A/N: So you know… as it will become apparent by the end… this is the LAST chapter. No epilogue. However… should you want, the notes are ready for the sequel. Just give me a YES or NO… should you want to know what happens… NEXT. (There is a little taste of it below, a preview or trailer if you will) LOL… enjoy, and thank all of you for your reviews. You all have been GREAT, and I hope to see many (if not most or all) of you back on my next work of fiction…
Lily wasn't one who was prone to crying jags, but she had been unable to get the vision of Christopher lying lifelessly on the ground pool side. Every time she closed her eyes, she could see him. Each time she saw him, she'd start to tremble and cry. She knew he was safe, but with the rush of adrenaline ebbing away she couldn't stop the fear. What if she hadn't been there? It was too much for her to think about it.
"Lily?" James asked quietly as he entered her bedroom. He was carrying the tea his mother had sent. He saw Lily, dressed in a shirt and a pair of shorts, sitting on the bed. She had her knees tucked up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them. Lily's head was resting on her arms, trying to control the fear and the tears.
James placed the tray on the dresser and climbed onto Lily's bed, wrapping his arms around her tightly. He half expected her to bat him off, but a deeper part of him hoped she would turn to him. The deeper part was quite pleased when she threw her arms around him and buried her face into his neck. He stroked her hair and patted her back, each with out word or comment.
"Sorry, James," Lily said finally as she wiped her eyes with the palms of her hands. He shook his head.
"You have nothing to be sorry for," James said quietly. "You saved my cousin's life. For that, I could never be more thankful or indebt to you."
"I was so scared," Lily confessed. James nodded.
"I was too. I don't know what I would have done if anything had happened to him," James said softly. He kept his arm around her, holding her to him. He had wanted this for so long, to comfort and be comforted by Lily. Now he would do anything to make her tears go away. He hated to see her so upset.
"Is he going to be ok?" Lily asked hesitantly.
"Yeah," James said smiling slightly. "The doctor said that he will make a full recovery. Mum is chewing Auntie out as we speak. Apparently Mrs. Miner told Mum that you took care of Christopher all week while Auntie was diddling the gardener."
"You shouldn't gossip," Lily laughed as she yawned slightly. "I didn't think Marauders used the words `diddling', actually."
"Not usually, but I didn't want to offend you," James said honestly as he reluctantly released her. Lily watched him stand, hesitating. She want to ask him something, but she didn't want it to be taken the wrong way.
"James?" Lily asked quietly as he headed toward the door. James hesitated before turning back to look at her.
"Yeah?" James replied. He seemed reluctant, almost afraid to continue. Lily wasn't sure why.
"If I ask a favor of you, would you do it?" Lily asked quietly.
"Don't worry, Lils," James said smiling. "I won't tell anyone that you have a heart." Lily made a sarcastic face at him.
"That's not what I was going to ask you," Lily said as she crossed her arms with a smirk. "Though, that would be appreciated as well. I can't have it getting around that not only do I like James Potter, but I cry as well. People will start getting the wrong idea, thinking I am some sensitive girl."
"Awe, but you are," James said as he grinned and walked back towards her. "What did you want to ask, Lily?"
"I was wondering… if… you would stay with me," Lily said taking a deep breath and holding it. James looked at her, not responding. Lily looked at him with hesitation.
"Stay…stay with you? You mean tonight?" James stumbled over his words nervously. Lily tried to smile, but her own nerves had won control of her body and she just nodded once. "You want me to stay the night with you? Like sleep on the couch?"
"Yes, but no," Lily replied. James laughed nervously as he ran his hand through his hair. "I just don't want to be alone tonight, but if you don't want to…"
"No, Lily, I do," James said quickly. He took a deep breath. "I just don't want to rush things between us. I really like you a lot, I do. I just don't want to rush things."
"I am not asking you to have sex with me, James Potter, so if that is where your mind is going," Lily told him as her cheeks turned a little pink. Didn't he realize how much it took for her to even ask him?
"I didn't… well, I did, to be honest, but now I know," James said nervously. He looked at her, her eyes still bright from the tears that she had shed.
"I am sorry, I shouldn't have asked," Lily said quietly as her face failed to mask the disappointment. He nodded once.
"Of course, I will stay with you," James said finally. "But, only as friends, ok?"
"And here I was thinking all you wanted was to date me," Lily teased as James headed to the other side of the bed.
"Ha," James laughed. "I left my wand up at the house, can I use yours to send Sirius a patronous to let him know I won't be back up until the morning."
"I can do it," Lily said as she took her wand. She smiled at James apologetically. "Sorry, no one ever uses my wand."
Silently, Lily summoned her patronous: a beautifully haunting doe. It stealthily charged from the room. James looked over at her as he sat down on the edge of the bed, pulling his shoes and socks off.
"I didn't know your patronous was a doe. That is interesting," James said as he removed his belt and placed it on the floor next to his shoes.
"How far are you planning on undressing?" Lily asked nervously. "And why is the form of patronous interesting."
"I am leaving the shirt and pants on, Lily," James said as he peeled back the covers. "I told you, I don't want to rush us. This is a platonic slumber party, after all. And I find your choice of a doe interesting because my patronous is a stag."
"Really?" Lily said surprised as a patronous of a dog and a wolf bound into the room.
"You go boy!" the patronous said laughing. They melted into the darkness. Lily shot James a dark look as he covered up.
"Don't worry, I will straighten them out in the morning," James said smiling at her. He quickly kissed her cheek without a second thought and reached to turn out the light, freezing when he realized what he did. "Jeeze, Lily, sorry. I didn't mean to…"
"It's… ok," Lily said in a breathless sort of way as she rolled to her side. Inside, she was soaring. He was being so tender! He was staying with her, and he was concerned about rushing things between them.
Morning came too quickly for Lily, but she was disappointed to see James was gone. She pouted, rolling back over. He had already left. Lily didn't know what to expect, or what her friends would say when they found out that Lily and James had shared a bed. She sighed and buried her face into her pillow. No one in their right mind would believe they had slept innocently next to each other. They had, but no one would believe it.
"I thought you would be awake by now," James said as he entered the room. Lily rolled over a bit to look at him. He was standing there, freshly showered, and shaved. His hair was still damp, and very much still wild. Lily felt her breath catch. When in the world did he get so damn good looking? A hesitant smile cross his face and he held out a tray. "I hope you don't mind, I brought breakfast."
"For me?" Lily said. She felt her heart swell. He hadn't snuck out to leave her alone, he had gone to fetch them breakfast.
"Yeah, for you silly," James laughed as he placed it on the small table. "Go take a quick shower, and by the time you get out it will all be nicely set up. Like you have done for me."
"Ok," Lily said climbing out of bed. She headed straight to the shower, excitement swimming in her stomach. She felt herself blush. She had never been prone to flights of fancy or daydreams, but she could not get James out of her head. Why hadn't she noticed how sweet he was before?
"Are you drowning yourself in there?" James called through the door.
"No, I am coming," Lily called as she quickly turned the water off and dressed. She was towel drying her hair as she stepped out of the bathroom. James was no where in sight. "James?"
"Uh, we are in here," James called reluctantly. Lily headed toward the living room to find Sirius, Remus, and Peter sitting around with James. James looked at her apologetically. "The guys didn't want to miss eating breakfast with us."
"Oh," Lily said. She forced a smile and laughed. "There is nothing like eating breakfast with a Dog, Werewolf, and a Rat to make me thankful that I am just a witch."
"Sorry," Remus apologized as Lily took a seat on the couch, the breakfast spread before them on the coffee table.
"I'm not," Sirius teased. "You go and take my best mate from me, leaving me with just these two to watch the monster movie marathon, and then you try to keep him from me for breakfast? I think not. Just because you two started dating doesn't mean you can go and change things."
"Oh, well, we're not dating," James told him quickly. Remus looked at James with surprise.
"You're not?" Remus asked. He looked at Lily. "But Sirius said you slept together last night."
"Not like Sirius probably meant it," Lily said as she grabbed a piece of toast. She took a bite. "I was feeling rather… emotional… last night, and James stayed with me. We shared a bed, nothing more."
"That's a shame," Sirius said laughing. James looked at him pointedly and Sirius laughed harder. "I am just teasing, really. I respect that you guys are taking your merry little time, but with school starting up in three weeks, you may want to put the pedal to the metal, as it were."
"Anyways," Remus said loudly, interrupting Sirius. He pointed to the window. "It looks like our letters have finally arrived. I guess with all the traveling we have done this summer it really screwed with the owls again."
"Sirius, open the window," James said.
"Peter, open the window," Sirius replied. Peter looked at Sirius.
"No, Peter, don't open the window," James said laughing. "Sirius, I asked you to open the window."
"Peter, tell James that I asked you to open the window," Sirius said as he grabbed a handful of grapes and threw them in his mouth.
"James, Sirius says…"
"I heard him, Peter," James laughed. Sirius went to laugh and began choking on a grape. Lily sighed, shaking her head.
"I'll get the window," Lily said as she fought to suppress her smile. She smacked Sirius hard on the back, sending a mouthful of grapes spraying; bits and pieces of grape flew and covered Peter.
"Gross," Peter said as he flicked the bits of grapes back at Sirius.
"Thanks man," Sirius said as he picked up the pieces and ate them. Remus and James gagged and laughed as five owls soared into the room.
"Oh, letters," James laughed as one of the owls dropped a letter in front of him. He looked at it. "This one is yours, Sirius."
"This one is Peters," Lily said handing Peter the letter that had been dropped in front of her.
"James'," Remus said trading.
"Lily's," Sirius said as he shook it. "And a big one, you smart little girl you."
"Give me that," Lily said rolling her eyes. Peter held James' in his hand before handing James' letter to him. They began opening them.
"What… what is that?" James asked almost fearfully as he pointed to a silver crested badge that had fallen to the floor. He pulled his feet up onto the couch and stared at it as if something dreadful had fallen out of his package from the school.
"It looks like a prefect badge, only… that can't be right," Remus said as he looked at it. None of the boys moved to touch it. James heard a small sound of surprise come from Lily. She looked at him, her eyes wide.
"That… that is the Head Boy badge," Lily said hesitantly as she pointed at the badge.
"No," Sirius and Remus said.
"Couldn't be," Sirius added.
"Thanks guys," James said rolling his eyes. He looked back at Lily. "How do you know? How can you be sure?"
"Because… because… I am the Head Girl," Lily said holding up a matching badge. James looked at her in surprise, not that she was Head Girl. No, THAT made sense. He was surprised that anyone would make him Head Boy. Not with his track record.
"It must be a mistake," James reasoned shaking his head. Lily shook her head and ran into his arms un-expectantly. She threw her arms around him and kissed him on the mouth. She didn't know what had gotten into her, but at that moment, kissing him like she kissed him just felt right. He kissed her back, not caring that his friends were watching. If anything, they served as witness that Lily had kissed him of her own accord.
"Well, if I had known that recommendations…" James said breathlessly as he looked down at Lily's smiling face.
"Acclamations," Remus interjected amused.
"Right, acclamations, if I had known I would have gotten a kiss like that, I would have done it sooner, whatever I did to get Head Boy status," James laughed.
"I told you that Dumbledore was a bit touched in the head," Sirius laughed. They laughed. Lily moved to return to her seat.
"Nope, not going to happen," James laughed as he held her hand. "I only have three weeks left of summer. Just incase this is one of those summer things; I want to keep you with me every moment I can."
"Afraid she'll come to her senses," Sirius said with mock mourn as he nodded. Lily laughed.
"Well, being that you haven't asked me out, you can't really maintain what you haven't started yet," Lily teased as she ducked under his arm. James made a grab for her.
"Lily Evans, will you be my girlfriend, even if only for the summer?" James asked her, looking down into those amazing green eyes that he noticed way back when they were only eleven.
"If only for the summer? What kind of proposal is that?" Lily teased.
"I could ask you to marry me now, and forget the courtship," James taunted. Lily laughed and shook her head.
"No, let's just stick with me being your girl friend," Lily said. She kissed him again. "Even if only for the remainder of the summer."
"I can live with that," James said. The two of them sat down on the couch, between Sirius and Remus. Even if the were together for just the last three weeks of summer, it would be more than they had ever hoped for going into the summer. So, for the remainder of summer, it would be James and Lily… forever… or until September first when the train takes them from platform nine and three quarters back to real life… at Hogwarts…
THE END
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PREVIEW:
Title: "For Your Every Need"
"What do you think it means? `For your every need'? It seems so…" Drena trailed off as she handed the magazine back to Lily. Lily looked it over and shrugged, seeing the ad with the happy looking witch running down the beach.
"I think it means it is for your every need," Lily said as she tossed the paper aside. She looked up at the portrait hole to see James and Sirius walk in suspiciously. James glanced her way and Lily looked away quickly, her cheeks burning. She shook her head.
"Are you guys still arguing?" Alice asked cautiously. Lily bit back a snappy response. It wasn't Alice's fault. Alice didn't make James Potter be… well, James Potter.
"So, I was thinking that we should definitely go to Hogsmeade this weekend," Sheridan said as she cracked her knuckles. "I have to get out of this castle before I loose my mind, girls."
"We have only been back to school for a month, Sher," Lily said distractedly doodling in her Transfiguration book. She looked down at the drawing. It was James, no doubt about that with the crazy hair and glasses, being impaled by his broom. Alice looked over Lily's shoulder and scratched it out.
"It's not always going to be like this, Lily," Alice whispered so that only Lily could hear. "I promise, it won't always be like this."
"I know," Lily said quietly. "But, Alice, something has to give."
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