Seventeen Forever

"Marry me?" Sirius asked on bended knee next to his bed.

Maguire couldn't say anything; she seemed frozen, her eyes growing wider as she stared at Sirius in shock. She tried to form words, little utterances escaping from her mouth that weren't able to form into proper words or follow any sort of coherence. She finally nodded weakly and threw herself into Sirius' arms. He hugged her closer to his still warm chest as she started to cry and laugh at the same time.

"Sirius, seriously--stop kissing me, I need to talk and think and breathe, dammit. Sirius, we're only seventeen. What am I-- what are we--" Maguire started to exclaim, but Sirius silenced her with a fierce kiss yet again and pulled a small box out from under his bed, presenting it to her.

"I know I don't have a ring yet or anything, but maybe this can work for now," he said, a little sheepish twinge entering his tone. He watched as, fascinated, Maguire began slowly and carefully peeling back small strips of wrapping paper to reveal a black, clasp closed container. Deftly undoing the clasp, Maguire flipped open the lid and gasped, once again bringing a hand to her mouth.

"Oh, Sirius," she whispered softly, her eyes wide as they stared at the necklace she was stroking with her fingers. "It's beautiful."

He grinned brilliantly, quickly snatching it out of her hand so he could place it around her neck. "Really? You really do like it?"

"Yes, you fool, I love it," she answered with a gentle slap to his face. "But seriously, we need to think about what we're gonna do now that we're, you know...engaged," she whispered, looking around the room as if someone would burst in at the three syllable word.

"In all seriousness, I truly don't know and honestly? I really don't care. I know we've only been dating for almost four months, but I don't want anyone else in the world more than I want you. You don't have to know someone a long time to fall in love. Well, I mean, even though I've technically known you for years, I'm just new to the dating aspect. But I digress. My parents could care less about what I do with my life. It's only yours that we have to worry about. But after we graduate, we are getting married. Hell, we could even get married...before..."

He looked at Maguire in shock as he sat on the bed once again, a new idea dawning on him. Wide-eyed, he ran his hand through his already disheveled hair.

"We could get married before school starts. We really could! I mean, no offense, but Maguire, your parents are more concerned with their social standing than with you! Hell, we could do it tomorrow! Just us two and maybe Lily and James--"

"No. No, no, no, no...I--you--we--no--we--no...can't. We just can't. After we graduate, we can get married. I mean, really, Sirius, think about this for a second. Lily, Anna, James and Remus....this will be a big enough shock. We can't go running off to the chapel now! C'mon, I bet you anything Keira will want to be planning this. Let's get dressed and tell them," she reasoned, a sudden burst of nervousness gripping hold of her stomach. It was all so much so soon; she could feel her head whirling as she kept trying to grasp the idea that Sirius wanted to marry her. He loved her so much, he wanted to keep for forever, give her his name, to stay together forever. Her hands started to shake again at the thought.

Maguire went to untangle herself from the sheets, but then remembered how they were currently serving her as a means of clothing at the present time. She blushed, the slight pink hue rising to her cheeks as she became suddenly all too aware of how vulnerable she was. Sirius smirked, already knowing what she had just realized, and her cheeks became engulfed in fire.

Sitting back on his haunches and smiling smugly, Sirius winked at her. "Well? I thought you were going to get dressed. And just where's my Christmas present?" he said with an even bigger smirk, eyeing her sheet clad body.

"You'll only see it if you're a good little boy. And shut up, I think I will actually go get dressed, thank you," she retorted.

Maguire stepped off the bed on the other side, the sheets still wrapped around her tightly, and walked over to Sirius. His eyes widened slightly, pupils dilating as they focused in on her. Maguire bit her bottom lip and smiled seductively, raising her eyebrow a fraction of an inch. Slowly, ever so slowly, Maguire allowed the sheets to slip just a tiny bit off of her. Sirius, surrendering to blatant, wanton lust, stared in fascination as this all played out in front of him. She walked over, the sheet still slipping little by little, and bent in towards him. His breath caught in his throat as Maguire gently put her hand on his bare chest, pushing him back onto the bed. Sirius Black was no longer the seducer, but the one being seduced. He reached up to grab her, determined to finish where they had left off earlier and she complied, allowing him to put his hands on her hips. Sirius grinned slyly, thinking he was in control again, as he tightened his grip and prepared to pull her on top of him. Faster than you could say "strip tease," however, Maguire had bolted to the adjacent bathroom for her room with the sheets still wrapped around her and locked the door.

"How's it feel to be seduced, Black?" she called out to her most grievous new fiancée.

A loud, drawn out groan of intense suffering answered her and she laughed heartily, dropping the sheets and reaching over to start the water of the shower.

~*~*~

Few girls could say that they had had the pleasure of waking up in the arms of one James Potter, but Lily Evans awoke in one such situation. She started violently when she realized he had his arm slung over her waist, keeping her in his grasp. A grasp, she realized, which was very tight and quite muscular for a sleeping person; not that she was complaining, as she felt his arm tighten ever so slightly in his sleep, rubbing against her waist. She froze for a second, trying to remember if anything had happened between the two of them last night, but recalled that nothing had. A new dilemma presented itself: if Lily moved, James would wake up. And if Lily knew anything about boys, it was that they cherished their sleep more highly than girls loved their own beauty sleep. She bit her lip in frustration. How could she get up without waking up James? She slowly turned over on her back and then on to her right side, facing James. She shimmied down in his arms and stopped when James grabbed her in his sleep, holding her even closer to him. Lily was stuck. If she moved anymore, he'd really wake up and she dreaded the idea of firstly waking him and secondly having James awake with Lily in such an indecent position. Lily slowly inched her way back up, closer to James' chest and sighed, allowing herself to put her head on his admittedly well defined pectoral muscles. This is gonna blow up in my face, she thought, blushing as a thousand different scenarios played through her mind. James suddenly jolted in his sleep and turned over, interrupting Lily's thoughts and taking her with him.

She yelped quietly as she was thrown into his back. Bent over on his back, head and chest on one half and legs on the other, Lily groaned the groan of a highly annoyed teenage girl, clenching her eyes shut as this nightmare grew worse. Seriously, what the hell, her mind growled angrily. This is so cliché.

Slowly, she crawled over onto the other side of James' chest and tried to disentangle herself. This did not work out, seeing as how James grabbed her by the waist even tighter and held her...in his damned sleep, she thought furiously.

Lily knew she would die, absolutely perish from mortification, if James woke up now. Essentially, they were spooning, she realized as her cheeks grew redder and her frustration level rose. This was not enjoyable...all right. Maybe just a little bit.

Out of the blue, she heard a snort. And then another chuckle was heard. Lily looked over her shoulder to see her boyfriend laughing silently to himself, shoulders shaking from restrained laughter.

"What are you laughing about?" she asked coldly. James shook his head and continued laughing.

"You were awake, weren't you?"

He nodded, now openly howling with laughter.

"God, James, that's not very fair! I mean, here I am, trying to be nice, trying so hard not to wake you up and you're fucking throwing me back and forth just to screw with me," she whined, her bottom lip stuck out petulantly and eyebrows drawn together in a V.

"My apologies, Lady Lily. C'mere then and I'll make it up to you," he said with a grin, reaching towards her since she had hurriedly untangled herself and moved to the far side of the bed. She pouted at him again, but couldn't contain herself and smiled, allowing him to pull her closer once more. His sleep warmed lips brushed softly against hers and he gripped her still closer. His tongue skimmed her bottom lip hesitantly and was granted entrance as she leaned in more, knotting her fingers in his mussed hair. He laughed deep in his throat when she did so, breaking off the kiss to smile at her. Breathing raggedly, she smiled back; it surprised her at how easy it was to smile again.

"Oh, I meant to give this to you last night," Lily said, reaching over James' left for something. His eyes widened as she did so, but he looked away quickly, not wanting to face her wrath this early in the morning.

"Here," she said, handing him the red box that had caused her so much grief and then another, sturdier package wrapped in green. James' eyes once more widened in a different type of interest and she giggled at the childlike excitement he displayed as he began tearing the wrapping paper apart. He hummed a little tune as he ravaged first the green box and Lily laughed, much to James' delight.

"What is this?" he asked, holding up another box of cardboard, shaking it a little. A dense thud could be heard from within and James immediately ceased shaking, glancing at his present nervously.

"Just open it and you'll see," Lily replied with a teasing lilt to her voice. Immediately, James began tearing parts of cardboard off and throwing them around the bed with abandon, completely focused on his mission. As the once neatly constructed box became a small pile of ruins, James gingerly held the object in his hand.

"Holy shit," he breathed in wonder. "Is this a camera?"

Lily nodded excitedly. "Mm, I just thought since you like to always have fun and stuff, now you can remember everything we've all done and just remember the memories years from now," she explained, watching his face eagerly. "You do like it, right? Like, you don't already have one, do you?"

"No!" James exclaimed loudly, running his hands along the sleek black contraption. "Oh my God, I love it! Thank you so much." He leaned into kiss her, holding his camera out as he did to capture the moment.

"You're a jerk," Lily said with a laugh, jerking back at the unexpected flash. "I look hideous."

"You look beautiful to me," he replied simply, causing her to blush and smile in all one fell swoop. "Now lemme open this other one and then I can go get yours."

After a moment of carelessly shredding paper, James had his second present in his hands.

"Hm, coupons?" he asked finally, holding up the little sheaves of paper.

"Read them," she answered, folding her legs Indian style as she settled herself on a mountain of pillows across from him. "It's a little silly, I know, but hey, you guys don't call me Silly Lily for nothing."

"That you are, m'dear. Lemme see these now. 'Good for twenty kisses?' Oh! I get it!" he exclaimed, showcasing a display of mental prowess he had never before portrayed this early in the morning in all of his seventeen years of living. He leaned over quickly and pecked her softly.

"Nineteen more," she said against his lips, feeling him smile in answer. He complied, unfortunately using up his coupon rather quickly.

"I--I need to take a shower," Lily said after, flustered from the kisses.

"Well, go right ahead, I don't mind," James answered with a grin.

"James!" she replied, using a mock scandalized tone, admonishing his cheekiness with a slap to his upper arm. He raised his arms in mock defeat and jumped lightly off of the bed. James strode over to the door and looked over his shoulder with a smirk.

"You sure you don't need any help? I've been told I'm a wonderful masseuse."

"Get out!" Lily yelled with a laugh, throwing a few pillows at his retreating figure.

~*~*~

Lily stepped into the steaming water that was pouring out of the shower and sighed contentedly, thinking deeply. Lily found that she did her best thinking in the shower and leaned against the contrastingly cold marble wall to sort through her thoughts. James had been right last night, she realized; she had to move on. Obviously it wouldn't happen over night; she wouldn't be human or sane if she could deal with the death of her entire family in a week. She would cope, though. She could cope. Staying depressed, though she knew losing her family was as good an excuse as any to act like this, was still unhealthy. It didn't do her any good to be so completely miserable all day, every day. Lily finally understood what it meant when people said that the deceased wouldn't have wanted the living to go on mourning them; her parents wouldn't want her to stay frozen in time, forever mourning their loss. They wanted more for her; for her to be happy, successful, taken care of. And she was, she realized. She would once again be truly happy; Lord knew she would be successful if she could only pass the damned Transfiguration; and clearly, she was very well taken care of since her friends loved her so much and had taken her in during her time of need. She reached for her conditioner and scrubbed her head, bubbles floating down from her hair. Still thinking deeply, Lily shaved her legs and rubbed her entire body until it was pink and raw. As she stepped out of the shower, she felt as if a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Lily would grieve for some time, but she would get over it. She felt better than she had in weeks.

Lily stepped over to the mirror and rubbed it free of the moisture that had gathered there. A girl looked back at her with dripping, tangled red hair and almond shaped green eyes. A slight smudge of eyeliner stubbornly clung to her bottom lashes, she noticed. She realized how much more alert and calm she looked, compared to the emotionally unstable ghost she had been acting like during the past few days. Looking directly into the eyes of the girl in the mirror, she smiled tentatively, then more widely as she realized everything would, as the many clichés Lily used this morning multiplied, be alright.

As she wrapped the towel around her body and tried not to sprinkle her flannel PJ pants and her faithful gray tank top with the droplets of water running off her, she reflected on how generous James and his mother had been. They had opened their home to her without any hesitation at all and had accepted her as one of their own. She continued reflecting on the actions of the past week when the door to the bathroom was knocked on.

"Lily?"

She jumped and banged her hip on the doorknob, opening it so quickly that she nearly hit herself in the face as something very solid did actually smack into her.

It was James.

He looked down at her, astonishment written all over his face at seeing his girlfriend in so very little clothing and so very close to him. "Uh. I thought you were--having clothes on. I have your pres...I'll be going, um, now," he stated, still staring at her, eyes wide for the third time that morning as he gripped a small package that seemed in danger of being crumpled in his tightly clenched hands.

"I honestly don't care," she said hurriedly, dragging him farther into the bathroom. Modesty be damned, she thought as she took her customary position of sitting cross legged on the bathroom floor in her towel, enthusiastically swiping the present out of a stunned James' hands. "Lemme see!"

As Lily ripped the package open with as much abandon as James had, he took a seat next to her on the floor, sitting on his hands to prevent any unintentional roaming. He watched her face grew from excited to confused to ecstatic once more as the emerald heart swung into view.

"James, you really, really shouldn't have," she whispered, staring in awe at the glittering jewel attached to the silver chain dangling in between her fingers. "Like, I mean it. You really shouldn't have."

His heart dropped with a thud. "You don't like it?"

Lily gasped in horror at his seemingly blasphemous suggestion. "God, no, I love it! Put it on, put it on!" she demanded, her expression lighting up again as she lifted the damp strands of her hair off of her equally damp neck. He did as she asked and she looked down at the necklace hanging on her neck, a small smile creeping onto her face. She looked at James for a moment and then without thinking at all, Lily grabbed his face in her hands and kissed him, pushing him back into the door, shutting it with her force. The red, wet strands of her hair mingled on James' shoulders, leaving droplets on his bare skin that made him shiver.

"That," she said after they broke apart, "is for everything you've done for me."

"Uh, all right," he said, slightly dazed from the kiss. He shook his head, clearing it. "Should I go or can we maybe fin--"

Suddenly, the door to her room burst open again and revealed the figures of a leather jacket clad Sirius and a pajama clad Maguire, a wild energy following them as they literally bounded through the doors. Looking at each other with bright smiles of happiness on their faces, they were unable to keep their gaze or hands on anything but the other.

"What now?" Lily cried exasperatedly at her friends, still dripping wet and pink from her shower as she scrambled up from the floor, pulling James up with her.

The couple grinned even more brightly and Sirius nodded at Maguire, who seemed as though she would pop with joy at any second.

"All right, we'll tell you. Last--I mean, this morning, Sirius asked me something," Maguire replied, placing a heavy emphasis on 'something'. She looked at Lily meaningfully, raising her eyebrow expectantly.

Lily, being a girl and always being in tune with romance related affairs, quickly clapped both of her hands over her mouth and uttered a tiny shriek. She looked back and forth between Sirius and Maguire for a few seconds, whipping her head back and forth in rapid succession as her wet hair smacked against her face with each rotation.

"Oh my God, he did not--you did not--oh my God, congratulations!" Lily screamed shrilly. She raced over to her best friend, screaming incessantly and illogically, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. They both started squealing, crying, flapping their hands and hugging each other at the same time, displaying the true portrayal of excited teenage girls. Lily managed to break away from the flurry of screaming, emotion and movement she and Maguire were engaged in to hop over and hug a confused James, then leapt over to peck Sirius on the cheek, all the while clutching her towel in a desperate attempt to stay decent.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I think I'm lost here," James said, staring in a mixture of humor and slight fear at Lily and Maguire's continuous shrieking and hugging powwow. Sirius shook his head sarcastically at his best friend and grinned broadly.

"You, buddy boy, are going to be the best man at mine and Maguire's wedding, come June. Get it?" Sirius said, pointing a finger in James' chest with a wide grin.

"What!?" James crowed excitedly, a grin spreading across his face.

"You idiot, Maguire and I are getting married!" Sirius shouted the last word at James. From this exclamation ensued much masculine back slapping, hand shaking and manly shouting, while Lily and Maguire continued to clutch each other and cry happily, uttering intermittent shrieks of joy now and then.

"Forgive my senility, but what in Merlin's name is going on in here?"

The group turned towards the owner of the voice, finding Keira standing there with her hands on her hips, eyes narrowed in a stern expression. "Who is getting married?" she yelled, glancing at her biological son, who had blanched considerably, and then to her adopted son.

"Uh...well, you see Mom, Sirius, uh, asked Maguire--you know what? Let them tell you!" James said nervously, pushing the guilty party forward the skeptical matriarch.

"Keira, Maguire and I are getting married in June," Sirius stated frankly, gripping Maguire's hand in his.

Keira stared at the couple, her mouth dropping open into a small O, her eyes matching in their roundness. She quickly narrowed them, however, as skepticism once again crept back into her expression.

"Funny, Sirius. What are you two up to now? Is this a joke?" she asked.

"Keira, we aren't pranking you. Sirius and I and getting married, honestly," Maguire said, as Sirius wrapped his arms around his waist and hugged her close.

"You can't possibly be serious," Keira objected. "You're both only teenagers!"

"I'm legal and so is Maguire," Sirius pointed out. "Technically, by the time June comes around, we can do whatever we want. And what I want, and what I hope Maguire wants, is a wedding."

"But your parents!" she argued.

The pair looked at each other for a moment and then broke out into laughter. "Honestly, Keira," Sirius said, shaking his head. "You think our parents give a damn about either of us?"

"Well, perhaps, I don't know," she said abashedly, blushing. "You're just...you're too young! It's so soon!"

Maguire sighed, placing an arm on Sirius' waist. "I think we both know we're pretty settled with each other. I know there's no one in the world I'd rather be with and given recent events, I think we're all growing up a little fast right now."

Keira shifted her gaze from Sirius to Maguire's face and back again. After what seemed like an eternity, she smiled and rushed forward to hug the surprised couple, showing her very apparent true colors on the matter.

"Oh, I'm so excited for you! Darling, you're going to be a wonderful influence on him," she said to Maguire, holding her by the shoulders and planting a kiss on her cheek. "He's needed someone like you for a long time. And you!" she said, turning to Sirius. "Finally, finally, finally! You've finally gotten a good girl!" she cried, squeezing them both tightly.

"When can I start the planning?"

~*~*~

All too soon, the magic of the holidays dwindled, faded and disappeared altogether as they realized that they would, unfortunately, have to leave and go back to the reality of Hogwarts. James and Sirius protested this mightily, procrastinating on their assignments and packing as they usually did, until Keira squarely took them by the hand and locked all four of the teenagers into their respective rooms the day before term. Four, including Maguire, since she had simply chosen to stay at the Potters', slightly fearing her parents' reaction if she returned after skipping their party and showing up with a figurative ring on her finger and new relationship status, to boot. What kept her at bay from the house, however, was mostly a fear of the inevitable loneliness that would surely crop up in the house on the hill. And thus, she stayed.

Ordered to remain in their rooms until all of their packing was done, it provided Lily with a little space and air to breathe on her own. Sitting on the floor surrounded by her things, Lily realized with the thud of her Charms book that this would be the last time she would do so. Nostalgia struck, hard and fast, and she felt herself tearing up but refused to let the tears spill; she had done enough crying lately. Sobering up with a rough brush of her sleeve, she continued packing, though she was still thinking of the past seven years and all of the memories that they held. She played them through her head, slowly and carefully, savoring them: the first time seeing that majestic creation that was the Hogwarts Express; meeting the rowdy, rambunctious, excitable Maguire and the contrastingly calm, cool and collected Anna on the train; seeing the castle, lit up by luminous lights, from the lake for the first time. She thought of the first time she had encountered James and his friends; eleven year old James had been short, skinny and much too cocky for his own good, surrounded by the likewise pompous Sirius, shy Remus and awkward Peter.

He really did strut, she mused, remembering the first time he had swaggered up to her, demanding a date. That had also been the first time she had slapped a boy, she realized with a laugh as she threw a pair of jeans into the trunk. First dates, first boyfriends and kisses, first heartbreaks; laughing, screaming and crying in their dormitories; the terror of wandering through the halls that first year; the rush of flying for the first time. So many firsts had taken place at Hogwarts, she thought, reliving the years through her head in a rush of happiness and bitter sweetness. With a sigh heavy with many emotions, Lily looked around her room, realizing she had finished her packing in the midst of her memories. Again she felt the tears come but refused to release them, choosing instead to quietly exit her room, shutting the door with a whispered lock.

~*~*~

After packing, re-packing, finding lost items and finally, buckling up the trunks, the boys loaded up the Chevy, which was fit to burst, and crawled inside. Squeezing in next to rattling cages and straining trunks, they began to make their way to Kings Crossing in the midst of a light snow flurry.

"Mother dearest," James asked in a stifled voice from his position between two leather trunks, "remind me again why we didn't Apparate and avoid a possible amputation or decapitation on my part?"

"Well, ickle Jaimykins," Sirius cut in, turning around from his roomy seat in shot gun, "Keira here is a little nostalgic and weepy over her baby boy going off to his last semester of schooling before he's thrown out into the big, bad world. Apparition doesn't provide us with the fond memories and bonding experiences that a car trip does."

"You are such a prick, you know that, right?" Maguire spat from her equally awkward seat in the second row.

"But an eloquent prick," he countered with a grin.

"Oh, shut up."

Thankfully avoiding any amputations or homicides, the group managed to survive the car ride and arrived with moments to spare. They frantically threw their bags haphazardly onto the red steamer, rushing aboard just as they clock announced the hour and the engine began to roar.

"Behave, you lot! I don't want any letters saying I need to come up to school since you've done something horrible," Keira called exasperatedly from the platform next to the fiery red Hogwarts Express, waving goodbye. "Oh, for Merlin's sake, I'm probably giving you all ideas."

"Yeah, Mum, all right! We'll be veritable angels, I swear! You won't see hide or hair of us 'til graduation"! James called, leaning out the window, hitting his head as the train lurched into motion.

With a shrieking whistle, they were off for their last journey on the Hogwarts Express.

~*~*~

Almost immediately, news of Sirius and Maguire's engagement spread like wildfire. Not, Maguire thought one day as she and Sirius sat contentedly in front of the fire in the common room, that she hadn't expected this. Though it was well known they weren't the standard, cookie cutter couple, even this new development of a teenage wedding pushed the limit of their nonconformist relationship. They were met with both support and opposition when the news officially broke at Hogwarts. Remus and Anna had been thrilled upon finding out; Anna had actually joined in for the second coming of the female dance of joy at the news, throwing her usual peaceful nature out the window as she screamed with happiness for Maguire. Remus too had broken character; James couldn't remember the last time he had seen him that excited, crowing with excitement and jumping around on the beds in the seventh years dorm. This lasted until Remus' enthusiasm led him to leap off of the bed and onto the wooden floor, where he slid on one of Sirius' socks and smacked into a bedpost, knocking himself out cold. It took James and Sirius a good twenty minutes of roaring in laughter to contain themselves so they could revive their sufficiently embarrassed friend.

Though many people supported Maguire and Sirius' wedding plans, there were always those who sought to make their displeasure well known. Most of these people were girls belonging to Sirius' devoted, cut throat fan club. Maguire usually laughed off the crazed antics of Sirius' devotees; this lasted until she found a badly concealed hexed package in an unusual form one day.

The Marauders and ladies had been heading down to the Great Hall for breakfast, laughing and chatting without a care in the world. Sitting down at their regular spot at the Gryffindor table, no one paid any mind the familiar rush of wings as owls fluttered through the windows with the day's mail. Maguire did, however, pay mind when an unrecognizable owl landed softly in front of her toast. A badly wrapped package hung in its sharp beak.

"Oy," James said, shoveling scrambled eggs into his mouth. "That yours, Maguire?"

"No, I've never seen him before," she said, confused. "It's addressed to me, though, which is weird. Maybe it's from my parents. C'mere, you, lemme see what you have for me."

She tugged the package out of the bird's mouth and without a second glance, it departed, its wings beating swiftly as it exited the Hall. Maguire watched it go with slight interest for a moment before she and the rest of her friends turned their gaze back to the package. Maguire ripped back the wrapping and began to lift the lid of the box beneath it up, noticing that there was no letter attached. Sirius had seemed to notice the same thing.

"No note?" he asked, a tinge of surprise lacing his question. "Is there a return address anywhere?" Maguire shrugged and began in earnest to pull the lid off when Sirius stopped her again.

"No, stop. That's just weird. That's not normal," he said, pulling the box out of her hands. "Let me do it."

"Sirius!" Maguire exclaimed. "No, come on. You're being paranoid, what's wrong with you?"

James laughed, choking a little on his eggs. "Being one such as Padfoot here, you learn to be paranoid after a few years of love struck first years sending anonymous gifts. What if it's a curse for you?"

"James, that's an awful thing to say," Lily complained with a laugh. "I'm sure there's nothing wro--"

It was at this point that the box started to emit wisps of grayish smoke tendrils, curling around its container.

"Oy!" Sirius hollered, scrambling out of his seat at lightning speed. He sprinted down the Hall with the box and ran through the doors, a spectacle for the early morning audience eating their breakfast. As the doors shut, a small thud that didn't quite match with the slam of the doors could be heard. Maguire shot out of her seat at the noise, staring in horror at the door. Moments later, however, an incredibly grim faced Sirius stalked back in the Hall, glowering at everyone in sight. In his hands was a fragment of the original package, blackened and smoking. His own hands looked a tad singed as he came back into sight and began to speak.

"Now that's just fucked up," he said loudly, striding angrily down the center aisle. "Who the hell sends a package--a badly and obviously cursed package, at that--to some girl, just because she's dating a guy? Seriously! All of you," he said, looking around at the students, eyeing several girls as he stood by Maguire, "need to calm the fuck down and accept the fact that you don't always get what you want. Goddamn."

Grabbing Maguire's hand, he stormed out of the Hall for the third time that year, leaving a shell shocked student body behind. After a moment, James coughed delicately.

"Stalkers...can't live with them, can't live without them," he muttered quietly. The others groaned at his bad joke and resumed eating, eyeing the remaining owls warily.

~*~*~

January passed into February and an unusually chilly February turned into March. By the time March first had passed, Maguire knew something was up.

Normally made of a stomach of steel, she had woken up numerous times the past three months and had lost last night's dinner on her bed or, if she was lucky, had made it into the bathroom. Lily dismissed it as just a 'bug that's going around' since that was what Madam Pomfrey had said, though she hated to agree with her enemy. She had gone to the nurse after her fourth time being sick in a week and left within fifteen minutes; the medically gifted witch had simply written it off as a stomach bug, saying she should be fine in a few days' time, just like the other students she was attending to. But Maguire was becoming worried, which was a sign that something was very off in itself; Maguire never worried about her health since normally she was the picture of perfect health. Despite the fact that the number of foods she could tolerate lately were dwindling rapidly, she had still somehow managed to gain about seven pounds. Five out of seven days a week, she wound up sprinting to the nearest bathroom at some point to be violently ill. Her back had turned into her worst enemy; random, sharp shooting pains would attack during any number of activities, making it especially impossible to sleep. Even Sirius and James, the most oblivious of the oblivious, had noticed something was off.

Finally, Maguire decided to do something about it.
She went to the library.

~*~*~

Even though she was pretty sure she was permanently banned from the library due to the previous snogging incident, Maguire snuck in anyway. She tiptoed through the library, hurrying quietly towards the Medical section, hell-bent and determined to figure out just what was wrong with her. She grabbed a likely book off the shelf and swiftly flipped through the pages, looking up symptoms.

"Stomach aches, vomiting, mhm. Aches and pains--you bet your ass I have aches and pains--mood swings, yeah. Missed period..." Maguire mumbled to herself, scanning the page. She had missed a period, but it hadn't bothered her; if anything, it thrilled her since this meant not having more pain and discomfort on top of everything else. Something was going off in her head though; a little bell was ringing the chime of a memory that she couldn't quite grasp...

"All right, here we go!" she muttered, looking at the book for the right wand movements. "Swishy, flick, swish swish, and two flicks of the wand...whatever, I want this solved..."

She performed the spell. A small cloud of purple sparks shot around her head and she coughed as she could when she accidentally inhaled some of the smoke. Maguire looked back at the book, scanning the page for what purple sparks meant. Purple sparks, purple sparks--purple sparks! Okay, here we go...

Fuck.

She dropped the book in horror, not caring if anyone found her anymore. She looked down and swore quietly, her heart suddenly beating too quickly. Maguire tore out of the library, sprinting towards the Prefects' bathroom and Head dorms, hoping beyond any hope she had ever had in her life, that Lily would be there.

~*~*~

"Oh my God. Lily! LILY! Where the hell is she?!" Maguire shrieked as she ran up the stairs towards the Prefect's bathroom, scattering frightened students as the tall, superior seventh year charged past them through the corridor. She finally barged into Lily's room and locked the door quickly, finding a very distracted and annoyed Lily sitting at her desk, reading.

"What is it now, Maguire? I'm trying to study here!" Lily exclaimed, pointing at the various books spread out on her desk. Maguire unexpectedly whipped out her wand and muttered a sound proof spell on the room for privacy as an extra precaution, to which caused Lily to look at Maguire strangely. Lily swiveled around in her desk chair and said, "Well, now I'm interested. Go on."

"Uh. Lily, I really don't know how to say this but...I mean. Uh, that is to say," Maguire stuttered, as a blush crept into her cheeks and made her feel very hot. "Well, the night that Sirius asked me to marry him, we kinda sorta...well, you know," she mumbled, giving Lily a look and nodding guiltily. Lily looked at her in confusion for a minute before realization dawned on her.

"Maguire Bridget Angelica Burgess! You didn't!" she shrieked in astonishment at the top of her lungs, throwing down her book and standing up, hands on her hips.

"Well. Like they say, I cannot tell a lie--"

"Oh, shut your mouth, you prick. Why are you telling me now, it's a little late for girl bonding--oh. Oh my God, fuck. Fuck. No, no, no, no..." Lily trailed off, looking at Maguire with shock written all over her face as the realization dawned on her. She clapped her hands to her mouth, shaking her head in disbelief as she sat down heavily on her bed.

As Lily started hyperventilating, Maguire sat down next to her, a small, scared smile worming its way onto her face. Her heart was still beating too fast, as a hundred and one emotions exploded inside of her: anticipation, fear, anxiety, absolute terror and even excitement, though it was a very small, small ball of excitement. Lily had finally taken her hands off of her face and was now staring blankly at Maguire, total and utter dismay stamped across her face. Tears built up in her eyes, their meaning as varied as the emotions whirling around inside Maguire. She gripped her friend's hand.

"I'm pregnant."

~*~*~

"What am I going to do? What the hell am I going to do?!" Maguire cried for what seemed like the hundredth time as she continued pacing the floor of Lily's dorm, which she had been doing for the better part of an hour. This time, however, it was the 'absolutely terrified' version of Maguire speaking. Scenario after scenario whirled through her mind, sending anxious shivers down her spine as she wrung her hands nervously.

"Hey, what's with this 'I' stuff? First of all, it's not just you who, um, made the baby. Sirius helped...oh God, that was kind of disgusting to say," Lily shuddered, but soldiered on, saying, "And secondly, um, hello? Best friend over here?" She pointed to herself, seated Indian style on her bed.

Maguire looked at Lily, her best friend since they had met on the train to Hogwarts seven long years ago, and rushed over to hug her, as even more emotions bloomed inside of her.

"Oh my God, you know how much I love you right now? You're not just gonna dump me as a friend for being a stupid, knocked up teenage witch?"

"Of course not, you idiot! Even though you were stupid enough to wind up pregnant in the first place..." she trailed off, smiling.

"Hey! Totally not my fault. Okay, sort of, but I didn't know you could get pregnant your first time," Maguire admitted, sinking down to the floor. She placed her head against the bed, her eyes tightly screwed shut as she once again tried to make sense of everything that had happened in the past few hours.

"A little too much information there, but yes, obviously, you can. How could you not know that?" Lily cried, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

"I never had much of a sex education. I was running on trial and error, you could say. But seriously, what am I going to do?" she keened, looking around the room like a trapped animal, cracking her knuckles anxiously.

"Well..." Lily said, letting out a deep sigh. "We better go tell Sirius."