gasp in fake indignation, "Are you saying I'm not manly enough to pull that off?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying, Potter. Maybe if you were as masculine as Sirius…"
"You little wench!"
"James!" she gasps, "stop tickling me!"
"Take back what you said wench!" I yell while continuing to tickle her.
"I take it back, I take it back!" she says in breathless laughter.
"Now say I am super manly and super awesome."
"You are super manly and super awesome," she says with one last giggle.
"Good," I say, giving her a sound kiss, "I'm happy we are in agreement."
"You are impossible," she says.
"You love me," I retort. I feel her tense in my arms, "Oh, Lils, I didn't mean, I mean we just started, I don't expect you to-"
She silences me with a kiss, "I do though."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Well good, I do too."
"You what?" she says with a smile in her voice.
I give her one more slow, heated kiss, "I love you, Lily."
Lily POV
"How was the camping trip, you two kids?" is the first thing out of Sirius' mouth when we open the door to Potter Manor the next morning. He stops for a moment and realizes James has my hand clasped in his.
"I take it things went well then," he says with uncontainable glee.
"Very well," James says with a smile, "so what happened was-"
"I kissed him," I butt in, "he didn't have the courage to do it himself."
"Lily!" James hisses, "what about our story?" I laugh and then he breaks down too.
Sirius just shakes his head at us, "you two were a match made in creepy heaven."
"You know it!" I call as he walks away with my bags.
"Lily!" Remus shouts from the top of the staircase, "I have something for you! It came the day you two left."
"Oh well hey, Remus, nice to see you too." When I see the anxiousness in his eyes, I put all kidding aside and face him.
"What's up?"
"I don't know, just read it." I let go of James' hand and take the proffered letter.
James POV
"Lily?" I whisper after she finishes reading the letter, "are you okay?"
"I-I have to go upstairs," she says, tears springing in her eyes. She hands me the letter without looking at me, "read it, I don't mind." And with that, she runs up the staircase without a glance back. I open up the letter:
Dear Lily,
How has your summer been, dear? Are the Potters pleasant? That James seemed like such a sweetheart at the ball.
I'm actually writing with some exciting news! I've discussed it with your Aunts Astrid and Beatrice and we decided that it would be best for you to go back to Salem for your last year. I don't think it was right of us to try and make you go to a new school with only one year left. Besides, you didn't even have time to settle in England, I'm sure you kids just stayed at home most of the time; rumor has it that James never leaves the house.
I'll be over this Sunday to collect you, I hope you'll have everything packed! I know school starts a week earlier in America, so I already purchased all your books and took care of your living arrangements.
Looking forward to finally seeing you,
Aunt Carla
Well shit. This definitely ruins everything.
A/N: Sorry it's been so long! I got to college a few weeks ago and things have been a whirlwind! Classes, football, parties…fun but very time consuming(:
But things are settling in, so I'm hoping to get into more of a routine (especially because I'm taking really easy classes)
Please leave a review! I swear I'll update sooner this time around!