Stargazing
I will write more chapters eventually, after I have had a few reviews. Oh the power of instant noodles! :)
It's not exactly my best written story, just one of those quick in-the-moment thingys.
The scratching of a quill broke the floating silence and Lily closed her eyes and melted into the tranquillity. She should not be doing this, it was after curfew and she's Head Girl...she looked up at the dark blanket of black above her and gazed dreamily at the glittering stars. It's worth it though, she thought, at least I'm rid of all those annoying boys, especially Potter. Straightening her back against the side of the large stone window ledge, she let out a loud sigh.
"Why does my mind always drift back to him?" She wondered aloud, her voice plainly frustrated. "When he's so annoying-" suddenly each of the telescopes that stood in a perfect line by the window ledge, on Lily's right, fell one after the other with a ringing clang and instinctively she jumped up and pointed her wand at the empty space, which she assumed the telescopes would have been pushed from.
"Ouch," Groaned a deep voice at her feet. She jumped back startled and bumped into the window where it rattled furiously in its old frames. The air above the fallen telescopes shimmered and a hand emerged out of thin air, pushing the air across, as it faded to resemble an old looking long brown blanket, and revealing a messy-haired boy as he winced and pushed himself up, grabbing for his round glasses. Lily stood frozen, then recognising the churning sensation in her stomach she relaxed slightly.
"Who's annoying?" Grinned James weakly as he stood up, carefully avoiding the legs of the telescopes. Her anger rose dangerously as she glared at James's mocking grin, and resulted in her scrunching up the parchment in her hand and flinging it furiously at him. James dodged it quickly and Lily caught spark of excitement in his eyes. Then, as if he had just remembered something, his expression dropped and he scrambled into his trouser pocket. Taking out a folded piece of parchment, he opened it, and frowned deeper.
"Shit." James muttered, glancing at the door and at his wristwatch. Lily swayed uneasily and stepped forward over the telescopes. James ran over to the paper she had thrown at him, without a second glance at it he chucked it back to her and she only just caught it.
"We have to get out of here," he told her, as he picked up the Invisibility Cloak. That was all he needed to do, Lily understood.
"Repairo" she whispered as she turned and pointed her wand at the telescopes, they immediately sprung to life, clicking and adjusting themselves into the same position, they were in before.
With another glance at the parchment he was holding, James ran quickly over to Lily and slipped his arm around her waist to urge her towards the staircase. She held her breath as it came short and fast, her heart pounding against her chest. She caught sight of his expression as they descended the large spiral stairs. To her surprise, it was not a look of panic, as she presumed hers looked like, but a wide grin...and the look in his eyes was...wild. He was in his element. A watery material covered over both of them as they entered the corridor.
"James, what-"
"Shhh!" he whispered urgently placing his hand over her mouth. He pushed her against the wall in a tight hug, his body close her hers, his breath tickling her ear. His scent was overwhelming, sweet and unsurprisingly like pumpkin. She pushed unwanted memories out her mind. Why does this always happen to me?
Shortly after, they heard uneven footsteps galloping around the corner at the other end of the corridor. Filch boomed past them swinging a murky lantern, an air of suspicion around him.
"Bloody hooligans...skin the lot of them...," he slurred angrily marching through the archway and up the stairs to the astronomy tower.
"Nice, isn't he?" James whispered in her ear, removing his hand from her mouth and throwing her back to reality. That she was standing in quite a long embrace with Potter. She pulled away with as much dignity as she could whilst still being under the cloak and catching a glimpse of his honey-coloured eyes, as they stared at her curiously, invitingly. A deadly silence then filled in around them.
"Um," Lily broke the silence awkwardly, looking away and rubbing the back of her neck, letting her fiery red hair bounce over her shoulder.
"What were you doing?" he demanded suddenly. Taking the cloak off them and stuffing it with a lot of difficulty into his pocket. Lily turned in shock at the tone of his voice; it was powerful yet it strangely invited confidence in her.
"What?" She blinked back, taking in his appearance, his exasperated look, windswept hair and rebellious uniform.
"You were in the astronomy tower." He pointed out, all matter-of-factly.
"Seriously? I thought I was in the greenhouse." She added, raising her eyebrows.
"No, what were you doing in the astronomy tower?" he sighed, sweeping his hand through his hair in frustration at her obvious sarcasm. She blushed. It was embarrassing, but she did not want to lie. Not to him.
"I was...writing poetry," she muttered, looking down and shuffling her feet slightly. James dropped his hand from his hair and leaned closer, towering her. Lily suddenly felt very small. Daring to look up she found his face inches from hers and grinning deliciously again. Out of nowhere, he grabbed her hand and yanked her down the corridors before coming to a halt by the statue of the hag. While Lily leaned against the wall clutching her side from the running, he took out his wand and tapped the hump of the hag. Silently, a rectangle half the size of a door formed and slid open. Lily walked over in amazement as James clambered in and chuckled.
"Secret passage," he explained, taking her hands as he descended a small ladder. She allowed herself to be taken in and gawped open mouthed at the passage. It was like being in an uneven cylinder made from mud and stone. Gas lamps flickered weakly every few feet and she saw a left turning a few metres ahead. Walking a few steps, she was aware of James close behind her. Turning around to ask him why he took her here, she was pulled into a passionate kiss and a feeling of memorabilia. She did not break away, fight or refuse. Quite the opposite, as she found herself melting into the warmth of his chest. Slipping her arms around his shoulders and tangling her hand into his mop of dark hair. He responded gratefully with a deeper kiss and small laugh out the corner of his mouth. Wait. A laugh? She broke away and stared at his dumbfounded face.
"Why are you laughing? Is this a joke to you? This is one of the things where you just get off with every single girl isn't it? I bet you have taken loads of girls down here haven't you?" she cried furiously her voice getting higher and clearly offended. His face came back to life and he smiled, biting his lip.
"Whoa, bi-polar much!" he forced back the laughter and failed resuming a straight face. He caught Lily's expression and sighed loudly, rolling his eyes. She opened her mouth to fire more offended questions at him but he sealed it with a quick kiss to her lips and before she could protest, he spoke.
"No, I haven't taken any other girls down here, apart from..."
"Apart from what?" she intruded, crossing her arms. His hands still flat either side of her, against the curved wall.
"...apart from Peter." He winked and she couldn't help but giggle, and then felt rather ashamed, and not just because she giggled. James noticed her sudden down-heartedness and decided it was appropriate to tickle her. After a few moments of tickling and when Lily's breath slowed as she held back the tears of laughter she looked at James. He sighed.
"Don't laugh anymore," he whispered, "I might pass out from being exposed to too much cuteness." He pulled her closer and hugged her tightly, as if it was the last hug he would ever had.
"J-James, I-" Lily started, smiling slightly but started to get a pain in her leg for standing too long, she felt a bit tired too. But James did not decided to let go just yet.
"I love you, Lily... more than anything," he said finally, pulling away but keeping his hands on her shoulders as she wobbled slightly.
Oh Merlin, what's going on?
She stared at him. She was shocked, but she shocked as to why she was shocked, as he obviously liked her quite a bit to follow her to the astronomy tower, save her from Filch and take her to this passage, oh, and the small detail that they had been kissing for ages. Lily processed this for a moment. I guess it makes sense. Wait, so I am in love with him? She looked up at James who was standing there, his eyes pleading. She studied his hair, face and masculine jaw, his neck and his broad shoulders. Her heart pounded impatiently. Here we go again.
"I-I love you too, James," she blushed, leaning forward to kiss him on the cheek gently. Another thing she did not expect...he blushed too. They gazed at each other shyly, innocently.
Suddenly Lily felt very...faint...
