The House Competition:
House: Slytherin
Category: Themed
Prompt: "Shush! It's past midnight and you're going to get us caught!"
Word Count: 1310

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Lily twisted and turned, shifted and squirmed, but nothing she could do would make her sleep. She'd been lying in bed for who knows how long, and all she could do was wriggle around. Restlessness had gotten the best of her. She just had to get up. With a small sigh, she took a candle and made her way across the room.

She stepped out, and bent over the stairs to peek at the common room beneath. No one was around, the whole castle was deadly silent, the only sound being the fireplace as it crackled and rustled, lighting up the dull room.

She bit her lip and glanced around. She couldn't go back inside, it wouldn't be any use, so would it matter if she...took a little stroll outside? It wasn't like Lily to break the rules, but she didn't have much else to do.

"No one's up… I'll be back before anyone notices," she muttered to herself, slipping out of the common room and into the cold hall outside.

James groaned. Sirius had been snoring non-stop for the past hour, and he couldn't sleep. "Oi, shut up!" he hissed, reaching over to his bed and smacking his friend. Sirius simply rolled over and continued his slumber, much to James' annoyance. He rolled his eyes at his friend. "You'd sleep through anything…
Fine then," he grumbled, "don't be quiet."

Not wanting to bear Sirius' loud, obnoxious snores, James grabbed his invisibility cloak and left the dorm, just in time to see a red-headed figure slip out of the common room door.

His eyes widened. "Was that...?" he grinned. "Looks like someone's breaking rules, and I just found something to do."

James stealthily followed Lily through the many hallways, thankful that he'd brought his cloak, or she'd have caught him. One time, her green eyes bore into his hazel ones, and for a moment, James was afraid she had caught him, but Lily only hurried off again.
She turned the corner and disappeared for a moment, leaving James struggling to keep up with her. He followed her up the stairs of the astronomy tower, breathing heavily as he ran.

Once James reached the top, he found the ginger leaning against the balcony, her eyes glued the the starry sky, her red hair blew loftily in the wind. He couldn't help but stare at her for a few moments, her dreamy look rather overwhelming him. When before had he seen Lily Evans this calm and quiet?

"So do you come up here every night, or is this a special occasion?"
Lily whipped around at the sound of his voice, her face immediately looking panicked. "How did… what're you doing here?" she almost gasped.

"What are you doing here?" he returned amusedly, walking towards her slowly. "Is what I see real? Is the famous Lily Evans, the Prefect, breaking the rules?"
She scowled at him. "I couldn't sleep, okay?" Lily muttered, turning away from him again.

"I couldn't either… so I followed you," James grinned, much to her annoyance as she looked at him.

"You were stalking me?!"

His hands flew up in surrender, "Hey! I'm not the one who snuck out at night."

Lily lifted her eyebrows. "Because that's totally not why you're standing in front of me right now."

James' grin widened. "Maybe you're right."

Lily sighed wearily. "Whatever." she said, glancing up at the sky again. Neither spoke for a few moments, and James quietly observed her as she stared up at the moonlit sky. "Isn't it pretty?"

James frowned. "Are you talking to me?"
"Yeah. Isn't it obvious, Potter?"

James rolled his eyes. "Well, yes… I guess it is… pretty?" he said hesitantly.

Lily turned to look at him. "What're you doing here anyway?" she asked. "Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"I could say the same to you,"

"Touche. I have transfiguration to do, and I completely suck at it…" Lily groaned. "It's due tomorrow, and Professor McGonagall would kill me if I didn't have it done…" James' lips tugged slightly. "Never heard you talking like that before, Evans," he remarked.

"What do you mean?" Lily frowned. "Is it a bad thing?"

"Oh no, I didn't mean it like that… It's just different. Hey! Tell you what, I could help you with your transfiguration! I'm good at it, you see and—"

"Shush! It's past midnight! You're going to get us caught!" Lily hissed. "And why would you help me?"

James lifted an eyebrow. "If you don't want help then…"

"No, wait! I didn't mean it like that, I was just wondering… You usually act so different…" Lily said hurriedly.

"Maybe you shouldn't judge people before you get to know them." James shrugged. "Hey, you cold?" he asked suddenly, looking a bit concerned as he eyed the almost-shivering Lily. It was almost winter, and Lily was only wearing a loose shirt and pants.

"I'm fine," she replied.

"You sure?"

"Positive."

"So, whaddya say? Back to the common room to study?"

Lily smiled. "Fine," she replied. "Let's go. I could help you with your Herbology if you—"

"Who's there?" a croaky voice interrupted, "Who's up there?"

Lily's eyes widened. "It's Filch!" she gasped. "He's going to catch us. What do we d—"

James pressed his hand against Lily's mouth, immediately cutting her words off. She glared at him, trying to get it off. "Shhh!" he hissed, "Don't be so loud! Here, get under this."

James held out the invisibility cloak. "They won't be able to see us in here."

"You have an invisibility cloa — and hey! I'm not going in there with you!" Lily broke off.

"Would you rather get caught?" James asked.

"But—"

"Get in!" James threw the cloak over both of them, and pressed a finger over his lips, motioning Lily to stay quiet. "I'm James Potter, remember? I don't get caught,"
"You also James Potter, the person who gets daily detention—" Lily stopped abruptly at the sound of footsteps.

"Get out! Who's here!?" Filch demanded, glancing around the tower angrily.

"What's the matter, Argus? Nothing bad, I hope." Another voice sounded. Lily swallowed nervously at the sound of Dumbledore, as he followed Filch upstairs. James bit his lip next to Lily: this was going to be bad.

"Something very bad, Headmaster! Some of your students must be sneaking about! I heard 'em!" Filch told him.

Albus glanced around the tower, his eyes landing on two certain teenagers, pressed up against each other as they tried to hide under the cloak. Filch, of course, didn't see anything, but Albus peered at the two amusedly above his half moon glasses, his blue eyes twinkling as usual.

Yes, this was going to be very bad.

"Relax, Argus. Nothing's there," Albus said, much to Lily's relief and James' surprise. "You must be dreaming."

Filch shook his head. "No! I'm sure of it, Headmaster! I'm telling you, must be that bloody James Potter!" he accused.

James gulped, and Lily shot him a smirk.

Albus laughed. "No one is there. Come now, let's go," he said, motioning to the stairs again. "No one is there."

Once the grumbling Filch disappeared, Albus turned to the hidden two with lifted eyebrows. "No one," he repeated. But as followed Filch downstairs, Lily could've sworn he winked at her.

James sighed in relief. "Woah… that was—"

"Close." Lily finished for him. "Very close. I'm definitely not doing this again."

James grinned. "Why not? I'm beginning to like Rebel-Lily," he teased.

Lily rolled her eyes and pushed out of the cloak. "Whatever, let's just go," she said.

James smirked at her. "Took long enough to get out, huh? Maybe you were beginning to get cozy in the cloak."

"Shut up, Potter!"