"Have a great Christmas Lily." Alice said warmly.
"You too Alice." Lily replied as she hugged her best friend before watching Alice head out of the station with her parents.
They had all just walked through the barrier at King's Cross after catching the train home for the Christmas holidays. All her friends had gone now, leaving her to say her goodbyes to James.
"I'm having a party at new years, do you want to come?" asked James.
Lily nodded, "Will your parents be there?"
"My dad takes my mum away for new year, it's their wedding anniversary on new years day."
"That's nice, write me a time and when you want me and I'll be there."
James wrapped his arms around her waist and placed his lips to her ear.
"I want you all the time." he whispered.
Lily grinned as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"I gathered that."
"I hope you like your Christmas presents."
"Plural?" Lily asked.
James nodded, "It's our first Christmas together, I thought I'd spoil you."
"There's no need-
"Lily, let me."
She rolled her eyes as her forehead bumped against his. Her lips met his and kissed him enthusiastically, knowing that it would be a while until she next saw him. Lily wanted him to remember this kiss, for it was the last one that they would share until their next meeting. They both had no idea how long they had been kissing until they heard a feminine cough behind them. Lily pulled away and flushed scarlet when she saw that it had been her mother who had coughed and Petunia stood next to her mother, looking absolutely unimpressed.
"Mum, Petunia. This is my boyfriend James."
"Nice to meet you Mrs Evans." said James, letting go of Lily and shaking Rose's hand.
"Lily, isn't this the boy who harassed you for years?" asked Rose.
James turned back to Lily with a raised eyebrow, surprised that Lily had even mentioned his name to her parents before they had begun dating.
"Yes mother now can we go?" Lily pleaded, still flushing in embarassment.
"Lovely to meet you James, you're welcome to come over for dinner during the holidays." said Rose.
Rose and Petunia took Lily's luggage and made a slow walk out of the station. Lily turned to face James who was smirking at her.
"Wipe that smirk off your face Potter." Lily hissed.
"So your mum knew about me before I became your boyfriend?" asked James, still grinning.
"This is doing wonders for your ego isn't it?"
James nodded amusingly, "It's nice to know that I had an effect on you for years."
Lily rolled her eyes, "I need to go."
"I'll write everyday, I'll see you soon."
"Bye James." Lily whispered and went to turn.
Before she could catch up with her mother and sister, James spun her back around and claimed her lips in a fierce kiss. Lily felt herself becoming weak as she wrapped her arms around him once more and he lifted her off her feet. After a few months of dating, he still had this affect on her. When he finally placed her back to the ground and released her from the kiss, she had made it up in her mind that she was going to take his breath away at his new years eve party.
"That's how you say goodbye to me Evans."
"I'll write you when I get home."
"Have a good Christmas Lily."
"You too James."
The days leading up to Christmas Eve were unbearable for Lily. Petunia had invited Vernon round for dinner and Lily had come to find that she detested the man. He was unsympathetic when he talked about how he hated passing beggars in the street and to Lily, this clearly showed that if he knew about her being a witch; he would have no tolerance for her at all. But in many ways he and Petunia rather suited, for Petunia hated her since she got her acceptance letter all those years ago.
It was also the day before Christmas Eve when Lily found out that Jeremy was still in contact with her mother. She had been doing the washing up with her mother when Rose let slip about Jeremy asking her for advice on how to win Lily back(for Jeremy had met her mother the christmas before and had been instantly liked by Rose) and Lily felt furious.
Lily had to fill her mother in on what had happened within the last few months and although Rose sympathised with Lily, she also told her that everyone deserved a second chance. Unfortunately, Petunia had heard the conversation and took enjoyment out of the fact that Jeremy was expecting a baby with a sixteen year old girl. It was then that Lily wrote to James asking to stay with him for the remainder of the holiday and packed her bags. Although her mother asked her not to go, Lily stated that she was fed up of Petunia's snide comments about her; she couldn't stay under the same roof as Petunia if her sister couldn't realise that she couldn't change who she was.
As she walked through the night, she waved her wand and her belongings instantly went to James's house. She was armed with only her wand now, apparating not far from the Leaky Cauldorn, where she had asked James to meet her. There was an eery chill in the air as she walked through the streets, the lamps flickering. She kept her hand tight on her wand, just in case. You never knew what could happen these days.
She wasn't far from the Leaky Cauldron when it happened. Explosions were happening all around her, streetlamps falling. Lily ran, seeing hooded figures flying around her. She bumped into a figure, looking up and felt relieved to see that it was James. He had been waiting for her, outside the entrance to the pub on the muggle side of London.
James and Lily started firing back hexed at the Death Eaters, both scared but willing to fight for their lives. The thing that Lily found strange was that the Death Eaters weren't killing them, which is something that Lily guessed they usually did. She had no idea why until a hex from a Death Eater caused a deep slash on James's cheek and the Death Eaters instantly stopped fighting. There was no-one else around to witness the scene, no-one else to witness Voldemort himself appeared before them.
"Your efforts are useless." Voldemort said in a high cold voice which caused Lily to shiver.
James took a firm hold of her hand, staring defiantly at the evil wizard.
"Doesn't mean I won't try." James growled.
"I've been told about you James Potter. Bravery, Loyalty. Those are some traits I admire in my friends."
"Your point?" James snapped.
"You're a pure blood. Join me. Help me shape our world into what it is meant to be and put purebloods in their place. Your little girlfriend can join too."
"If I don't?"
"Then I'll kill you."
James looked down at Voldemort's feet and noticed a drain, keeping a firm grip on Lily's hand he turned his gaze back to Voldemort.
"Not today."
Voldemort grinned darkly, "You underestimate me, fool."
Before anyone could blink, James pointed his wand at the drain and yelled "EXPULSO." causing the drain to blow up. Voldemort's screams deafened them and Lily felt herself being sucked into the air as James apparated the two of them away.
They were in a bedroom, painted blue with the Gryffindor hangings around the room. Various photos of James with the other marauders pinned to a board above the desk. As James sat on the bed and summoned some dittany from the en-suite, Lily noticed that one of the pictures the pictures pinned to the board was one of her and James dancing at the fountain, it must have recently been added as it looked quite new.
She hurried over to him and applied the dittany to the slash on his face, causing James to gasp as he felt new skin develop over the wound. She was shaking violently, terrified after the ordeal she had just faced. She had never been more thankful to James then she was right now. He had saved them both with quick thinking and luck.
James sat her on the bed and held her into his chest, soothing her with a humming tune. After several minutes, she looked up to face him.
"Thank you." she whispered.
"I'll always protect you Lily, no matter what." James replied softly.
Her eyes locked into his, a feeling that she had never felt before built up inside her. She was certain of something now, something to which she and James had agreed upon they would wait. She pressed her lips to his and kissed him in a slow and gentle passion which she hoped expressed what she wanted. Tonight she could've been killed and was eternally grateful to James for saving them both, now she needed to become one with him. She realised that she couldn't be without him, that she loved him.
When her hands shakily unbuttoned his shirt, she removed it and ran her hands down his bare chest before tucking her fingers lightly behind the waistband of his jeans. James pulled away from her and looked at her in surprise. She had never done that before and he could only hope that she wasn't teasing.
"Lily, do you want it?"
She nodded, "I'm ready." she whispered.
James kissed her forehead lightly as he fell back on the bed and pulled her on top of him.
"You're sure?"
"I need you, I can't be without you."
"Lily-
"James after tonight, it's made things rather clear to me. I can't live my life without you, now that I have you I want to have everything. I've fallen in love with you." she whispered.
James sighed in relief, "I love you." he whispered back to her.
Smiling, she pressed her lips back to his and as the clothing slowly came away, James and Lily spent their first night together. Both experiencing a new meaning of how to express their love for the other and both loving that they had met the one that they couldn't be without.
A/N: Hope you all liked this chapter, it's currently 23.54 and couldn't sleep so decided to write this. Will be concluding this story soon, I need to tie up some loose ends with Georgia and Jeremy and decided to make Lily and James defy Voldemort for the first time in this chapter. Keep the reviews coming :)