-This chapter is dedicated to Amie. She helped inspire the title and make me write this. You owe this chappie to her. Thank you so much! YOU ARE THE BEST!
-Chapter Five: A Not-So-Grand Title
-By Natali
James looked at Lily as she smiled smugly at the group of bitchy girls that had just left them. He was very proud of her.
Too proud.
Way too proud.
But he didn't care. How could he, after all these years? Last night was wonderful… It wasn't just being with her. It was being-holding her, not having to pretend-not anymore. He didn't have to hide his feelings from his friends. He'd never wanted to!
But he had.
Over and over and over…
"Why are you looking at Evans, Prongs?"
"Dude, watch where you're going! Who were you looking at?"
"I know she's got one hell of an ass, but snap out of it!"
He looked, watched, admired… because slowly, he'd been falling in love with her every move, her every word. The way she carried herself… How she'd saved herself for him, even if she hadn't known it then. Sappy romantic wasn't a role he liked to play, but he seemed to be filling in the shoes wonderfully.
She was more than a pretty face. Before the day she'd come, they'd never even had a real conversation. And yet, his heart had known her. And hers had known his too.
Their bodies had known each other the night before, too.
Lily smiled unconsciously as she secretly watched James play with some of the crayons left on the table for little kids. The restaurant they were at provided pieces of paper for children to draw on, and he'd shown no inhibitions in doing so. She thought it looked like either a stag or a really bad-looking dog…
So this is what it's like to be in-. She didn't finish her thought. No, she'd been hurt before. Why ruin a good thing before it even started?
Am I really in love? She asked herself, grabbing her own crayon. Then I don't have to worry about Victor. Is this my savior? Does someone in the heavens really love me? Did Daddy not fuck up as badly as I'd thought?
But loving was so hard for her! Why couldn't it be easier? Why couldn't her father have made a bet to see if she could only shag someone? That she could do!
*~*Another Place, Another Time…*~*
There was something to be said about mortals. They were devilishly fun to watch. Artemis knew this. Enjoyed it to the max! But even she knew that work was work and she had things to get done. But it didn't make her task any more fun. Even she had her boss.
Or bosses, rather.
And so, that was the reason for the Queen of the Nymphs to be standing in the entrance hall of the Barburry Castle, in North Nini. That was the reason she was wearing her best robes. That was the reason she was afraid for her life, immortal though she was considered. The Muses were nothing to fool around with.
"My Ladies," Artemis bowed. "I greet thee good minds." She couldn't say day, because that would offend them-immortals were not ruled by time. She couldn't say lives-because immortals had no lives, only presence. What more could a Muse ask for than a good mind?
And there they sat: Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia, and Urania. Muses of Epic Poetry, History, Love Poetry, Music, Tragedy, Sacred Poetry, Dancing, Comedy, and Astronomy, respectively.
Not any being-mortal or immortal-knew how these nine came to be. Seeing as Greek Mythology was a fallacy created by Aphrodite to satiate the humans (because of her big mouth), there was no "Zeus" or "Mnemosyre". Or maybe there was…?
Calliope nodded as spokes-Muse for the group. "We've been watching, Artemis. What a major screw up on your part. What can we do for you?"
"I need help, Muses." She hesitated. "I didn't want to ask before because I didn't want to bother you."
"That's always been the problem with you nymphs," Erato sighed. "What, did you think that the great Muses do not have anything to do with life and love and knowledge?"
"No!" Artemis said quickly. "Of course with life and knowledge. But I knew not of your special touch with love, Muses."
Terpsichore laughed. "How naive. Who do you thinks strikes the desire of dancing into men's hearts? And certain poetry? Is that not inspired by love? How can you write well about something you've never experienced?"
"Many songs are about love," Euterpe interjected. "Does that not come from me?"
"With all due respect, I knew of your special Gifts. I only didn't know that you could incite love into the heart of man and woman," Artemis spoke, walking on thin ice.
Urania, ever the calm one, said, "Are not the Heavens themselves a love story? It took great care, great love to create something so unique. Who do you think put them there? Who cared and loved and dreamt about a world like the one we live in so much that they created an entire universe?"
"I don't know," Artemis replied honestly.
Urania nodded slowly, obviously pleased. "It's good that you didn't lie. Well, We do not create love, nor do We destroy it. We can only plant what has been given to Us into humans. We move them to love, I suppose you could say. We move them to feel many things."
Polyhymnia leaned forward slowly. "It is you who We've appointed to let them see the `light', if you will. We specifically gave you Lily. Figure out why and how to get her with James. That point is especially crucial."
Artemis nodded. "And… how do I go about this now, Ladies?"
"Just give Us time. We're working on it, and have been since We saw your folly," Melpomene told her.
"You will have your precious little project done soon enough," Clio promised.
Thalia, the only one who hadn't yet spoken, did so now. "You know why We do what We do. But you don't know how. Why do you insist on doing this to yourself? Stop torturing yourself, Artemis!" She laughed loud and long. "But that's the beauty about you, isn't it?"
"I don't know."
"Don't act obtuse! Of course it is." Thalia looked her over. "Note it now: While you yourself are against love and what it causes, it will be your own demise. The Greeks turned you into a goddess of childbirth. How ironic that that's what shall be your doom!"
Thalia, Muse of Comedy, had just written out Artemis's "life". And she didn't even really have one… The Muse found this all very comical.
Secretly, so did the Others.
Artemis bowed, and disappeared out the door. What else was there to do now?
Calliope furrowed her brows. "Hmm…"
"Love poetry?" Erato suggested.
"Not good enough," Calliope shook her head.
"The stars will be clear tonight," Urania informed.
"Later. That's not what they need."
"Sacred poetry?"
"Don't be foolish, Polyhymnia. How the hell is that going to get them together-for good?"
The Muses sat in silence for a few minutes, each trying to decide how to best present their own area. It was true what Calliope said-They needed something that would keep the two together forever.
"Ah," Terpsichore said at last. "Dancing."
They smiled at each other. Yes, dancing would do it.
"It's always good to do things the old fashioned way sometimes," Clio giggled.
*~*
"Let's get out of here," James said suddenly, glancing at his watch. "I believe the clubs have just opened."
"At five in the afternoon? I don't usually go until midnight."
"You're not usually with me."
And that, somehow, convinced her. It would've convinced her to do just about anything.
"You're right," she smiled. "I am with you."
*~*
She was dancing.
She was hot.
She was wet.
He was about to explode. It must have been around nine. The city they were in was always clubbing. They'd been dancing for only an hour though. Somehow, they hadn't ended up leaving the bowling alley for another hour. You tended to lose track of time when you were talking to someone like Lily.
Or like James.
More water sprayed down from the ceiling. Had Lily known that Club H2O actually involved water, she would have made sure to wear something beside the light pink, nearly clear shirt she was wearing. It might as well have been invisible.
She fought to keep from dehydrating. It was always hot in clubs, but the temperature in her body was near to the max. She could only take so much.
Who knew that dancing could so erotic? Ok, stupid question. Everyone knows that. But who knew it could be so… personal?
But only with him.
Only with her.
The Muses were having a grand old time…
"You are," he whispered into her ear from behind, "the most beautiful, and most awesome witch that I have ever met."
She groaned as he kissed her neck, but the sound was lost in the loud noise.
It was intoxicating. A person could only stand so much before being hypnotized by the music, the strobe lights, the smell-which would have been far from pleasant had it not been that all they could smell was each other.
"That's not such a grand title," she answered. "Not at all. Quite a lot to live up to really. I don't want to disappoint you, James."
"You haven't. I already know who you are, even if you don't know yourself."
Slowly, as if in slow motion, she put one arm around behind her and around his neck, with the other she clasped his hand. As the music got more sensual, so did their movements.
Many people often say that dancing gets so heated in the clubs, that people practically have sex on the dance floor. For the first time, Lily really grasped the meaning of that.
It was impossible to have found someone who made her feel so… not her. Was that a good thing? Compared to how totally fucked up it felt to be her before, she certainly thought so.
Some song was playing overhead, they didn't notice which. They didn't honestly care. There could have been
absolute silence in the room and it wouldn't have mattered a bit to them.
"Do you… want a drink?" James asked hoarsely as the song died down. He couldn't take any more of this pleasurable torture.
"If you think that will help any," she muttered (really screaming, to be heard), letting him take her hand and lead her to the bar.
He asked for waters-muggle alcohol wasn't as good after you'd had something like firewhiskey-and tugged her close, their skin sticking because of their sweat.
"Want to go somewhere else?" James whispered as a slow song came on. "After this song?"
"Alright," she whispered, putting her head on his shoulder as the sea wind whipped through her hair. They were outside of the club now, on its roof, which was nearly empty except for a few couples
*~*
"Oh, my gosh," Lily whispered, closing her eyes. "How beautiful."
"Yeah…"
"It's so… colorful," she whispered, leaning into his chest as they sat on one of Hawaii's black beaches. "All different colors-orange, yellow, red, purple, maroon… Like one big can of mixed paint."
"Is it so awful that I don't want to go back?" he asked, making little circles on her arms with his fingers.
"No. I don't blame you." They shared the tenderest of kisses.
"Some things just aren't made to be shared with friends; only lovers," James whispered, kissing her forehead. "I waited too long for you, Lily. Too long…"
"At least you knew. I didn't. I had to wait 18 terribly long years before I could find you." A tear, though a happy one, slipped down her cheek. "I was so scared to come here."
"I wasn't."
"And if it hadn't worked out?"
He hesitated, not wanting to give away that he talked to Aphrodite. "…A little birdie promised me. An annoying birdie…"
Satisfied, she went back to gazing to the beautiful scene. You could only ask for so much. She'd prefer to ignore his talking to "annoying birdies".
She'd thought it would've been hard, to love another man.
Maybe she would come out of this wrong.
*~*
A/N: Yeah, sorry it's a day late! I didn't have access to internet. In fact, I wasn't expecting any access until later this evening, but by pure chance I picked up an internet connection. So yeah.
To hermioniegranger: Yeah, I know it's Sunday morning. It's not that I forgot, it's that I haven't had access to the internet. But thanks for reminding me, and I'll no doubt need it sometime in the future...!
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