A Race

Lily Evans and her friends Tristan, Orla, Jake and Mary (in muggle camouflage gear) all stood agast staring at the land in front of them. It used to be the empty Quidditch pitch but had been comandeered by people from the Ministry, a department which specifically dealt with how Muggles were viewed by the magical community. Every student was expected to take part in a Muggle obstacle course which had been set up on the afformentioned pitch.

"They have got to be kidding," said Orla staring with distaste at the course a few meters away where four third year boys were wrestling in the mud under a net pinned to the ground.

"Oi!" Lily yelled at them, "Get on with it!"

All of the boys continued scurrying through the net in order to get away from their Head Girl, who was notorious for her bad temper.

"No way am i doing that." said Mary with disgust on her face while Orla nodded in agreement.

"You have to," said Lily, "it's mandatory for all students. So which one of you wants to race me?"

"No chance!" her friends exclaimed together.

"You're way too competative Lils," said Tristan with a shake of his head.

"You're only saying that 'cos i always beat you."

"I'll race you," said a male voice from behind Lily. Turning she found James Potter, the Head Boy, standing a few feet away with his friends Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.

"Okay," said Lily with a grin.

"But how about we make it interesting?" James asked with a myschevious glint in his eye that Lily knew only too well from their Heads duties together that year.

"What did you have in mind?"

"If i win, you give me one kiss," said James.

"And if i win?" Lily questioned him.

"I'll never ask you out again."

"Deal," said Lily holding out her right hand, she was sure she would win and even if she didn't one kiss wasn't that big of a deal.

James had a confident grin on his face, he was athletic, this should be no problem, he'd never even seen Lily run.

"Lily, are you sure about this?" Jake asked her as she took up her position at the starting line.

"Absolutely," she grinned up at him. He shook his head and went to join the rest of their friends and the other Marauders at the finish line.

"Ready?" said a man in blue robes, both Lily and James nodded. "Go!" he yelled suddenly. They both started off at a full pelt run and threw themselves under the nets, the first obstacle pulling themselves along on their fronts. James came out slightly ahead of her as they came to the tires and with every obstacle Lily fell slightly further behind.

Finally she saw her chance to catch up and possibly even win, on two beams suspended above a pool of mud. James pulled himself forward, all of his weight on his arms and his legs bent up behind him. Lily hooked a leg over each pole and propelled herself with her arms sliding easily along the beams.

She reached the final obstacle, the wall, with a significant lead on James and started to climb the rope dangling down from it. When she reached the top James was already three quarters of the way up the rope. She shimmied down the rope on the other side and when she was half way down she let go of the rope completely and let herself freefall, hearing the gasps of her friends as she landed lightly on the ground with not a mark on her.

Laughing manically, her friends hugged her tightly, congradulating her on her victory and telling her off for scaring them like that. Through a gap in her friends arms she saw James walking away with his friends slightly dejectedly.

"Hold on a sec," said Lily disentangling herself from her friends arms and dashing after James. "Hey! James! Wait a sec!" she called after him. He turned to watch her approach and when she was a few steps away he said "Yeah? What's up?"

She held out her right hand and when he took it she said "Nice race." Then she pulled him closer, put her other hand on the back his neck, and kissed him softly and sweetly on the lips for a few seconds before she pulled away.

He looked so shocked that she smiled at him and then said,"See you around." and ran back to her friends who were staring at her gobsmacked at what had just happened.

"What?" she asked with a nervous grin.

"You just kissed James Potter without having to," said Tristan.

"I'm well aware of that thank you," replied Lily primly.

"Hey," said James from close behind her. She turned and found him mere inches away from her. He stared slightly uncertainly at her and when she didn't tell him to back off he closed the gap between them and kissed her hard on the mouth letting the years of lust and passion bubble to the surface.

Lily pulled away, out of breath and James grinned at her, his eyes boring into hers. "Will you go out with me?" he asked.

"You're not allowed to say that, remember?" asked Lily with a grin. "So in that case will you go out with me?"

"I'll think about it," said James with a devilish grin.

Lily smiled and started to back away,"Suit yourself."

"I'll go out with you!" James called as she turned her back on him and walked away. She never even broke her stride but raised a hand in farewell to show that she heard him.