IF YOU DID NOT READ MY UPDATED VERSION OF LAST CHAPTER PLEASE DO SO NOW!
There are some important plot points that were missed when I uploaded the first updated version of the last chapter. Please reread it! It will make so much more sense!
Anyways! Thank you all for sticking around, I love you guys so much. It means so much to me every time you drop me a line. Every follow, every favorite, every review, every private message- those keep me going, keep me writing. Never underestimate the power of kindness. Speaking of which, you guys should check out my extraordinary beta, honorary-marauder-1! She writes a fantastic Jily fic, which I highly recommend. Please tell me what you like and dislike, and what I can do better!
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"Lily, please come down."
"Leave me alone, Potter. I don't need you here mocking me."
"Listen to me, Evans. You didn't deserve what he said about you. You are a brilliant woman, and nothing anyone says will ever change that." He paused. "And I would never call you a- a-"
"Cut the crap, Potter. It's your fault Sev called me- that name."
"Didn't you know what kind of crowd he was hanging with? It seemed like it was a long time coming to me-"
"Shut up! You shut up. Sev is- was, my oldest friend. He was a good person. The only thing that led to this was you and your stupid 'pranks', and that's what you called them, pranks! They aren't pranks if they hurt people, Potter!" She stopped to sniff. "I don't see what Remus sees in you."
He sighed. "Yeah, me neither."
Lily was quiet. He could hear her sniffing in the tree. "I didn't mean it."
"What?"
"What I said. Yeah, you're a shitty person, sometimes, but you do care about people. You make people laugh, and mostly, you're an okay bloke." She stopped talking. The moon shone down on the common courtyard, finally allowing James a view of Lily. Her lips were chapped, her nose was running, and her eyes were puffy and red. Her clothes were rumpled and she had a grey cloche hat pulled over her hair, which was sticking out at all sorts of odd angles.
James thought she was beautiful.
"I knew it was coming," Lily said, her voice rough and scratchy from crying. "It's hard to turn a blind eye to the things he did. Did you hear how he and Avery jumped Mary McDonald last week?"
"Yeah."
"I talked to him about it, and he said he was going to stop. He said he was going to change." She stopped, a catch in her voice. "I didn't believe him. He'd said it before. But he was the one who first believed in me, and my dream to go to this university, you know? My family didn't think I could get in. But he was my friend. And I hoped-" She stopped, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. "Whatever. You don't want to hear my sob story, Potter. Go back to your friends. Give my best to Remus."
"I'm not leaving, Evans. You're stuck with me." He paused, frowning. "And you can tell Remus yourself, you're coming to our show tomorrow, right? You usually come to see him for a little while."
"Don't be ridiculous. Go back to Gryffindor Hall, you have exams tomorrow. And I called my dad earlier. He and my mum are coming to pick me up tomorrow morning."
"He doesn't need to. I'll drive you home."
"Don't be ridiculous, Potter. You have things to do." She stopped. "And, no offense, but I don't really want to see anyone right now."
"Well, either way, you should probably get out of the tree, you have a journey ahead of you, and you probably need some sleep."
"No, I've already been to my dorm. Sev- er, Snape told me he'd camp out in front of my door until I forgave him. Marlene's covering for me, I climbed out the window. And I am never, ever leaving this tree. Until I get to leave."
"Well, I'm staying here too, then."
"What?"
"I'll be here to make sure you don't fall out of that tree in your sleep or something stupid like that," he said, cracking a smile. "And if Sniv- er, if anyone you don't want comes around, I'll ward them off."
She smiled sadly. "Thanks, Potter."
When she said his name, his heart broke a little for her. And over her. But her forced a smile and sat down at the base of the tree.
"Potter?"
"Yeah?"
"If you insist on spending the night with me-"
He chuckled. Even without looking at her, he could feel her glare burning into his skull. He cleared his throat and arranged his face into a sober expression. "Right. Sorry, go on."
"What I was going to say is, do you mind if we don't talk? I'm sort of having a lot to process and I'd rather do it on my own. Especially since you're really sort of directly involved."
His heart split in two. For her, and himself. Through one interaction with the man James had long since dubbed the most despicable person on the face of the earth, he had shattered the heart of one of the people he loved the most, and ruined any chance of getting to know her. To her, he would forever be linked to Snivellus' betrayal, and would never again let him be as close to her as he was now.
But first and foremost, he wanted her to be happy.
"Yeah, of course. But don't think you're getting rid of me. I am driving you to the train station tomorrow."
"Marlene is. Thank you, though." She paused. "I give you a lot of crap, Potter, but when it comes down to it, you're an okay person. Thanks for, er, sticking around."
"Nothing to it. Rest up, okay?"
She leaned back in her branch. "I'll probably be gone before you get up tomorrow. Please apologize to Remus and give him my love, okay?"
Well, I'd rather keep it for myself, James thought. "Yeah, he'll understand."
"Good night, Potter. And… thanks for the pep talk."
"Turns out being football captain is worth something after all."
Her lips crept upwards. "It appears my junior self is going to have to eat her own words."
"And how eloquent they were."
She laughed drily. "As I recall, there was a significant expletive about every three words."
"So there was."
"Now, really, Potter. Good night."
James sat silently until he heard her breathing grow steady. He lifted himself up into the tree and sat on an adjacent branch, draping his jacket across her and looping his scarlet and gold scarf around her neck.
"Good night, dearest Lily."
-x-x-x-
James woke up from his dream and felt his heart sink as he remembered the night before. Lily hated him.
How could I have been so stupid? James thought, dragging himself out of bed to his dresser. Petunia has always been a sore subject for Lily- even former Idiot Me knew not to talk about her. She's off limits. She always has been.
He morosely dragged a red-and-green flannel on over a grey t-shirt. I guess I just couldn't stand the thought of her wasting her life away trying to prove herself to that- that- woman. She has so much potential.
I have to apologize.
Pulling his sneakers on, James hopped out the door in search for the ever-elusive Lily Evans.
-x-x-x-
"Lily, what are you doing out here? It's freezing cold."
Lily turned back to James with a glassy, faraway look in her eyes. She hugged her arms closer to her and shivered. Gesturing to the choppy, grey waves, she whispered, "Isn't it strange to think that across that ocean, far away, there are real people, with real lives and real problems and real joys and real families? And to them, we are the same thing, a thought about how strange life is. Isn't it humbling and frightening and strange to think that in the course of the world, we are just a tiny, tiny blip in the history of the universe?"
Instinctively, James drew her closer to him and put his hands on her forearms. He could see every freckle on her pale skin, every streak of brown and gold and silver in her flaming tresses. He could feel her breath on his face, steaming his glasses on the frigid winter morning. He took a deep breath and began to speak.
"Lily, I know that in the grand scheme of things, we seem small and insignificant. But believe me, as the proclaimed King of Scheming, we may not seem important- in fact, we may have no effect on the course of the world at all. But we do have an impact on those around us. Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail, and, well, you- you guys are my family. You have left an imprint on our lives- and that in itself is enough to feel significant, I think."
Lily buried her face in the fabric of James' flannel shirt and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
"I've been thinking about what you said last night on the roof," Lily said, her voice muffled.
"I'm so sorry, Lily, it was absolutely not my place to get involved, I know I have no idea what your life is like-"
"No," she interrupted. "I'm going to do it."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I can still honor my mother and do what I love. It's the right thing, and I'm glad you shoved me in the right direction."
He balanced his chin on her head. It wouldn't take much to lean down and kiss her now…
"Where's Sirius?"
"He took Bertha this morning to pick Remus up from the airport."
"What? No! I wanted to go with him!"
He grinned down at her, taking her hand and dragging her away from the seashore to the house. "Ah, well. You can help me prepare for the next Christmas activity."
"And that would be?"
"You'll see. Remus will love it."
-x-x-x-
"Hey, hey! Lovebirds, we're home!"
Lily and James made eye contact from their respective places in the kitchen, then broke out into a sprint, both trying to reach Remus first. They both reached the doorway at the same time and as they tried to get through the door at once, their shoulders became wedged in the small doorframe. They were stuck.
From the entrance room, Sirius and Remus burst out into laughter. Lily scowled at James. "If you had any manners, you would know that it's always 'ladies first'."
"I've always been a more nonconventional guy."
"Okay, we both have to back up, and only one of us can go." They both backed up, then both tried to go through first- again.
"Dammit, Potter!"
In the entrance, Sirius and Remus were wheezing with laughter. "Stop, stop," Remus begged, leaning over to put his hands on his knees, his thin frame racked with chuckles. "I'm going to bust my stitches."
Sirius was sitting on the floor, laughing so hard he seemed to have trouble breathing. "You two never change," he said between gasps.
"Shut up," Lily said, finally managing to squeeze past James' broad shoulders and even broader smirk. "And you're laughing at us after the surprise we planned you."
Sirius sat up. "Hold on, surprise?"
Remus looked around, dumping his carpetbag by the stairs. "Why are all the decorations up, James? I thought you spent Christmas at Lily's. Wait, did your mum and dad get home early?"
James' smile stretched, if possible, even wider. "Nah, Moony, all this is for you. Your layover was in- what, Salt Lake City? That's no place to spend a Christmas. So we're having Moony's Christmas, a day late."
Remus smiled widely, his joy palpable. Hugging each of them, he whispered, "Thanks, guys."
James hugged him back, then bounced back to the kitchen, the other three following him. "So, in honor of Moonymas, we're doing all the Christmas things Remus loves! Starting with-" he gestured dramatically around them- "making Christmas cookies! Extra icing, extra sprinkles. And, of course, since this is Moonymas, extra chocolate."
Remus smiled widely. Lily noticed that he didn't look nearly as tired as he had before term ended.
I guess that's what James does. He gives life to those around him.
Smiling at Lily as though reading her thoughts, Remus nodded. "Well, let's get started!"
-x-x-x-
The baking, like everything else the Marauders did, quickly became a competition. Sirius and Lily were neck and neck, having each baked and decorated about sixty cookies. James was meticulously decorating his first dozen- "every cookie has to be perfect, Lily! You don't understand!"- and Remus had been too busy eating chocolate chips to notice that his second dozen burnt in the oven.
Briiiing!
The kitchen timer went off, and Sirius threw his hands up, as did the other three.
"Hands off! No more baking! Everyone shift one to the right and count the other's cookies!"
Remus, who was counting Lily's cookies, announced that she had baked fifty-six cookies properly, disposing with two burnt and two which read Suck It, Sirius in red and green icing. Remus came up with eighteen, with Sirius disposing of six melted blobs of chocolate despite Remus's claims that they were edible. James completed nine exquisitely decorated Christmas trees, and Sirius finished sixty-four, though almost all of his last batch were thrown away by James because they were raw and had a blob of pinkish icing on the top- "it's art, Prongs, you wouldn't understand."
Sirius put his hands on his hips, smirking unbearably. "I am the baking god! All shall bow before me!"
Lily looked down at herself and began to laugh. "If only you had aprons, James."
James looked over at her and placed his hand over his heart in mock indignation. "That's my shirt you've gotten flour all over, Evans!"
"I'd like to see you try and take it back!"
"Oh, you would, would you?"
"Well, neither of you are as bad as Boy Wonder over here," Remus interrupted, gesturing to Sirius, whose black pants and shirt were covered in flour. Sirius swallowed the cookie dough he'd been eating and pouted at Remus. "Excuse me, sir, I am a man, and I intend to be treated as such!"
He threw a handful of loose flour at Remus, coating his maroon jumper in white dust. Remus started to grin. "Oh, you're asking for it now, dogbreath." He threw a bowlful of flour at Sirius, whose now powder-white hair gave the impression that he was going to enter a courtroom for the defense.
"FLOUR FIGHT!" hollered James, who immediately threw a handful of the white powder at Lily.
Alliances quickly formed. Remus and Lily teamed up to "vanquish" James and Sirius. This proved to be mutually beneficial until James surrendered and went off in search of his inhaler. Remus turned to high-five Lily, but was met by a powder-white redhead with a devilish grin and a pot of flour.
"Sorry, Remus, but I intend to be the ultimate winner." She dumped the pot of flour over him and used his distractedness to scramble behind the kitchen island.
"Et tu, Brute?" Remus yelled from across the cavernous kitchen.
"Don't you quote Julius Caesar to me, you know I aced that test!"
"You don't own Shakespeare!"
Lily realized too late that Sirius had been creeping up behind her while Remus distracted her. Dumping most of a bag of flour on her, she threw up her hands in surrender.
"Wow, Remus, you turned to the enemy's side awfully quick."
"You betrayed me, and are therefore the worse enemy. And my enemy's enemy is my friend."
"Wow, Remus. Well, I surrender, you two can duke it out."
"Actually, I think we're going to split the victory," Sirius said, walking over to Remus and high-fiving him.
"And I vote we celebrate by eating Christmas cookies."
"Sounds good to me. Wanna get James?"
"He's probably wheezing on his bedroom floor, but that's nothing chocolate can't fix."
"Right. Remus, get James and meet us in the entrance room in five. Evans, let's pack these cookies up and lug 'em out."
"Aye aye, Captain."
-x-x-x-
The four young students laid on the floor, stomachs full of Christmas cookies. Remus's were the best because they had the most chocolate, they had decided, but Lily's dough tasted the best, James' were the most aesthetically pleasing, and Sirius' icing was unconventional, but delicious.
"I love Moonymas," Lily mumbled from her place next to Remus, her head laid on his stomach, whose head was on Sirius's stomach, whose head was on James', whose head was on Lily's.
"Hm, me too," James said sleepily. "I wish Pete was here, though."
"Stupid Frenchman," Sirius said. "Making Pete miss my new favorite holiday. Why don't we do this every year? Then Pete can come."
"Yeah, that's a great idea," James said, perking up.
"Sounds like a plan. You for it, Lily?" Remus asked, smiling slightly.
"Of course," Lily yawned, turning to the side, effectively dumping James off of her stomach.
"Hey!" James said in indignation, rubbing his head.
"You know, we should probably clean up the flour fight, before we make dinner," Lily said. "And we still have so much to do on Moonymas, we don't want it looming over our heads for the rest of the night."
The three boys groaned and complained, but wrenched themselves up from their spots and followed Lily to the flour coated kitchen. Remus slapped James on the shoulder. "I'm glad you two are friends now," he said, moving past James to pick up a broom.
"Yeah," James said, his heart twitching slightly. "Friends."
He shook his head and took a deep breath, entering the kitchen with a smile plastered on his face. "I call this quarter, last one to finish their area has to wash the dishes!"
The four got to work pretty quickly after that.