Following the Natural Curve: Part One

Chapter Eight

Life and love are life and love, a bunch of violets is a bunch of violets, and to drag in the idea of a point is to ruin everything. Live and let live, love and let love, flower and fade, and follow the natural curve, which flows on, pointless.

-D. H. Lawrence

The Gryffindors' ecstasy at their amazing victory lasted into exam week, despite the seventh years' horrible N.E.W.T.s. Lily celebrated with the best of them after the match (a party that went on well into the night) and joined in with the still excited chatter as they reviewed the match again on Sunday before hurrying off to the library to study for their first exam, Charms.

Charms was perhaps Lily's best subject, but she still wanted to review everything. She spent the day going over everything they had been taught in the Standard Book of Spells, Grade 7. Once she had completed all the small Charms that Madam Porter couldn't see, she packed up all of her books and hauled the lot back to Gryffindor Tower, where she could practice the bigger Charms. To her extreme annoyance, the common room was full to bursting with chattering students. Her blood boiling, Lily counted backwards from ten, itching to tell off the students, and calmed herself down as she found a table in the back and sat down. If they want to fail all their exams, well, that's perfectly fine with me, she said to herself with forced calmness. It's not your problem, Evans.

After an hour of being interrupted, however, the calming voice had started to lose its sway and the part of Lily that wanted to tear everyone limb from limb was gaining more power in her mind. She was clutching the book in her hands without seeing the page, trying desperately not to lose control, when someone called, "Lily! C'mon, let's go to dinner!"

It was James. She looked up; he was trying to get to her through the crowd of students leaving the common room. And, without warning, a long-dormant feeling sprung up within Lily: extreme annoyance with James Potter. He hasn't studied at all, has he? she thought furiously, staring at him. And he was probably one of the loudest people in the room as she was trying to get some work done. Why didn't he have more respect?

"Lily, we're going down to dinner. Want to come?"

"No, thank you," she said, jaw clenched, as she balled her hands into fists under the table. She was longing to lash out at him, ask him why he wasn't studying so she could yell at him. Hell, he would probably do better on the exam than she would! That's how it always was, wasn't it?

"Are you all right?" he asked, looking puzzled.

For a supposedly clever boy, he was being awfully stupid at the moment.

"Yes, James, I'm fantastic."

"Oh, okay, then," he said, still looking confused. "D'you want me to bring anything up for you?"

"No, I'll manage," she said through gritted teeth.

"Sure?"

Can he not take a bloody hint?

"Yes, I'm positive."

"Okay, then.... See you in a bit."

He was one of the last to leave the common room, and Lily felt a rush of irritation towards her other friends for not coming up and asking her to go to dinner with them too. Did no one remember fifth year when she didn't eat at all and had to go to the hospital wing? They were probably too obsessed with the stupid Quidditch game to think about their other, non-Quidditch, friends who wanted to do well on the exams...stupid Quidditch....

Lily turned back to her books with a scowl. Fine. She would laugh when they all failed.

~*~*~*~*

For the whole first week of exams, Lily was the first to get up in the morning and the last to leave the common room at night without fail. She didn't speak to her friends practically at all, knowing she would end up doing something rash, but she was hurt that they didn't even attempt to draw her out either. She had never felt so stressed out in her life, and was bitterly disappointed with her Defense Against the Dark Arts exam. During it she had been so distraught over the written part, which had taken place that morning, and over the Potions exam the following Monday (which she was sure she would fail miserably), that she had failed to come up with a happy thought and thus her Patronus had become nothing but a silvery mess. She immersed herself into her Potions over the weekend; thankfully, the Quidditch high everyone had been on was wearing off, and the common room was almost totally silent.

Lily was at the same table she had been at for the entire week on Sunday night, bent over her notes, eyes moving rapidly through them. She didn't realize James was talking to her until he waved his hand in front of her face.

"Earth to Lily!" he said, smiling. Her head snapped up and she glared at him, annoyance sparking quickly. Dorcas, Gwen, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Mary Katherine were all looking at her with concern from a huddle behind James.

"What?" she snapped. She looked around at them, her mood rapidly becoming very foul. "Do you need something?"

They looked at each other quickly. Lily guessed that they had been talking about her; her temper rose even more.

After a pause, James seemed to reach a decision. "Right, c'mon Lily, we're going for a walk," he said firmly, taking her arm.

Lily jerked it out of his grasp. "I need to study," she hissed.

"No, no, you need a break, Lily," he said, crouching down so he was at her eye level. "I miss you. Come on, let's get out of here. I know you need a break from this rubbish."

Then she lost it.

"You know I need a break? I bloody do not need a bloody break! Some of us have to study, Potter!"

James froze when she spat his last name at him and he rose slowly to his feet, brown eyes clouding quickly.

"Ever heard of it?" Lily continued, hardly knowing what she was saying. "It's what the peons have to do! Not the brilliant James Potter, who can bloody walk into an exam and make a three hundred percent without even looking at his notes! What I'm wondering is how you can even get to the exam with that huge head on your shoulders!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, his voice deadly quiet.

She stood up. She was slightly aware that everyone in the room was staring at them, but she didn't care. A wild recklessness had taken her over. "You know what it means! You're so arrogant; I haven't even seen you pick up a book to study! One day your stupid luck is going to run out, and guess what? I'm going to LAUGH!" His face blanched to the color of parchment before slowly becoming tomato-red. She had made him quite livid and took a perverse pleasure from it.

"I thought we had got past my arrogance, Lily," he said, voice rising with unbridled anger.

"You might've - I never did, because it's still bloody there! Just a second ago you told me I needed a break. How dare you presume to know what I want?"

"I was trying to help!" he cried in exasperation. "Help you! But you're too stubborn and pigheaded to take it, I guess!"

"Oh come off it, Potter! Everyone knows you just wanted a snog!"

There was a shocked silence in which James stared at her, breathing heavily, and she met his eyes boldly. And then he exploded.

"How dare you presume to know what I want, Evans?" he yelled, throwing her words back into her face. "Bloody hell, sorry I tried to help you! See if I ever do it again!"

"I don't need your bloody help!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

They both stormed away from each other, Lily stomping up the steps to her dormitory and James up to his own room. Lily flung open the wooden door and made a beeline for her bed, upon which she fumed numbly for about a second before bursting into tears. Gwen, Dorcas, and Mary Katherine had followed her up at a safe distance, and they seemed relieved that Lily wasn't ranting anymore as they sat down on her bed. Lily swallowed her pride and let herself cry onto their shoulders as they murmured soothing things to her. When Lily had finished sobbing, she pulled back and wiped her very wet face on her bedspread.

"It's all right, Lily," Gwen said soothingly, rubbing her back. "Don't worry, dear, it's all right-"

"It's not all right!" Lily moaned suddenly, tears coming back into her puffy, stinging eyes. "I went stark-raving mad down there!"

And she burst into tears again. She knew that she had just been baiting him, irking him on purpose because she was a jealous, selfish prat who didn't care about anyone but herself-

"Did I really accuse him of just wanting a snog?" she gasped, tears flowing down her cheeks. They looked at each other uncomfortably.

"Well, yes," Dorcas said hesitatingly.

"Oh, Merlin, and he believed me?" she wailed, looking at them with desperation before burying her head into her pillow.

"Erm...."

After a few moments of silence, during which her friends started to wonder if Lily had suffocated herself, the redhead raised her head. "Do you think he hates me?" she whispered, looking at her three friends in complete and utter horror with bloodshot green eyes.

There was a slight, almost imperceptible pause before the three other girls denied it forcefully, but Lily caught the silence and its meaning; she then cried until she had no more tears left. Tired out from sobbing, sleep, merciful sleep, came quickly.

~*~*~*~*

Lily was a miserable wreck the next day. She had woken up in the middle of the night and not fallen back asleep for several hours, dwelling on her and James's huge row. She hadn't meant a word of it, but did James know that?

It turned out he didn't. He was just as angry as he had been the night before and Lily was much too stubborn to apologize to him as he glared at her over breakfast. She tried desperately to make herself feel even a slight bit of anger towards him, but it was next to impossible and made her heart sore to try. She didn't know how she made it through her Potions exam, but somehow she did and was sitting at her normal table as she studied for Care of Magical Creatures later that evening. James kept sending her unmistakable daggers with his eyes as he sat in his usual corner with his friends, laughing rambunctiously and pointedly not studying.

"Just apologize, Lily," Gwen said, catching her as she looked over at him for the hundredth time that evening. Gwen was sitting with her friend, trying to go over her own notes, and was sick of Lily's alternating tuts of impatience and sighs of heartache. "You did sort of attack him last night. He's certainly not going to make the first move."

Lily's temper flared. "Oh, so it's my fault now, is it?" she shrieked, not bothering to lower her voice.

"Shut up, Lily, you know that's not what I meant," Gwen snapped, and Lily glared at her for a long moment before deciding she couldn't afford to make another enemy.

"I know," she said wearily, green eyes dropping back to her notes.

Gwen softened. "Don't worry, Lily, it'll all straighten out."

But as Saturday, the day they would leave Hogwarts for the last time, loomed closer without any movement from either side, no one was sure about that anymore. Lily had got to the point where she couldn't hear James's name without smashing something or bursting into tears, depending on her mood. Still, she tortured herself by squeezing everything she could out of her friends about him.

"He's still angry, then?"

"Yes, Lily, he's still angry."

"Oh. Did he mention me at all when you were over there?"

"No, Lily, he didn't mention you at all."

"Oh. Did he look upset, then?"

"Yes, Lily, he looked quite upset."

She knew she was driving Mary Katherine, Dorcas, and Gwen mad, but she couldn't help it. She felt like her heart was breaking in two whenever she saw him, though she couldn't gather up enough courage to swallow her pride and apologize. And James, as he had done nothing wrong ("It was self-defense, Lily," Gwen had informed her irritably countless times), wasn't about to talk to her.

Things were looking very dismal as Wednesday dawned. Lily felt numb the whole day; how she got through her last exam, she never knew. She was becoming desperate, and as she watched James in his usual spot with his celebrating friends after they had taken their last exam, his despondent face (which was a very welcome change from the cold looks and deadly glares) gave her a tiny glimmer of hope. He was obviously hurting as badly as she was.

She turned away from him, not wanting to be caught staring, and looked down at her lap. She was surrounded by a chattering, celebrating crowd, but she felt very removed from them all. The noise of their happiness seemed to dim as Lily carefully, almost hesitantly, explored her feelings about a James-less existence. She hadn't known what to expect for this summer (she wasn't even thinking about the autumn yet, when she would know whether her applications to St. Mungo's had been accepted or not), but she had been positive that it would involve James in some way, shape or form. As she sat there, she realized that James Potter, a boy she had once hated with every fiber of her existence, was now invaluable to her and her life. From that, as she continued exploring, she came to one simple yet horribly complicated conclusion: she couldn't live without him.

Emboldened by her sudden realization, Lily jerked her head up and sought him out again, determined to apologize and have this whole thing mended - after all, this was practically her last chance. But she felt her heart plummet as she noticed he and his fellow Marauders had left the common room.

"Where's James?" she heard herself asking; it came out a bit sharper than necessary, but her friends didn't seem to mind.

"He went to nick some food from the kitchens," Dorcas said after a pause, looking at her with wide eyes. She, Gwen, and Mary Katherine were staring at Lily as though she were a very valuable and breakable piece of pottery that could shatter at any second.

"I'm sure you could - could catch him," Mary Katherine said hesitantly. "If you hurried...."

Lily sighed. No, she didn't want to apologize in front of all the Marauders. She decided that it was one thing to apologize to James directly and quite another to make herself swallow her pride and humble herself in front of others. She shook her head. She could tell her friends wanted to pry, to find out whether she was going to close the breach or not, but she ignored their curious stares and thought rapidly. Now what was she going to do?

For the next two nights, Lily lay awake thinking about James until an unseemly hour. It wasn't until her last night at Hogwarts, however, that she actually did something about it.

That night, as per usual, she couldn't make herself go to sleep with that horrible feeling in her stomach - the feeling that if she didn't try now, the opportunity would slip away and never return. It was magnified ten times on that particular night. She was hot and sticky in the summer heat, and no matter how much she tossed and turned, she couldn't get comfortable. She was also vaguely aware that this was the last night she would ever spend as a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but at the moment, that took second place to her other problem.

After a long time grappling with her feelings, Lily finally gave in and, gathering up her courage, did the only thing that she could think of.

She jumped out of bed quietly and stole towards the door. It was half past three in the morning, and she was positive her fellow Gryffindors were asleep. She quietly opened the door, blessing it for not squeaking, and hurried down the spiral stairs. Once at the bottom, she practically sprinted for the boys' staircase and took the stairs two at a time; she knew that if she stopped to think about what she was doing she would never go through with it.

When she arrived at the first door, she cursed her stupidity. It was pitch black, and as she had left her wand in her room, she couldn't see the plaque next to the door that would tell her what dormitory it was.

"For the love of Merlin," she muttered to herself with exasperation as she pressed her nose against the plaque, desperately and vainly trying to see what number was printed there. But it was impossible; she could barely see her hand before her face, much less an inscription on a block of wood.

And so, she decided just to open the door and look around.

The first door she opened she was able to close again immediately; it had had about six beds in it, when the room she was looking for should only have four. The next room had three, the following five. Lily was panting as she hauled herself up another staircase and opened another door.

This room looked promising. It had four beds, and - yes - she could see the moonlight reflecting off a pair of familiar glasses on the nightstand next to the bed closest to the window. She made a beeline for it and, as she did so, felt her heart rate increase drastically. She couldn't believe what she was about to do.

She pulled back the hangings and saw, to her immense and utter relief, that the boy asleep inside was indeed James. She thanked her lucky stars and beamed at his sleeping form for a moment before stopping to think about what she was doing. She didn't even know what to say - and she didn't want to wake him up. How silly, this was all such a ridiculous idea -

And yet...well, she certainly didn't have a better plan.

So, she carefully pulled the hangings back a bit more, enough for her to slide through, and hesitated a moment before sitting down. James stirred - woken up by the sudden weight at the bottom of his mattress - opened his eyes, and stared at her. It sent a shock through her system, as she hadn't ever seen him without his glasses on.

"Lily?" he whispered questioningly, squinting badly at her. Lily hastily reached for his glasses and presented them to him as he sat up. He pushed them on hastily, still staring at her. She flushed mightily as the sheet dropped away and she discovered he wasn't wearing a shirt. She forced herself to look at his face, however, and swallowed hard. He grabbed his wand from beneath his pillow and lit it; they both squinted in the sudden light.

"Hi," she whispered back, pulling her legs up onto his bed and folding them beneath her. He cast a quick Silencing Charm and asked in his normal voice, "What're you-"

"Hang on a minute," she told him, taking a deep breath. "I'm going to talk for a bit, okay?" He nodded in acceptance, looking at her warily.

"So, I'm an unbelievable idiot," she began, and took another deep breath. "I attacked you without reason, and I'm sorry, James. Really sorry. And I'm sorry again for not apologizing quicker. It's just - you're right, I am pigheaded, and it took me this long to swallow my stupid pride and set things straight. I didn't mean anything I said, and I take it all back. You're not arrogant, you're one of the most thoughtful people I've ever met in my life, and I just get so jealous of you, James, because you can get such brilliant grades without even trying - or so it seems. And I know you didn't just want a snog - I was being completely terrible and I didn't even know what I was saying. It was still awful, though, and don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to make excuses, I'm just really sorry and...." She realized she was rambling and trailed off. "I just, James... I realized something. I realized that I can't operate properly or function or work at all right...." Oh God, Lily, just spit it out!

"I suppose I'm trying to say that I can't..."

As the silence stretched out and she flushed more than she ever had flushed before in her life, he smiled slightly at her, eyebrows raised. "You can't..."

"I can't - I can't really...live...without you," she confessed in a very small voice.

The silence between them seemed to go on for ages as Lily waited, hardly breathing, for him to say something.

And then he grinned.

"Took you long enough, Evans."

Before she knew what she was doing Lily had launched herself at him, propelling him backwards into the headboard, which his head met with a dull clunk, but neither of them cared. Their lips met, sending tingles all through Lily's body, and she threaded her fingers through his hair, which was messier than ever from sleep. He pulled hers down from the bun she kept it in when she slept, and suddenly they were enveloped in a dark red curtain.

Lily couldn't form a coherent thought, but she did know one thing: he had never kissed her like this before. It was as though he was pouring all of his feelings for her - feelings that hadn't faded over their brief separation, but seemed to have intensified - into her. She felt a sudden wetness running down her cheek, and realized at the same time James did that she was crying. He pushed her back from him gently and looked at the silver tear before gently brushing it away and kissing the spot, and then her eyelids.

"James, I-" Lily began, not really knowing what she was saying, her voice breaking as more tears ran down her cheeks.

"Shh...." He silenced her by kissing her soundly and taking her in his arms. It was there that, finally, Lily fell into a deep and peaceful sleep.

~*~*~*~*

The next morning, fate would have it that Sirius was the first to awaken in the boys' dormitory. A jolt of excitement rushed through his system as he realized that today was his last day as a student. Today was the beginning of the rest of his life.

He jumped out of bed and flung back the curtains to James's bed, planning to wake him up with a loud bang of some sort, and stopped dead, mouth hanging open in shock.

Lily Evans was in bed with him.

Her head was resting on his chest - his bare chest - and her long, dark red hair was spilled out around her, catching the early sunlight like fire. James' arm was encircling her and his mouth was hanging open slightly, glasses crooked on his nose.

Sirius let the sight soak in for a moment before doubling over in badly suppressed mirth. He rushed over and poked both Peter and Remus awake, pointing over to James's bed and making frantic hushing gestures and noises. They both beheld James and Lily in the same way Sirius had: shock, then laughter.

"Get your camera!" Sirius mouthed to Peter through his hilarity, and Peter rushed to his trunk, pulling his camera out of its neatly packed depths and handing it quickly to Sirius. Sirius snapped a photograph, causing the camera to expel a large purple cloud of smoke, and then leaned over the two sleeping students. He took a deep breath before yelling at the top of his lungs, "WAKE UP, SLEEPYHEADS!"

They jerked awake instantly. It took a moment for them to process the situation with their sleep-muddled brains, but once they did, Lily leapt out of bed as if it was on fire, coloring to the roots of her hair, and James let out a strangled sort of yell. They both tried to explain the state of affairs at the same time.

"No, no, it's not what it looks like-"

"We just slept-"

"She came in to apologize last night-"

"I'm still in my nightgown-"

Peter, Sirius, and Remus were practically on the floor they were laughing so hard. They were very obviously not listening to their friends at all.

"Oh, would you lot please grow up?" Lily finally demanded, her temper running short from embarrassment. She snuck a look at James; to her immense displeasure, she saw his mouth was twitching and he looked very much like he wished to join in with his friends.

"C'mon, Lily, you've got to admit it's funny."

It was funny, but there was absolutely no way she was ever going to admit that to him. She took a deep breath, made a conscious effort to ignore Sirius and Peter (as Remus, thankfully, had got himself under control), and said calmly to James, "Can I use your Invisibility Cloak?"

He dug the cloak out of his trunk and kissed her before giving it to her. They exchanged one glowing glance that said everything before she slipped the cloak on, called, "See you on the train," with as much dignity as she could muster to Sirius, Remus, and Peter, and exited the dormitory, their laughter ringing down behind her. It was a bit hard going down the stairs, as countless boys were pulling their trunks down to the common room, but she managed to do it without attracting any attention, and she rushed up the opposite staircase. She got to her dormitory and breathed a sigh of relief, closing her eyes gratefully as she shut the door behind her and pulled off the cloak.

"Well, well, well."

"Look what we have here, ladies."

"If it isn't the dormitory hopper."

Lily's eyes flew open in dismay; her three roommates were sitting on Dorcas's bed, which was directly opposite the door, and they were smirking evilly at her.

I'm never going to live this one down.

~*~*~*~*

Lily, James, and Remus entered into a strangely subdued prefects' compartment later that morning. Many prefects were going up to a fifth year named Johnny Prewett and offering what looked like condolences. Lily went over to Lauren and asked her curiously what was going on. Lauren looked grim.

"His father's gone missing. He's just got the news."

Lily felt her stomach sink as she looked over at Johnny Prewett. His face was pale and he was looking lost, as though he couldn't quite grasp where he was and what he was doing. She and Lauren watched as James went over to the boy and sat down next to him, talking to him quietly. Lily felt tears surface in her eyes; of course James would be able to help him.

She took a deep breath, trying to get herself under control, and counted the assembled prefects. Everyone was present, and as the train jerked to life and started on its way back to King's Cross Station, Lily called for order.

"Right, you know the drill. You may stay in the prefects' compartment, of course, but all of you must remember to patrol the halls occasionally to make sure all is well. If you return to different compartments with your friends, please make sure they behave correctly. Once the train arrives at the station, make sure everyone has their belongings and the luggage racks are cleared before exiting the train yourself. It might be the end of school, but we are still supposed to set examples for our fellow students. Now, does anyone have any questions?"

There were none; Lily nodded around at them all. "Very well. I hope you all have a lovely and safe holiday. Thank you for being so cooperative this year." She smiled, feeling her heart tug as she looked around at them. She didn't necessarily like all of the prefects, but they had all been first-rate.

"Let's give Lily and James a hand!" Lauren called suddenly, and led them all in a round of enthusiastic applause for their Head Boy and Girl. Lily smiled, blushing, and hastily sat back down. She glanced over at James; he was still sitting with Johnny, and he was smiling, albeit sadly.

After the applause had died out, several prefects exited the compartment to go rejoin their friends, but a good number stayed behind. Lily and James were supposed to stay in the compartment at least until midday, and so, after the plump witch with the food cart came by the compartment at about one o'clock, they went with Remus to find the compartment where Gwen, Sirius, Peter, Mary Katherine, and Dorcas were seated.

"This is it, then," Gwen said quietly after they had all settled into the compartment, and a silence fell. Not a tense silence, but a reflective silence. Lily wondered what the others were thinking; she was thinking about how this train ride would be if she hadn't darted in the middle of the night to the boys' dormitory. James wouldn't be seated beside her, and if he was, he wouldn't be holding her hand. He wouldn't have caught her eye with a mischievous, knowing grin as he had over breakfast that morning and caused her face to light up like a lantern. She wondered how often they would get to see each other from now on, and her stomach filled with apprehension. Surely they could work something out. He would be studying to be an Auror, a feat that took three years, and she would be at St. Mungo's learning to be a Healer. What if they just drifted apart? What if he met another woman who was training to be an Auror and...?

No. No. I won't let it happen, she thought fiercely, unconsciously gripping James's hand tighter. I won't.

"You all right?" James whispered to her, frowning slightly.

Lily swallowed and forced herself to nod. "Yes, I'm fine."

His frown grew deeper. "Hmm. Why don't I believe you?"

Lily smiled. "Really, don't worry. I'm fine. I'm just going to miss this, you know."

He accepted her excuse reluctantly, and they settled into silence again. It was broken a short time later by Sirius, who couldn't stand it, and so several games of Exploding Snap, chess, and Gobstones broke out amongst them. Lily favored her book instead, though it was quite hard to concentrate with the bangs, shrieks from the Gobstones, and fierce egging on of the pieces in wizard's chess. Lily abandoned her book when Remus challenged her to a game of chess; she had never had the opportunity to play him, and found that their abilities were an almost perfect match, all though Remus was as quiet at the game as Lily was loud.

After being beaten narrowly by Remus after an hour and a half, Lily returned to her book. She tried to savor the moment, for who knew when they would all be together again, and it seemed to her that they arrived at King's Cross with alarming speed. They grabbed their trunks and assorted baskets and cages and filed out of the train. As they were exiting, Sirius bouncing his trunk down the stairs to the platform ahead of them, Lily suddenly turned to James with a frown.

"Where's Sirius going, James? He doesn't live with his parents anymore, does he?"

James nodded, suddenly grim. "He's staying with us for a bit before buying his own place. One of his uncles left him a good deal of gold when he died a while back, and he's going to use that." He scowled. "Wish he'd just stay with us, though. Wouldn't be any trouble."

Lily smiled, touched by his generosity, and then said suddenly, "I want you to meet my mum and dad."

His expression, before he could master it, was so full of horror that she burst out laughing. He had to grin at himself, but still he looked very uncomfortable.

"Now, Lily, d'you really think-?"

"Oh, James, you'll have to meet them sometime," she said, still chuckling as she heaved her trunk onto the platform. She stood back and watched as he did the same. "They don't bite, I swear."

She pulled him forcibly towards the barrier, ignoring his weak attempts to dissuade her, and nearly shoved him through it.

"Ouch - Lily-"

"Where's that Gryffindor courage, eh?" Lily asked gleefully, ignoring his futile efforts to find his mother and instead dragging him over to where her parents were standing. "Mum! Dad!" she squealed, dropping her trunk and rushing towards them, still holding on to James. She gave them two breathless hugs before turning to her blushing boyfriend. "I want you to meet - this is James Potter, Mum and Dad. James, these are my parents, Bob and Chrissie Evans."

Mrs. Evans's eyes flicked to her daughter's in scandalized surprise, wagging her eyebrows suggestively, before holding out her hand to James. Lily winced, blushing terribly and praying James hadn't seen, as her mother shook his hand firmly. "James, what a pleasure to meet you. I've heard so much about you from Lily."

"It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Evans."

Mr. Evans seemed to be sizing James up as he grasped his hand. "Well, James, I must admit, Lily has always led us to believe you were a bit of a rebel."

"Dad," Lily moaned, covering her face with her hand. To her surprise, James and Mr. Evans started laughing.

"You know, I was a bit of a trickster in my day," Mr. Evans was saying fondly through his chuckles, still firmly holding James's hand. "It attracts the ladies," he said in a mock-whisper, winking at James, who grinned delightedly.

"It hasn't failed me yet," James said, and both started laughing again.

Lily found she was smiling, half amused, half embarrassed beyond belief. Mrs. Evans had her arm around her daughter's shoulders and squeezed her tightly before whispering, "You didn't tell me how handsome he is, Lily dear."

Lily frantically hushed her mother, blushing again, but James hadn't heard; he and Mr. Evans had entered into a lively conversation about the various pranks that the magical world and the Muggle world had to offer. Mr. Evans was explaining the concept of a whoopie cushion to an incredulous and amused James.

"You plant it in someone's seat, you see, and when they sit down on it, the air comes out and it sounds like the person's just had-"

"Bob, really," Mrs. Evans said, motioning to Lily. "You're embarrassing her."

"Mum." Lily hid her head in her hands again.

"What, darling, you're blushing! I just wanted to-"

"Jamie!"

They all turned as one to see a tall, thin witch with graying red hair rushing towards them. James hurried towards her and enveloped her in a hug; now it was Lily's turn to be nervous. Mrs. Potter's face was so like James's that it was impossible not to realize they were related. Her brown eyes, however, were framed by deep shadows and her face was pale and thinner than her son's. Those tired eyes lit when James motioned to Lily, and she hurried towards her, beaming.

"I have heard so much about you, Lily," she said, taking Lily's hand in hers. "You are even prettier than Jamie described."

Now it was James's turn to blush, and Lily grinned. "Thank you, Mrs. Potter. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"You too, dear, you too," she said, still smiling widely. She had James's charming, infectious smile, Lily noticed.

Mrs. Evans cleared her throat, and Lily started, tearing herself away from examining Mrs. Potter and turning to her mother. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Potter, these are my parents, Bob and Chrissie Evans. Mum, Dad, this is Mrs. Potter."

"Katharine," Mrs. Potter said, shaking Mr. and Mrs. Evans's hands warmly. "So nice to meet you both."

"And you, Katharine," Lily's mum said graciously.

Mr. Evans beamed at both Potters. "James and I were just discussing various pranks we have played," he said.

Mrs. Potter looked at her son fondly, reaching around to hug his shoulders. "He's a bit of a rabble-rouser, I'm afraid. But he's a good boy."

"Oh! Lily, I've just thought of something - why don't we invite James to come to the wedding next Saturday?" Mrs. Evans said suddenly. "Sarah said you could bring someone with you, and I don't want there to be an extra space. What do you think?"

Lily clenched her jaws. "Mum, James doesn't want - it's a Muggle wedding-"

"I would love to come," James said cheerfully, and Lily bit the inside of her cheek to keep from stopping him. He would have to meet all of her stuffy relatives and endure Petunia and Vernon! If he didn't break up with her after going through that it would be a miracle!

"Lighten up," he murmured, coming close to her as their parents talked excitedly. "It'll be fun."

"No, it won't," Lily said through clenched teeth. "Honestly, James, you don't want to-"

"I do, I really do," James said with a spark of mischief in her eyes. "I've wanted to meet your sister for so very long."

"But - but James doesn't have a tuxedo!" Lily said desperately to the parents; there was a pause, and then Mrs. Potter cleared her throat.

"Actually, I believe his father has a Muggle tuxedo from a - a party we went to years ago. A bit of a costume thing for the Ministry."

A very awkward silence reigned for a few moments, in which the bustling noises of the students greeting their parents and getting their luggage together seemed to be heightened. Mrs. Evans then said quietly, "Lily told us of your - your loss. You have our deepest condolences."

Mr. Evans made similar murmurings; Lily blessed her parents for their tact as she watched Mrs. Potter smile at their words and compose herself.

"Thank you. And you all must come to our home for dinner one night," she said brightly. "Sometime very soon."

"We would love that," Mrs. Evans said eagerly, and all the adults beamed at each other. Lily squeezed James's arm.

"Wonderful! I will be sure to owl you," Mrs. Potter said. "And what time should James arrive for the wedding?"

"Hmm. It starts at five o'clock - perhaps around four thirty?" Mrs. Evans said, looking thoughtfully at her husband before turning back to James and Mrs. Potter. "I won't be there, but Bob will take them."

Just then, Sirius came bounding up to their group and embraced Mrs. Potter tightly. She laughed and kissed him on the cheek. "Sirius! How did your exams go, dear?"

"Ah, they went," Sirius said dismissively, grinning, as he turned to Lily's parents. "You must be Lily's parents. I can tell where she gets her good looks," he said, winking at Mrs. Evans as they all laughed.

Lily smacked him lightly on the arm and said, "Mum, Dad, this is the incorrigible Sirius Black; Sirius, my parents, Bob and Chrissie Evans."

"A pleasure," Sirius said solemnly as he shook both of their hands.

"They have just invited James to a wedding next Saturday," Mrs. Potter said to Sirius, a smile playing about her lips.

"I see. Well, who wouldn't leap at the chance to be the lovely Lily's partner?" Sirius said charmingly.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Enough, Sirius, enough," she said, laughing in spite of herself.

"Well, we must be off, boys," Mrs. Potter said, motioning to James and Sirius. "It was so nice to meet you all. I'll be sure to owl you."

They exchanged parting pleasantries and then they all seemed to turn as one to look at James and Lily, who blushed.

"Hmm, Mrs. Potter, have you said hello to Mr. Bones yet? He's just over here...." Sirius asked suddenly, winking at James and Lily as he steered Mrs. Potter in the other direction.

"We'll just wait over there then, shall we?" Mrs. Evans said to her daughter, looking at the two of them meaningfully as she and Mr. Evans swept off. Lily shook her head and turned to James, who was grinning.

"Oh, stop. That was the most embarrassed I've felt in ages," she said, but smiled at him all the same.

He sobered slightly and reached up to touch a strand of dark hair that had escaped from its confines at the back of her neck. "I'll see you in a week, then?"

"I suppose so," she said quietly.

"I'll be counting the days," James said, his grin returning. "It'll be just like the old days before you knew I existed.... Mooning over you night and day."

"Don't flatter yourself, Potter," Lily said, grinning up at him. "Sirius won't let you moon. You'll forget about me while you dash about on that blasted broom all day."

"Well, what about you? Will you do any mooning for me?" he asked, feigning a wounded look.

Lily grinned. "Once again, don't flatter yourself, Potter." She looked around quickly before pressing a quick kiss to his lips. The look in his dark eyes as she pulled back made her want to leap back into his arms, but showing a great deal of self restraint, she stepped back and squeezed his hand. "Don't be late."

"I won't," he promised, and looked at her mischievously again. "I'm trying to think of what poems I should send to you this week. I wrote loads, you know."

Lily's jaw dropped and she laughed incredulously. "You wrote poems about me?"

"Oh, yes. Ever since you broke my heart in third year," he said, wiping an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye.

Lily shook her head and kissed him quickly again - she couldn't resist - before walking in the direction that her parents had gone, a silly smile adorning her face. She looked back over her shoulder; he was still standing there, staring after her, and she waved. He returned the gesture and she continued walking, feeling lighter than air.

End of Part One