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Steal My Kisses
Mei Queen
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Authoress' Note: Due to popular opinion on all of my host sites, I have decided to do an Epilogue (I think the final tallies were somewhere near 45 to 3 in favour of the epilogue). Even though only two people suggested it, I have actually been wondering about it, and have decided to do a sequel to Steal My Kisses. For all intensive purposes, it will basically just be a J/L relationship fic that could work on its own without SMK, but there will be occasional mentions to OCs like Bella and Grant, and that is why I'll recommend people to read this one first. The sequel is entitled "Every Other Time", and there is a teaser at the end of the Epilogue.
In response to all the "this PoV is friggin awkward" comments (which I wholeheartedly agree with), I have decided to do the Epilogue and sequel in the following format (and am going to go back and edit the odd bits of previous chapters). When a alternate PoV is mentioned, it will look like this: "::3rd P:: (aka narrator)" etc, etc. and that will be the PoV until you see a ::Lily's P::. Hope this clears up all the confusion.
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Epilogue
::3rd P::
Sirius Black sat morosely at a table in the Library, his books scattered aimlessly everywhere. His best friend had been missing for approximately a day, no doubt out with the charming Lily Evans, Sirius thought with a sigh. Peter and Remus had been trying to cheer Sirius up for the past half an hour, but to no avail, so they eventually finished up their massive Potions essays and left, leaving Sirius to his own depressing thoughts.
Absentmindedly biting his quill, he looked up when he saw someone slump quite ungracefully in the spot next to him.
"Hi Sirius!"
Looking up, he noticed Annabelle Burton smiling cheerfully at him. "'Lo, Bella," he mumbled.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Our best friends are abandoning us, and you ask me what's wrong, Bella? What kind of friend are you?" Sirius asked with his typical dramatic flair.
Annabelle took the moment to roll her eyes. "Please tell me you're not getting all bloody protective on me now! Just last week you were complaining about how annoying James was when he was trying to get Lily to be with him all year! And now he actually is with Lily, and all you can say is that he's abandoning you?!"
Bella simply looked at him in utter shock.
"What? I just think he's turning his back on his friends," Sirius mumbled grumpily.
"You're not allowed to think like that for at least a year, my friend. But you're right, we must go find them. We have some serious gold to win here, Black," Bella whispered with a grin.
The word "gold" brightened Sirius considerably, and he agreeably finished the last bit of his essay before trailing Bella out of the Library in search of their friends.
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The Head students were found cuddling on the couch in the Gryffindor Common Room, admiring the fire as it slowly died down to embers.
"Excuse me, but when did leaving the dorm go out of style?" Sirius asked James grumpily, sitting down in the armchair next to the couple.
Bella looked around a moment before resignedly standing. "Yeah, we haven't seen you two all day!"
"We've been catching up on each other's life histories. It's a long process," James replied with a grin.
Lily leaned her head on her new boyfriend's shoulder, whispering softly, "Yes, it has. I feel like I barely knew you before."
Annabelle smiled at her friend. She had never seen Lily so happy. Her cheeks were a healthy pink, hair up in a hasty ponytail. Lily hadn't put a lot of effort into her appearance, but James' adoring gaze continually trailed to her, as if he had never seen someone more wonderful in all his life. This is the real thing, Bella thought with awe.
"So will you two go down with us to the Great Hall? We still want to win the Hufflepuff bet here!" Sirius lowered his voice as he spoke, because some of the younger years were trying to coyly listen in on their conversation.
"I guess," James groaned, getting up from the couch. Offering his new girlfriend a hand, the group went down to the Great Hall to let all of Hogwarts know that they were "official".
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::Lily's P::
I grinned to myself as I felt James' hand caress my own on the way down to the Great Hall. I was a bit scared of what my ex would have to say when he saw; after all, just because I didn't want to be with Grant doesn't mean that I deliberately wanted to hurt his feelings. Telling myself to put away those depressing thoughts, I glanced up at my new boyfriend to find him already openly staring at me.
Blushing, I made quite the show of seeing whether there was something in my hair or teeth, before he stopped me with a chuckle. "I just think you're gorgeous, that's all," James said with a smile, leaning over to kiss my cheek.
"Good to know you're easy to please!" I replied with a laugh. "Maybe I'll never get dressed up again!"
James immediately began to backtrack his words, saying, "Lil, I don't know if I would go that far, sweetie…some occasions you can't just go in jeans to, right?"
Meanwhile, Bella and I were laughing hysterically at his attempt to put it delicately. "I was just kidding, James. Joking?"
"Oh right," he replied, obviously relieved that he wouldn't have to take a jeans-clad date to meet his parents.
"So are you two ready for your big debut, then? Hand in hand? Check. Okay, Bella. I think we're ready."
Sirius looked so…well…serious when he said it that it was very hard for James and me to keep straight faces as we walked into the Hall. The whispers and gasps at our enclosed hands were definitely audible. While we went to find seats at the table, Bella and Sirius went over to the Hufflepuff table to collect their earnings.
Coming back smiling in a rare moment of camaraderie, Annabelle Burton and Sirius Black sat next to each other opposite us at the table.
Bella grinned. "We've decided we want to do something special for you guys, since we wouldn't have won this if it weren't for both of you."
I looked at James with a grin. "What did you have in mind?"
Sirius looked downright mischievous as he lowered his voice so only the four of us could hear. "One-eyed witch. Tonight."
James' face lit up as well, but Bella and I obviously did not hide our confusion very well, because Sirius noted our expressions and proceeded to quietly explain what was behind the one-eyed witch and where we were going.
Though the Head Girl in me was saying that it was totally against the rules and probably a terrible, dangerous thing to do, I was shocked to realize that most of me just thought it sounded…fun.
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Later, in the dorm, I let loose my scarlet waves and wondered what to wear.
"Turquoise?" Emmeline suggested helpfully.
I cocked my head to the side. "It's possible. Maybe something in that colour family, yeah."
"I say…green!" Annabelle proclaimed, bursting through the door to the dorm with her usual volume.
"Where have you been?"
"Um…I left my essay in the library," Bella mumbled, setting her book bag down by her bed and grabbing some clean clothes out of her trunk.
I picked out an outfit slowly, thinking about how Annabelle had looked when she burst in. There was something that wasn't sitting right with her story, but I couldn't put my finger on quite what it was. I smiled at my reflection, adding a little bit of makeup to my otherwise naked face.
I changed once Bella was done, and then we walked down to the Common Room, mumbling apologetically to Emmeline that Sirius was paying for us, and we didn't know how much money he had so we couldn't invite anyone else. However, Em had taken it remarkably well, seemingly relieved to have the dorm to her for a night.
"You ready?" I felt James whisper in my ear as I met him by the fireplace.
"Let's go," I whispered confidently, allowing him to take my hand and lead me off to a place I thought I'd never go: somewhere I most definitely was not supposed to be.
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"Dissendium," Sirius had whispered when we had reached the statue (which was, coincidentally, extremely ugly. Why someone would make a statue of a practically humped back witch with one eye was completely beyond me).
We found ourselves in a small passage, shrouded in darkness. The only light was that of James' and Sirius' wands, which were casting a beam less than a metre in front of us. I felt James' hand close around mine, and even in the disturbing darkness, I felt- safe. They certainly seem to know where they're going, I noted with amusement. The boys had hold on both our hands and were tugging us along at impressive speed down the endless corridor.
Finally, the boys stopped, signifying we had reached the end of the passage. Looking at the ground, I noticed some stairs.
Motioning us to be quiet, the boys went up first to check if the coast was clear. Seemingly pleased with the result, they motioned for us to follow. We walked out of the storeroom into a deserted Honeydukes. Hogwarts must be most of its clientele, I noted.
Smiling at me, James whispered in my ear, "Do you want anything?"
"Like what?"
"Anything. This is the biggest selection of candy in all of England!"
Grinning, I grabbed Bella and we sidled over to the chocolate section. I thought myself hallucinating as I noticed Bella's gaze continually going over to where the boys were inspecting some of the newest prank candies in from India. She better not like James or I'll have to hurt her, I thought furiously, following her gaze. I met something I wasn't expecting. Sirius is staring back. No bloody way. She hates Sirius …doesn't she? But then, where was she before we left? This does explain a few unanswered questions…
Bella and I made our selections and walked to the counter, where James made quite a show (it was a bit embarrassing how loud he was about it, to be honest…but it was still rather sweet) of wanting to pay for me and Bella. Then, the cashiering got even more awkward as Sirius insisted on cutting in and paying for Bella. Cheeks red as tomatoes, Bella and I led the way out of Honeydukes, clutching our bags of candy and headed towards The Three Broomsticks.
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Sirius and James came back to the table after ordering and paying (at their insistence) for Bella's and my pints of butterbeer. We were tucked into a booth on the side; away from any of the public who might be asking what students were doing out in Hogsmeade tonight.
As Madam Miller, the barmaid, brought the four frothy drinks to us, we smiled at one another. I felt relieved at the choice I had made. Grant had been a wonderful boyfriend, but I had never been really comfortable with his friends. With James, I already felt like Sirius, Remus, and Peter were my friends. And right then, with Bella, Sirius, and James… something clicked. This group felt so comfortable, so effortless, and completely right. The jokes were always understood, the conversation always enjoyable…it felt like we had been best friends for our whole lives, not just friendly for the past few years.
Sirius hoisted his pint in the air, proclaiming jollily, "To a couple that has finally ruddy figured it out!"
Bella grinned, knocking glasses with him. "I'll drink to that!"
James laughed, hoisting his pint agreeably.
Before raising mine, however, I couldn't help it. I asked, "Which couple are we devoting this to? You two seem awfully cosy lately, you know."
James snorted, nearly spitting out a mouthful of butterbeer.
Sirius and Bella had the good grace to blush furiously.
After a moment, Bella ventured, "Are we that obvious?"
"Only to your best friend," I replied with a grin. "I knew something was up with you lately, I haven't been able to ruddy find you anywhere!"
James' mouth was still open in shock. "You two. No bloody way. You two hate each other!"
"There's a fine line between love and hate. Now close your mouth, Potter, you'll let the flies in," I quipped with a laugh.
His attention turned to me, grinning mischievously. "You know, now that we're dating, you can't call me 'Potter' anymore. You'll have to use first names."
"Is that so? Well, all right, then…if you insist."
I felt James' arm drape lazily across my shoulders and smiled up at him, still chuckling slightly at how funny he could be. My boyfriend is pretty cute, I thought with a grin. Wow, that's weird to think. My boyfriend. James is my boyfriend now. Lily and James. James and Lily. Lily Potter. Lily Evans Potter. It's got quite a ring to it, doesn't it?
THE END
…until the sequel, "Every Other Time", anyway! There is a snippet below.
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Every Other Time
Mei Queen
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"Sometimes it's black
Sometimes it's white
Sometimes she's wrong
Sometimes I'm right
Sometimes we talk about it
Or we figure it out
But then she'll just change her mind
Sometimes she's hot
Sometimes I'm cold
Sometimes my head wants to explode
But when I think about it
I'm so in love with her
Every other time"
(LFO, "Every Other Time")
::3rd P::
"Lily, I swear to Merlin, if you do not come down…" James Potter called with irritation. Lily Evans, his girlfriend of only three months, was angry with him again. He didn't really know how it had started, something about the treatment of house-elves? Regardless, Lily had done the temperamental thing she always did and escalated the misunderstanding into a full-blown argument. Now, much to the amusement of the Common Room, James Potter had to shout for his girlfriend from the base of the stairs to the girls' dorms. Ruddy sexist alarm, he thought to himself, mentally cursing the girls' staircase and the founders that put the stupid spell on it in the first place.
"Bad luck again, eh, Prongs?" Remus Lupin, one of James' best friends and part of the exclusive group called the 'Marauders', said casually as he descended from the boys' dorm.
"Lily hates me again."
"How long did that take?" Peter Pettigrew, one of James' other best friends and fellow Marauder, chimed in.
"Three days," Sirius Black added efficiently from the spot on the couch by the fire. Usually that spot was James and Lily's favourite spot, but since they were on the outs yet again, Sirius got to have the spot to curl up with his tempestuous girlfriend, Annabelle Burton.
Remus let out a low whistle, signifying things looked bleak for James, before heading to the Library to work on his Transfiguration essay, Peter in tow.
James sighed. His throat was hoarse from yelling for his girlfriend. Sighing resolutely, he sat down at the desk in the Common Room and grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill.
Lily-
I don't know what I did to offend you, but please know that I'm really really sorry and love you far too much to be considered healthy. Please get back down here.
Love, James
If only I had a dollar for every time he had written one of these, he thought with a hollow laugh, walking over to where Sirius and Bella were sitting.
"Please run this up there, Bella?" he pleaded.
"Of course."
Ten minutes later, and James was met with the following return note-
James-
I'll of course forgive you…when you figure out what you did wrong.
Love, Lily
James grumbled darkly to himself, slumping down in the armchair by the fire. Bella and Sirius cast him amused glances, and Sirius couldn't control his urge to say something.
"She could be with Grant, you know," he said with a laugh.
James sighed. "You're right. And gods know I love the woman to death. But she drives me absolutely mad!"
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"Every Other Time" coming soon to a fanfiction archive near you! Read and review my Epilogue, please and thank you!