A/N: Hello, sorry this has taken a lifetime to write and post, I have AS Levels to study for and that takes up a lot of my time. Although, I'll try my very best to upload every two weeks- it could be sooner but I don't want to make any promises. Please review, telling me what you like and what you'd like to see more of, it helps me immensly. :)

Chapter 18
Or,
Of Baking, Singing and Dating

Christmas day was only 48 hours away and Lily was baking cookies with her dad in the kitchen. It was something they always did together at Christmas, normally her mother would help and Petunia would stick her nose in, but the latter was out with Vernon. Vernon Dursley was Petunia's boyfriend, well fiancé, and he was the most rotten person on the planet; in the entire universe, actually. He'd been round for lunch and dinner and Lily was already bloody sick of him. He was so pretentious and he had the romance skills of a walrus. In fact, Lily would date the walrus.

"Lils, darling, look…" Her father roused her from her inner thoughts with an elaborate point toward the window (which nearly sent the vase crashing to the floor) "It's snowing!"

Lily laughed, her face breaking into a grin, "Just in time for Christmas too!"

Michael Evans hugged his daughter, kissing her head, "I'm glad you decided to come home, Lils."

"Me too, Dad," She smiled but sighed, "Does Vernon have to come over on Christmas day?"

Michael sighed as he put the cookies in the oven, "He's your sister's fiancée, Lily."

"But he's…him. He's rude and so obnoxious!" She groaned and added, "And he doesn't know about my magic."

"You'll just have to control it for that day." He said, and Lily noted by his tone that their conversation was over. "I'm sorry, Lily." He added, noting his daughter's expression.

"It's alright, Dad," She said with a smile as she removed the cookies, "I just hope the day runs smoothly."

By the time they had decorated the cookies with icing, silver balls and confetti, Petunia and Louise Evans walked through the door, their hair dotted with snow. Lily whisked up a batch of white hot chocolate (her speciality) for her family and they gathered around the fire with the cookies Lily and her father had made. Lily's mother pulled out the old trivia game they used to play when Lily and Petunia were much smaller, they divided into teams (Petunia and Lily against Louise and Michael) and spent the remainder of the evening laughing and having fun- much like a proper family.

On the other side of the town, James and Sirius were driving the Potter's mental. But that's not a surprise is it?

The pair had been shopping in Muggle London when James had insisted he buy something for Lily, simultaneously driving Sirius around the bend blabbering on about their kiss on the platform, when Sirius noticed a game called 'Rock Band' in some shop window. He managed to get James to shut up for a minute (he pretended that Lily was somewhere in the distance, and James had punched him when he found out this was a lie). They bought it and ended up on the second floor of Potter Manor bouncing around the room singing wildly and off-key, while playing the pretend guitar and drums.

"James Harold Potter and Sirius Orion Black," Elizabeth Potter bellowed up the stairs, "Turn that god awful nonsense off this instant!"

"HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT!"

"WHY DON'T YOU HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT?"

"HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT!"

"FIRE AWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY."

"James and Sirius, SHUT UP."

"What you saying mum, dinner ready?" James asked hanging over the bannister.

Despite being highly annoyed with her son, Elizabeth laughed, "Nearly. You and your band mate better come down now."

"One more song?" James pleaded.

"Not a chance, James." A voice came from the third floor; it was James' younger sister, Grace. "I swear to god, no matter how much I love you, I'll kill you."

James grinned up the stairs, "You can't even do magic."

"I will be able to! I go to Hogwarts next year!" She protested; she hated it when James played the magic card.

"Next year won't help you now, little sis!"

"Nope, but I will if you play that bloody thing one more time." Alfie Potter barked, emerging from his room rubbing his temples.

"Aw, y'all boring." James groaned.

"Lizzy, the chicken will be burnt in a minute!" Harold shouted up the stairs

"Hell no, not the chicken," Sirius grinned, ruffling his hair as he bounced down the stairs, "You excited for Christmas, Lizzy?" He asked as he past Mrs Potter.

She laughed, "Yes, Sirius, I am."

"Don't eat all the food, Sirius!" Grace Potter shouted, hurrying down the stairs, "I'm sick of you boys." She muttered, slouching in her seat.

"Aw Gracey, you love it really." Alfie said, sitting beside his sister with a cheeky grin, "You miss me when I'm not here."

"No I don't." She said, piling her plate full of vegetables. She loved her mother's cooking.

"Grace Potter, do not say things like that." Elizabeth chastised from the opposite side of the table.

"Hit me with your best shot, do dodo do do dooooooo" James sung as he took his place beside Sirius.

Alfie chucked a pea off James, "Shut it, James."

James flung one back, "Sod off, Alfie."

"James!" Mr Potter shouted, "Enough at the dinner table," Alfie sniggered while his father berated James, "And you too, Alfie Potter. I can tell you off even if you're training to become an Auror."

"How's the training anyway?" Sirius asked, diverting the conversation.

"Aw, it's brill! It really works you, you know? It makes you dead fit, and well, really well trained for the outside world. It gets you really tired though," He yawned then chuckled.

"I bet, nice to see you're enjoying it, mate!" Sirius grinned, "I wish I could become an Auror."

Elizabeth smiled, "You'd make a great Auror, Sirius."

Sirius grinned happily, "Thanks Mrs P!"

"Elizabeth. How many times do I have to tell you?"

"You could be telling him for life, he'd still not listen." James smirked, "He never does."

"Shove it, James Harold."

"Oi!" James protested, while the whole table burst into simultaneous laughter. They laughed like this for the remainder of the meal, until Sirius drove James round the bend, and he threw mash potato off his face- this resulted in a full blown food fight, meaning Sirius and James spent the entire night cleaning instead of playing 'Rock Band' (much to Elizabeth's pleasure).

"I can't believe you made me clean all night." James groaned.

Sirius threw his cloth at James; they were being made to clean like Muggles. "You threw the potato off me you arsehole!"

"Eh, you were being a prick!"

Sirius swore at James, who only grinned, "So, Sirius, how do you think I should give Lily her present?" He asked, putting down his cloth and reclining against a cupboard door.

Sirius groaned.

"Lily dear, your friends are here!" Louise Evans called up the stairs.

"Alice! Marlene! Isabelle!" She grinned at her friends when she came bounding down the stairs, "Where's Hestia?"

"Out with Peter." Marlene smirked.

"No way." Lily gasped, "No way!"

"Yep, our dear, lovable Hestia is out with a rat."

"Marlene." Alice chastised, "Don't be rude, it's not his fault he's…."

"Fat?"

"Marlene!" Despite the insult, the girls giggled.

"Alright, ladies, keep your knickers on." She grinned, "Anyway, Miss Evans, you have some talking to do."

She looked worried and confused, "Er, do I?"

"About a lovely gent named James Potter."

"Oh, balls." She groaned, slouching down onto the sofa.

"Do you like him then?" Alice asked, taking a seat beside Marlene and Isabelle.

"No, I just go around snogging guys I don't like." Lily drawled sarcastically.

"YOU SNOGGED JAMES POTTER?!"

"Oh, balls." She repeated, burying her face in her hands, "Yes, I snogged James Potter, yes I like James Potter, NO, I'm not dating James Potter."

"Well, why not?" Isabelle asked raising an eyebrow at Lily- she knew all too well what the girl was going to say.

"Because I can't."

"I see no obstacle."

"The war is a pretty big obstacle, Isabelle."

"That means nothing and you know it, Lils. You're just looking for an excuse."

"No, I'm-"

"James Potter likes you."

"So he says-"

"And you like him."

"That's not the point-"

"You need to date him."

"I can't." She waved her hands dramatically, "No, listen. Yes, the war is a problem, but I don't want to get my heartbroken and-"

"James Potter isn't going to break your heart." Alice said with a reproving look towards Lily, "He's been trying to get you to date him since you stepped off the Hogwarts express, Lily."

"I was talking." Lily said to her friends who were all grinning at her; she glared for a moment before laughing, "Okay, fine. How will I get James Potter to go out with me? He hasn't asked me in a while."

Marlene, who was nibbling on a cookie, stopped mid-bite. "Oh my Merlin's pants, I have the best idea ever."

"What? Stop gawking and tell me!"

"Okay, so this is what you have to do…"

"Lily, Lily! Wake up, it's Christmas!"

"Five more minutes…"

"No, Lily. NOW!" Petunia yelled, diving onto her sister's bed.

"Tuney!" Lily screamed, "Grow up, you're not five!" She said, but the grin on her face said she didn't really mean it.

"Happy Christmas, Lil!"

"Merry Christmas, Tuney. Come on, let me up."

The girls danced their way downstairs to be greeted by the smell of cinnamon and golden syrup; Lily beamed, "Oh yes, dads made bagels!"

"Race you." Petunia smirked and dived down the last few steps, Lily following sharply at her heels, "Dad, I'm first, I'm first, I got here first!"

Mr Evans grinned at the pair, happy to see them getting along, "Morning girls."

"Morning, and Merry Christmas, dad." Lily smiled at her father, taking a bite of a bagel.

"Merry Christmas dad." Petunia smiled, "Oi, Lily, you were first,"

"Present time!" Lily sung; it was the only way to get her to shut up.

"James."

Silence.

"Prongs."

Another heavy silence.

"Oi, you dick, wake up." Sirius said, smacking the heap of fabric (which was James) on the head with a pillow.

The mass moved and emitted a groan, "Oi, what the hell was that for?"

"IT'S CHRISSSSSSSSTMAAAAAAAAAAAAAS !"

He dived up, "I wonder if Lily's got her present yet!"

"I should have left you asleep." Sirius muttered, exiting the room.

"Wait for me, mum will have made pancakes!" James cried after him.

"You expect me to wait now?"

"Er, yeah."

"PANCAKE TIME!" Sirius called, bounding down the stairs like an over excited puppy.

"Merry Christmas, Sirius; here, have some pancakes." Mrs Potter greeted him as he skidded into the kitchen.

"Merry Christmas, Mrs P- whoops, Elizabeth. And thanks!"

"James, come on, Sirius is eating all of the panca-"

"Woah, what? Sirius, stop being greedy!"

"Merry Christmas to you too, Jamsie boy." Sirius grinned with a mouth full of pancakes.

He grinned back. "Yeah, Merry Christmas you foul git."

"Presents?"

"Where's dad?"

"Auror mission, James." She sighed, slouching into the living area, "Come on you two, presents!"

Louise and Michael Evans were in the kitchen, playfully bickering as per usual. Lily laughed at her mother, who was telling her dad off for licking the spoon, and her dad who was taking no notice what so ever (Typical men.) Petunia was at the table with Vernon, who was going on and on about his new car, and Lily was still opening her presents.

She'd left the ones from her friends to last, simply because she knew what they were like.

So far she'd received a lovely amount of presents: A gorgeous pair of diamond earrings, a nice new dress, chocolate, books, cds, driving lessons ("Because, Lily love, you still need to know how to drive") and now she was onto the small pile from her friends.

She tore at the paper on a suspiciously book shaped gift, which was from Isabelle, and she beamed: William Shakespeare: Titus Andronicus. She laughed and moved onto the next box, which happened to be from Marlene. She groaned before she even tore the paper off it, Marlene always got her something wild and very Marlene-like. This year was no different. It was a very amorous, emerald green underwear set, with a little note that read; To Lily, for James, from Marlene x

"I am going to murder her. She muttered under her breath with a smile. She continued to open her presents (Alice, thankfully, had gotten Lily a basket of chocolate along with a cd- Rebecca Ferguson- and a new book.)

"Lily, you've left a present." Petunia said from the table, pointing to a little box.

"Oh, thanks Tuney." She smiled and Petunia scowled, she didn't like Vernon hearing her nickname.

Lily picked up the box, opening it. She came to a letter first with was written with a scrawled type;

Lily,
Now, before you freak out because I've gotten you a gift, just calm down and get over it (and don't freak out because I've told you to calm down, either.)
I felt like I should get you a gift, but most importantly, I wanted to. I'd actually just prefer to snog you (don't roll your eyes) but that's out of the question.
Just don't freak out, or get mad, and be happy.

Love, James.
P.S: I really appreciated the early Christmas gift you gave me. I look forward to the post-Christmas gift. (Okay, that deserved an eye roll.)

Lily did roll her eyes but she had a grin on her face, she ripped the tissue paper with a curious expression- she did hope James hadn't spent a lot of money and it was just some singing mistletoe or something daft like that. Her mouth dropped open at the sight of the charm bracelet in the box. There was a heart charm, with small emerald stones inside, and- to Lily's confusion- a stag.

"Oh, James…"

James was doing the same thing as Lily; he was opening the remainder of his gifts in his bedroom with Sirius (who was trying to get maggots out of his hair).

"I fucking hate that house elf." He kept muttering, "I hate the whole lot of them."

"You should know by now not to open unmarked gifts, Sirius." James said, mimicking his mother.

"I was curious, and maybe hoping it was my mother's head."

"Why would you want to see her face again?" James asked, pausing opening a gift from Remus.

"Yeah, good point, I'll take the maggots of Kreacher." He grinned, "What did Moony get you?"

"A book." He replied, holding it up with an amused look.

"Same! Although, instead of 'How to get the girl of your dreams' he got me 'how to stop being a slut'." He grinned.

"Oh, he knows us too well."

"What did you get Moony?" Sirius asked, stuffing a muffin into his mouth.

"A strip poker kit, a wolf doll and a bar of chocolate." He grinned, "You?"

"A mankini, a bottle of firewhiskey and some chocolate frogs."

"He's going to hate us." James grinned, "Totally worth it though."

"Who's that off?" Sirius asked, pointing to a neatly wrapped present lying on his bed.

"Eh, I don't know." He summoned the box, ripping the paper to shreds, and then he dropped the box with his mouth wide open.

"James? What is it? Surely it can't be any worse than my gift from Kreacher?"

"It's from Lily."

"Evans?!"

James nodded, "She's…asked me out. On a date."

"WHAT?!"

James handed over the little package he was holding; it was a collection of photographs (Which Marlene had nicked from Hestia's photo album) and she'd wrote him a little note, which said simply: "James, if you want to go out with me, meet me in central London on Boxing Day. Yes, this is a date. Love, Lily."

"I'VE GOT A DATE WITH LILY EVANS!" James screamed, dancing on his bed.

"Oh, bloody hell, is it boxing day yet?" Sirius muttered to himself, biting the head off a chocolate frog.

It was, finally, the 26th December. James had been dying for this day to come since yesterday (Which doesn't seem a long time, but when you're James Potter, it was like a lifetime) and he was, surprisingly, nervous. He'd been looking forward to a date with Lily Evans since he saw her on the Hogwarts Express.

"James, take off the suit." Sirius said when he stepped out of the shower.

"What? I look hot."

"You're going to London, not to a bloody wedding."

"Fine!" He sighed, "What should I wear?"

"Jeans and a shirt, no tie. And don't try and tame your hair, don't put contacts in and don't put too much aftershave on." Sirius ordered, diving down onto his bed.

"Cheers mate, see ya!" He shouted once he was changed, and he darted out of the bedroom and apparated into London, waiting by the London Eye.

Lily was already waiting, dressed in jeans and a jumper with a scarf wrapped around her neck. It was still cold and, where she really wanted to wear her dress, she wasn't willing to risk frostbite for James Potter. Not yet, anyway.

"Hey, James." She smiled happily as he walked over to her. Hesitating, she gave him a hug which he gladly returned.

"Hey, Lils, what are we doing today then?" He asked once the hug broke.

"I thought we could up on the London Eye-"She pointed in the correct direction, "And then we can go in a lovely little café I know, not too far away."

James' eyes widened, "We're going up that?"

"Yes," The smirk was evident in her voice, "You scared?"

"No! Of course not!" A blush grazed his cheeks and Lily grinned, taking his hand with a spurt of Gryffindor bravery, and leading him to the London Eye.

"Merlin's pants, it's like being on a broom!"

Lily laughed lightly, "Except it's not cold or terrifying."

"Broom's aren't terrifying, Lily!"

"Au contraire."

James laughed and wrapped his arms around Lily as she looked out over the city; she placed her hands on his and they stood like that for the entire ride, in a happy, comfortable silence, watching London.

"Lily?" James asked after a while of silence.

"Yeah?" She turned her head to look up at him, smiling.

"Do you honestly like me?"

"Yes, honestly."

"Then…why have you rejected me?"

"I was scared I'd lose you. Or you'd break my heart."

"That would never happen."

"Would?" Lily raised an eyebrow.

James frowned, "Huh?"

"Don't you mean, isn't going to happen?"

He gaped, "We're…we're going out?"

"Are we?"

"Lily Evans, will you go out with me?"

"Yes, of course I will."

And, this time, James initiated the kiss.

A/N: I BEG you to review. I'll...give Jily action.