James and Lily Potter : Sixth year

Chapter 20: summer of sixth year

"You boys are so immature," said Rebecca, rolling her eyes.

Sirius smirked. "Oh, but don't you love it, Becky. Say, you're going into your third year, right?"

"Yeah."

"You didn't happen to take Divination, did you?"

"Actually, I did. It sounded simple; all you have to do is make up a bunch of crap, and Trelawney will eat it up."

"Rebecca Lupin!" said Mrs. Lupin sharply.

James sniggered. "Now, now, Becca, no bad language."

"How many nicknames do they have for you?" asked Arabella.

"Three. Sirius calls me 'Becky', James calls me 'Becca', and my stupid brother calls me 'Beckums'."

"What about Peter?"

"Oh, he just calls me by my full name, Rebecca. As far as I'm concerned, he's the only sane person in their stupid group. It used to be Remus and Peter, but now that Remus has been under James and Sirius' influence, it's only Peter."

"Yeah, since you have a crush on our buddy," said Sirius, laughing.

"Oh, yeah," said Jennifer suddenly, "we've changed plans. You guys aren't coming to my house after all."

"Why the sudden change?" asked Lily curiously. "I thought your parents wanted to meet Remus."

"Oh—um—they already have," she said awkwardly. "Mum and Dad came here by Floo Powder. We stayed here for two days. Mum loved him instantly, but Dad needed a little bit more convincing. He's suspicious of all magic folk, you see. But in the end, he found Remus 'an acceptable young man'."

"Well, that's good." Violet smiled.

After dinner, the group went immediately to the family room, which was quite commodious, and did their own thing. The boys, except James, played Exploding Snap, while the girls chatted. Soon, James decided that it was time for a chat with Lily.

"Lily? Can I talk to you?" he asked.

"Sure." She glared at Arabella's sudden fit of giggles.

They went into the hallway. James was shaking from head to toe, and Lily was quite nervous as to what he had to say as well.

"Lily," he began, "I don't want to push you into becoming my girlfriend, but I really would appreciate it if you put your whole heart into the situation. I'm in love with you. As I said in my letter—"

"I didn't get any letter," she interrupted, her green eyes burning into his hazel ones.

"Oh, well, good thing I made an extra copy then." James took out a folded piece of paper out of his jeans' pocket and handed it to Lily.

Lily read the letter carefully, and tears came to her eyes. She had never imagined James Potter to be so sweet. The way he wrote those words...they were absolutely beautiful. But what she loved most about it was that he wrote it from the bottom of his heart, and she finally saw how deep those feelings went, as he had already poured out his whole soul to her in one piece of paper. She was still doubtful of dating James so suddenly, but Lily was absolutely certain that the unexpected was going to happen, she was going to accept James.

"James," she enunciated clearly, "I will go out with you when our seventh year arrives. I don't want to go into a relationship so suddenly out of the blue, and I want to wait a couple of months into school before we start dating. But I assure you, by November or December, I will go out with you."

James' jaw dropped, and his eyes clouded over. He hadn't expected an answer so quickly, and her answer was definitely not what he expected her to say. But then, out of nowhere, he whooped so loudly that it startled Mr. and Mrs. Lupin, who were retiring to sleep, upstairs.

Everyone came into the hallway, alarmed. Sirius said, "What is it, mate? What happened?"

Lily smiled bashfully and took James' hand in hers. They instantly understood. "We're going to go out this year," she said shyly.

Sirius gave a whoop similar to James', and Remus and Jackson started to laugh and cheer. The girls screamed with joy, and soon Remus' parents and Rebecca had come to them, surprised and confused.

"What on earth are you guys all crying about?" the latter asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The final couple," was the only thing Remus managed to choke out, but Rebecca understood at once.

"Oh, finally." She grinned at Lily and James. "Right now, or waiting a little while."

"Probably November or December," said Lily, grinning like mad.

"Oh, you lucky girl." She sighed. "I hate to admit this, since he's one of my brother's best friends, but James is very handsome."

James burst out laughing. "Oh, Becca, you surprise me every day."

"This is so sweet," said Arabella tearfully, wiping her eyes with a tissue. Sirius put an arm around her and kissed her cheek.

"Well, kiss already!" roared Jackson. The boys and girls clapped in approval.

James looked into Lily's eyes, and then slowly leaned in, his lips on hers. It was slow and gentle, and Lily gave into the gentle demands of his mouth. And for the first time, however, neither of them pulled away for quite a time.

After they ended the kiss, their friends cheered loudly. The girls were all crying, with their boyfriends comforting them, and the boys themselves—well—words did not even compare to their feelings. Sirius, Remus, and Jackson, especially Sirius, were cheering so hard that their lungs ached. Sirius smiled at his best friend of almost seven years and was in complete bliss that he was happy for the first time in many years.

"I love you, Lily," whispered James quietly.