Outside Hogwarts (Sequel to Lovers at Hogwarts) [HIATUS]

Chapter 16: The Offer

Lily Evans, soon-to-be-Potter, was pacing around the room, waiting for James to come out of the bathroom.

"James Potter! Dumbledore is expecting us! Hurry up!"

"Alright, alright. I'm coming!" A muffled voice came from inside the bathroom.

"You better be. James, I'm sure Dumbledore won't care about your damned hair! Hurry up!"

"But I care!" He whined from inside.

"James, I will break down this door if you don't come out!"

Sirius peeked inside the room, still looking groggy and sleepy, even if it was 2 in the afternoon. "What is with the noise? I'm sleeping!"

"Sirius, it's 2 in the bloody afternoon. Get Potter out of the bathroom so you can get your peace."

Lighting up at the idea, he walked to the bathroom and started pounding on the door. "James! James! Prongs! James! Get out! It's my turn!" He whined like a 5 year old. Lily gave him an amused look as Sirius relentlessly pounded on the door non-stop.

"Alright, Sirius! I'm out! I'm out!" He said, swinging the door open on Sirius' face.

"Prongs, that hurt, bloody hell." He said, rubbing his forehead.

"Karma is a bitch, isn't is, Paddy?" He grinned. "Let's go, Lily."

Lily, who rolled her eyes, just said. "Well come on then. Dumbledore has waited long enough."

■▪●▪■ •●▪●• ■▪●▪■

James and Lily Apparated to Hogsmeade and trudged up to their alma mater, forcing the nostalgic feeling of the reminiscence of Hogsmeade Trips at the back of their minds.

Once they reached the grounds, they were greeted by teachers and old friends. They bumped into a few people, like McGonagall, for example, who almost fainted at the sight of James Potter, probably frightened that he was back.

Once they reached the Headmasters' Office, they felt stumped, remembering the thing called a password. James cursed himself for not asking McGonagall as Lily gave random candy names.

"Cockroach Clusters?"

"Let me try." James said. "Liquorice Wands?"

To their disappointment, the gargoyle didn't budge and they stated there for about five minutes listing off every single sweet the knew in front of it. When they actually got it right, Lily sighed in relief. [Password was Drooble's Best Blowing Gum. James muttered about how he could forget his favourite gum.]

Lily knocked on the door, calling out to Dumbledore. "Professor Dumbledore?"

The couple stared at the door uncertainly, waiting for the Headmaster to answer.

Once they heard a faint "Come in," from the ageing professor, they turned the doorknob and stepped inside the familiar office.

"Hello, Professor. Why have you called for us?" Lily asked Dumbledore, James standing by her side.

"Please sit down, my dears." He said, offering them a bowl of Sherbet Lemons, his favourite Muggle candy. "Sherbet Lemon?"

Lily, a Muggle-born witch, gladly took one, while James eyed the candy warily, thinking it could murder him or something. Lily giggled at his expression and urged him to take one before turning her attention back to their former Headmaster.

"I called you here to offer you a place in the Order of the Phoenix." Dumbledore said calmly, effectively taking James' attention from the bowl of Sherbet Lemons.

"Order of the Phoenix?" James said, his senses heightened. "We're only eighteen, Dumbledore. Are you sure you want us to join?"

Dumbledore chuckled. "James, both you and Lily are absolutely astounding in magic, passing all of your N.E.W.T.s with amazing marks. You will do brilliantly in the Order."

James' ego was probably inflating at Dumbledore's words, and Lily could sense it.

"We would gladly accept, Professor." Lily replied, muttering, "James Potter watch your ego." under her breath.

"Yes, yes Professor!" James grinned, a bit too enthusiastically, causing Lily to shoot him a look.

Seeing that they both knew what the Order was, there really was no point in explaining anything, so Dumbledore went straight to the point.

"Meeting will be on August 7, at the Sidney Marchbanks household. I trust you know where that is, James?"

James nodded seriously. He had known Sidney Marchbanks since he was 5, since her parents and his were friends. She was 2 years older than him, and she was like an older sister to him. Her parents had died as well 4 years ago, so the house was hers.

"It was great to see you both. Now run along. I trust that you have a few wedding plans to attend to? Make sure to bring Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, Mr. Pettigrew, Ms. McKinnon, Ms. Prewett and Mr. Longbottom along with you."

•~•~•~•~•

As the couple walked through the halls of Hogwarts, James had spotted Regulus Black, who was a 7th year already.

"Potter." he sneered. "Mudblood."

"Black." James had said with equal venom. "Fancy seeing you here. I expected you to be sauntering around You-Know-Who, praising him. Sadly, here you are, stuck at Hogwarts."

Regulus looked taken aback for a fraction of a second before retorting, "Fancy seeing you and that Mudblood, Potter. I expected you to be dead at the Dark Lord's hands." he had sneered with venom seeping into his tone.

"Girls, girls. You're both equally pretty, now I need to steal this little prat from your argument. Run along, Black." Lily said, intervening.

When Regulus was out of sight, James gave a chuckle. "This is why I chose to marry you." he said, kissing her temple.

"I don't know why I agreed to be married to you. I distinctly remember a certain Giant Squid asking me out once. It was quite lovely. You had somehow Confunded me to be hopelessly in love with you. I'm most definitely Confunded. You're just so desperate to have me. " she said, trying to hold back a laugh.

"I love you, Lily Evans." he said grinning at her.

"Hate you too, Potter." She said jokingly, at they walked towards Hogsmeade, with hands intertwined, prepared to face the world side-by-side. Together.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•

I FINALLY UPDATED YAS AHAHA. I'm super sorry for the wait. School. Only excuse. School. I'm incredibly sorry. It's break here and that means I MAY update again soon.

Tah tah.

-Sofia Sangster/Dauntless_P0tter