Hey guys! I'm back! I'm sorry it took so long, but you know, school is terrible! Anyway, hope you enjoy the extra-long chapter!
What the hell had happened? Was it real? Or a nightmare? I didn't know. It seemed so real, but in the meantime, it was too weird to be true. I mean, Juggins was Lestrange? That couldn't be true. I mean, the only way Lestrange could infiltrate in the Potter Mansion was using Polyjuice Potion. But he had been here for years. This was a house filled with talented wizards and witches. Guess they would have figured him out after all that time, right? Also, why would Voldemort be interested in the Potters? I get they were blood traitors and all, but there were so many blood traitors these days. Why were the Potters so interesting?
I shook my head, trying to clear it. This was too much. The dress I wore earlier that day hung at the closet. The green, glimmering fabric twinkled softly in the gentle breeze that came through the window. I got out of bed, that was wet from my nightmare sweat. I ran my hand through my already sleep mussed hair and ran them over my face, trying to rub the sleep from my eyes. It was 5 pm. 4 hours before the dance. I was still tired, but that didn't matter, it was no use to go to bed again anyway. After a dream like that I don't think anyone could go to sleep again. Marlene had insisted I got some sleep after the incident with Juggins (a.k.a. Lestrange?) and the talk with Remus. I hadn't had the energy to protest. She and Alice had tucked me in, kissed my forehead, opened the window and left the room. A cold breeze struck my bare legs and arms and I quickly closed the window.
I took a fresh pair of underwear and walked to my bathroom. The blue tiling was cold against my back when I leaned against it. The cold water woke me up completely. The nerves of the dance fluttered in my abdomen again. I shook them of, grabbed my shampoo and washed my hair.
After standing an hour under the shower, looking how the water ran away through the drain, I stepped out, dried my body and hair with a spell and grabbed my body butter. I looked at it for ten seconds, when I realized Juggins had touched it. I shook my head at my own childishness and squeezed some of the cream in my hand palm. I spread it over my body, breathing in its amazing scent.
Something was different. Like… something had changed. After a quick glance through the room, I saw nothing had changed place, nor something was missing. But still…
For Merlin's sake, Evans! Lighten up a bit! You're acting paranoia! A little voice in the back of my head said.
I combed my hair, put it in a braid and put it up in a bun.
When I left the room, the first thing that caught my attention was the tidiness. Not that the Potters were sloppy or something, but when I focused on the little table in the hallway, I noticed the withered roses had been replaced by new, fresh ones. And yes, I wasn't mistaken! The armor in the corner that lead to the staircase, was dusted. Apparently, the preparations of the dance were in full action.
I made my way down and was surprised by a pair of strong but gentle hands that pulled me behind a tapestry. The hands were followed by warm, soft, familiar lips. James. He kissed me in my neck, on my ear, on my cheek and then finally, finally on my mouth. At first, the kiss was kind and carful, but I didn't want that. I buried my hands in his hair and pulled his body closer. He groaned lustfully and picked me up, forcing me to fold my legs behind his back, my fingers rubbing through his hair. His were on my waist, under my shirt, slowly making their way up. His short nails scratched my ribs softly and I whimpered against his lips. I didn't want to fall behind, so I moved my hands from his hair to his collar and started fumbling with the buttons there. When the first seven were undone, I let my hands roam his broad chest.
I was wildly exited when he gasped in pleasure. His hands made their way to my waistband and opened the button there –
"James," I gasped, pulling back. "Stop."
"Too fast?" I nodded. "Sorry. I don't mean to do it. You just… drive me crazy."
"It's not that I don't want too, you know. It's just… are we really going there behind a tapestry in the house where Sirius and your parents live?" I said, stealing small kisses from his lips. He rested his forehead against mine.
"You got to admit: it would be exiting –" he started, but I gave him the 'if-you-don't-stop-now-I'll-hex-you' look, so he finished his sentence with: "-but you're right, that would be terrible and wrong and stupid."
I smiled and ruffled his untidy hair a bit more. "You're amazing, you know that? You're amazing and perfect and I love you."
"I know I am, love." He moved a bit backwards so I could stand on my two feet again.
I cocked an eyebrow. "Oh really? Someone could use a bit modesty."
"I don't know what you're talking about. The only thing I know is that I love you, too." He put a strand of hair beneath my ear and his finger trailed down my face, following the line of my jaw.
"Good to know," I winked. "Now, not that I'm complaining, but what was that kiss for?"
"Marlene and Alice told me Juggins has bothered you again. Thought I'd distract you a bit. But if you don't like it…"
"No, no! Of course not! I would be stupid to say no to that. It just… surprised me." I didn't know why, but for some or another reason, I couldn't look at him anymore. Instead of that I looked at a little thread on his shoulder and picked it of his shoulder.
"Lily, what's wrong?" I felt the tears burning beneath my eyes. "Lils, tell me."
"It's just – Juggins is really… tiring and when he appeared in my room this morning, I thought – "
"He's never getting in your room again, you hear me? I'm not letting him. I'll make sure he never lays another finger on you, okay?" His eyes were filled with concern and anger. He wasn't angery with me, but with Juggins. I could practically see how he was thinking of killing Juggins nice and slowly. No, scratch the nice. That wasn't James' way of taking revenge.
Suddenly, the images of the dream struck me again. I closed my eyes, took a few deep breaths and smiled at James again, ignoring the desperate feeling the dream brought with it.
"Now, what can I do to help?" I asked, taking his hand and dragging him behind me, from behind the tapestry, down the hallway and into the living room. "What the bloody hell smells so fantastic here?"
"That will be me," we heard from the kitchen.
Was that…? No, that wasn't possible. But it was, I realized. Sirius Black, a frying pan in his hand, a kitchen towel thrown over his shoulder in the most nonchalant way, and, best of all, dressed in an adorable, blue, with polka dots covered kitchen apron. A gigantic white chef's hat shone on top of his head.
"Sirius?" I snorted, not believing what my eyes saw. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making your banquet, missy. You could show some more respect, you know. I'm an excellent cuisinier. I'm known for my exquisite crème bruleé and stuffed turkey. I'm like an angel that's shot from heaven to cook for you," Sirius said, shaking the frying pan, so the pancake that was in it flipped over in the air and landed back in it.
"Now I see who you meant when you were talking about needing modesty," James whispered, pinching my waist softly.
I giggled, pushed his face away, and stepped out of his embrace. "I can see you're cooking, Sirius, I'm not a complete dolt. What I meant was: why are you cooking like a Muggle? You can wave your wand all you want in this house, the Ministry is never going to notice it." I crossed the room, adjusting his hat and putting the flower in the vase on the unbelievably beautiful table. It looked endless: biscuits, fruit, bread, chocolate fountains, flowers,… it was magnificent. The rest of the room was empty, at least the floor was. The walls were covered in Christmas decoration. Angels smiled down at us from the walls, fake snow fell from the enchanted ceiling, just like it did in Hogwarts. A giant pine tree stood in front of the room, decorated with red and gold Christmas ornaments. An enormous star shone down at us from the top. I heard enchanting music, but I couldn't make out where it came from. It was… well, magical.
"This is –" I began, but James cut me off.
"Too much? I knew it, mom should have listened to me. I mean, she never does – " he rambled, but I poked him in the ribs and finished my interrupted sentence.
"- breathtaking."
"Oh."
"Yes, oh. It's wonderful. And she's right, you know." I couldn't help myself, I just had to touch the angels on the wall. They looked so real.
"Who is?" James asked, picking a raspberry from a cake, earning an army of angry angels to attack him. Okay, so they were real. So much has been established. "Damn you, Padfoot. I should've known."
I laughed loudly. "You're an idiot, Potter." The angel I wanted to touch and that had come to life, looked indignant when it saw what I tried to do.
"What are your intentions, sweetheart? I sure as hell hope you're not about to touch me! That's against the law, you know that, sweetheart? Against the angel-law, sweetheart –"
"Oy, Linius, shut it. The girl ain't doin' anythin' wrong," another angel said, this time on the wall right in front of me. "She's just tryin' to figure out what a little annoyin' fat ass is doing on the once so nice wall." Linius looked quite offended, and tried to answer the other angel, but he got cut off by Sirius, who had appeared from the kitchen.
"Linius, Cornius, shut it. Both of you. Or you get the blanket," he said, and somehow, the angels obeyed immediately.
"The blanket?" I asked, still gazing at the creatures on the wall.
"Not really a blanket," Sirius explained. "With the blanket I mean they'll get a tapestry in front of them, so they can't see a thing."
"That explains it," I smiled.
James appeared behind my, still rubbing his head from the pain that was caused by the angry angel fists. "You didn't answer my question."
"What question?"
"The one about who was right."
"Oh, your mom, when you said she never listens to you, I couldn't agree more." After that, I kissed him on his cheek and walked away to find Alice and Marlene and to get changed.
"Minx!" He yelled when I walked out of the room.
"Love you too, Potter!"
"Ready?" Alice asked. We were all dressed, our make-up and hair was done and we all wore our shoes. I had to admit, they looked astonishing. Marlene wore a long, pearl dress, that ended just above the ground, but not high enough for us to see her shoes. The dress made her skin look pale and her eyes huge. She wore her hair up, so her beautiful earrings were clearly visible. Alice, on the other hand, wore a short red dress, with a deep back. Her red killer heels made the picture complete. Her hair was down in waves, and her make-up was limited. Her eyes were the 'eye'-catchers.
Ha ha, very funny, Evans.
"Ready when you are," I replied, grabbing the hand she offered me. We walked down the hall, and stopped in front of the doors that provided access to ball room also known as the living room.
"Okay, remember, girls," Marlene said. "Juggins gets kicked in the groin when he comes close to one of us. Especially Lily, got it? All the boys are going to fall in love with us, and all the girls are going to be jealous because of that. No bitch-fights, agreed?"
"Agreed," Alice and I said in unison.
"Then let's do this, bitches!"
We laughed very hard at that, breathed in and out and walked to the door. It opened automatically and it revealed a gigantic room filled with laughing, talking, dancing and eating people. The man that stood next to the door cleared his throat and talked with a voice that filled the whole room.
"Miss Marlene McKinnon, miss Alice Prewett and miss Lily Evans," the man said. To my surprise, the room felt silent. Everyone looked at us, including Frank, Sirius and – my heart jumped in my throat – James. After a couple of uncomfortable moments, searing loud applause reached my ears.
"Marlene," Sirius whistled. "Could you go back to your room, please? And for when you come back: grab a cloak. This is too much for me to handle."
Marlene smiled sultry. "Well, well, Mister Black. Never thought I'd hear you say that. And you don't look too bad yourself, but I'm sure you're aware of that."
"Of course I am. But enough about me. M'lady –" he said, making an overdone bow "- can I persuade you to dance?"
"Shut up, Black," she laughed, taking his hand and dragging him along with her. I wanted to say something to Alice, but when I turned, I saw she wasn't in a right state to talk with Frank's tongue shoved down her throat.
I made a face, both disgusted as amused. They were adorable together, so much was clear, but sometimes they really were gross.
"Now now, Evans. That's no pretty face," a voice said, giving me goosebumps.
"Leave. Me. Alone," I snapped, grabbing a glass of punch and taking a sip. "I don't want anything to do with you."
"My dear miss Evans –" he started, but he interrupted himself with a shriek when I emptied my glass over his head.
"I hope I was clear." And with that, I turned around and walked straight into a pair of strong arms.
"Hello, love," James said, kissing me on my lips. "Juggins. I see you finally discovered the shower. Maybe it'll help you to get rid of the bad manners… and the smell, of course."
After that, he dragged me along with him, to the middle of the dance floor. "You look gorgeous," he decided.
I smiled. "Thanks. I must say, I approve. You look incredible wearing a suit."
He grinned. "I wanted to come to the dance wearing a jeans. Thought my mother was going to explode. She hoisted me into the suit, and voilà, here I am."
"You look amazing. I bet most of the other girls think so, too." I looked over his shoulder, just in time to see a blonde girl throwing me a dirty look.
"Well, I honestly don't care," James said, kissing me again. "I'm only interested in the opinion of one girl."
I grinned. "Nice save, Potter."
I lay my head on his shoulder and enjoyed the feeling of my hand in his. His other hand was on my waist and pressed our bodies together in a pleasant way. We waltzed through the room together, he let me spin around under his arm, he bent me over in the most amazing way and brought our bodies back together. I never knew he could dance like that.
"Where have you learned to dance like this? It's amazing," I breathed when the song finished. The room burst out in an earsplitting applause.
"Let's just say I took a couple of classes to surprise the girl I love," he whispered in my ear. That moment, the clock struck 12 pm, and the clouds at the ceiling burst open in thousands of glitters. There were words written in the air now the clouds were gone.
We wish you a magical year filled with pleasant surprises and amazing experiences, it said.
"It's perfect," I said, smiling at the ceiling.
"No. You are," James said, blushing slightly. I smiled, bringing his face closer to mine and kissing his lips. It was the best midnight-kiss ever.
Yay! Some Jily action! I thought I owed you guys at least that! I hope you liked it! Remember, reviews are like cookies!
Enya Sparrow