1 A/N: This is the sequel to Free Falling. You will not be lost if you have
not read Free Falling.but you can read it anyway! Hope you enjoy it! Second
chapter will be up soon. ~Lavender
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or his wizarding world. All characters/places belong to JK Rowling.
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6 Even Angels Fall
Chapter One
Summer Loving'
Lily Evans stood in front of her full-length mirror, examining her five- foot-eight curvaceous figure. She shook her head and walked back to her closet to pick out another outfit. She pulled clothes off of hangers and threw them onto her bed in ferocious outpours until she found the perfect short black skirt, white shirt, and jean jacket.
"Mum," Lily called down the stairs.
Her mother, Emalyn Evans, answered back with, "Yes, Lily, darling?"
"I'm completely nervous," Lily said, entering the kitchen where her mother was making pancakes. "I'm a wreck! Do I look all right?"
"You look adorable, dear," Emalyn replied, smoothing Lily's auburn hair. "What are you so nervous about? Is it meeting James's parents or staying at his house for two weeks?"
"Oh, I'm with James and the rest of them every minute of the day when I'm at school; they've seen me at my worst. I'm just nervous about making a good impression on his parents."
"Darling, you're a wonderful girl and the Potters will be delighted to meet you."
Lily sat down next to her older sister, Petunia, to eat some pancakes.
"Petty, are you excited to start your last year at school? You're Head Girl too. I'm so proud to call you my sister."
"Whatever," Petunia muttered. Deep down inside, Petunia loved Lily, but on the outside, she hated her. Lily refused to believe that it because of jealousy.
Lily was a witch-literally-about to go into her fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There she had three best friends: James Potter, whom was also her boyfriend, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin.
For the last two weeks of summer holiday, Lily was staying at the Potters' house along with Sirius, Remus, and Peter Pettigrew. Then Mr. and Mrs. Potter would take the five of them to King's Cross Station to Platform 9 ¾, where they would ride on the Hogwarts Express to the gigantic castle they called school.
"Are you ready?" Emalyn asked.
Lily took a deep breath, then nodded.
* * *
James paced the sitting room floor in front of his parents, Alan and Geness Potter, and his three friends: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew.
"James, darling, sit down," Geness said, her blue eyes trailing back and forth with her son.
"I can't," James replied.
"What are you so nervous about?" Alan asked.
"You certainly can't be nervous about Lils staying here; you've spent the last five years with her."
"No, it's not that, I guess," James said, finally sitting next to Remus on the sofa. "I guess I'm just nervous about meeting her parents, that's all."
"You'll be fine, James," Alan reassured his son. "Just be the little gentleman I know's in there somewhere."
They all laughed, but quickly stopped when the doorbell sounded.
James stood up and walked down the long hall to the front door. The others followed. James opened the door and has his breath taken away.
Lily stood on the doorstep, the summer sun shining behind her, making her dark-red hair shine. Her emerald eyes were alight with happiness and nervousness. Her tanned skin glistened in the evening light.
"Hi, James," Lily said excitedly.
James was in a trance.
"It's been two months since I last saw you and I never thought you could become even more beautiful," James spouted rather poetically. He wrapped his arms around Lily's waist. In return, Lily threw her arms around James's neck.
"You've never said anything like that to me, Thomas," Emalyn Evans said.
"I've no idea where he gets it," Geness said. "Heaven knows he doesn't get it from his father." Geness beamed at Emalyn and Thomas while Alan scowled.
Lily hugged and kissed her friends while the Potters and the Evans introduced themselves.
"You will stay for a glass of brandy, won't you?" Geness asked.
"Well, Petunia is out in the car; she didn't exactly want to be here." Emalyn said.
"Bring her in," exclaimed Alan. " I bet she'd be delighted to try a butterbeer."
"I'm not so sure, Mr. Potter," Lily said.
"Please, call me Alan. Petunia would love to meet all these handsome young men."
"Like I said, I'm not so sure. But I'll get her anyway."
"Splendid," exclaimed Geness.
Lily went back to the car to get Petunia. Sirius, who was crazy about any Muggle contraption, followed.
Petunia was sitting in the car, her arms crossed tightly across her chest, and glaring at Lily and Sirius.
"What do you want?" Petunia snarled as soon as Lily opened the door.
"Petty darling, do come inside or you'll hurt our feelings," Lily said in a sickening-sweet voice just to torment her elder sister. "You can try a butterbeer."
"Butterwhat? There is no way in hell I am going inside that house with you freaks. I'll be poisoned or something."
Sirius seemed to take this as a personal insult, which was rather unlike him.
"Freaks, you say?" he said. "Poison, you say? You have no idea what it is like for us. You think we've got it easy, but we don't. We're always being persecuted by people like you. Only a hundred years ago were people still burning other human beings for witchcraft."
Petunia glared at Sirius. Sirius glared back with his coal-colored eyes.
"That's what it all comes down to," he continued. "We are all human beings. We all have hearts and feelings. Don't you understand that?"
"Go get Mum and Dad, Lily; I want to leave."
"Certainly, Petty dear," Lily said, in not the sweetest tone. She grabbed Sirius's hand and dragged him back up to the Potters large mansion.
"What the hell is her problem?"
"I told you, she hates me and everything to do with me."
"No, I don't think it's as deep as that. She's probably jealous. Did you see the look in her eye? She doesn't hate you-she loves you, I can tell. I just think she's hurt that her sister and best friend left her for something better."
Lily was silent the rest of the way up the long drive and to the sitting room where the adults were sipping glasses of brandy.
"Mum, Petunia wants to go home; she won't come in."
Emalyn pursed her lips.
"Well, I guess we could go," she said.
"We should be going anyway," Thomas said. "It'll take ages to get back home."
"Thank you for bringing Lily over," Geness said.
"No problem. Thank you for letting her stay and taking her to the train station."
"No problem at all, dear. We'll see you later."
"Bye Mummy, bye Daddy," Lily said, hugging and kissing her parents. She waved and blew a kiss to Petunia as they backed out of the drive.
"Let's have some dinner, shall we?" Geness said, wrapping her arm around Lily's shoulder and turning towards the kitchen.
* * *
Lily stood in the bathroom of the guest bedroom, brushing her teeth. She was thinking about her upcoming sixth year at Hogwarts and how much fun they all would have. But would things be different between her and James?
She didn't have time to ponder about it when someone grabbed her around her waist while she was wiping the water off her chin.
Lily squealed and quickly turned around to see a gorgeous man with unruly black hair and a mischievous smile holding her tight.
"James!" Lily exclaimed. "It's after midnight; you should be on the third floor in you room. And look at me; I'm in the flimsiest night gown I own."
"I've seen you a lot more naked than that," James teased. Lily's cheeks went pink. "Besides, I missed you and I wanted to be alone with you again." He nuzzled into her neck and breathed the scent of her hair.
"I've missed you too," replied Lily, melting into the warm embrace. Lily pulled back and looked at James with a teasing glint in her eyes. "But Sirius, Remus, and Peter, not to mention your parents, are all one floor up."
"We can be quiet."
"No, I really don't think so, if you remember as well as I do," Lily teased back.
A smile spread across James's face.
"So not funny," James said, leaning over and kissing Lily.
"You really should go," Lily commented. "What if someone catches you in here?"
"I'll tell them I was sleepwalking."
"And you unconsciously walked into my room and fell on top of me with your lips pressed to mine?"
"Exactly."
Lily giggled.
"You better go, James, before they come looking for you."
"You always say that," James said, kissing Lily's hairline. "I love you. Sleep well."
"I love you too. See you in the morning."
After James exited the spacious room, Lily blew out all the candles and crawled into the king-sized bed.
Nothing has changed between James and me, Lily thought as she drew the bed hangings closed.
* * *
"Let's go for a walk this afternoon," Sirius suggested one morning. "We can walk through the tropical garden."
"Or the pines," Remus said.
"I've heard there are werewolves in there," Peter squeaked.
"Newsflash, Wormtail," Sirius said, "Remus is a werewolf and when he is in the pines, there is a werewolf in there."
"Besides," Remus commented, "when it isn't a full moon, werewolves have homes; they aren't just wandering around the forests in their human forms."
Peter sheepishly looked down at his eggs.
"We could walk through the flower fields," Lily suggested, giving a sly wink at James that the other three didn't notice. James nodded his head in agreement.
"I wonder if there are any other werewolves in the pines; since the full moon is a week away, they might be here early," Remus thought aloud.
"Hey, I'd like to check into that too," Sirius said. "I've never met another werewolf."
"Plan set," Remus stated. "I've never met another one either."
"I'm not going," Peter said sternly.
"Come on, Wormtail," Sirius said. "The only that'll be there is Remus, I promise. And you're an Animagus for crissakes! Besides, Lily and James need to be alone-we've been here a week and James hasn't gotten any for two months."
James spat out the orange juice he had just taken a sip of. Sirius and Remus high-fived each other with uncontrollable laughter. Peter grabbed a napkin and wiped the backwashed juice off of his face. Lily's face turned bright red.
"What in the holy hell?" James raged apoplectically.
"Relax, James, your parents aren't home," Sirius said, still chuckling. "Admit it."
"Going to the loo," Lily stated in a high-pitched tone. She got up and briskly walked down the corridor to the bathroom.
"Admit it, Prongsie," Remus said, nudging James with his elbow.
"How do you know I haven't gotten any, Padfoot?" James queried.
"Come on, James, I know you haven't; I can tell. Besides we would have heard."
"Yeah, either by gloating or screaming," Remus teased. Sirius high-fived Remus again. James's cheeks turned pink and he smiled widely, which quickly faded when the thought processed.
"Gloating? Screaming?" he questioned. "What-"
"You think we can't tell by that look you get on your face?" Sirius asked. "Do you realize we have ears?"
"What?" James stammered.
Sirius's face showed somberness, but was quickly broken by a handsome smile.
"I'm just giving you shit, James, old boy," he said.
"You really don't-I really don't-"
"The part about the look you get on your face is true; as for the noises, I'm not sure. When I see you and Lils on the Marauder's Map in an odd place I stay a far, far distance away from there."
"I greatly appreciate it," James said sarcastically, throwing a muffin at his best friend. "I'm going upstairs so I don't have to be harassed any more by you three."
"I'll follow," said Sirius.
James got up and walked up the stone staircase to the third floor. Once they were in James's room, Sirius asked, "What's it like?"
James gave Sirius a quizzical look.
"What's what like?" he asked.
"You know what I mean."
"I think I do.but you've had sex before; it's not only me that gets that look on my face."
"No, I mean, what's it like with Lily?" Sirius repeated.
"What's sex like with Lily?"
Sirius shook his head.
"What's it like being in love with Lily?"
"Oh," said James, looking at his best friend. "Sirius, it's the greatest. It's deeper than warm fuzzies. It's just something I can't describe. Have you ever been in love?"
Sirius didn't answer right away, but after a minute of reflecting, he said, "Every time I date a new girl, I think, 'This one will be it', and I always strive to get what you and Lily have, but it never happens. Sure, it's fun and cute and a lot of them have amazing bodies, but it turns out being more of a sex thing after a while."
"You mean, you date the best looking girls throughout Hogwarts only to sleep with them?"
"No, no, it's not like that; they use me. They're the ones who date me to sleep with me. And if they offer, I'm not going to say no; I mean, gorgeous women-would you say no?"
"It'd take a lot, I can tell you that," James said.
"And last year, you said no to Lily when she was under the Fertility Potion and she was begging you to shag her. You have a lot of willpower. Like I said before, Lily's drop dead gorgeous and I wouldn't have been able to turn her down."
"I can't now," James said with a smile. "But at the time I hadn't slept with her and I didn't know what it was like, didn't know what I was missing."
"You mean, you didn't sleep with Britannia?" Sirius asked, looking skeptical.
"What I meant was it was completely different with Lily. With Britannia it was always now, now, now, now; hurry, hurry, hurry; not like this, like this. But with Lily-amazing. It's fun, she's relaxed, I'm relaxed, there's no rush, and there's no right or wrong way," James said.
"You are so blessed to have Lily," Sirius said.
"Sirius, you just need to find the right woman."
A knock came at James's door, followed by Lily entering the room.
"Hi guys," she said cheerfully, clearly unembarrassed now. "Sounds like you were having an important conversation. I didn't interrupt anything did I?" The boys shook their heads. "Are you ready to go, James?"
"Just give me a second, I need to put on my shoes."
"Should I have a House-elf pack us a lunch?"
"That'd be great. I'll be down in a minute."
Lily left the room, closing the door behind her. James put his shoes on in silence, said goodbye to Sirius, who was looking at a roll of parchment James had written pranks on for the upcoming year.
"He is so lucky," Sirius commented to himself after James left the room. He sighed and also exited the room looking for Remus and Peter.
* * *
"How 'bout here?" James asked Lily.
"No, how about over to there," Lily said, pointing to a patch of daisies.
"No, I think we should go over to the sunflowers."
"This is so awesome that your mum and dad own all this land. Did they plant all these acres of flowers themselves?"
"Well, my mum is an Herbologist, so she knows how to take care of plants. As for them actually doing manual labor and planting them, I don't know, it's been here as long as I can remember. Same with the tropical gardens and the pines and everything else we have here." He looked at Lily. "Sunflower field, is it?"
"If you can catch me," Lily said giggling. She turned abruptly to her left and ran towards the golden flowers. James raced after her.
Once Lily reached the patch of sunflowers, she dropped to her hands and knees so she was hidden and waited for James to come past.
"Lily," she heard James call from a distance.
"Catch me," Lily called back.
"I'm coming to get you!"
Lily heard footsteps rushing towards her. When she saw James in front of her, she sprang. James landed on his back with an oof, and he looked into the emerald eyes and brushed back the russet hair of his captor.
"I should start calling you Tigerlily," James teased. "My Tigerlily."
"Tigerlily, eh?" Lily said. "Interesting." She leaned over and kissed James's soft lips. "I love you, James."
"I love you too," he replied. "No matter what happens."
"Well, I didn't bring you out here in the tall flower fields to talk to you," Lily said.
"Oh, really?" James questioned, arching an eyebrow. "Then what did you bring me out here for?"
"You'll see," Lily said. She got off James, turned around, unbuttoned her shirt and threw it at James. She also took off her skirt and threw it at James, then took off running, full of giggles.
"What the--?" James exclaimed. He jumped up and ran after Lily, shedding clothing along the way. He came upon a pair of very sexy, silk knickers and a matching bra. "Lily!" he called for the second time that day.
"Come find me," James heard.
He ran in the direction he heard her voice came from and found her thirty seconds later. She was lying on her side, completely naked with a come- hither look in her eye and a sunflower in her hair. She was giggling madly and was motioning for James to go to her.
James stripped himself of the last articles of clothing he had on and went over to Lily and kissed her passionately.
* * *
"Did you hear something?" Peter asked nervously.
"It sounds.like yelling," Sirius said.
Remus burst with laughter.
"It's-it's not another werewolf is it?"
"Far from, Wormtail," Remus said, still chuckling. "Although it does sound like some animal."
Sirius then started laughing.
"Is that what it is? You can hear that?" he asked, shaking with laughter.
"I have extra-sensitive ears, especially when it comes close to the full moon."
"What is it?" Peter asked.
"Is it really what we think it is? " Sirius asked, ignoring Peter. "I mean, I can't hear anything anymore."
"No, they were just yelling back and forth before; now it's more quiet.I'm pretty sure that that's what's going on.."
Sirius and Remus laughed again.
"What's going on?" Peter questioned.
"Nothing, nothing at all," said Sirius, finally catching his breath from all the laughing. "Let's eat our lunch, shall we?"
Remus and Peter nodded. They sat under a large evergreen and pulled out their lunches from the picnic basket.
* * *
That night, they ate an exquisite dinner by soft candlelight rather than the usual torchlight. James's parents had gone to a Quidditch game, which obviously hadn't ended yet.
"Did you find any other werewolves?" Lily asked, taking a bite of roast duck.
"Nope," Remus said. He exchanged a sly glance with Sirius, then said, "But we did hear some rather interesting animals."
"But no luck on seeing anything," Sirius said.
"Oh, too bad," James said, pouring more gravy on his mashed potatoes.
"No, not really, those noises were slightly frightening."
"Slightly?" Peter exclaimed. "I'm never going into the pines again."
"What was it Remus?" James asked. "You have good ears."
"It sounded like homo sapiens," Remus said. Three out of the five teenagers at the table looked completely clueless.
"Please don't tell me what I think you mean," Lily said.
Remus nodded, a twinkle was in his eye and as smirk on his face.
"What are you two talking about?" James asked.
"Muggle things," Remus replied simply. "Science mostly."
"You didn't, did you?" Lily asked again.
"What are homo sapiens?" Sirius asked. "What's the big deal? Remus, you didn't tell me that you heard Muggle creatures called homo sapiens."
"Yes I did," said Remus.
"You told them too?"
"What in the hell are homo sapiens?" James asked.
"I heard it loud and clear," Remus said slyly, a smirk still on his handsome face.
Lily's jaw dropped but was quickly replaced by her deep, throaty laugh. The four Marauders stared at her.
"What's so funny?" James asked.
"I've no idea," Remus said. "I just told her that heard the two of you shagging and now she's laughing."
"You what?" James half shouted.
Lily's laughter rang throughout the stone dining room. It was soon joined by Sirius's hearty laughter.
"What's so funny about Moony here hearing us?" James asked.
Peter started giggling nervously.
"It's just-," Lily said, gasping for breath and wiping her eyes with her napkin. "It's just so hilarious-that-they got an-an earful." Lily burst with laughter once more.
"Actually," Sirius said, subsiding from his laughter, "only Remus got an earful since he has wolf in him."
"What's all that homo sapiens business?" asked James, who seemed very cross. "What the hell are homo sapiens?"
"Homo sapiens, dear, is the scientific term for human being," Lily said.
"Oh that's just nice," James declared.
"Oh come on James, where's your sense of humor?" Lily asked, nudging her sweetheart playfully with her elbow. "Besides, they all know about it anyway."
"How do you know they all know about it?" James asked.
"Oh, James," Lily said in a high-pitched voice. "I know what goes through a guy's head. You don't think Sirius or Remus or Peter can tell that you got lucky by the look you get on your face?"
Remus high-fived Lily.
"You notice the look?" James asked incredulously.
"Of course I do," Lily replied simply. "I've known all of you for six years, I can tell when something is different. And don't think you don't get that look on your face either, Sirius."
"What?" Sirius exclaimed.
"It's true!" cried out Remus. "You try to hide it, but it is impossible to keep it from me."
"What about you Moony?" James asked. "Have you ever shagged anyone? You don't seem to get that look on you face."
"If I have, I'm not liable to tell you guys. Besides, I have a way of hiding it better than you two do."
"Uh, guys.." Lily said. "I'm still here remember? This conversation is getting too personal for my likings. Change the subject."
"Of course we will, Lils," Sirius said. "So, is anyone besides me excited to start school?"
"You? Excited to start school? I can't believe it! Who is she?" Lily queried.
Sirius's cheeks flushed.
"No one," he said quickly.
"Don't lie!" Remus said. "I can feel it."
"Let me guess," Lily said. "It's Shana Lorden of Hufflepuff."
"No," Sirius answered. "Like I said, there isn't anybody."
"Sure there is," said James. "There has to be. Who is it? Come on, you can tell us."
"There is no one!" Sirius said, which sounded more like a bark. He got up from his chair and stalked out of the dining room.
"What was that all about?" Lily asked. "He's never acted that way before."
"There is somebody," Remus said. "There has to be."
"Let's just leave him alone, okay?" James said. He, too, got out of his chair and exited the dining room after his best friend.
Hope you enjoyed it! Don't forget to write a review! I'm open to constructive criticism. ~Lavender
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or his wizarding world. All characters/places belong to JK Rowling.
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6 Even Angels Fall
Chapter One
Summer Loving'
Lily Evans stood in front of her full-length mirror, examining her five- foot-eight curvaceous figure. She shook her head and walked back to her closet to pick out another outfit. She pulled clothes off of hangers and threw them onto her bed in ferocious outpours until she found the perfect short black skirt, white shirt, and jean jacket.
"Mum," Lily called down the stairs.
Her mother, Emalyn Evans, answered back with, "Yes, Lily, darling?"
"I'm completely nervous," Lily said, entering the kitchen where her mother was making pancakes. "I'm a wreck! Do I look all right?"
"You look adorable, dear," Emalyn replied, smoothing Lily's auburn hair. "What are you so nervous about? Is it meeting James's parents or staying at his house for two weeks?"
"Oh, I'm with James and the rest of them every minute of the day when I'm at school; they've seen me at my worst. I'm just nervous about making a good impression on his parents."
"Darling, you're a wonderful girl and the Potters will be delighted to meet you."
Lily sat down next to her older sister, Petunia, to eat some pancakes.
"Petty, are you excited to start your last year at school? You're Head Girl too. I'm so proud to call you my sister."
"Whatever," Petunia muttered. Deep down inside, Petunia loved Lily, but on the outside, she hated her. Lily refused to believe that it because of jealousy.
Lily was a witch-literally-about to go into her fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There she had three best friends: James Potter, whom was also her boyfriend, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin.
For the last two weeks of summer holiday, Lily was staying at the Potters' house along with Sirius, Remus, and Peter Pettigrew. Then Mr. and Mrs. Potter would take the five of them to King's Cross Station to Platform 9 ¾, where they would ride on the Hogwarts Express to the gigantic castle they called school.
"Are you ready?" Emalyn asked.
Lily took a deep breath, then nodded.
* * *
James paced the sitting room floor in front of his parents, Alan and Geness Potter, and his three friends: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew.
"James, darling, sit down," Geness said, her blue eyes trailing back and forth with her son.
"I can't," James replied.
"What are you so nervous about?" Alan asked.
"You certainly can't be nervous about Lils staying here; you've spent the last five years with her."
"No, it's not that, I guess," James said, finally sitting next to Remus on the sofa. "I guess I'm just nervous about meeting her parents, that's all."
"You'll be fine, James," Alan reassured his son. "Just be the little gentleman I know's in there somewhere."
They all laughed, but quickly stopped when the doorbell sounded.
James stood up and walked down the long hall to the front door. The others followed. James opened the door and has his breath taken away.
Lily stood on the doorstep, the summer sun shining behind her, making her dark-red hair shine. Her emerald eyes were alight with happiness and nervousness. Her tanned skin glistened in the evening light.
"Hi, James," Lily said excitedly.
James was in a trance.
"It's been two months since I last saw you and I never thought you could become even more beautiful," James spouted rather poetically. He wrapped his arms around Lily's waist. In return, Lily threw her arms around James's neck.
"You've never said anything like that to me, Thomas," Emalyn Evans said.
"I've no idea where he gets it," Geness said. "Heaven knows he doesn't get it from his father." Geness beamed at Emalyn and Thomas while Alan scowled.
Lily hugged and kissed her friends while the Potters and the Evans introduced themselves.
"You will stay for a glass of brandy, won't you?" Geness asked.
"Well, Petunia is out in the car; she didn't exactly want to be here." Emalyn said.
"Bring her in," exclaimed Alan. " I bet she'd be delighted to try a butterbeer."
"I'm not so sure, Mr. Potter," Lily said.
"Please, call me Alan. Petunia would love to meet all these handsome young men."
"Like I said, I'm not so sure. But I'll get her anyway."
"Splendid," exclaimed Geness.
Lily went back to the car to get Petunia. Sirius, who was crazy about any Muggle contraption, followed.
Petunia was sitting in the car, her arms crossed tightly across her chest, and glaring at Lily and Sirius.
"What do you want?" Petunia snarled as soon as Lily opened the door.
"Petty darling, do come inside or you'll hurt our feelings," Lily said in a sickening-sweet voice just to torment her elder sister. "You can try a butterbeer."
"Butterwhat? There is no way in hell I am going inside that house with you freaks. I'll be poisoned or something."
Sirius seemed to take this as a personal insult, which was rather unlike him.
"Freaks, you say?" he said. "Poison, you say? You have no idea what it is like for us. You think we've got it easy, but we don't. We're always being persecuted by people like you. Only a hundred years ago were people still burning other human beings for witchcraft."
Petunia glared at Sirius. Sirius glared back with his coal-colored eyes.
"That's what it all comes down to," he continued. "We are all human beings. We all have hearts and feelings. Don't you understand that?"
"Go get Mum and Dad, Lily; I want to leave."
"Certainly, Petty dear," Lily said, in not the sweetest tone. She grabbed Sirius's hand and dragged him back up to the Potters large mansion.
"What the hell is her problem?"
"I told you, she hates me and everything to do with me."
"No, I don't think it's as deep as that. She's probably jealous. Did you see the look in her eye? She doesn't hate you-she loves you, I can tell. I just think she's hurt that her sister and best friend left her for something better."
Lily was silent the rest of the way up the long drive and to the sitting room where the adults were sipping glasses of brandy.
"Mum, Petunia wants to go home; she won't come in."
Emalyn pursed her lips.
"Well, I guess we could go," she said.
"We should be going anyway," Thomas said. "It'll take ages to get back home."
"Thank you for bringing Lily over," Geness said.
"No problem. Thank you for letting her stay and taking her to the train station."
"No problem at all, dear. We'll see you later."
"Bye Mummy, bye Daddy," Lily said, hugging and kissing her parents. She waved and blew a kiss to Petunia as they backed out of the drive.
"Let's have some dinner, shall we?" Geness said, wrapping her arm around Lily's shoulder and turning towards the kitchen.
* * *
Lily stood in the bathroom of the guest bedroom, brushing her teeth. She was thinking about her upcoming sixth year at Hogwarts and how much fun they all would have. But would things be different between her and James?
She didn't have time to ponder about it when someone grabbed her around her waist while she was wiping the water off her chin.
Lily squealed and quickly turned around to see a gorgeous man with unruly black hair and a mischievous smile holding her tight.
"James!" Lily exclaimed. "It's after midnight; you should be on the third floor in you room. And look at me; I'm in the flimsiest night gown I own."
"I've seen you a lot more naked than that," James teased. Lily's cheeks went pink. "Besides, I missed you and I wanted to be alone with you again." He nuzzled into her neck and breathed the scent of her hair.
"I've missed you too," replied Lily, melting into the warm embrace. Lily pulled back and looked at James with a teasing glint in her eyes. "But Sirius, Remus, and Peter, not to mention your parents, are all one floor up."
"We can be quiet."
"No, I really don't think so, if you remember as well as I do," Lily teased back.
A smile spread across James's face.
"So not funny," James said, leaning over and kissing Lily.
"You really should go," Lily commented. "What if someone catches you in here?"
"I'll tell them I was sleepwalking."
"And you unconsciously walked into my room and fell on top of me with your lips pressed to mine?"
"Exactly."
Lily giggled.
"You better go, James, before they come looking for you."
"You always say that," James said, kissing Lily's hairline. "I love you. Sleep well."
"I love you too. See you in the morning."
After James exited the spacious room, Lily blew out all the candles and crawled into the king-sized bed.
Nothing has changed between James and me, Lily thought as she drew the bed hangings closed.
* * *
"Let's go for a walk this afternoon," Sirius suggested one morning. "We can walk through the tropical garden."
"Or the pines," Remus said.
"I've heard there are werewolves in there," Peter squeaked.
"Newsflash, Wormtail," Sirius said, "Remus is a werewolf and when he is in the pines, there is a werewolf in there."
"Besides," Remus commented, "when it isn't a full moon, werewolves have homes; they aren't just wandering around the forests in their human forms."
Peter sheepishly looked down at his eggs.
"We could walk through the flower fields," Lily suggested, giving a sly wink at James that the other three didn't notice. James nodded his head in agreement.
"I wonder if there are any other werewolves in the pines; since the full moon is a week away, they might be here early," Remus thought aloud.
"Hey, I'd like to check into that too," Sirius said. "I've never met another werewolf."
"Plan set," Remus stated. "I've never met another one either."
"I'm not going," Peter said sternly.
"Come on, Wormtail," Sirius said. "The only that'll be there is Remus, I promise. And you're an Animagus for crissakes! Besides, Lily and James need to be alone-we've been here a week and James hasn't gotten any for two months."
James spat out the orange juice he had just taken a sip of. Sirius and Remus high-fived each other with uncontrollable laughter. Peter grabbed a napkin and wiped the backwashed juice off of his face. Lily's face turned bright red.
"What in the holy hell?" James raged apoplectically.
"Relax, James, your parents aren't home," Sirius said, still chuckling. "Admit it."
"Going to the loo," Lily stated in a high-pitched tone. She got up and briskly walked down the corridor to the bathroom.
"Admit it, Prongsie," Remus said, nudging James with his elbow.
"How do you know I haven't gotten any, Padfoot?" James queried.
"Come on, James, I know you haven't; I can tell. Besides we would have heard."
"Yeah, either by gloating or screaming," Remus teased. Sirius high-fived Remus again. James's cheeks turned pink and he smiled widely, which quickly faded when the thought processed.
"Gloating? Screaming?" he questioned. "What-"
"You think we can't tell by that look you get on your face?" Sirius asked. "Do you realize we have ears?"
"What?" James stammered.
Sirius's face showed somberness, but was quickly broken by a handsome smile.
"I'm just giving you shit, James, old boy," he said.
"You really don't-I really don't-"
"The part about the look you get on your face is true; as for the noises, I'm not sure. When I see you and Lils on the Marauder's Map in an odd place I stay a far, far distance away from there."
"I greatly appreciate it," James said sarcastically, throwing a muffin at his best friend. "I'm going upstairs so I don't have to be harassed any more by you three."
"I'll follow," said Sirius.
James got up and walked up the stone staircase to the third floor. Once they were in James's room, Sirius asked, "What's it like?"
James gave Sirius a quizzical look.
"What's what like?" he asked.
"You know what I mean."
"I think I do.but you've had sex before; it's not only me that gets that look on my face."
"No, I mean, what's it like with Lily?" Sirius repeated.
"What's sex like with Lily?"
Sirius shook his head.
"What's it like being in love with Lily?"
"Oh," said James, looking at his best friend. "Sirius, it's the greatest. It's deeper than warm fuzzies. It's just something I can't describe. Have you ever been in love?"
Sirius didn't answer right away, but after a minute of reflecting, he said, "Every time I date a new girl, I think, 'This one will be it', and I always strive to get what you and Lily have, but it never happens. Sure, it's fun and cute and a lot of them have amazing bodies, but it turns out being more of a sex thing after a while."
"You mean, you date the best looking girls throughout Hogwarts only to sleep with them?"
"No, no, it's not like that; they use me. They're the ones who date me to sleep with me. And if they offer, I'm not going to say no; I mean, gorgeous women-would you say no?"
"It'd take a lot, I can tell you that," James said.
"And last year, you said no to Lily when she was under the Fertility Potion and she was begging you to shag her. You have a lot of willpower. Like I said before, Lily's drop dead gorgeous and I wouldn't have been able to turn her down."
"I can't now," James said with a smile. "But at the time I hadn't slept with her and I didn't know what it was like, didn't know what I was missing."
"You mean, you didn't sleep with Britannia?" Sirius asked, looking skeptical.
"What I meant was it was completely different with Lily. With Britannia it was always now, now, now, now; hurry, hurry, hurry; not like this, like this. But with Lily-amazing. It's fun, she's relaxed, I'm relaxed, there's no rush, and there's no right or wrong way," James said.
"You are so blessed to have Lily," Sirius said.
"Sirius, you just need to find the right woman."
A knock came at James's door, followed by Lily entering the room.
"Hi guys," she said cheerfully, clearly unembarrassed now. "Sounds like you were having an important conversation. I didn't interrupt anything did I?" The boys shook their heads. "Are you ready to go, James?"
"Just give me a second, I need to put on my shoes."
"Should I have a House-elf pack us a lunch?"
"That'd be great. I'll be down in a minute."
Lily left the room, closing the door behind her. James put his shoes on in silence, said goodbye to Sirius, who was looking at a roll of parchment James had written pranks on for the upcoming year.
"He is so lucky," Sirius commented to himself after James left the room. He sighed and also exited the room looking for Remus and Peter.
* * *
"How 'bout here?" James asked Lily.
"No, how about over to there," Lily said, pointing to a patch of daisies.
"No, I think we should go over to the sunflowers."
"This is so awesome that your mum and dad own all this land. Did they plant all these acres of flowers themselves?"
"Well, my mum is an Herbologist, so she knows how to take care of plants. As for them actually doing manual labor and planting them, I don't know, it's been here as long as I can remember. Same with the tropical gardens and the pines and everything else we have here." He looked at Lily. "Sunflower field, is it?"
"If you can catch me," Lily said giggling. She turned abruptly to her left and ran towards the golden flowers. James raced after her.
Once Lily reached the patch of sunflowers, she dropped to her hands and knees so she was hidden and waited for James to come past.
"Lily," she heard James call from a distance.
"Catch me," Lily called back.
"I'm coming to get you!"
Lily heard footsteps rushing towards her. When she saw James in front of her, she sprang. James landed on his back with an oof, and he looked into the emerald eyes and brushed back the russet hair of his captor.
"I should start calling you Tigerlily," James teased. "My Tigerlily."
"Tigerlily, eh?" Lily said. "Interesting." She leaned over and kissed James's soft lips. "I love you, James."
"I love you too," he replied. "No matter what happens."
"Well, I didn't bring you out here in the tall flower fields to talk to you," Lily said.
"Oh, really?" James questioned, arching an eyebrow. "Then what did you bring me out here for?"
"You'll see," Lily said. She got off James, turned around, unbuttoned her shirt and threw it at James. She also took off her skirt and threw it at James, then took off running, full of giggles.
"What the--?" James exclaimed. He jumped up and ran after Lily, shedding clothing along the way. He came upon a pair of very sexy, silk knickers and a matching bra. "Lily!" he called for the second time that day.
"Come find me," James heard.
He ran in the direction he heard her voice came from and found her thirty seconds later. She was lying on her side, completely naked with a come- hither look in her eye and a sunflower in her hair. She was giggling madly and was motioning for James to go to her.
James stripped himself of the last articles of clothing he had on and went over to Lily and kissed her passionately.
* * *
"Did you hear something?" Peter asked nervously.
"It sounds.like yelling," Sirius said.
Remus burst with laughter.
"It's-it's not another werewolf is it?"
"Far from, Wormtail," Remus said, still chuckling. "Although it does sound like some animal."
Sirius then started laughing.
"Is that what it is? You can hear that?" he asked, shaking with laughter.
"I have extra-sensitive ears, especially when it comes close to the full moon."
"What is it?" Peter asked.
"Is it really what we think it is? " Sirius asked, ignoring Peter. "I mean, I can't hear anything anymore."
"No, they were just yelling back and forth before; now it's more quiet.I'm pretty sure that that's what's going on.."
Sirius and Remus laughed again.
"What's going on?" Peter questioned.
"Nothing, nothing at all," said Sirius, finally catching his breath from all the laughing. "Let's eat our lunch, shall we?"
Remus and Peter nodded. They sat under a large evergreen and pulled out their lunches from the picnic basket.
* * *
That night, they ate an exquisite dinner by soft candlelight rather than the usual torchlight. James's parents had gone to a Quidditch game, which obviously hadn't ended yet.
"Did you find any other werewolves?" Lily asked, taking a bite of roast duck.
"Nope," Remus said. He exchanged a sly glance with Sirius, then said, "But we did hear some rather interesting animals."
"But no luck on seeing anything," Sirius said.
"Oh, too bad," James said, pouring more gravy on his mashed potatoes.
"No, not really, those noises were slightly frightening."
"Slightly?" Peter exclaimed. "I'm never going into the pines again."
"What was it Remus?" James asked. "You have good ears."
"It sounded like homo sapiens," Remus said. Three out of the five teenagers at the table looked completely clueless.
"Please don't tell me what I think you mean," Lily said.
Remus nodded, a twinkle was in his eye and as smirk on his face.
"What are you two talking about?" James asked.
"Muggle things," Remus replied simply. "Science mostly."
"You didn't, did you?" Lily asked again.
"What are homo sapiens?" Sirius asked. "What's the big deal? Remus, you didn't tell me that you heard Muggle creatures called homo sapiens."
"Yes I did," said Remus.
"You told them too?"
"What in the hell are homo sapiens?" James asked.
"I heard it loud and clear," Remus said slyly, a smirk still on his handsome face.
Lily's jaw dropped but was quickly replaced by her deep, throaty laugh. The four Marauders stared at her.
"What's so funny?" James asked.
"I've no idea," Remus said. "I just told her that heard the two of you shagging and now she's laughing."
"You what?" James half shouted.
Lily's laughter rang throughout the stone dining room. It was soon joined by Sirius's hearty laughter.
"What's so funny about Moony here hearing us?" James asked.
Peter started giggling nervously.
"It's just-," Lily said, gasping for breath and wiping her eyes with her napkin. "It's just so hilarious-that-they got an-an earful." Lily burst with laughter once more.
"Actually," Sirius said, subsiding from his laughter, "only Remus got an earful since he has wolf in him."
"What's all that homo sapiens business?" asked James, who seemed very cross. "What the hell are homo sapiens?"
"Homo sapiens, dear, is the scientific term for human being," Lily said.
"Oh that's just nice," James declared.
"Oh come on James, where's your sense of humor?" Lily asked, nudging her sweetheart playfully with her elbow. "Besides, they all know about it anyway."
"How do you know they all know about it?" James asked.
"Oh, James," Lily said in a high-pitched voice. "I know what goes through a guy's head. You don't think Sirius or Remus or Peter can tell that you got lucky by the look you get on your face?"
Remus high-fived Lily.
"You notice the look?" James asked incredulously.
"Of course I do," Lily replied simply. "I've known all of you for six years, I can tell when something is different. And don't think you don't get that look on your face either, Sirius."
"What?" Sirius exclaimed.
"It's true!" cried out Remus. "You try to hide it, but it is impossible to keep it from me."
"What about you Moony?" James asked. "Have you ever shagged anyone? You don't seem to get that look on you face."
"If I have, I'm not liable to tell you guys. Besides, I have a way of hiding it better than you two do."
"Uh, guys.." Lily said. "I'm still here remember? This conversation is getting too personal for my likings. Change the subject."
"Of course we will, Lils," Sirius said. "So, is anyone besides me excited to start school?"
"You? Excited to start school? I can't believe it! Who is she?" Lily queried.
Sirius's cheeks flushed.
"No one," he said quickly.
"Don't lie!" Remus said. "I can feel it."
"Let me guess," Lily said. "It's Shana Lorden of Hufflepuff."
"No," Sirius answered. "Like I said, there isn't anybody."
"Sure there is," said James. "There has to be. Who is it? Come on, you can tell us."
"There is no one!" Sirius said, which sounded more like a bark. He got up from his chair and stalked out of the dining room.
"What was that all about?" Lily asked. "He's never acted that way before."
"There is somebody," Remus said. "There has to be."
"Let's just leave him alone, okay?" James said. He, too, got out of his chair and exited the dining room after his best friend.
Hope you enjoyed it! Don't forget to write a review! I'm open to constructive criticism. ~Lavender