Lily should've realised that when her friends proposed a holiday in the Alps it was, indeed, too good to be true. As the car pulled in front of two picturesque lodges and a messy-haired young man came out to greet them, she immediately rounded on Marlene and Sirius.
"What is he doing here?" she hissed.
"His family owns the lodges," Marlene replied with a shrug. "How else could we afford to come to a place like this?"
"You tricked me!" Lily accused, glaring at Sirius and Marlene.
"We just want to have a nice holiday with everyone," Remus replied, sounding tired. "But if you have a problem with that I can drive you back to the airport and you can go home."
Lily bit her lip. "I didn't mean–"
"Yes you did," Dorcas cut in, rolling her eyes. "Can't you two try to get along? For once behave like adults, not like two unruly children."
An indignant reply already teetered on Lily's tongue but with some effort, Lily managed to swallow it. She was only getting so mad anyway because Dorcas and Remus were right – it was the painful, bitter kind of truth that sank barbs into her heart and left deep gouges in her pride.
Lily sat still as her friends got out of the car, catching her breath. Perhaps she should try to be civil with Potter. When would she get a chance like this again, to be on a trip with all her friends in such a scenic place? She wasn't so selfish that she'd ruin this for everyone.
Lily steeled herself and got out of the car, feeling all the guiltier when she noticed how James' grin faltered as his eyes met hers.
"So, where does all this luggage go?" Remus asked, lifting suitcases out of the boot of the car.
"Since there are two lodges, I thought boys could take one and us girls the other," Marlene said, shouldering her backpack.
"Sounds good to me," Dorcas agreed.
Lily accepted her suitcase from Remus with thanks.
"Go ahead," Sirius said, nudging Lily's shoulder. "James can give you a tour, right mate?"
James glanced from Sirius to Lily and offered a hesitant smile. "Sure, if Lily doesn't mind?"
"A tour sounds nice," Lily replied.
"Ah, let me carry that for you." James grabbed her suitcase.
"Thanks," Lily muttered, nodding.
"Prongs, the keys. I'll get us settled while you show Lily around," Sirius offered.
"Cheers, Padfoot," James said, digging the keys out of his pocket and tossing them to Sirius.
Then, he led Lily up the stairs and the two disappeared into the first lodge.
Marlene gave Sirius the thumbs up. Sirius threw the keys to Marlene, who grinned deviously and followed the two up to the lodge. Checking that Lily and James were inside, she locked the front door after them.
"Don't forget the padlock!" Sirius cried.
"Oh, right." Marlene fiddled with the second lock, securing the latch and then slipping the padlock in place.
Dorcas and Remus had stopped handling the suitcases, and were incredulously gaping at Sirius and Marlene.
"What're you doing?"
"Did you just lock them in the cabin?"
"You said it yourself," Marlene said. "Those two need to start behaving like adults."
"Yeah," Sirius said. "We're all tired of seeing them bicker all the time, it's time they worked through their issues."
"This isn't how to go about it!" Remus glowered at Sirius and Marlene. "This is abuse!"
"I agree. They're going to kill one another in ten minutes, tops," Dorcas said, crossing her arms.
Sirius shrugged. "If they'll try, we'll run interference."
"And how would we know to interfere?" Remus challenged.
"By keeping an eye on them," Marlene piped up. "Sirius installed a hidden camera in the front room."
Dorcas pinched the bridge of her nose. "Let me get it straight – you've locked out friends in a cabin and are also violating their privacy?"
"It's to ensure their safety," Marlene insisted. "Like CCTV."
"Except that they don't know that you're spying on them," was Dorcas' crisp retort.
"Sheesh, you make it sound like I had the whole place decked out," Sirius said. "This is a molehill, Dorcas, not a mountain. There is only one camera, and no mics whatsoever, no audio."
Remus pursed his lips and looked from Marlene to Sirius.
"I don't like this any more than Dorcas does," he said at last, "but since the harm is already done, I'll give this idiotic plan of yours two hours. After that, we'll get them out."
Dorcas' head dipped into a very stiff nod.
Sirius and Marlene grinned.
There wasn't much to the tour, but Lily clung to her recent resolve to act civil.
"The layout's pretty similar in both cabins," James was explaining while Lily let her gaze wander.
The lodge wasn't too big, the front room had an open plan with a kitchenette and a dining area on one side, a sitting area complete with a fireplace on the other. A loft overlooked the front room.
"Why do you have two cabins, anyway?" Lily asked. She'd been wondering about that for a while.
"Because of my dad," James said. "He likes to come here whenever he has a research paper to write, so he wanted his own cabin, for peace and quiet. That room in the back," James pointed, "is his study."
"That makes sense," Lily commented mildly. And she supposed it did; as far as rich folks' explanations went, this one was surprisingly practical – but having not one but two lodges in the Alps still seemed extravagant to someone for whom family vacations had mostly meant a drive down to Dorset.
"So there's one bed in my dad's study," James continued his tour, "And two beds up in the loft. The bathroom's here, right next to the study."
"Okay."
"If you prefer to have your own room, might as well go snatch the study while Marlene and Dorcas are still outside," James suggested, setting down her suitcase.
Lily hummed. She grabbed her luggage and peeked into the study. It was very quaint, with a desk by the window, a tall bookcase, a single bed and a small chest of drawers doubling as a bedside table.
It wasn't really that she wanted her own room, Lily told herself, as she strode in and sat down on the bed. Rather, this room simply suited her, seemed to draw her in.
"I'll let you get settled in," James offered, rubbing his neck. Then he left.
Lily relaxed and looked around the room. Perhaps she'd enjoy her time here after all.
She unpacked her things and inspected the study more closely, losing the track of time as she focused on the bookcase and let her finger run along the spines. They were science books, mostly, and a collection of journals and other periodicals were tucked in one corner. About to pull a few of those out to get a closer look, Lily suddenly became aware of how quiet the cabin was.
Where were Dorcas and Marlene? Hadn't they come in?
She left the study to see what was keeping her friends, and found James Potter in the front room, pacing before the cabin door.
Lily stopped in her tracks. She'd thought James had left already but here he was, obviously agitated.
Her stomach gave an uneasy lurch.
"James? Where're Dorcas and Marlene?"
He stopped, tugged at his hair, and slowly turned to face her. He was scowling – a dark and bitter expression so unlike his usual obnoxiously carefree attitude that Lily's stomach plummeted two more inches.
"Probably in the other cabin laughing their arses off," he spat.
"What?"
"The door's locked. And it's not like the latch and the padlock would just magically fall in place so I called Sirius and guess what?"
"…What?" Lily asked, dreading the answer.
"We're having a time-out," James sneered, "like misbehaving children, so we can – and I quote: 'work through our issues'!"
At first there was numbness, then a sense of disbelief.
"Are you saying our friends locked us in?" Lily demanded – but even as she spoke her incredulity was seeping away. Because that kind of twisted logic sounded exactly up Sirius or Marlene's alley; especially if one of them was egging on the other.
"Shit," Lily said with feeling, then sank into one of the armchairs by the fireplace. "We need to get ourselves new friends."
"Definitely," James agreed, sitting down onto the sofa across from her with a heavy sigh. "Better friends."
For a moment they sat in a companionable silence; united in their anger towards a common enemy. But then the air grew strained.
Their eyes met, just as the both of them fully realised just how awkward their current circumstances actually were.
"Well this is anticlimactic," Marlene huffed in disappointment, turning away from Sirius' laptop. "They're just sitting there and moping – neither one has moved in like half an hour!"
"If they've sat alone in the same room that long without a single argument, I'd call it progress," Dorcas replied.
"See, it works!" Sirius declared triumphantly. "And when James and Lily have become BFFs, you'll have to admit our plan was brilliant."
"We'll see," Remus said, his voice dismissive. "There's still plenty of time for everything to go tits-up."
"It's gonna work," Marlene insisted. "I mean they haven't even tried to kill each other yet and it's been almost an hour already."
"Maybe they're building up to it," Dorcas suggested dryly.
"I find your lack of faith disturbing," Sirius sniffed.
"I find you locking our friends up in a lodge disturbing," Dorcas retorted, earning a laugh from Remus.
They settled down after that, Dorcas and Sirius going back to their videogame, Marlene turning back to moodily stare at Sirius' laptop and the live camera feed, Remus back to browsing on his phone.
Several moments passed, then the harmonious mood of the lodge was broken by Remus' swearing.
"Whoa there," Dorcas said. "Language!"
Remus took a deep breath and turned to look at them.
"Sirius," he started, his voice straining to stay calm, "when you were hatching this 'brilliant' plan of yours, did you bother to look at any weather forecasts, by chance?"
"No," Sirius replied. "Why?"
"Because," Remus spoke through gritted teeth, "there's a warning. For snowstorms."
"Shit," Dorcas hissed. She got up, dropping the videogame controller onto the sofa. "We need to get James and Lily out now."
Marlene, too, had got to her feet. Her face was pale as she stared at the window.
"I think it's already too late for that," she whispered into the shocked silence of the cabin.
The silence hung in the air, thick and heavy. It had lasted for so long that by now Lily didn't dare to break it – not that she'd had anything to say, for that matter.
She was curled up in her armchair, sneaking fleeting glances at her companion.
Though she had no wish to play into her friends' hands after this downright disrespectful stunt of theirs, Dorcas' words from earlier still rankled.
So here she was, pondering about James Potter, and trying to work through her issues. Specifically, she was trying to pin down what exactly it was that made her dislike him.
It couldn't be just the objectionable aspects of his personality – god knew Sirius and Marlene, too, had a fair share of those of her own, yet Lily was perfectly willing to overlook them and get along. But with James, for whatever reason, Lily seemed to overwhelmingly focus on the negative.
Why?
Could it all be traced down to his unfavourable first impression?
Lily looked up and gasped. Outside the window, the world had become a white curtain of rapidly whirling flakes.
James' head shot up at the involuntary sound.
"All right, Evans?"
"It's snowing."
James turned to the window and grimaced. "Not just snowing – looks like the start of a snowstorm. We'll be here for a while."
"Unless we escape through the window," Lily suggested.
James shook his head. "It'll be safer to stay put and wait for it to pass."
Lily hugged her knees.
James got up from the sofa with a sigh. "Best get a fire going," he muttered more to himself, then crossed the room and crouched in front of the fireplace.
"At least we're stocked up on marshmallows," he commented, with a quick side-glance and a wry half-smile at Lily.
Lily swallowed, unnerved by both James' sudden proximity, and her private sneaking suspicion that she was somehow prejudiced against him. She hurriedly got out of her chair.
"I'll put the kettle on," she offered for an excuse before escaping to the opposite side of the room.
The familiar routine of preparing two mug of tea gave Lily a brief respite from the mounting awkwardness. But all too soon, she had to leave the safety of the kitchenette, and hand James his mug.
He accepted it from her with quiet thanks, sitting down on the hearthside rug.
Flames now crackled in the fireplace and Lily retook her seat.
James was being unusually silent.
Lily cradled her mug and wanted to say something, anything, so they wouldn't lapse back into that uncomfortable, stifling silence from earlier, but the best her scrambling brain could manage was: "Nice fire."
Great. That didn't sound idiotic at all.
James turned to her with a wan, lopsided smile. "Thanks. The tea's nice too."
"Mmh," Lily agreed, feeling self-conscious.
"Figures we'd get stuck in the cabin without the TV and the game console," James snorted.
"There's plenty of books in your father's study."
James made a face. "I'm on a break from uni, I don't need any more academic reading to ruin my holiday."
"True," Lily murmured, staring down at her tea.
"What do you think," James asked, glancing at her, "should we roast some marshmallows to pass the time?"
"Sure, why not."
Lily's gaze followed him as he walked into the kitchenette. Watching him rummage through the cupboards, it finally hit her.
She didn't like that he was rich. In reality, as she was starting to see, James was very down-to-Earth, but because of that unfortunate first impression, because he had disdained her former friend, and because she knew he was well-off, her hackles had risen. What in another person might've been simply confidence, in James she construed as arrogance.
Honestly, Sirius was of a fancier pedigree – but his family status wasn't an issue as he'd run away from them and had promptly been disinherited. But James – he was wealthy and he wasn't ashamed of it and that had got Lily in the defensive.
She jolted out her thoughts and noticed James was looking at her, his eyebrow raised.
"What is it, do I have something on my face?" James asked.
"No. Just… Sorry," Lily blurted, a blush threatening to flood her cheeks.
"No harm done, I've been stared at before," James replied and walked back over to the fireplace.
Lily squirmed.
"No, it's not that I just… felt that I owe you an apology. For being such a bitch. Sorry."
James blinked. "Thanks, I guess… But it takes two people to argue, and I've deliberately riled you up a lot so half the fault's mine."
Lily looked up at him, surprised.
"I'm sorry for giving you a hard time," he said, running his hand through his hair. "It was immature and stupid and not really the right way to go about to get your attention."
It was Lily's turn to blink. "My… attention?"
James studiously stared at the rug, as a flush slowly crept to his cheeks.
He didn't offer a reply, but that reaction was answer enough.
Oh,Lily thought.
She tilted her head, and looked at James Potter as if she'd never seen him before.
It couldn't be that he fancied her?
But there he stood, still avoiding her eyes and still blushing.
Wow, Lily thought, letting that tidbit sink in.
While Lily sat there dumbly, struggling to readjust everything she knew about James Potter, James sat down before the fireplace and busied himself with the bag of marshmallows.
Lily slanted him a contemplating look, then made her mind.
Cradling the tea mug in her hand, she left the safety of her armchair and took a seat on the floor, next to James.
His shoulders stiffened and he still avoided looking at her, adding a fresh log to feed the dancing flames.
Staring at the fire, Lily spoke softly. "I accept your apology – as long as you forgive me in return."
James looked up; their eyes met at last.
"I already have," he replied, his voice equally soft.
Sirius was having a very pleasant dream when he was rudely shaken awake. He glared at Remus.
"What's the password?" Remus asked, completely unconcerned by Sirius' grumpiness.
"What?" Sirius asked, now both annoyed and confused.
Remus jerked his head towards Dorcas and Marlene, and Sirius realised they were hovering by his laptop, staring helplessly at the lock screen.
Sirius got up with a grunt and walked over to them. He dropped to the chair before the computer and typed in his password.
"We fell asleep," Marlene said, biting her lip. "All of us. And it's still snowing."
"We just want to check on them, to see if they're okay," Dorcas added, wringing her hands.
Now fully awake, Sirius quickly brought up the live feed of his hidden camera.
The window popped up, it's picture dark and grainy.
The four of them squinted at it, trying to make sense of what they saw.
Then Dorcas swore. "I knew it, I knew they'd be at each other's throats."
"Maybe it's time to run interference," Marlene offered hesitantly.
Sirius blinked at the video, then gagged.
Remus started to laugh. "Nah, I don't think we should interrupt them right now. They're not fighting, quite the opposite." He levelled Marlene with a wry glance. "Seems like your plan has worked out too well."
Marlene blanched, then blushed. "For the love of god turn it off, I don't want to see that!"
Dorcas didn't always see eye to eye with Marlene, but this time she couldn't agree more.
Sirius closed the window, leaving James and Lily to their own devices.
End.