Chapter 10: Together At Last

Two days later, on Friday night, Ginny had completed her "makeover" on Lily. Not that she'd even done very much, but Ginny knew that the belief that she looked better, and the compliments from her and Arabella would give Lily the confidence she needed to finally tell James how she felt.

Giggling crazily, Ginny and Arabella pushed Lily into the Head Boy and Girl lounge where James was sitting on the sofa, his feet on the coffee table, and his eyes closed. A book lay open on his knee, and Lily guessed he'd been doing homework before he fell asleep in front of the fire.

When the door slammed closed James jumped, and awoke with a start. He turned around quickly and saw Lily.

"Hi… Lily." James said, standing up, and digging his hands deep into his trouser pockets.

"Hi James," she said warmly, and smiled at him, a warm blush rising on her face.

Suddenly, standing opposite him, she was filled with dread, and the fact of not knowing what on earth to say.

"All right?" he asked, sitting back down.

"Yeah!" she said enthusiastically, then scolded herself for sounding so eager and desperate. James grinned at her, not thinking anything of the sort, and nodded, "Good."

He opened his book again, and looked at her, "Any good at this Protean Charm? I can't do it to save my life. All I get is a funny green cloud of smoke."

Lily smiled, and nodded. She sat down close next to him, and pulled the book partially onto her knee, "See, right… well, you cast this on something… like the banners at Quidditch games. One score appears, then when someone scores, you cast a changing spell that makes it 10 – 0 or whatever, yeah? It changes all the different banners so you don't have to do each one."

James nodded slowly, "OK. Will you watch me cast it and that, it just won't work." He stood up and pulled out his wand and cast the charm. A green cloud came out the tip.

Lily smiled and stood up, "You're pronouncing it wrong, you need to draw out the 'ee' sound." She demonstrated and the charm worked. She slipped her wand back up her sleeve, and looked at him expectantly.

"Oh!" James said, "Thanks!" He tried the charm once, but it didn't work. Lily nodded at him.

"You're getting there, try again!" she said encouragingly and clapped her hands together.

James nodded and cast the charm again, this time working.

"Wow. Thanks Lily! You're really helpful, thanks." James said.

Lily blushed, and cursed herself. She sat down next to him again, and decided to plunge right in.

"Hey, are you going to Hogsmeade tomorrow?" she asked, draping her arm across the back of the sofa.

James turned to Lily and nodded, "Yeah, probably. I think I'll go with Sirius, Remus and Peter. Not really planned anything, you?"

Lily smiled, "Oh, I haven't planned anything either. Would… would you like to go with me? Have lunch or something…"

James opened his mouth, and Lily looked at him expectantly. He didn't say anything, and Lily's eyes widened and she stood up quickly, "You know, never mind. If… if you don't want to… I have to go." She walked quickly over the room, and James stood up just as quickly. As she walked over, she pulled her hair up into a ponytail, something she did when she was stressed or upset.

"No, Lily, wait!" James yelled, and ran over to her, and she turned around, tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I do, I would love to go with you, I was just shocked. I never expected you to ask me out… I've really liked you for ages – I just didn't think you liked me too… I'm really sorry…" James said desperately, ringing his hands.

"Really?" Lily asked, peering at him through the strands of hair that had come loose.

"Yeah… I really like you Lil'." He said, and touched her arm gently.

She smiled and leaned forwards, kissing him gently on the lips. She pulled away quickly and smiled again, before running up the stairs yelling, "'Night! See you tomorrow!"

The next day when Lily woke up, she curled up in happiness, right down to her toes. She smiled into her pillow, and jumped out of bed, running through to her bathroom. She slipped her pyjamas off and got straight into the shower, letting the water spread across her body and through her hair.

Later on, she dressed, in her favourite skirt and t-shirt, and went down the stairs to the common room where James sat, tapping his foot nervously.

"Hey," She said, and James stood and turned around.

"Hey yourself," he said and walked over. He looked at her for a moment and he kissed her on the cheek. She was practically glowing.

"Ready?" She asked.

James nodded, and they walked down to the courtyard, where they were counted, then set off walking. Chatting happily for the first ten minutes, there was an unexpected lull in conversation.

James held his hand out to Lily, very unsurely. She looked at his hand, and her eyes flicked up to his face and she nodded, and grasped his hand. James grinned widely, and they climbed into a carriage to take them down to Hogsmeade. From his terrible hiding place behind a tree, Harry grinned.

"So, where do you want to go first?" James asked Lily. They'd been walking for a minute down the street, past The Three Broomsticks.

Lily looked around and pursed her lips. She hesitated and bit her lip. James, calling himself an interesting assortment of names, was captivated. He'd never tell anyone that that he had been mesmerised by a girl chewing her lip. But then again, he'd never make fun of Peter when he came in muttering about a girl looking beautiful as she twirled her hair, or chewed the end of her glasses. He knew what it was like. He thought he should feel ridiculous. But he didn't.

"What?" he asked, slightly amused. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"OK, you may think I'm boring, but when we get round to it, could we go to the book shop," she hurried to explain, "see, there's this book that I ordered, it's a Muggle one, and it's on special hold for me. They sent me an Owl last week. I need to go and pick it up. Do you mind?"

James smiled, "OK. Do you want to go now?"

Lily was surprised at how co-operative he was being, and nodded, "Yes. Thank you."

James shrugged, "S'OK," he grinned mischievously, "As long as you promise to come into Zonko's with me. You see I ordered some Biting Teacups when I was in Diagon Alley, and they just got them in…" Lily elbowed him playfully, and he laughed. She rolled her eyes at him and held out her hand.

"Coming?" she asked.

James took her hand and nodded, "Yes," he said simply. At the moment the thought he'd follow her anywhere she wanted him to go.

-88—

The bell rang, and the door to Harry's classroom closed. Harry looked around at his class. The Slytherins sat on one side, the Gryffindors on the other. He sighed. Nothing ever changed. It was the same now as it was in 20 years time.

He focused on the Gryffindors. Remus sat at the front, tapping his quill, Peter sat next to him. Harry had drawn a line at Peter, trying to think of him as two people, Peter, the schoolboy, his father's friend and Pettigrew, his parent's betrayer. It was all he could do not to strangle the boy. Behind them were two Gryffindor girls, Hannah and Fiona. He'd never heard of them in his time. He didn't want to presume they'd been killed, but he didn't know what else to do. Then Lily and James. He smiled at them. He'd heard in the staff room – Minerva McGonagall was quite a gossip – that they'd been seen kissing in Hogsmeade, and were now together. Harry was unbelievably happy for them and himself, as he now had a chance at being conceived, and to see his parents in love. Finally, sat Arabella, who looked very annoyed at being moved out of her seat by James and placed next to Sirius Black of all people.

There was a knock at the door. He frowned. "Come in," he called.

Ginny poked her head in, "Can I talk to you?" she asked softly.

Harry nodded. It wasn't often she spoke in such a way, and if he was honest he was worried. She'd been off while she'd been here. Much too exuberant and wild for someone that had just broken up with her boyfriend.

"Read Chapter 4 please," he instructed. There was some grumbling as he pulled out their books. "Quietly," he said.

He shut the door behind him, "Are you OK?"

Ginny shook her head, "No…"

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"I miss Seamus," she said, blushing. Her eyes filled with tears.

"Really?" he asked.

She nodded.

"I'll see you in a few months then," Harry said. He kissed the top of her head. "Good luck," he said.

"Thank you!" she said. They hugged for a minute and she pulled away, wiping her eyes. "I'm going to say bye to the class, is that OK?"

Harry nodded. She opened the door, and shut it behind her. She returned a minute later. "I'm lad I got to see Lily and James together," she said.

"Me too," Harry said, "I'll see you in a few months," he said again.

She nodded, and kissed his cheek, "Bye Harry."

"Seeya later Gin." With that she walked away. Harry sighed, and wondered who would be next.

A/N - Yeah, I know I suck. But OH MY GOD, your reviews are amazing. If it weren't for them I would have removed this. This is going to be my mess around story, where I can try new things and just be silly really. Please tell me what you think!