The Marauders: Year Seven Part Two

The Ultimate Valentine Movie-Goers Experience

James and Lily were not at the Hogwarts Valentine's Day Tea, which many of the students noticed and wondered about - though when asked, Sirius, who sat across from Remus at one of the tables, only smiled slyly and replied, "Don't you worry your little minds about it, Lames is together and doing quite well." Then he sipped from his cup and grinned at Remus Lupin, who seemed a lot more cheerful this afternoon than he'd been in ages, which only made Sirius all the more happy.

As it were, James and Lily had left the castle and, all bundled up, were romping their way through the trees of the Forbidden Forest.

"Where the bloody hell are you dragging me to, Potter?" Lily asked, the branches thick as they'd come off the path.

"You'll see."

"I thought you said we were going to watch a movie at the Shrieking Shack?" she asked.

James shook his head, "I never mentioned the Shack, now did I?"

"I s'pose not, but..." Lily stepped over a log as James held her hand to steady her, "How else do you reckon you're going to get the VCR and Telly to work?"

James laughed, "Evans, are we not a witch and a wizard? Do you really think we need eleckytricity to watch a movie?"

Lily smiled and rolled her eyes at eleckytricity and said, "Well, I s'pose for someone as ruddy brilliant as you are... Where was my muggle mind?"

James grinned. "Dunno, love." He paused suddenly, and looked around, "Know it's here someplace..." he murmured.

Lily looked about, too. Every thing seemed precisely the same to her. "Are you sure you know where we're going?"

"Mhm," James murmured, then he said, "Aha! Found it. Right over here." He pulled her along, holding back some branches for her, and came to a stop right at the edge of a clearing. The clearing, she realized with surprise - the one where she'd come time and again over the years prior to visit with her Stag... who turned out to be James Potter, of course.

"Here?" she asked, surprised.

"Did you expect somewhere else?"

"We're literally watching a movie in the woods?" Lily pressed.

James looked at the clearing, then back to her. "What do you think I am? Mental?" But before she could reply, James asked, "Do you have a ticket, Love?"

Lily raised an eyebrow. "A ticket?"

"Mhm," he hummed. "A ticket? For the movie?"

Lily said, "Was I supposed to have one?"

James shook his head in feigned exasperation, "Evans, Evans, Evans. You know how this stuff works, even better than I do. Of course you need a ticket. You'll have to purchase one in order to enter." He reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a shining heartshaped golden ticket and wagged it at her.

Lily asked, "And how much is this lovely ticket?"

James replied, "Well, there's a couple different pricing brackets. For one kiss, you can get in and watch the movie. For two kisses, you get the deluxe seating area. For three, I'll throw in some popcorn and a butterbeer. Four will get you a blanket and a pillow, and five... well, five will get you the Ultimate Valentine Movie-Goers Experience."

"Hmm," Lily pretended to ponder on it a moment. "Let's see..." She grabbed onto his tie - pulling him into her so that their noses touched ad they were staring into one another's eyes, his back bent slightly to be on height with her. A smirking grin played upon his face and their breath mixed, clouds of it coming up around them in the cold February air. She pressed her lips against him once, then snapped the ticket out of his fingers. "One to get in," she murmured. She kissed him again, "Two for the deluxe seating area, whatever the hell that is..." Their mouths met again, and she whispered, "I bloody love popcorn and butterbeer, you know that." She kissed him a fourth time. "And it's ruddy cold so I expect I'll rather appreciate your stupid blanket offer..." and then she kissed him, long and deep, the taste of him in her mouth and on his lips and she could feel his teeth against hers as their jaws moved gently. The kiss lasted longer than all the the previous ones combined, and when she drew back, she nipped onto James's lower lip, tugging it softly as she took a step back, separating them, letting the silk of his tie slip between her fingers as he stood up right, looking positively gobsmacked by the kiss she'd just delivered. She smiled. "This Ultimate Valentine Movie-Goer's Experience better be well worth that kiss, Potter, or you'll end up owing me."