PC 48
I glance up at the hourglass at the front of the classroom. Twenty minutes left. I set down my quill and grin slightly. The last exam is almost done. It's the last exam that I'll ever write at Hogwarts. It's a bittersweet revelation.
I glance sideways. James sits across from me. He wears a proud smirk, telling me that he's finished the exam too. I'm not surprised. It was a challenging test, but James is a smart guy...most of the time anyways.
"The test is over." Professor McGonagall declares loudly from the front of the room. With a flick of her wand, all the parchment zooms to her desk. "You may now leave. Congratulations on completing your last Hogwarts exam."
I get up and start towards the door. James wraps an arm around my waist. Breathlessly, he puts his lips on mine and kisses me in the middle of the classroom. I should stop him. We're in the middle of a classroom, right in front of a professor, but I couldn't care less. I kiss him back.
"Evans... Potter..." Professor McGonagall sighs. We break apart and look at her. She shakes her head and just smiles at us.
I return the smile as James and I walk out of the room.
"Bloody hell! How'd you get away with that?" Sirius demands as he joins us.
"Never mind that!" Peter wails. "I think I failed! Merlin, what is Mother going to say!?!" His face is bright red.
"Relax, Pete," Alice says calmly.
"Where'd you come from?" James asks Alice with a look of surprise.
"Well, James, when a mommy witch and a daddy wizard reeeeaaallly love each other-"
"No. Just no." I say, interrupting Alice.
"Shite, you're the fun police, Lily!" Alice teases.
"Oh, well, the fun police has a bottle or two of Ogden's Old Firewhisky, but seeing as you're not being very nice..."
"I'll hex you." Alice threatens with an easy smile. "Maybe a bad case of pimples or buckteeth..."
"Yeah, I'll share with you." I promise meekly.
"That's what I thought."
"We'll supply the rest of the drinks." James smirks.
"Don't forget the cloak." I taunt.
"Love, your lack of faith in me is breaking my feeble heart into shards!"
"Aw! Poor little Prongsy! Can't cope with the rejection of his only true loooove!"
"Shut it, Padfoot!" James scowls.
"Are you two done?" Remus asks with a wry smile. "I'd like to party before the next century."
"Who knew that Remus is a party animal?" Alice jokes.
"He is the party wolf!" Sirius declares.
"I don't know if that's more of an insult or a joke." Remus comments. "Tho, I think being called a mutt would be way worse."
Sirius lunges for Remus. Remus sidesteps and laughs. Then, without warning, Sirius tackles Remus flat onto the ground. Remus tries to break loose, but Sirius has a good thirty pounds at least on him and is a lot stronger.
"Lily and I are going to get the Head common room ready!" Alice chirps. "You blokes get more alcohol or there'll be hell to pay. Got it?"
"Yeah." James says shortly. He grabs the back of Sirius' robes and yanks him to his feet.
Moaning, Remus rolls onto his back. "A little help here?" He pleads. James helps Remus up with a sigh.
"Let's get going." Peter says impatiently.
Sirius scowls at him. "In a minute, Moony needs a minute."
Peter shrugs and looks away. I catch a glimpse of his face. His cheeks are bright red with embarrassment.
"I'm fine. Let's go." Remus suggests.
The Marauders start moving past us. James pauses to kiss my cheek. He smiles at me as he continues down the hallway.
"You're so in love that I feel like we're stuck in some romance novel." Alice teases.
I slap her arm lightly. "It's not like a romance novel!"
"Right! You haven't told me all the details!"
I groan. "That's really not your business. It's between me and James."
"But I'm your best friend!"
"Alice, at this rate, the boys will be back before we even get to the common room." I remind her.
"Fine! Be that way!"
................
I lean across the coffee table to grab a book off the ground. This place is a disaster zone. James isn't always the neatest roomie...
"What is this?" Alice demands.
I turn to face her. "What?"
"This!" She gestures to a ball of hair.
"Um, hairball?" I suggest.
"From what?"
"Alice! I have a cat, remember?"
"Ew!" She rushes over to the rubbish bin and tosses it in. "Why, Lux, why?!" She moans. The cat in question is lying on the couch, looking rather relaxed.
I pause and pet my cat. "Lux can't help it."
"Sure... I bet James just loves that cat." She says sarcastically. "I mean there's the 'who gets to sleep in the same bed as Lily'? The cat or the boyfriend? Hmm, decisions, decisions... I'm personally rooting for the boyfriend, but still..." Alice winks.
I shake my head and sink into the armchair. "Alice, I love you dearly, but for the sake of my sanity, my cat, and my boyfriend, would you please shut up?!"
"Jamsie old boy, I think you're in the cat house, if your girlfriend is talking about you and the cat in the same sentence." Sirius laughs as the Marauders enter the room.
James eyes the cat with a look of caution. He moves to the couch and reaches out to pick up the cat.
"James, should you really be picking up that cat?" Remus asks nervously.
"It will be fine." James says as he wraps his hands around my cat and picks her up. The cat wiggles a little then stops. "See, it wasn't so bad." He approaches me to give me the cat, but Lux clearly has other ideas. Her claws swipe across James' arm. "Dammit!" James swears as the cat slashes him again. Lux breaks free and darts under the desk in the corner.
James looks murderous as he studies the bloody mess of his arm. "Lily, that cat is demonic." He hisses as he prods one of the massive scratches.
I swat his hand away and grab my wand from my pocket. I mutter a few healing spells and then check his arm. "My cat is not demonic, just misunderstood." I protest.
With a sigh, James grabs my hand and pulls me towards the couch. He sits and pulls me onto his lap. "Lils, I love you." He whispers in my ear.
"I think we should discuss our years at Hogwarts." Alice advises.
"Sure, why not?" Sirius laughs. "There's quite a few good times to be remembered."
"And a few to be forgotten." James adds with a reluctant smile.
"Let's begin with year one." Peter laughs.
"Hmm, James was falling madly in love with Lilyflower." Sirius grins.
"At eleven? Isn't that a little inaccurate?" I ask.
"Okay that was more like third year." Sirius admits. "First year. I meet some blokes on a train and became friends. We played pranks that landed us in Dumbledore's office a lot... That's first year."
"I saw magic for the first time." I say with a smile.
"How'd that work anyways? With muggle parents and all?"
"Professor McGonagall showed up and explained the school to Mum and Dad. Then she used magic. It was like something out of a storybook for me. I grew up in the practical world of Muggles. Once my parents got over the shock, they said yes to Hogwarts and here I am."
"I think we should bask in the glory of our many successful pranks." Sirius says suddenly.
"Ooh, big words, Black. Are you sure you know what you're saying?" Alice taunts.
"You and your boyfriend..." Sirius shakes his head. "Won't you get over it?"
"Sirius, I'm over that; just not the other pranks you pulled..."
"Hmm, I could name a few. The time that you idiots dyed my hair green to match my eyes..."
James kisses my hair. "I'm somewhat sorry about that." He laughs quietly.
"Arse." I murmur.
"What about the time you and Sirius used an illegal hex on Bertram Aubrey?" Alice asks.
"He deserved it." Sirius and James say at the same time.
"Although," Remus says thoughtfully. "The detentions afterwards weren't."
"We nicked loads of good stuff from his filing cabinets." James laughs.
"We even found a girl's knickers in there." Sirius boasts.
"Wow..." Alice shakes her head.
"And on the downside, we just lost the Marauder's Map to Filch." Remus sighs.
"What?" I say in disbelief.
"Yup, we got caught with it and he took it- not that he'll get anything out of it. Mischief managed." James smirks.
"I think we ought to leave it there for future generations of troublemakers." Sirius declares as he leans back in the chair closest to the fireplace.
"It was an unfortunate loss." Peter admits.
Sirius gets up and hands everyone a bottle of Firewhisky. "To the Marauder's Map." He toasts.
We all drink to that.
"Oh, well, if we're all toasting, then... To the Care of Magical Creatures class creatures may they rot for all the times that they've hurt us!" Alice declares.
"That hurt like hell!" James says before he takes a sip of his Firewhisky.
"To Minnie!" Sirius exclaims.
"To the Marauders!"
"To the girls, who stuck by the Marauders even when they were idiotic prats!" I laugh.
"Oy!"
"To Lily and James, the weird couple ever. By all accounts, they shouldn't even be together, but-"
"Sirius," James sighs. "I think you've had too much Firewhisky."
"Like hell I have. More like I haven't had enough." Sirius retorts jokingly.
"Tomorrow, we should explore Hogwarts for the final time. The day after is our graduation and the day we leave." Remus says. "I'm gonna miss this place."
"Yeah, Dorea will only put with so many pranks before she hexes me." Sirius jokes.
"Who said that you were staying with us?" James demands.
"It's not like I'm crashing your honeymoon, Prongs. Relax."
"Now, that would be awkward!" Alice bursts out laughing. Tears start streaming down her cheeks as she keeps laughing.
"Let's not even think about that." Peter decides.
"Agreed." I say calmly.
James sets down his empty bottle and plucks mine out of my hands and tips the contents down his throat.
"James." I protest.
"I love you, baby." He wraps his arms around my waist.
I roll my eyes. "Pass me another Firewhisky." I say.
Sirius slides one across the table. I open the top and take a sip.
James laughs from behind me. "Pass me the bottle, Lils."
I scowl and hand my bottle back to him. "You're lucky that I love you."
"Well, we've been swapping spit for months now so I doubt this really bugs you."
I smack his arm. "Shut up."
..........................
"Hell, it's two in the morning." Alice slurs.
I yawn. "You guys can crash on the couch, chairs, floor. Whatever works." I'm probably the least tipsy of this group, considering James kept stealing my bottle.
"See you in a few hours." Remus says with unfocused eyes as he slumps over on the couch.
Peter was out a while ago. He really can't hold his liquor...
Sirius is snoring on the floor.
"Wanna head to bed?" James asks. I turn to face him. His eyes are focused and his words precise.
"James Potter isn't drunk at a party. Call the press!" I tease softly.
"Lils, that's tomorrow night's plan: get drunk."
"Oh no! You are not going to be nursing a hangover during grad! You're a bad example! You have to speak since you're Head Boy."
"We'll talk about this later. Let's go to bed."
I start up the stairs towards my room. Unsurprisingly, James follows me. We sleep in the same bed together most nights, so it's normal.
I grab a tank top and sweats and head into the bathroom to change.
"Do you really have to? I've seen it-"
"James, I love you, but shut up!" I call through the door. I quickly finish and unlock the door.
James is lying across the bed. He smiles at me. As I sit down next to him, he pulls me in for a kiss...
.................
AN: Hey guys! I'm back just like I promised! I'm sorry for such a wait, but I had to deal with some pretty serious stuff in September, so yeah...
Anyways, PC has TWO CHAPTERS LEFT! Crazy, huh?
I just wanna thank all of you for your support. Reading your comments make my day, seriously!
PC's sequel will be up shortly after the end of PC. It will be called Ours To Hold- A Lily and James Fanfiction.
You guys will like it, I promise :)
So thanks for your patience during a really difficult time and for sticking with this story!