Chapter 6- Where Is Smoke, There Is Fire
Lily looked up from the simmering Polyjuice Potion and peered out of the kitchen window. A furniture lorry had arrived; the mover climbed from the leader house and opened the large doors of the loading space. Is someone moving in, she considered and looked at the monstrous bubbles, which had emerged on the surface of the muddy-looking potion. With a second glance out of the window, she saw the men heading into the house.
Somebody's moving out, she determined and tried to remember whether Mrs. Easton had told her something. Nice old lady, she thought and stirred the potion.
Soon, Lily heard noises in the corridor outside her flat and fled into the hall. Carefully, she scouted through the spy hole.
One mover after another passed her dwelling and... to her neighbor's.
"Yeah! He's moving out!" Lily cheered, hopping around before clasping her hands over her mouth in fright. Carefully, she looked through the spy hole and saw a man who had turned around, surprised. He heard me, but all the same. They don't know who lives here, and she smiled.
Minutes passed, and the mover carried the first boxes down. Lily stood near the window and spied, with Minerva on her arm, in good Ernst Stavro Blofeld manners down on the road.
"You see, Minerva, there is still justice in the world. Now he can terrorize other people."
"Meow."
"And other cats."
Lily pressed more nearer to the windowpane. Then a man emerged who did not wear red overalls like the furniture packers. His head was covered with a dark blue baseball cap; he wore a white shirt and jeans. His figure was somehow familiar. But not as those of her neighbor, he had been more slender and... Something was different.
Always with one eye on the Polyjuice Potion, she observed the small furniture marathon. The blue baseball cap seemed to be everywhere. Once, Lily even ran back into the hall to observe him through the spy hole, but she constantly missed him somehow. It's like he's bewitched, she thought and nearly pressed her nose flat on the window to recognize something.
Suddenly, something flew to her. It had wings and almost hit the window. The brown owl shook her plumage briefly and stretched her leg. Lily opened a gap in the window and took the scroll. She didn't want to be seen; it was already bad enough that an owl had flown to her window in broad daylight.
Curious, she unrolled the letter. It had to be from James.
Lily,
Your letter reached me. I'm glad the brewing of the potion is going so well. What would I do without you? I probably would have blown up the house if I had tried to make it.
I will be back at work on Monday, and I will support you with my regained health. That reminds me of what I need to tell you. A healer confirmed to me that I have a bad food poisoning. It's also contagious; I must therefore unfortunately reject your suggestion to visit me. I don't want you to become ill also.
See you on Monday.
James
Lily frowned. He has a food poisoning. How terrible, she worried and drew an imaginary picture, how he lay limp and exhausted in his bed, troubled of fever, rolling from one side on the other, and having no one who worried about him.
"Poor James!" She sighed and observed how the blue baseball cap continued to jump around on the road till the last piece of furniture, his damn piano, was stowed away in the truck.
The baseball cap and a furniture packer both looked at a map and drove around on it with their index fingers. Then they shook hands, and the truck drove of.
The blue baseball cap now had everything arranged, and Lily thought he would finally leave, but he didn't do her this favor. Instead, he went back into the house. Again, Lily ran to the corridor and looked through the spy hole. But her neighbor was not to be seen anywhere. How strange, she thought again and turned to go when it rang. Quickly, she dashed back; however, she could not stop fast enough and slammed against the door.
"Ouch!" She rubbed her head and looked through the spy hole with tears in her eyes.
Nobody stood outside.
Carefully, Lily opened the door and peered outside. She was about to close the door when her attention was directed to a gigantic orchid bouquet, which lay on the threshold.
"Wow!" she said, pleasantly shocked, and bent down to get it off the floor. She smelled the beautiful flowers and discovered an envelope between the blooms. Curious, she opened it and out pulled several pound notes and a small note.
Forgive me for the incommodities!
Lily smiled. When she went back into her flat, she smelled her gift again and closed the door.
James wasn't far away, securely hidden under his Invisibility Cloak, regarding Lily. Now she certainly wouldn't hate her neighbor anymore, and if she should find out that he had lived next to her, she wouldn't give him a hard time.
Satisfied, he drew a deep breath. Well, time to go to Godric's Hollow, he thought and disapparated.
xxxxxxxx
Lily stormed into her office. James looked up from his papers, surprised, with a look of confusion on his face. Lily had a shining in her eyes and a smile on her face... it was frightening.
"Come on, ask me." Her cheeks glowed of joy.
"Ask what?" he inquired and Lily made an insulted face.
Hastily, she walked around his desk and sat down on the desktop. Her feet swung like a small girl that sat on a wall, and she looked at him expectantly. But James turned again to his papers. Frustrated, Lily prodded him. If she couldn't report the incident immediately, she would clearly burst. It felt like at the time she wanted to announce her exam results to her parents.
She gave James another prod. Slowly, he looked up. His brown eyes seemed to laugh at her, but his face remained expressionless.
"James, now ask me!"
"Do you want to go to dinner with me?" he asked.
Lily looked for a second startled then, "No, ask me what happened."
"Okay, what happened to you?"
"I thought you would never ask!" she groaned. "Guess who I met a while ago in the ladies room?" she asked.
"A woman?" he answered.
"Correct, but which woman?"
"Dunno, A&V is full of women."
"Yes, but from whom do I need something?" Again, Lily's eyes sparkled.
"Estelle?"
"Correct! Well finally, James!" And she moved closer. "When I walked in, she was standing in front of the mirror. I had to ask her what she uses to make her hair shine the way it does." She laughed. "Give her a topic, and your ears bleed later. But back to the substantial thing. First, she was somewhat distrustful, but I lulled her in with sweet-talk... she couldn't react differently. I asked her if I could touch her "really beautiful hair" and she said yes. And now guess what I got!"
"You didn't tear her hair out, did you?" he wanted to know, alarmed.
Perplexed, she looked at him. "Naturally not! What do you think of me?"
James leaned back into his chair, relieved by her statement. "I thought you got carried away."
"Rest assured, I did not cause her any."
"That makes me happy," and he patted her leg without thinking.
Something shot through Lily. What was it?
"Did you mean what you said a while ago?"
"That I thought that you had torn her hair out? Yeah, sure."
"No, have dinner with you."
Again, he looked up to her and smiled. "Yeah, I meant that seriously. Only if you like, naturally."
James didn't know what had gotten into him all of a sudden or where his courage came from. Perhaps it was the tingle, which he had felt when he had touched Lily.
"Sure, I'll come to dinner because you must still redeem your bet," she reminded him and grinned.
"I'll redeem my bet only when we've finished our revenge campaign," he stated. "First you have to fulfill your bet."
Lily kicked her legs. To fulfill her side of the bet wasn't her favorite thing in the world. Jogging with James. When she regarded him in such a way, she had the feeling that she was the most un-athletic witch in the whole world. But a promise was a promise.
"I want to get over it and let the mockery over me be issued." She sighed. "So, do you want to run tomorrow morning?" She suggested.
"When you plead like that," smirked James. "I naturally arise to my fate."
"One can hardly call that pleading."
"Well, that depends on the point of view, Miss Evans," he teased.
"Oh, you!" Lily wanted to smack him, but when he caught her hand she lost her balance, slipped from the desktop, and made a pirouette. Lily saw herself falling in slow motion on the floor, but she hadn't counted on James's reflexes. Very quickly, he had caught her, and now she lay crosswise over his thighs.
An armrest poked roughly in her back, and a cool breeze floated over her belly. Oh no, my blouse slipped higher. Lily felt an arm around her shoulders and straightened up immediately. Her hair flew in full momentum forward and obscured her view. But a hand released her from the curtain of red hair. Lily was much too shocked to make a movement, so she remained in place until she saw James's anxious look.
"Everything okay?"
She shook her head, and again strands of her hair danced around her face. Again he brushed them from her face. Emerald eyes looked deeply into his, and when he felt her fingers on his cheek, he stopped. A tingle spread through his belly.
Nervousness?
He wouldn't have expected it, but he suddenly felt her lips on his.
James didn't have any chance to react to her kiss, because they suddenly heard a knock, and Lily jumped up from his lap. Prongs could have sworn she had apparated to her desk because she got there so fast. She sat there and supported her face with a hand. Again a veil of red hair covered her probably just as red face.
Totally stunned, James looked at a middle-age woman, who held an enormous package in her hands.
"Is this the office of Lillian Evans?" she asked carefully.
"Erm, that would be me." Lily coughed and came out from behind her desk.
"This was delivered for you." The woman handed the gigantic load to her.
"Thanks."
"No problem," and she said good-bye with a last confused look at the two.
What was that, James still thought.
While Lily looked for the sender of the parcel, James snapped out of his solidification, went around his desk, and stopped before her. He took the package from her hands, placed it on the desk, and came closer to her. His eyes looked for hers, but she had lowered her view. Gently, he forced her to look up. Her face had turned the exact color he had imagined.
"James, that... I don't know..." she began.
"But I do know." And he bent down and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.
xxxxxxx
James felt like the happiest wizard of whole England when he apparated before Lily's door and knocked.
Seconds later, the door was opened, and Lily beamed up to him.
"You're on time," she said and gave him a short greeting kiss, which he would have liked to extend.
"Was it difficult to find?" she asked him and motioned for him to come in.
James, who had lived right next to her until two weeks ago, tried to hide a grin. "No, it wasn't so difficult."
"Please wait in the living room. I'll be ready in a minute."
When Prongs entered the living room, he saw Minerva sitting with her back to him on the sofa. Her tail moved cautiously from side to side, and she was ready to jump. What her goal was exactly James didn't recognize immediately because it looked like a mountain of hair! With a strong jump, the monstrous cat had suddenly ambushed her victim. She bit and scratched. Fur flew, material tore, and Minerva had nearly disappeared in the mountain.
"Minerva! Don't you dare touch my fur coat!" sounded from another part of the dwelling. "If you set even one claw on the skin, I'll put you on a lifelong diet, you'll never sleep in my bedroom again, and you won't get anything for Christmas!"
James leaned cautiously at the doorframe. A cat head emerged from the fur mountain and spat some material out. As soon as Minerva saw James, she began to hiss.
"Minerva, I warned you!" Lily called, having misunderstood the hiss and running toward the living room.
"Reparo," said Prongs calmly. All the peeled off fur fluttered back into the coat, slots mended, and nothing from the demolition was noticeable.
Thus, Lily only saw that her cat sat in the middle of the fur coat.
"Minnie. Get from the coat." She pushed her away. "I told you, I don't want you in the proximity of it!"
"What is her problem with the coat?" James inquired, while Lily heaved Minerva onto her cat tree.
"The package yesterday was from my mother. She sent this fur coat to me and… Well, You can imagine what Minerva thinks of fur coats, particularly if they are made of Kneazle fur."
"Yeah, I can imagine." He nodded and felt a look bore into him, which made him think of a thousand needles.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Almost." And she floated off again.
James went toward Minerva and bent down to her so that they were eye level with each other.
"I hope you are clear that you owe me." He grinned.
"Chrrrr!" she hissed.
"I have a suggestion," he spoke, unimpressed. "You don't tell Lily anything about me, and I won't say anything about your little outbreak."
Minerva wrinkled her nose and sneezed.
"I'll take that to mean yes." Prongs smirked and tousled her head, which caused Minnie to sway to and fro.
"Oh, you are already friends," spoke Lily suddenly from the door. "We can go, James. I surrender into my fate."
And they left the dwelling toward the sports field, while Minerva had turned her back on the fur coat, insulted.
xxxxxxxxxx
James took the Invisibility Cloak off of his shoulders and breathed a sigh of relief.
That was really a cramp, he thought and regarded the few hairs in his hand.
Today they wanted to end their revenge campaign, but it was difficult to turn into someone who barely had any hair to spare. David Dunvegan had a fringe of hair and wore what remaines very short. It couldn't get anymore complicated than that. But James had to stupefy his boss to pick a few hairs in peace, which one could hardly see with the eye.
And because James was already on it, he took measures to change his suit later.
A crack sounded, and Lily stood beside him. She had a thermos in one hand and two cups in the other.
"You have it?"
"No very hairy affair," Prongs mocked. "David left the office 5 minutes ago. But I have the hair." He made a disgusted face.
"I know what you mean." She nodded approvingly, opened the thermal can, and poured something into the cups.
James locked the office door, then took his cup and added the hair. Lily did the same.
"Cheers," he said. The cups clinked together, and they drank. The muddy liquid crept slowly down their esophagi. The taste choked both of them.
Oh, never again, Lily thought while she held onto the desk. But nausea changed into a tingle. Everywhere it pinched and itched. She noticed how each cell of her body changed and adapted into another structure. Her hands looked different. They were smaller, more girl-like, and her skin had another tint. The dress she wore fit her exactly now because she had taken it from Estelle's wardrobe after she had charmed the receptionist into a deep sleep.
When Lily looked up, she saw into the eyes of David Dunvegan, only he now wore James's suit.
"Everything okay, Lily?"
"Yes, I am only... wow. You look exactly like him. You must act aristocratic, like David."
"Okay, how does this sound? Are you well, Miss Lillian?"
"That was better, James." Lily giggled like Estelle would have done, and her opposite grinned.
"We must hurry now. Go… and good luck."
Lily, in Estelle's shape, smiled, opened the door, and disappeared.
I hope everything goes alright, James pleaded.
Lily put on Estelle's typical toothpaste smile when she walked through the corridors to Melanie's office. She knocked briefly and opened the door. Mel looked up from her desk.
"Hey, Estelle."
"Hi, Mel. Want some coffee?" Lily asked and extended her smile.
"Yeah, I can use a break. Have you already seen Evans and Potter? Perhaps I can bring Evans to explode again," laughed Melanie, while the desire to place a clenched fist in Melanie Mosag's face spread through Lily. But she picked herself up and laughed again like a small girl.
"Not yet, but if we have luck."
Together, they were standing in the kitchen and stirring their coffee.
"Come on, tell me how it happened that you were promoted and not the other two. Otherwise Lillian Evans would not be so mad at you," pressed Lily and took a careful sip. "What did you do? I know you had something to do with it."
"I don't what you mean," Mel denied.
"Oh, come, Mel. Lillian Evans wouldn't look as though she would like to strike you every time she sees you if you didn't do something. Come on, tell me," she pleaded. She felt like a dog that begged for a stick to be thrown away.
Her opposite grinned evilly and at the same time complacently.
"I did nothing bad. I only pushed my luck."
"But how?" Lily continued to press. Now the interesting part came.
"Well, Estelle," Mel gave in. "When Potter and Evans saw each other the first time, I knew that the two would act shyly around each other like small children."
"Why, Mel?"
"Because they behaved like two idiots. I knew the two liked each other. Why shouldn't I use that if the two couldn't talk properly with one another." She laughed. "The coincidence came to my assistance. When I heard from Evans who her client was, I wound her around my little finger and told her that Potter would call his buddy to tell him not to sell to her."
"Oh, wow." It broke from Lily.
"That's not the summit of my ingenious plan yet," smirked Melanie, who was now in her element and sunned herself in her success. "When Evans remembered that Potter had to contact the old Longbottom woman, she told me that Augusta Longbottom was an aunt of hers. It couldn't have gone better for me... and then she took her things and off she was to visit her auntie to ask for assistance." The last sentences she had said full of loathing.
"And what was with James?" Lily giggled the typical Estelle giggle.
"I told the lovesick jerk that Lily was off to her aunt to tell her not to sell to him... and he immediately called Sirius Black!" Melanie struck herself on the thighs. "And while the two were busy trying to ruin each others careers, I had all peace in the world to convince Wendolin Fraser to agree as fast as possible to the contract." Mel took a sip of her coffee. "And then I saw it naturally as my obligation to inform David of the fact that some of our co-workers don't work cooperatively with one another." Her last words dripped with victory. "I tell you, Estelle. I heard Dunvegan yell into my office," laughed Melanie Mosag, now loud.
Stupid cow, was all Lily thought.
But the laughter stopped abruptly, and Lily turned to the door.
"Mr. Dunvegan..." Melanie stammered when she saw the face of her boss. "How are you today?" she asked, uncertain whether he had heard her monolog or not.
"I do not believe that it is of any importance how I feel today, Miss Mosag," began James. "And it will be of no importance tomorrow either." His voice rose. "Because I don't have the intention to employ someone who deceives colleagues and brings false accusations forward!"
Melanie's face changed rapidly to an ivory white. "But... But Mr. Dunvegan... I've worked for you for a long time and never..."
"ENOUGH!" James roared. "I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANYTHING. I EXPECT YOUR NOTICE ON MY DESK EARLY TOMORROW MORNING. YOU WILL WRITE EXACTLY WHAT YOU JUST SAID, AND PUT IT ON THE NOTICE. IS THAT CLEAR?" James ended his tantrum.
"Yes, Sir," answered Melanie in tears.
"And now go out of my sight!" James pointed to the open door.
Melanie ran from the kitchen while Lily grinned contently. She could hear how many doors were closed and she began to laugh.
"I think you had an audience," she said with difficulty while laughing. James closed the door and came closer to her.
"We did it!"
"Yeah, we did it." And they hugged.
"It is really odd that I'll be kissing Estelle at any moment," James joked
"It's the inner beauty that counts," Lily said and kissed him.
Exactly at that moment, Ed from the legal department walked into the kitchen. Lily and James looked at him.
"David... Estelle... I didn't know. Erm... I'm sorry," he stammered and closed the door with a very red face.
By the end of the day, rumors were in circulation that David Dunvegan had something going on with the receptionist.
xxxxxxx
Lily apparated in front of a small house in the midst of the front yard. The sun was going down and charmed a color play on the landscape. Small leafs and buds had pushed themselves from the branches of the trees, and the last spring flower had crept from the earth. A bird sang in a tree, and in the house the first light was lit.
Slowly, she walked up the garden path and knocked on the green door. James had invited her today to redeem his bet. Cooking like a Muggle Lily suspected would turn out badly. She had gotten over her bet surprisingly well because she had flirted with James the whole time so they didn't even run 200 meters put together. But they had come close to this number when James had wanted to catch her and hunted her over the sports field.
James had told her that she should dress comfortably, and dressed in such a way he stood before her. In a white shirt and jeans, he looked suspiciously familiar!
"Hey, Lily. Come in." And he pulled her inside the house. Skillfully, he pealed her from her jacket and hung it on a hook.
"Hello James," Lily could just manage to say before he embraced her and placed a kiss on her lips.
"It smells good," she noticed some time later.
"Oh, the meal." Prongs jumped up, stormed along the corridor, and disappeared to the right.
Lily looked around. To her left was the living room with an open fireplace in which a fire burned. The flickering light fell over the furniture and directed her attention to a piano. It also looked familiar to her. Carefully, she lifted the cover and pressed one of the keys. A terrible sound was produced, and she jumped back.
"The piano is broken," sounded from the kitchen.
"Who would have thought that," Lily commented to herself. That couldn't be true. James was never... and nevertheless she remembered the card. Already at that time, the handwriting had reminded her of someone's. But Minerva hadn't said anything to me. I'm sure she would have, she considered.
"Do you want something to drink?" he called. Lily tore herself from her thoughts and entered the kitchen. Against her expectations, it didn't look as if a bomb had hit.
"Elder wine?" James asked and handed a glass to Lily when she nodded. Plates and sets of utensils were located in a corner and waited to be placed on the table. In the oven was a casserole while James was washing several tomatoes. Lily looked teasingly over his shoulder at how he arranged the salad.
When James felt her chin on his shoulder, he looked to the side. She only smiled mischievously and kissed him gently. The tomatoes that still had to be cut and the Parmesan, which lay beside the grater, were suddenly forgotten. James let the knife fall onto the work surface and turned to her. Lily looped her arms around him and moved close into him.
James wound his arms around her hips and melted into her kiss. She tasted like the elder wine, and he wanted more of her.
Their kisses became more intense when James stroked her along her back and drove his hands through her hair. Lily's fingers had left his neck and moved downward over his torso. For one moment, James held his breath to suppress his excitement and instead kissed from her cheek to her neck.
Lily had a thousand fairies in her belly when his tongue touched the soft skin underneath her ear. She sighed, and James laughed quietly.
"James," she whispered.
"Hm."
"I want you..." was all she said when James looked at her with his gentle hazel eyes. The next thing she knew, he had pulled her even closer and began kissing her fiercely. She felt the bulge in his jeans and knew that he wanted her also. Then she had the feeling that she was being squeezed with all power, and when she opened her eyes she was in a different room.
"Bedroom..." James whispered against her lips and slid his hands under her shirt. He had cold fingers, and Lily jerked slightly. She, however, lost no time and pulled his shirt over his head.
Muscles, which Lily had only suspected thus far, were exposed. He wasn't too muscular. Everything was suggested in fine lines, and she outlined a few. She admired his soft, tanned skin and asked herself how he still had color after this winter.
For a moment she looked around and saw the bed, on which she had already sat once before. She pushed him in this direction until he was forced to sit down. Lily followed him until she lay on top of him.
James grinned at her. "We are quite bold today, aren't we?"
"Why not?" she answered snappish but smiling.
But James made a movement, and before she could react, he lay on top of her.
Damn reflexes, she thought when he looked at her mischievously
Slowly, he pushed her shirt up and placed small kisses in its wake. Then her shirt flew away.
"That's my favorite," she protested.
"Oh, we'll find it later," he answered between kisses.
Their excitement increased when he arrived at her waist and a hand stroked along the inside of her thigh. James loosened the first button of her jeans and placed a kiss on the freshly exposed skin. Still another button followed and another. Lily couldn't stop herself from moaning when she felt his warm breath on her. She lifted her backside and he freed her from her trousers and socks.
For a short moment, James regarded her half naked body, and had to correct his fantasies. She was more beautiful than in his dreams. Thoughtfully, he bent down to her again, but when he was over her, she rolled over and sat on him again.
"Only fair," she whispered, and her tongue moved over his chest. Then she also got rid of his trousers and socks.
Meanwhile, James had pulled her upward because if Lily had remained below his navel, he couldn't guarantee anything. Their kisses became now more desperate, and he opened her bra hesitatingly. He wanted to feel her and taste her. He wanted her completely for himself. James straightened up so that they sat opposite each other. He bent down and kissed her breast. A hand held the other, and Lily shuddered in pleasure. But his fingers left her chest and moved downward between her legs.
Again, Lily lay on her back and the hand sneaked into her slip. She gasped for air when she felt his fingers and how they stroked her sensitive skin. The tingle in her belly sank slowly downward and she arched her back when it became marvelously intolerable.
Somehow she lost overview and didn't notice when her slip was gently removed. She only knew that she wanted James fully and completely. Her hands groped down and remained on the noticeably larger bulge of his shorts. Gently, she squeezed, and he moaned slightly. She started to pull down his shorts and touched now the tender skin of his erection, stroking the moist tip with her thumb.
James got rid of his last article of clothing, and enjoyed Lily's contacts until he couldn't bear it anymore. He wanted her for himself to completely have her and never give away.
Lily pulled him over herself, and he slid carefully into her. For a brief moment, neither could breathe, but their lungs filled with oxygen again as they kissed passionately. Their hands linked into one another, and James pulled out and thrusted back into.
An odd smell suddenly lay in air, but both ignored this peculiarity.
Lily stroked her nails over his back. Gradually, tensions built up inside her and couldn't be eased. It constantly increased and... Oh, this was wonderful agony.
James felt how she twitched inside and how her hips welcomed him. She drove him insane, and the small sounds that came from her only accelerated his condition. And then she rolled over.
How does she do it, shot through his head, when she started to move seductively. What's that smell, entered this thoughts before he concentrated on the orgasms, which rolled over him when Lily released a deep sigh and collapsed on top of him.
James stroked her hair and kissed her forehead after he had again come to himself. Somewhat sleepy, they snuggled as the smell became ever more intensive.
"Do you smell that?" Lily asked and sat up to look at him.
"Yeah... it smells... burnt!" And he jumped out of bed like Merlin had created him and rushed out of the door.
Lily climbed somewhat more slowly from the mattress and threw a cover around herself. Leisurely, she went downstairs and into the kitchen. There, James stood dressed in nothing but a potholder and held a black stone in his hands, which had been a casserole an hour ago. The windows were already opened and the smoke floated into cold night air.
"That was like my lasagna," he said and let it fall into the garbage bin.
"At least you still have salad. We won't starve." She grinned and pulled him into the cover with her when she saw the goose bumps on his skin.
"I also have dessert," James announced proudly.
"Then we definitely won't starve." And she stole a salad leaf.
A little later, they sat wrapped in bathrobes on the sofa in the living room and ate the hors-d'oeuvre, which was now converted into a Caesar salad because James had found chicken in the refrigerator.
"Can you play something for me?" Lily asked when she was finished and leaned on his shoulder.
"I would, but it's broken," he answered and stroked her hair. But she took his wand off the couch table and directed it toward the piano. A flash shot into the instrument, lit up briefly, and then it looked the same as before.
"Now it will work," she announced, confident.
"Okay, what do you want to hear?"
"The song you played the first night I moved in."
"No problem. It's my favorite." It gushed from James as he rose. He had already sat down on the piano bench and had touched the first keys when he stopped, frightened, and looked at her.
Lily was still relaxed. "What's wrong?"
"How long have you known?"
"Since you betrayed yourself just now. Before I only had a suspicion."
He let his shoulders hang. "I would understand if you..."
"Don't be ridiculous," she interrupted and walked to him. "Did you really think that I would do only Merlin knows to you?"
"To be honest, yes." He nodded.
Lily sat down beside him on the bench. "Someone who knows how to make such a wonderful Caesar salad as you deserves a second chance," she joked and kissed him cheerfully. "Can you continue please?"
"If I get dessert later on."
"Anything you want," she promised him and listened to the concert piece he was playing.
Epilogue
Well, what can I say? Now I sit here with Minerva on the garden wall, watching Lily and Harry playing down at the pond.
"What you think of that, Minnie?"
"Meow."
"Yeah, much too near the edge. I think so, too."
"Meow."
"I believe we should go to them. But I need to finish the story. Well, you go first and I will come in a minute."
"Meow."
Where was I? Oh. You're probably wondering how long it took until Lily moved in with me at Godric's Hollow. Well, several months! And why? Because the fury lady that is stalking down to the pond had something against me. But my Lily flower got her way, and since Lily and I are married, Minerva isn't a pain in the neck any longer.
If you are interested, we still work both at Artemis & Verne but both for only half a day because we want to spend as much time as possible with Harry. He is simply worth more than money. He will turn two years old tomorrow. Oh, Merlin. Then Moony and Padfoot will come over. I almost forgot. I hope they didn't buy a baby hippogriff for Harry like they announced a week ago. Well, we will see.
Erm, what else do you want to know? Melanie Mosag?
Oh. David Dunvegan had her notice the next morning with the confession on his desk. But I never again heard of Mel. Ah, and Lily and I were promoted, I nearly forgot about that. It was simply no longer important to us.
So, now I must go to my Lily Flower and Harry. Minerva is much to close to the pond. She never learns.
"I'm coming love!"
Now I must go. See you!
END
Wow! It's done! The story is over!
I hope you enjoyed all six chapters. Thanks to my beta, Catherine. If you sill found mistakes, ups. Sorry. But I think she did a good job. See, English is a second language for me and I had to translate everything first. That also explains the time it took to get the chaps up.
Well, whatever.
Thank you for all your reviews! You all made me so happy!
Let me know if you are interested in a One shot were Lily and James stick together because of an everlasting bubblegum. It's a story were you don't need to think, just read and laugh.
Cheers!
Tanja
-->