Hey, lovelies! This is another one-shot, called "It's James, Not Potter." This is my THIRD Jily story. Well, James and Lily are my OTP.
This story takes place during Head patrols in seventh year(because honestly, that's the year when everything interestng happens.)
Rated T for language and dark themes.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
"Fine then, Potter, have it your way," Lily mumbled. "Leave it to me. I'll just patrol all alone." She gulped. Quite honestly, she was frightened. I know, Gryffindor courage, she thought, but Potter makes me feel safe. Oh Merlin, did she just think that?
Get. It. Out.
She just realized how incredibly sexist that thought was. She isn't some sort of damsel in distress! She can handle herself. She is, after all, Lily Evans, Head Girl and the most brilliant witch in her year. She doesn't need Potter as a bodyguard. She shook her head violently at the mere thought.
Lily sighed, though, because Potter did make patrols somewhat entertaining. She had grown fond of him, like one would grow fond of a puppy. One might say she fancied him, but Lily had common sense. As soon as she admitted she fancied him, everything would go downhill. Lily thought of Potter's insane ramblings that were irritating yet amusing. Lily acted on the latter, though, and found herself always laughing during patrols. He never failed to make her laugh.
She opened the door and kept her wand out. "Lumos," she muttered. It was only 9 PM, but lights were already out. Creepy.
Lily glanced down at the piece of parchment she was holding. Okay, I have to patrol the dungeons and the seventh floor. She gulped. The dungeons? Where the Slytherins were? If Potter was here...
Get. It. Out.
She doesn't need Potter! Right? Right?
Lily decided to go to the seventh floor first. Perhaps she could spend so much time patrolling the seventh floor, she'll only have an hour or less to quickly walk through the dungeons.
The stairs creaked as she climbed up them carefully. She thought distantly of how the stairs were better lit up when there were two wands. When there were two people, one of them knowing every single trick step. Lily knew most of them, but there was a few she often forgot about. Potter, on the other hand...
She inwardly growled. Potter! First of all, he never misses patrols. So why the actual fuck was he gone? And why didn't he mention it? Second of all, Potter promised to be more responsible. Wait, who was she kidding? He's a Marauder. A trickster, a prankster, a silly boy who likes to cause mayhem. A cute silly boy, she thought, but then cursed herself.
Get. It. Out.
Potter isn't cute! Why was she thinking that? Well, her mind told her, he does have the perfect Quidditch body, and a handsome face. NO!
Get. It. Out.
Lily took another step when...
There was a crack, and her screams echoed as she fell through the step.
"Did you hear that?" James asked Sirius. They were in the third floor corridor, about to meet Peter and Remus at the statue of Howard the Horrified. He swore he just heard a girl screaming, and he worried that it might be Lily.
Sirius snickered. "I bet Moaning Myrtle just saw a spider." James laughed, that had happened before.
But something was nagging him, telling him that it was more than Moaning Myrtle. Telling him that it was something else, something much worse...
Well then, thought Lily bitterly, I guess I'll be patrolling the dungeons first. The trick step had thrown her straight down to the dungeons, and Lily was surprised that nobody heard her screams.
Hey, her optimistic side said, at least you can get patrolling the dungeons out of the way. Save the better for the last, remember?
Maybe, her pessimistic side said, the Slytherins heard you and are coming to get you.
But you're a Gryffindor, she told herself, you can handle anything.
Of course! Gryffindors have plenty of courage, agreed her optimistic side.
Really? Do you have courage now, in the dark, when all you have is a wand? We all know those Slytherins have strength, and they could break your wand and you like a rag doll, her pessimistic side sneered. Don't forget Mulciber.
Shut. Up.
"Well, well, well," a voice whispered in her ear, "if it isn't the Mudblood Evans."
James tapped the statue of Howard the Horrified twice, and it moved apart to show a dark room. As James and Sirius entered, they heard the statue close behind them, but they weren't frightened.
"Lights!" Sirius called out, and the room lit up to show something absolutely stunning.
The room had walls of gold silks and black velvet cloths. The floor was made entirely of an off-white leather. But this was not the strangest part about this room. The room was filled with cushions. Cushions of all different shapes, sizes, and colors. They covered the perimeter and area of the room, stacked up on each other. The cushions had been pushed aside to form a path for James and Sirius, and they gladly walked down the path to Remus and Petter, who were sitting on what looked like cushion thrones. James and Sirius waved their wand to form their own thrones, and sat down upon them like kings.
"Alright, are you ready?" James asked. They all nodded. "On the count of three... one, two, THREE!" At three, they all raised their wands and pointed to the cushions, transfiguring them into sleeping mice.
"McGonagall will love this," said Sirius, chuckling.
James smiled. The plan was to take these mice and set them in the Transfiguration classroom, where McGonagall and her students would be greeted with a nasty surprise. The mice would be awake, causing mayhem by nibbling and scurrying about. Girls would scream, boys would laugh, and amongst it all, McGonagall would turn into her inner cat and start picking off the mice one by one. Better yet, the students coming in the next morning are first years. They would be absolutely horrified.
"Wait, James," said Remus, as he casually turned another cushion into a fat brown mouse. "Don't you have patrols with Lily today?"
James nearly dropped the sleeping mouse he was holding. Patrols! He forgot. Quickly, he raced out of the room, yelling a thank you to Remus. Merlin, he NEVER forgot about patrols. And what if... what if that scream actually was from Lily?
Shit.
Lily stiffened at the voice in her ear. Avery. Or was it Mulciber? It didn't matter, because either way, they were Slytherins, and they didn't come for a nice chat over tea. She felt goosebumps rise on her arms. She didn't forget their last encounter.
"What's the matter, Mudblood? Couldn't keep yourself away? Wanted to come back for more?" the voice whispered. She knew for sure, it was Mulciber. Mulciber, after all, was the one that... she shook her head violently, not wanting to remember.
She turned to face Mulciber, taking a step back as she did so. "I'm on patrols, Mulciber, and I'll have to give you detention for being out after curfew," she said in what she hoped to be a strong voice. She hoped Mulciber didn't hear the tremor underneath it, or the fact that her wand arm was shaking.
But he noticed. He noticed all of it.
"Scared, Mudblood? Is the little Gwyffindor Pwincess scared of the big bad guy?" said Mulciber mockingly.
Oh god, she thought, never use a baby voice. Ever.
She stepped back as far as she could, but then realized she was cornered.
Crap.
He advanced towards her. Lily, shakingly, raised her wand. "Flip-" she began, but was stopped as her wand zoomed toward Mulciber's hand. How the hell did he do that? Lily didn't think Mulciber had enough brains to silently disarm her. The git.
His hot breath was on her face, and Lily had a desire to pinch her nose. His breath reeked of garlic and alcohol, perhaps a tinge of blood. She was completely against the wall, and he put two hands on either side of her head. Trapped. Her eyes darted about, wondering if she could do a wandless spell. But wandless magic was complicated and she had tried it for years but failed.
She couldn't think for long, though, because Mulciber had pressed his nasty lips against hers, as his hands roamed hers shamelessly.
Lily aimed a kick at his groin, but missed as he violently stopped her from moving. She tried to scream and pull him off of her, but he was too forceful. Flipendo, flipendo, flipendo, she thought desperately but nothing happened. Accio Lily's wand, accio Lily's wand... nothing seemed to work.
She kept trying to kick him, trying to punch him, trying to at least move a tiny bit, but everything failed. She shuddered. She didn't want it to be like last time, when he had almost raped her had he not heard Professor McGonagall.
No. She was Lily Evans, and she was not going to let a Death Eater push her around like this. Mulciber has grabbed her hand in the process, and she kept a firm grip on it and then twisted it. Hard.
He screamed in agony and let her go. Lily bent down to pick up her wand and turned around, ready to face Mulciber.
He stood up, looking barely harmed.
And then his form leered over her as he tackled her to the ground.
James knew Evans would kill him. He thought of how he could apologize. I'm sorry Lily, I forgot. No, that was weak. She knew he would never forget. I lost track of time, Evans. No, he promised her he would be responsible. I didn't do it on purpose, I swear. That sounded too desperate. Maybe he could just snog her, but that was violating her and she would kick him really hard.
He checked the Marauder's Map, and realized with horror that today they were supposed to be patrolling the dungeons. And Evans was down there, in the dungeons. Not alone, though. With Mulciber. And they were impossibly close.
His eyes widened as thousands of scenarios appeared in his mind. But then he realized the most likely scenario was the one he was dreading. Mulciber was known for violating women. And Evans was no exception.
Crap.
He thought of the quickest way to get to the dungeons. Of course, the trick step. He hurried up the stairs to find that the precious step had already been stepped on, most likely by Lily. He fell through the gaping hole, his Invisibility Cloak on, and was thrown to the dungeons silently.
He turned around, and saw red. Mulciber had tackled Evans to the ground, and was kissing her violently. He could see her hands, trying to force him off. Pointing his wand firmly at Mulciber, James whispered, "Flipendo." Mulciber was thrown back, and James threw off his Invisibiliy Cloak.
"Fifty points from Slytherin for harrassing a woman and being out past curfew. I will be informing Slughorn of this, and your punishment will be as he sees fit. You will get a detention for this atrocious behavior. Go to your common room right now." His voice had this tone that made it clear there could be no arguments.
Mulciber stood up and snarled at James, and then ran to his common room.
James turned towards the love of his life that was crumpled in a heap on the floor. He gently bent down next to her broken form.
"Evans," he said softly. "Are you alright?"
He reached a hand out to Evans, who took it. As soon as they were both standing, he could see her face was covered in dry tears. He opened his mouth to say a few comforting words, but then she threw her arms around him and began to weep like never before.
She was crying into his chest, and he put his arms around her comfortingly. He should be glad that Evans was hugging him, but James only felt upset and guilty. Upset that Evans had to grow through that. Guilty that he didn't come earlier and prevent the entire incident.
Crying into one's chest felt extraordinarily good. Lily didn't care that she was crying into Potter's chest, because his warmth enveloped her and it was a feeling that she loved.
What she was doing now, being saved by Potter, it made her feel like a damsel in distress. But, Lily didn't mind this feeling at the moment. She was so glad Potter saved her, and it had nothing to do with the fact he was a man. It was because he was always there, when she needed him most. Always.
Lily felt the tears dry as she pulled away. "Merlin, is your shirt wet?" she asked, looking a bit guiltily at his tear-soaked chest. That's a fine chest, she thought, but then shook her head violently, because now was not the time to let her raging hormones take over.
He chuckled a bit. "It's fine, Evans. C'mon, we've got to search the seventh floor." He turned around and Lily followed, not even complaining about the fact she never finished patrolling the dungeons.
Lily had time to organize her thoughts in the silence that came as they walked up to the seventh floor. First of all, Mulciber. What was she going to do about that boy? Knowing Slughorn, he wouldn't do a lot. She wondered if she should go to Professor Dumbledore.
Lily shuddered, remembering his slimy hands on her. Yes, to Professor Dumbledore.
Second of all, Potter. It was obvious, she fancied him. He was much more civil and responsible this year, and Lily realized that he could be funny and charming. They were friendly with each other, and the growing hate Lily had for him slowly faded away. He had saved her, after all, and Lily felt she was forever in his debt just for that. The way he had appeared just in time... but wait, why did he miss patrols in the first place?
Lily looked up to find that in the time she spent thinking, they had already reached the seventh floor.
"Potter," asked Evans out of the blue, "why did you miss patrols?"
James gulped. He began to babble, a sure sign he was nervous. "Merlin, Evans, I'm really, really sorry. I forgot about patrols, and I know I never forget. I promised I would be more responsible this year. I'm truly sorry that I broke that promise. I swear, Evans, I won't do it again. I just lost track of time. God, I feel terrible. You should just-"
He was cut off by Evans's lips on his. Her lips were soft and tasted like vanilla. He found himself kissing her back, and moaning slightly as her hands wove through his hair.
Hold up. Was she snogging him? It looked like it. It felt like it. Cloud 9? Haha, no. James was floating even higher.
She pulled away all too quickly, and James was surprised to see a playful smile on her face. "I thought you'd never shut up," she said. "It's alright, Potter. Everyone makes mistakes."
He was probably grinning like an idiot, but James didn't care at the moment. Lily Evans just kissed him! Lily. Evans. It was a dream come true, it was perfect, it was...
Amazing.
The rest of the patrols was somewhat silent. Every few minutes, Potter would stare at her like he couldn't believe what happened. Lily couldn't blame him. She couldn't believe that she just snogged Potter. But, hey, miracles happen. She told this to Potter when he turned to stare at her.
He shook his head. "Is hell frozen over yet?" he mumbled, and Lily laughed because he was just so goddamn adorable.
Far too quickly, they had entered the Heads' Tower. They began to climb up the stairs to their respective dorms, when Potter called out her name. "Hey, Evans?"
"Yeah?"
He walked over to her, and they both stood on the balcony that overlooked their common room. "It's James, not Potter."
Lily raised a skeptical eyebrow at him. "Prongs is for the Marauders, Potter is for my enemies, and James is for my friends," he explained.
Wait, so friends snog each other? Interesting.
He flushed as the same thought must've reached his mind. Potter leaned close to her and whispered in her ear, "Just want to make sure you're moaning my name right the next time we snog." He winked at her suggestively, but Lily didn't flush.
Evans was smirking at him. "Oh, but James," she said. "It's Evans, not Lily."
She explained, "I don't want to be called by my surname on our first date at Hogsmeade tomorrow. It's rude and unsettling, and I don't date men who are rude."
James openly gaped at her. What?
She gave him a peck on the lips, before turning around. "9 AM sharp, James. If you come a minute late, I'll think you stood me up."
Something amazing just happened.
First of all, Lily just called him by his first name.
Second of all, Lily just asked him out to Hogsmeade tomorrow without actually asking him out. And then she assumed he said yes.
Third of all, she called him a man, NOT a boy.
James Potter decided that night, watching the redhead enter her dorm, that he could never fail to be amazed by the wonder that is Lily Evans.
What did you think? Did you like the little bit of fluff? Tell me all about it in the review, and don't forget to favorite this story while you're at it.
~A.E. Seaflame