image
annihilation
Stay
Lost here in this moment and time keeps slipping by.
And if I could have just one wish,
I’d have you by my side.
I never want to lose you.
And if I had to, I would choose you.
So stay, please always stay.
You’re the one that I hold onto
Cos my heart would stop without you.
The next morning, Lily and Emily awoke for their regular routine, the boys joining them after long, and, when they were returning to the house, Erin was just descending the stairs.
“So, ladies!” Emily exclaimed, clapping her hands together, “The boys are having Quidditch practice today, and I thought we could go into London for Christmas shopping!”
“Em,” Lily groaned, “You were supposed to do your shopping last week.”
“Well, I forgot. Erin, you in?”
“Yea, in like an hour. Christ, you two are so awake.”
She stumbled off to the kitchen, leaving the two girls to laugh before following her. It wasn’t long before they were all dressed and bidding the boys goodbye. Lily left somewhat begrudgingly, and she held onto James for a little bit longer as Emily kissed Sirius.
“I miss you,” he whispered, kissing the top of her red curls, “Don’t be out too late? I want to spend the night with you.”
“You read my mind,” she returned, leaning up on her tiptoes to kiss him, “I’ll see you soon?”
“Absolutely. Be safe.”
And she left to a foot-tapping Emily before the three girls apparated into London and started their shopping.
“What d’you think Sirius and James got you guys?” Erin asked as they entered a small diner for lunch.
“I have
no idea at all,” Emily grumbled, “Sirius hasn’t even gone out to do his shopping unless he’s already done it or he left it for
way last minute.”
“James told me he already got you something,” Lily piped up, shrugging, “So maybe he did it before we left Hogwarts?”
“But how? We’re always together on the Hogsmeade’s trips.”
“They are the Marauders, after all.”
“Yea, true enough.”
They stopped to order before Emily launched back into conversation, “I’m so excited to see what James got you. I’m sure it’s going to be amazing.”
“I have absolutely no idea what to get him,” Lily sighed, frowning.
“Don’t you worry. We’ll find something.”
They continued with small chatter until Lily suddenly smiled, “So. Are you getting Remus anything?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Erin blushed, “I want to, but I’m not sure if he’s getting me anything and I don’t want to be—”
“He almost surely is,” Emily said with a nod, “He
so likes you.”
“You guys think?”
“Are you kidding me? Sirius wrote him saying that you were here instead of in Ireland, and he could barely spell right, he was so excited,” Emily continued, beaming, “You two would be so cute together.”
“You know who’s cute together,” Erin said, nudging Lily, “Gosh, I thought you guys would never happen, and, now that you finally have, you’re adorable.”
“It’s so true,” Emily agreed.
Lily just smiled, thinking back to how he’d looked down at her before she’d left, with this smile like she was the only one he saw.
“Guys,” she started slowly, and her heart was suddenly beating
so hard against her ribs, she felt like they would surely break and her heart would just burst right out of her chest, “I think I love him. "
--
Four days later.
Christmas Eve.
“Sara,” Sirius groaned, falling into his seat at the table, “This is just… wow.”
Lily nodded heartily in agreement, staring around at all the wondrous food she’d cooked up this evening. They started off with double tomato bruschetta and clam-stuffed mushrooms before moving onto the two main dishes: large mussels mixed with baby scallops and a linguini primavera with sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, and asparagus.
Lily smiled up at James as he gathered her plate from Sirius, and he smiled back at her, his eyes twinkling.
“I have a surprise for you tonight,” she whispered, blushing a little.
“Oh? What is it?”
“Well, I can’t tell you!” she scoffed, “It’s a surprise!”
“You’re cute,” he murmured before leaning over to kiss her, “Try a mushroom first.”
She obliged, and they were
delicious.
“I made them. I do every year,” he mumbled, and she finished with a large smile.
“They’re
so good!” she exclaimed, “I mean it.”
And so the night carried on with continuous conversation between the six of them (Erin had gone home the day before, though would be returning Christmas afternoon. When they all finally retired upstairs, however, Lily was dancing around nervously in the bathroom while she got ready.
“You can do it. You’re Lily Evans. You can do anything,” she said to herself under her breath, staring into the mirror as she flattened James’ t-shirt and touched her curls one last time.
“Mm, you look pretty,” James murmured, barely even glancing at her as he dog-eared his book and kissed her as she crawled up to him on the bed.
She made sure to kiss him again as soon as they parted, and he took the lead, pulling her closer to him.
“What’s gotten into you?” he whispered against his neck as she lowered her legs on either side of him.
“I just haven’t kissed you in a while. Is that okay if I want to?”
“Oh, absolutely,” he mumbled, bring her back to him.
And then, his hands were on her sides, and she smiled against him before leaning back.
“James,” she whispered, and he immediately took his hands away.
“I’m sorry,” he muttered, looking away.
“No, James,” she said again, taking his chin and turning him so that he’d face her, and it struck her that he might not want to.
“Look, Lily, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
“If I wasn’t uncomfortable, would you be okay with it, then?”
“Well… yea,” he sighed, frowning.
“Then I want you to.”
He looked confused, instantly, and Lily almost laughed.
“James, I want to be with you for a very long time, and I want to give myself to you.”
“Lily, if this is because of Christmas tomorrow—”
“It is and it isn’t. James, I… I love you,” she finally said, biting her bottom lip and looking at him worriedly.
He didn’t say anything for a few seconds, but, when he did, he could barely contain his obvious excitement.
“I love you so much, Lily,” he returned, pulling her back to him and kissing her passionately, a different kind of kiss, a kiss of love.
The next morning, James awoke first, much to his great pleasure. He slipped his arm out from underneath Lily, donned his boxers and pants, and hurried over to his dresser as Lily stirred.
“Where’d you go?” she mumbled into the pillow, hitting his side of the bed.
He laughed softly, taking out the small box and going back over to the bed.
“I’m right here,” he promised, leaning down to kiss her, “I have your Christmas present.”
Lily smiled, eyes still closed, and held out her hand.
“C’mon, you gotta get up.”
She sighed before reaching over the side of the bed and tugging his shirt over her head.
“Now, before you freak out, I’m not asking you to marry me,” he said before presenting the box.
Her eyes were wide as she opened to find two delicate silver rings, both with two strands interwoven around each other like tree branches.
“I want to promise myself to you,” he said, taking one of the rings, “If you’ll do the same.”
She looked up at him, her eyes glassy, and he smiled hopefully.
“Thank you,” she whispered, leaning over to kiss him, “It’s beautiful. What finger do I put it on?”
He lifted hers and slipped it on for her before lifting her hand and kissing it.
“I love you, Lily.”
“And I love you, James,” she returned, and she felt like she could never be happier.
--
When they were all finally gathered in the living room after a wonderful breakfast, it was quite the sight. James and Sirius were like little children. Emily, too, had a few things, though Lily noticed she looked rather sullen.
“What’s wrong?” she whispered when her friend sat next to her.
“He forgot.”
“
What?” Lily gasped.
“Yea. Said that he thought he’d gotten me something, and then he looked last night, and he forgot to.”
“Oh my God, Em.”
“I know. Just let it go. I’m trying to pretend it didn’t faze me.”
Lily nodded, though she was slightly appalled. That didn’t seem at all like Sirius. They were almost finished when James finally sighed.
“She hates you, mate,” he said a little too loudly, to which Lily was shocked.
“Em, do you really think I forgot? Can you honestly not tell when I’m lying?” Sirius laughed, looking over at his girlfriend, “Really?”
“Bastard,” she grumbled, trying to hide her smile, “You were so convincing! You almost cried!”
“I’m a good actor,” he added to James, who nodded.
And then there was a silence, and James was smiling so widely, he had to turn away, and Lily just stared at Sirius as he stood up.
“Emily,” he began, and Lily almost fell over as he lowered to one knee and produced a small black velvet box, “Will you marry me?”
She was speechless. She just stared at him before, suddenly, she was crying.
“Of course,” she gasped, falling down in front of him and burying her face in his chest.
He just grinned and wrapped his arms around her, hiding his own face in her mess of blonde curls.
“I love you,” he whispered to her, and Lily gave a little shriek of delight to which James laughed.
“I love you so much, don’t ever do that again,” Emily mumbled into his shirt.
“Anything for you, Mrs. Black.”
And Emily just pulled away from him and kissed him happily, and she couldn’t stop smiling for the rest of the week.
--
N’awwwwwwwwwww, cutest chapter ever. Okay, that’s all, hope you liked!
Also: this chapter was written whilst listening to Stay by Miley Cyrus (hence the lyrics), and it was very much inspired by it.
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