Chapter 37: Don't Go

I made a move to lift her trunk, but she stopped me with a hand. She pointed her wand at the trunks and levitated both of them up to the racks while rolling her eyes at me. I gave her a sheepish smile. It's the Christmas holidays and the boys, Lily, and I decided to go to my parents' house. I was a little worried about asking Lily to come, but finally, when I did, she warmly accepted. Padfoot slid open the compartment door, looking proud of himself. If he hadn't sworn of girls, I would've thought he just got laid.

"What'd you do?" I asked eagerly. He gave me an affronted look.

"What makes you think I did anything?" He demanded, sitting across from me and Lily.

"Your shoulders were back, your head was held high, and you were smirking. You definitely did something." Lily said as I slid an arm around her waist.

"Fine." He sighed. Always the drama. He leaned closer to us. "I took Moony's chocolate stash." He whispered.

"You WHAT?" I yelled, causing Lily to jump a little. "Wait, how'd you find it? We've been looking for it for ages!"

"It was completely by accident." He confessed. "See, I accidentally pushed The Map behind Moony's bedside table. So I leaned over to reach behind it, picked it up, and as I was rising, I kind of jumped, because I hit my hand on the table, and I hit something. I looked around, but there was nothing there. So I did Finite Incantatem randomly in the air, hoping to hit something, and after a few tries, a bag hanging mid air appeared. I looked inside, and saw his chocolate stash. And then I stole it, and ran." He finished proudly.

"PADFOOT!" Moony yelled, appearing at the compartment door and looking absolutely murderous. Padfoot smiled back at him gleefully while Moony threw him a glare. It was actually really fun to watch these two argue and fight. I exchanged a glance with Lily and she rolled her eyes. She put her feet up on the seat and curled into my side a little more.

"Good day, Moony. How absolutely sniffing to see you!" Padfoot gave him a wide smile.

"I know you have my chocolate stash!" Moony barked with a voice I rarely heard him use. Someone's a bit possessive! Padfoot didn't say anything, only smiled back at him. Then, Moony's grimace started to turn into more of a smirk. He crossed his arm and nonchalantly sat next to Padfoot. Now, Padfoot's wide smile flattered. "I guess I don't have to give you MY awesome Christmas present I bought at Quality Quiddtich Supplies." Moony stressed. Padfoot's eyes went as wide as Galleons.

"Woah, taking it TOO far there, Moony." I shook my head. "Blackmailing with Quidditch? That definitely wasn't nice." I said. Lily laughed, but Moony raised an eyebrow at me.

"While you still have my chocolate stash, I'm not giving you your present from Quality Quidditch Supplies." He stressed again. I could see various parts of Padfoot twitch: His eyes, his mouth, his hand and his leg. He finally jumped up, pulled out a bag from his trunk and pushed it into Moony's hands.

"HERE!" He huffed, sitting back down and crossing his arms over his chest with a put-out look.

"Well, think about it this way- at least you found it once." Wormtail said, opening the compartment door and sliding into the area between Padfoot and Moony.

"Yeah, we didn't think YOU would find it." I added. Padfoot nodded glumly.

"Wait," He said, furrowing his eyebrows, "What's that supposed to mean?" He demanded.

"I believe it was an implication of your frequent stupidity." Lily offered.

"You guys are so mean!" He huffed angrily, and retreated to the corner near the window.

"James," Lily whispered. Padfoot, Moony, and Wormtail had finally fallen asleep and Lily was currently on my lap, her body resting against my chest. I looked down at her. She cautiously bit her lip. "Is there something wrong?" She asked. I chuckled softly. "I mean, I know there's something wrong. And I think I know what's wrong, too. I just think you need to say it." She said. I sighed. Why did she always have to be so observant?

"Well, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go home." I confessed, finally letting out what I'd held inside for so long. "I was scared at the thought that they might…pass…while we were there. But I wanted to come, because this'll probably be the last time that I see them." My voice cracked a little at the end. I knew she understood how that felt. I knew that if she could go back in time and visit her parents one more time, she would, so I figured I'd take that opportunity, too. "And then asking you to come was kind of a hard battle…When I talked to them," I gestured Moon, Padfoot and Wormtail's sleeping figures, "They said I should, so we don't leave you here alone." I murmured. She smiled up gratefully at me.

"I'm glad you did ask." She said, turning around in my lap so her legs were around my waist. I gulped.

"Lily…" I moaned, and then realizing how desperate I sounded. She smirked. That little minx! She started to run her hands over my chest, and it sent chills up my body. I tried concentrating on her emerald orbs, but I couldn't. I caught her hands and kissed her enthusiastically on the mouth. She put her arms around my neck, and I pulled her closer to me by the waist, and ran my hands through her hair a few times. I pulled away from her, greatly in need of air, and she turned back into her original position, her legs in between mine, and her back against my chest. I sat back a little in my seat and put my arms around her. She put her hands over mine.

"I love you, James." She whispered, twisting her neck just the slightest to look at me. Every time she said that gave me butterflies in my stomach. I kissed her hair.

"I love you, too." I muttered to her. It was a good thing I decided to bring her along. I closed my eyes for some well-needed sleep. NEWT's, Quidditch, and being Head Boy wore me out.

Smack!

"Sirius! I thought I told you not to do that!" Lily screeched. I opened my eyes and groaned. I felt throbbing on the side of my head.

"Ow…" I muttered, moving my arms from around Lily to hold my head.

"Finally!" Padfoot rolled his eyes. "It took you forever, mate. No matter what we did, you only brought her closer to you! It took us half an hour to get you awake. We're almost at the station." Padfoot said. Wormtail was sniggering in the corner and Moony just looked amused. Lily got up off my lap and brought all of our trunks down. The train halted to a stop.

"We're here!" Wormtail said unnecessarily.

"Wormtail, why is that every time we get to King Cross's, you feel the need to say that we've arrived?" Moony asked irately. Wormtail shrugged and gave him a huge grin, which meant he was doing it to annoy him. We left the compartment, and got off the train. I put an arm around Lily's shoulders; I could tell this was hard for her. She kept her eyes glued ahead, and I knew that as soon as we left the station, we'd be fine.

"Uh," I coughed. "I guess we'll all apparate?" I said. They all nodded, and Lily decided to look to the ground. I rubbed her shoulder encouragingly. The other three paused for a moment. I motioned for them to go on. They nodded, and one by one, apparated away. Lily hugged me full force.

"It'll be okay." She whispered in my ear.

"Same goes for you." I said. She pulled back, and I could see the hurt in her eyes. She sighed, and grabbed her trunk, and apparated. I followed. I felt the uncomfortable loss of balance as I neatly landed in front of my door. Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail, and Lily seemed to be waiting for me. I knocked on the door and a few seconds later, Misty opened the door. I was glad to see she was still checking on them frequently.

"Master James!" She squealed in delight. I smiled widely. She was definitely my favorite elf. She moved so I could enter.

"I brought Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Lily with me today." I told her.

"Master Sirius!" She squealed, going over to give him a hug. My jaw dropped in disbelief. I thought I was her favorite! He stuck his tongue out at me. "Allow me," She said, and with a snap of her fingers, out bags disappeared. "Oh, Master James and Master Sirius…oh, and Miss Lily, too, Master Potter would like to see you!" She said, pointing upstairs.

"Help yourself to anything in the kitchen." I told Moony and Wormtail as the four of us went up the stairs.

"Wormtail's already there." Moony rolled his eyes. We walked up the stairs in silence. Padfoot's face looked kind of pained. He was probably having a mental battle with himself. I couldn't see Lily's…her hair surrounded her face and she was looking down. I moved closer to her and put an arm around her waist. We arrived in front of their bedroom, and Misty pushed open the door for us. We entered.

"I'll go help Master Peter and Master Remus with food." She said. I looked at my parents. There were bags under their eyes that were near purple, and looked almost bruised. Their skin was terribly pale, but their smiles were still as jovial as usual.

"Hi mum and dad." I said.

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Potter." Lily said quietly.

"Nice to see you three again!" Dad chuckled. He took a sip of water from the glass on the table next to him.

"Nice to see you, too." Lily replied in a heartbeat.

"How's school?" Mum asked.

"Pretty good." Padfoot replied. "Just difficult with the work." He shrugged.

"That's because you've never done any work, Sirius." Lily reminded him. My parents chuckled.

"Quidditch season going well?" My dad asked hopefully.

"Yes, we're keeping our fingers crossed." I said.

"He's just being modest." Lily started. My parents started laughing again, and Padfoot even started snickering. And then Lily started joining in.

"Nice to see you all think so highly for me." I grunted.

"Don't worry mate, we do, it's just that you are in no way modest nor have you ever been!" Padfoot said. There have been several occasions where I've been modest! I just can't think of any to defend myself right now!

"Anyway, he's just trying to not jinx it," Lily stressed, choosing her words carefully, "I've seen them play, they'll do great. We'll definitely win the Quidditch Cup this year, and maybe even the House Cup!" She said.

"Great!" My dad smiled.

"How's your Head business coming along?" Mum asked.

"It's been going pretty well, only Slytherins are ever real trouble." Lily said.

"Otherwise, it's just couples in broom closets or other equally dingy places." I added.

"But what if you two decided to go in one? Would you have take points off yourselves?" Padfoot asked.

"Lily and I have more decency to snog in a place that grimy, Padfoot! We have more class than you do!" I reminded him.

"Hi, we just wanted to come up to see how you're doing…" Moony said, appearing with Wormtail at my side.

"We're doing lovely, Remus, Thank you." Dad said.

"I hope you're all excited for Christmas tomorrow!" Mum said. We all nodded enthusiastically, although, Lily and I did exchange a glance, which did not go unnoticed by my parents. Moony, gratefully, was also tactful enough to notice this.

"Padfoot, Wormtail…why don't we go downstairs?" Moony said. The three exchanged a glance.

"Sure." Wormtail and Padfoot said together, and they all left.

"Lily, we were heartbroken when James told us what happened." Mum told her. "It's very unfortunate that we never got to meet them, and seeing as you're their daughter, they were definitely wonderful people." She said.

"Thank you, Mrs. Potter," Lily said, "They were."

"You all must be tired from the trip here, why don't you sleep? I doubt you've had any for a while." Dad suggested. Lily and I nodded, and left the room.

I blinked a few times to get adjusted to the light, and looked around. Why was I in this room? This wasn't even Hogwarts…or my own room. I felt something stir next to me. It was Lily! And this was her room. But why was I here? Why was I here and clothed? Bad, James, bad. Slap. Slap. Those mental slaps should pull my head out of the gutter! And I vaguely remembered why I was sleeping in Lily's bed.

The clock had just struck 12, and I still wasn't able to sleep. I had been weeping quietly into my pillow from the time the boys slept, at 9, to just a little while ago. Perhaps a trip to the bathroom would be enough to put me to sleep? I cautiously sat up in my bed, and stepped down, being careful not to make any noises. I successfully made it out of the room without a sound, and I was passing Lily's room when I stopped. The moonlight was shining oddly perfectly on her face, and I could see that her skin was shining. She was sweating, and her hair was sticking to her face! Why was she sweating so much? It's winter! She let out a strangled breath. Could she be having a nightmare? I stepped into the room.

"No…" I heard her whisper. "Don't take them, too!" Not again! I thought those type of dreams stopped once she came back from the funeral. Maybe being with my parents again today brought them back? I quickly walked to her bed and shook her.

"Lily," I whispered, "Lily, snap out of it!" I said again. She still wouldn't wake. Well…I could always…I put my lips to hers.

"Mmm…" I heard her sigh. I pulled back. She looked at me with wide eyes. "What happened?" She asked, sitting up.

"You were having a bad dream." I explained. She didn't respond, and I couldn't see her well, so I assumed she was a little confused. "You were sweating." I told her, throwing her the nearest towel. She caught it and wiped her face.

"Does this happen often?" I asked, taking the towel back from her. She started to shake her head, but stopped mid-shake.

"I-I don't know. Occasionally, I'll have one, and remember it, but sometimes, when I wake up, and my sheets are everywhere…I wonder if I had a nightmare that night." She said.

"Why haven't you told me?" I asked softly, feeling a little hurt. I sat down next to her.

"I don't know," She shrugged. "But you don't tell me yours." She pointed out.

"That's because you wouldn't want to know anyway! They're all about you!" I said. She hit my arm.

"I wasn't talking about that!" She laughed quietly. "I was talking about something else…" I could tell by her voice, she was actually serious about this. "One night, I was up rather late doing homework, and you'd fallen asleep on the couch. Suddenly, you were moaning, and saying things…so I tried waking you up…but you wouldn't wake up, no matter what I did…only when I kissed you did you calm down considerably." She said. What? When did this happen?

"Lily, I don't remember that at all…" I said truthfully.

"So this isn't regular?" She asked.

"Not at all." I responded.

"Okay, well I do believe you, and I'm sorry for not telling you about those nightmares…" She muttered.

"It's okay…but for now, why don't we try sleeping? We definitely need it." I said. I saw her lie back down, and I lay down next to her. She snuggled up to my side.

"Oh, and James?" She said quietly.

"Yes?"

"Happy Christmas." She whispered, moving up and giving me a small, chastise kiss. I held her there for a moment.

"Happy Christmas, Lily."

"GUYS! COME ON!" Padfoot yelled, appearing at the door. Lily groaned loudly and moved closer towards me.

"Lily, he's not going to give up until we get off the bed." I told her. She buried her face into my chest. I laughed and stroked her hair.

"She seems to want you to go to hell, Padfoot." I told him.

"She did not say that!" He protested. Then, Lily flashed him the Universal Sign of Peace, and he gaped in shock. "Lily-flower, I can not believe you just gave me the finger!"

"Lily did what?" Moony said, appearing at the doorway.

"She showed me this finger!" Padfoot said, pointing to his middle finger childishly. Moony stared at him for a while, and simply turned around and left. "Lily-flower, it's Christmas! Come on!" Padfoot complained. She let out a long groan. "Lily! What did I say about those noises? Save them for when you're with Jamsie-poo!" She reached over me, "Lily-flower, please do save this for when I'm not here!" She took the wand from the table next to me and waved it at him. By his appalled look, I could tell it was the silencing charm. She put the wand back on the table and went over me to go into the bathroom. I got up as well, and patted Padfoot on the back as I left the room.

Fifteen minutes later, we were all situated in the living room, where we decided to celebrate today.

"We're all here?" I asked. It seems as though one person was missing… "Misty!" I called out. She appeared with a crack!

"Yes, Master James?" She asked.

"Come, sit with us today!" I told her, creating space between me and Padfoot so she could sit. Her smiled was brighter than the star on top of the tree.

"Oh, thank you Master James!" She said happily as she sat down.

"Who's going first?" Padfoot asked eagerly. Lily and I exchanged a glance.

"You can." We said together.

"YES!" He yelled. All of our presents were already in front of us, so he just grabbed the first one. It was Lily's. It was a really warm sweater, and a poster with Puddlemere United on it. From Moony, he got a kit from Quality Quidditch Supplies, as promised, from Wormtail, he got a bag of practical jokes from Zonko's, and from me, I gave him a picture of Muggle girls on a motorcycle.

"Hold on, what's going on here?" Lily asked suspiciously, looking between me and Padfoot. We smirked.

"We might have formulated a plan to go back to Padfoot's old house…" I started.

"And we might have thought of a way to annoy my parents and my brother." He finished. She rolled her eyes.

"Don't tell me until it's over." She said.

"Anyway, I think I'll go next." Wormtail said. We laughed. His would be quick; We only got him food! And indeed, when he opened his presents, there was only food.

Moony went next. Wormtail added to his chocolate stash, Padfoot got him a dog tag that said, 'If lost, please return to Padfoot, who will have similar tag.' and he got one for himself that said the same thing, but it said 'Moony'. Lily got him a muggle contraption called a walkie-talkie, and I got him a few books that Lily recommended.

Lily and I decided to open ours at the same time. First we did Wormtail's gift, which was a book for Lily, and the snitch from my fifth year for me. He actually went around and tried to find it! From Moony, Lily got some new muggle CD that apparently came out recently, and I was delighted to see that my gift was also from Quality Quidditch Supplies! Padfoot surprised us by bringing out four more dog tags, one for me, one for Wormtail, one for Lily, and one for Misty. He also told us that on mine, Wormtail's, his, and Moony's, there was 'Marauders' written on the back, with our names underneath it. Lily's had 'Lily-flower' on it. Misty was beyond delighted when Padfoot gave the dog tag to her, and even blushed.

Finally came the time to open our gifts to each other, and honestly, I had a hard time with it. How could I top the necklace and the set of jewelry from last year? And then the picture?

"Oh, James, thank you!" She smiled, giving me a hug. It was a clock with the engraving around it, 'Lily and James, Forever and Always'. I opened her gift, and it was a leather jacket! I put it on, and it fit perfectly!

"Thanks, Lily!" I said, giving her another huge hug.

"You know, sometimes I wonder, who's the man and who the girl in this relationship is." Padfoot muttered.

"And I wonder if there are two girls in the relationship!" Moony laughed, high-fiving Padfoot.

"Sometimes I wonder why I keep you two around…"I muttered.

"Master Potter, I think Miss Potter upstairs would like to see you!" Misty squeaked. I nodded.

"Thank you, Misty." I said, shrugging off the jacket, and placing it on the ground next to Lily. As I left the room to go upstairs, I could hear the faint arguing between Lily and Padfoot about being sexist. I pushed open my parents' door. "Happy Christmas." I said to them.

"Happy Christmas!" They replied back. Then, they exchanged a glance.

"This'll be our last Christmas, James." Dad said rather bluntly.

"James, honey, there's something we wanted to give you." My mum said hoarsely. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"Yeah?" I asked, somehow managing to keep my voice level.

"Go into the box on my dresser." She instructed. I crossed the room, and on the dresser was, indeed, a single box. "Open it." I did as was asked, and I noticed, it was her ring!

"What?" I whispered.

"It's a family heirloom, son. We know how you feel about Lily, and we know how she feels about you." My dad said. "Just know that whenever you're ready, you can do it. We have full faith in you."

"Especially since it took your dad at least two years to finally propose to me, we're really hoping you pick up your act quicker than him." My mum chuckled. I stared at the ring for a few minutes.

"Okay." I said. I looked up at them. "I-I need to go take a shower." I stammered, and quickly scurried out of the room. I barely registered anything as I picked up my clothes for the shower and went into the bathroom. I turned on the hot water, and let it wash out my sorrows.

A/N: Yes, I skipped a week. Don't you hate busy lives? Midterms are the cause of this. Blame them!
Anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter!

REVIEW!

Until next Friday,

Love,
SAM :)