Jily Secret Santa 2015
You Jump, I Jump
This is my gift for Shefali aka sunlitdewdrop for 2015 Jily Secret Santa! I tried to incorporate some of her Jily headcanons and it's heavily inspired by a Gilmore Girls episode of the same name. Please enjoy some pure unadulterated fluff!
Contrary to popular belief, not all Gryffindors are fearless. Bravery is not the absence of fear, merely the ability to acknowledge what scares you and face it head on. As Lily Evans stood atop the Astronomy tower, looking down at the grounds below, she felt nothing but fear. She looked at her other housemates, lined up next to her, some looked giddy with anticipation, Peter looked like he was about to be sick. Lily couldn't help but sympathize with him. Her own stomach was a knot of anxiety and stress. She had no idea why she'd allowed herself to be talked into doing this.
If she had to guess, she would say it all started with a pen, a very boring, non-magical writing instrument. The pen was almost definitely to blame. Lily was sitting in History of Magic class not paying as much attention as she really out to have been when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. James Potter was writing furiously. That alone was cause for alarm. Lily had no idea why a Pureblood like James signed up to take History of Magic in his sixth year. His family was as old as they came. He probably just liked hearing about his ancestor's exploits.
His perpetually messy head was bent over his desk as he focused very intently on the parchment in front of him. Lily looked away from Professor Binns's indecipherable scrawl and tried to see what it was that James could be working on so diligently. It couldn't possibly be class notes. It was common knowledge that no one bothered to take notes in this class, least of all Potter.
To say that Lily was shocked by what she saw would be an understatement. She nearly fell out of her chair trying to get a better look. James Potter, it would appear, was quite a talented artist. He'd spent the better part of the past hour sketching a perfect picture of the willow tree and the students sitting under it outside the classroom window. The rendering was so perfect and lifelike that Lily thought it could be one of those ridiculous prints her mum purchased to hang up in her father's study. She tried and failed to rip her eyes away from the image in front of her.
Professor Binns coughed suddenly causing nearly every person in the room to jump, James included. He cursed silently under his breath as the ink from his quill blotted and ran over the bottom corner of his drawing. Without thinking, Lily tapped him lightly on the shoulder with her pen.
"You know," she whispered to his inquiring look, "that wouldn't happen as much if you used something like this." She dropped the pen onto his desk and added a sharpened pencil for good measure.
"Evans," he whispered back, quirking one of his eyebrows up at her, "do you mean to tell me that after six years at Hogwarts, you're still writing with pens and pencils?" Lily felt her cheeks flush slightly. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and shrugged.
"Couldn't kick the habit. Besides, ink and quills are expensive and messy."
James picked up the pencil and eyed it cautiously. He pulled out a new piece of parchment and sketched a few lines.
"Cheers," he said with a crooked smile and Lily rolled her eyes in return.
She tried in vain to tune back in to the rest of Professor Binns's lecture but it was no use. The students who had been sitting under the willow tree were now laughing and levitating each other in the air. The last week of classes was always a struggle for Lily. The sun was shining, the sky was clear, all she wanted was to be outside enjoying the summer weather. That and she couldn't stop thinking about all the tests that she needed to be studying for. While Binns droned on and on about the Giant Wars, which under any other circumstance Lily would find fascinating, she made imaginary study schedules in her head.
When Professor Binns finally dismissed the class, two minutes late according to the watch on Potter's wrist, most of Lily's classmates made a beeline for the door and immediately sprinted outside to enjoy the last few hours of sunshine before dinner. Lily, however, had a final exam week to prepare for so she made a solitary trek back up to Gryffindor tower.
Since the last day of classes meant that almost every single Gryffindor would be running around outside on the castle grounds letting off some steam before buckling down to study, Lily had a guaranteed empty common room. She plopped down in her favorite armchair in front of the fireplace and dropped her books on the table in front of her. Despite the warmth of the day, the fire was crackling peacefully in the hearth. It wasn't emitting heat, due no doubt to some sort of magic, but it definitely set the tone.
One by one, Lily started separating out her piles of notes, clipping them together with paper clips and marking them with sticky-notes. She pulled out her agenda book and began penciling in certain days dedicated to each subject. Planning her exam schedule was a delicate balancing act. Lily had to account for the fact that certain subjects were much more time consuming than others as well as her prefect duties. Yet, nothing gave her more clarity and peace of mind than sitting down and organizing her life.
"Damn Evans," Lily stared at the individual who had interrupted her otherwise very peaceful afternoon, "Make sure you schedule in some time for fun yeah?" Sirius Black was leaning against the door to the sixth year boys' dormitory looking extraordinarily smug.
"Shouldn't you be outside with the rest of your mates?" Lily asked as she went back to her careful planning.
"James wanted to fetch his broomstick so I waited," Sirius shrugged. He strolled over to where she was sitting and took up residence on the couch next to her. Without waiting for permission, he pulled her packet of Potions notes toward him.
"What on earth is this?" he asked holding up the paper clip she'd used to group together the antidotes section.
"That," Lily said snatching her notes back, "is a paper clip. A very useful tool for organizing parchment and such. You would know if you ever bothered to pay attention in Muggle Studies."
"Evans you know perfectly well that I only signed up for that class to annoy my parents," Sirius sighed dramatically.
"You only just dropped it this year," she pointed out. Sirius just looked at her blankly as if to say, your point? Lily tried to return to her scheduling but was again interrupted by the arrival of James. He came thundering down the stairs, broomstick in hand.
"Oi Padfoot, you ready to go?" James froze when he saw Lily. "Alright there Evans?" Lily nodded and tried to surreptitiously close her agenda book and slide it under a pile of notes. She knew if James saw her meticulous schedules he would never let her hear the end of it.
"What's that?" James asked. Her attempts had failed.
"Nothing," Lily lied.
"Evans is just busy planning out the next ten years of her life," Sirius exaggerated. James looked intrigued.
"Let's have a look then yeah?" he asked grinning.
"Let's not," Lily retorted making to put her agenda back in bag. Sirius moved faster than Lily ever would have expected. Within seconds, he'd swiped the planner from her hands and tossed it to James who in turn, reached out and caught it in one hand, the bloody show off. Lily sighed and leaned back into her chair with her arms crossed. She resigned herself to at least fifteen minutes of teasing.
James flipped open the agenda and walked over to where Sirius was lounging. The two of them turned a few pages, both shaking their heads at the exact same time. It was astonishing how in sync they were at times.
"Do you write everything down in this?" James asked, thumbing through the pages to earlier parts of the year.
"Pretty much," Lily admitted. She liked having everything written down. It was neat and orderly and made sense. Plus, if she didn't write it down, she might forget about it.
"When was the last time you did something that wasn't written down in this little book? " James asked. Lily was a bit taken aback by his tone. It wasn't teasing, or light, but rather serious.
"All the time!" she said defensively.
"When?" he shot back with raised brows.
"Well tonight, Mary and I are going to paint our nails and…" James didn't even let her finish.
"Nope that's in here."
"What? No it isn't!"
He showed her this week's page and sure enough Lily had scribbled down Mary's name after dinner. She stood up and made to grab the agenda back but James held it above his head, just out of her reach.
"Fine," Lily didn't want to disgrace herself by jumping to reach for it. She placed her hands on her hips so that she wouldn't be tempted. "Yesterday I took a nap."
"That has to be without a doubt the saddest thing I've ever heard," said Sirius with mock solemnity.
James tossed her agenda book back into her lap without saying anything. Lily looked up at him and did not like what she saw. When James Potter was plotting something a got a certain look in his eye. It was more of a gleam really, a gleam that said I have just thought of something devious that would drive any sensible person mad. Lily Evans didn't trust that look one bit.
"You need more spontaneity in your life, Evans," James finally spoke with the air of someone who was giving a health prognosis. "You've got everything all planned out and organized with your mad muggle paper clips and agenda books."
"They're not mad," Lily rolled her eyes. "They're perfectly sensible."
"They're sad," Sirius countered, enjoying himself too much.
"Regardless," James said gesturing wildly with his broomstick. Lily and Sirius both leaned back in their respective seats. "You need to learn to live a little! Do something fun, just because you want to, just to know what it might feel like."
"I know perfectly well how to live thank you very much," Lily snorted. She was hardly going to take advice from someone who'd almost put her eye out with a broomstick. "And I don't need you to tell me how to live my life."
"I know you don't Lily," James shrugged. "But sometimes it's fun to step out of your comfort zone, push yourself to try something new."
"Well while you're off having fun, I'll be here studying and planning so that I have the grades I need to pass my OWLs and a decent career." Lily hoped the boys would recognize the dismissal. She really did need to get back to work, especially if she and Mary were going to be painting their nails all night while Marlene read articles from Witch Weekly out loud. It might not be James or Sirius's idea of fun but Lily was looking forward to it.
"At least we know where to find you," Sirius said getting up and stretching out his legs. He turned to James, "you ready?" James nodded.
"Good luck with your studying Evans," James said in farewell. Normally she wouldn't have thought anything of it but he was giving her that mischievous look again. Lily frowned at his retreating back while she wondered what exactly he had up his sleeve.
Fortunately, James Potter and his maddening plots didn't occupy too much of her attention. Exam week was no joke and Lily stuck to her schedule studying as much as she could. On the last day she truly felt like her hard work had paid off. She'd breezed through her Charms and Potions exams and Defense had been challenging but she thought she did well. History was rough but it almost always was and she'd definitely mixed up a few plants in Herbology. Transfiguration gave her some trouble but she still came away from the test feeling that she'd done well enough to continue with the class next year. Over all, Lily was quite satisfied with how she'd done and was looking forward to a relaxing afternoon by the lake with her mates.
The weather was perfect as she lounged in the shade of the willow tree next to Mary. The two of them were waiting for Marlene to finish up her Muggle Studies exam before they went back inside. They were going to engage in their yearly ritual of packing virtually every single item they owned in one night while blasting Marlene's wireless and dancing around in their socks.
The Gryffindor sixth year boys were enjoying the sunshine too. They were splashing around by the lake taking turns trying to throw Peter Pettigrew into it. Mary laughed when Kingsley Shacklebolt finally succeeded in submerging Peter in the lake only to find himself being pulled in as well. Lily smiled and then turned away when she accidentally locked gazes with James. He still had the glint in his eyes, that telltale sign that he was up to no good. He winked at her and she blushed furiously. Luckily, Mary was completely oblivious to the whole exchange.
They finally went inside when the sun started to set and dinner was served. Marlene complained loudly the entire time about how wretched her Muggle Studies final had been. Lily pointed out that she and Mary could have easily helped Marlene prepare, being muggleborn and all. Marlene just blinked at her as if the thought had never crossed her mind.
After dinner, the packing frenzy began. Every year, they ended up with each other's clothes in their trunks due to the haphazard way they packed. Lily secretly loved opening up her trunk to find that she'd accidentally grabbed Marlene's scarf or Mary's tights. She suspected the others did as well. It was like having a bit of your best friends at home with you. She wished she could have remembered this little tradition when James and Sirius were accusing her of organizing her life too much. Then she imagined telling them that she sometimes packed her best friends' clothes instead of her own and realized in the scheme of things it still wasn't really that spontaneous. Especially considering they sometimes did it on purpose.
What did it matter that she liked a bit of organization in her life? Her life was enough of an adventure as it was. She went to a boarding school inside a castle where she learned to do magic. Every day was new and exciting for her. Perhaps it was hard for James and Sirius to understand that because they'd both grown up in magical households.
Lily went down to the common room to grab a few books she'd left in her favorite spot by the fireplace. She expected it to be crowded, full of rowdy students celebrating the end of exams and having one last hurrah before summer break. Instead, it was empty except for one James Potter who was occupying her favorite seat.
She walked up to him and saw that he was drawing again with the pen and pencil that she'd given him a week ago. Lily leaned in closer to try and get a good luck at what he was drawing but he must have sensed her presence because suddenly he was pocketing the picture.
"Why aren't you partying with your mates?" she asked curiously.
"I was waiting for you," he replied enigmatically.
"And why would you be doing that?" she inquired crossing her arms over her chest.
"Because you're going to come with me," he told her confidently. Lily laughed out loud.
"Come with you where?"
"If I told you that, it would ruin the surprise," he grinned. Lily shook her head and bent down to retrieve your books. "You won't need those where we're going," James pointed out.
"I don't recall agreeing to go with you." He looked up at her, eyes twinkling.
"Come on Evans, live a little."
Despite her best instincts, James Potter was a hard person to refuse. There was just something about him that invited you in, made you want to say yes to whatever nonsensical plan he'd concocted in his head. She leaned down, books wrapped protectively in her arms and said,
"If you show me whatever it was that you were drawing just now, I'll come."
Whatever James had been expecting her to say, it clearly wasn't that. His eyes widened behind his rectangular glasses and he sat back further in his seat, contemplating her offer. Then slowly, he withdrew the folded up piece of parchment from his pocket and held it out to her.
"Do I have your word?" he asked, in mock seriousness.
"Of course."
"Then we have a deal."
Lily reached out and took the parchment from him. She was curious as to what he could have been drawing that he would have tried to hide from her. Part of her was afraid to even look. You never knew with Potter and his mates. She slipped the drawing into the pocket of her robes.
"You're not going to look?" the surprise in his voice was evident.
"I will eventually," Lily decided. She set her books back down on the table. "Let's get going then yeah?"
"Yeah alright," James agreed getting up and making his way over to the portrait hole.
"You're not going to make me close my eyes the whole way there are you?" Lily asked. It was something she and Petunia used to do as kids whenever they were trying to surprise someone.
"No," James shook his head as they climbed past the fat lady. "I'll need the extra set of eyes on the look-out. We are out after curfew after all."
"I didn't think you even knew when curfew was," Lily commented. James laughed loudly and Lily shushed him. "You'll get us caught!"
"The suspense is half the fun!" he whispered back gleefully. Lily was tempted to laugh at his child-like joy but forced herself to keep a straight face.
"So when are you going to tell me where we're going?" she asked as they climbed staircase after staircase.
"Honestly with all those nights of prefect duties and patrols I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet," James held out a hand to guide her over the trick step.
"I have a few theories," Lily admitted with a shrug.
"Do enlighten me."
"Well, we've headed quite some distance away from the Gryffindor tower so at first I thought perhaps the kitchens," Lily explained. "But then you kept going up instead of down so I've had to cross that one off the list."
"What's next?"
"I think we're heading north, towards the front of the castle," Lily continued while James nodded. "So I've ruled out the Owlery, and I'm not even sure why we'd go there anyway. So I'm thinking it's either the Astronomy tower or some secret place you and your mates discovered while creeping about the castle at all hours."
"We do not creep about," James protested. He tried to look offended but his eyes gave him away.
"You do and you know it," Lily stood firm. "Now tell me if I'm right." James shook his head.
"You're just going to have to wait and see," James refused, eager to keep the up the pretense of suspense.
Lily expected the two of them to lapse into silence for the rest of the walk but James kept a steady stream of conversation.
"What are you doing this summer?" he asked her politely.
"Oh well, my sister is getting married so I imagine that the entire summer will be devoted to that," Lily sighed.
"You don't sound too happy about that," James observed. "Don't girls usually love weddings and that sort of thing?"
"My sister and I have a strained relationship," she admitted, "and her fiancé makes Amos Diggory seem modest." Lily wasn't sure why she was telling Potter any of this. She usually made it a point to keep the more personal aspects of her life to herself. Of course, Mary and Marlene knew all about Petunia and her horrid fiancé, Vernon but aside from them, Lily told nobody.
"I would have liked to have a brother I think," James mused thoughtfully. "It was a miracle that my parents were even able to have me at their age. I think they would have liked to have more children though. I think that's why they were so happy to take in Sirius whenever he wanted to stay with us."
Truthfully, Lily had never really considered James and his life outside of Hogwarts. She tried imagining him in his family home. She could just about picture him and Sirius driving the Potters up the walls over summer holidays. Just thinking about it brought a small smile to her face.
"Wait here," James instructed. They were stopped, as Lily had suspected, right outside of the door to the Astronomy tower. Lily nodded as James disappeared behind the door. Seizing the moment, she decided to sneak a look at the drawing he'd given her.
She wasn't sure what she had been expecting but it definitely wasn't what she found. James had drawn a picture of her, a very good picture too. It was simple, just a sketch, but there was no mistaking the shape of her eyes or the texture of her hair or the freckles sprinkled across her nose. Lily stared at the image in front of her, completely breathless. It was a really good likeness. He'd drawn her sitting outside under the willow tree with a book on her lap. He'd even captured the way she sometimes smiled to herself when she read something she found particularly amusing. It was a really pretty picture too. Was this really how he saw her?
James footsteps were fast approaching, signaling his imminent return, so she hastily shoved the picture back into the pockets of her robes. Lily wasn't sure why but she didn't want him to know she'd seen the picture. It almost felt like an invasion of privacy.
"What's wrong?" James asked when he returned.
"What? Oh nothing," Lily recomposed her face.
"Not having second thoughts are you?" Lily shook her head. "Good. They're ready for us; let's go up."
"They? Who is they?" Lily wanted to know.
"All part of the surprise," James refused to tell her.
One by one, they climbed the stairs that led up to the Astronomy tower. The whole time Lily had to actively force herself to stop obsessing over the picture. So he'd drawn her? That didn't have to mean anything. James was artistic. She'd learned that when she saw his sketch in History. He probably had drawn pictures of all his mates, maybe even all of the Gryffindors. There wasn't necessarily anything special about him having chosen to draw her. Even if it was a really pretty picture…
When they got to the top of the tower, Lily saw that Sirius, Remus, and Peter were already up there, clearly waiting for them. Much to her surprise, so were Alice, Mary, and Marlene.
"I thought I left you back in the dormitory?" Lily questioned them. Marlene laughed.
"We snuck out after you," Mary explained.
"James told us it was meant to be a surprise," Alice shrugged.
"I thought this was supposed to be spontaneous," Lily said turning to James. "This clearly took some planning."
"Spontaneous for you," James corrected her. "The rest of us do this every year."
"Every year?" Lily exclaimed turning back to her friends who just laughed.
"Not for us," Mary admitted, "we're recent additions to this little stunt of theirs."
"And what, dare I ask, is this stunt?" Marlene wondered not without some wariness. Sirius grinned wickedly at the girls. Lily didn't like that look of his one bit.
"So there's this little charm called Arresto Momentum," he began.
"No!" Lily interrupted, realizing exactly where this was going. Everyone else just looked at her in confusion. "If you think I'm jumping off this tower you're mad."
"Relax Evans, we do it every year," Sirius sighed.
"You're insane!" she told them all.
"It's perfectly safe," Remus assured her. "James did a good job with it, Kingsley and Frank tested it already." Lily walked over to the edge of the tower and looked down. Sure enough Kingsley Shacklebolt and Frank Longbottom were looking back up at her.
"They have broomsticks," she pointed out.
"That's just in case," Peter shrugged.
"You're all mad," Lily declared.
"Yes yes," Sirius brushed her off and turned to the others, "Ready?" James and Remus nodded their heads enthusiastically. Sirius even backed up so he could take a running start. Marlene smiled and began hopping up and down in anticipation. That didn't surprise Lily, Marlene performed insane stunts while on her broomstick; the girl had no fear. Alice and Mary just grabbed each other's hands and giggled.
"I cannot believe this," Lily muttered.
"It's safe," he reminded her, "I cast the charm myself." Lily bit her lip. Leaping off the side of the tallest tower in the entire castle didn't really sound like her idea of a good time. It was spontaneous, that's for sure, but it was also incredibly dangerous. Yet, despite all of her reservations there was a small part of Lily Evans that was tempted. She wanted to try it, to live in the moment. She wanted to be carefree and do something just for the sake of seeing what it might feel like. She was a Gryffindor after all.
"Do you trust me?" James asked extending his hand out to her. The boy who'd drawn such a carefully detailed, pretty picture of her was not about to lead her to her death.
"You jump, I jump right?" she said nervously taking his hand in hers.
"That's the spirit," his smile was contagious.
"One!" Sirius bellowed. Lily could faintly make out the sound of Kingsley and Frank cheering from below. "Two!" She tightened her grip and James squeezed back. "Three!"
They were airborne.
She might have screamed, but only at the beginning. Freefalling through the air was a surprisingly pleasant sensation. At first, there was the initial fright, the drop of her stomach, the feeling of complete and total helplessness, but then after a second or two, came the thrill, the wind rushing past her face, the cold night air kissing her skin and playing with her hair, the feeling of complete and utter weightlessness. She could kind of see why James and Marlene enjoyed nose-diving on their brooms so much during Quidditch matches. The rush was simply amazing. She'd never felt so alive.
The fall lasted seconds before they hit the cushioned landing of James's charm. Lily laughed as the spell slowed her descent before allowing her to land gracefully in the grass. She heard the thump of the rest of her housemates landing beside her and lay down on her back, a giddy smile on her face.
"Admit it," James said from next to her. "You liked that."
"Maybe," she allowed. On her other side, Mary and Alice were pointing out different constellations to each other. Marlene had grabbed a broom from the boys and was flying low to the ground, her feet skimming the grass. Sirius was telling a joke while Peter rolled around in the grass beside himself with laughter. It was a perfect summer night. "Fine yes," Lily gave in.
"Unfortunately, I've got to cut my night short," James said climbing back to his feet. He answered Lily's questioning gaze. "McGonagall promised me that if she caught me out past curfew any time this week I'd spent the first month of next year polishing trophies."
"I'll come with you," Lily took his proffered hand and allowed him to help her up.
"You should stay," James told her, "continue your fall from grace. Maybe if you're lucky, you can get a detention!"
"Not in a million years," Lily replied. "I had fun I'll admit it, but they'll never make me Head Girl if they catch me out tonight." James shook his head.
"For the record, I think they would but I'll get you back without anyone the wiser."
"Good," Lily nodded, "but how exactly are we going to get back inside?" As a Prefect, she knew that all entrances and exits to the castle were sealed after curfew.
"Evans, have you forgotten who you're with?" James asked, flashing her wicked smirk. Lily fought the urge to roll her eyes. Instead she just motioned for him to lead the way.
James wound his way around the south of the Astronomy tower towards the lake. He picked his way past several would be entrances to the school and kept walking until they were near the History of Magic classroom. Then he started counting the windows. Lily had no idea what he was doing but she also knew better than to interrupt him. Finally, he seemed to find what he was looking for. James took out his wand, tapped a random pattern onto the bricks just like the entrance to Diagon Alley. As he stepped back, the bricks crumbled revealing a small doorway back into Hogwarts.
"After you," James said with a mock bow.
Lily had to duck but she managed to make it through the miniature door back into school. She was surprised to see that it didn't let out anywhere near the History classroom, but instead a dark corridor.
"Where are we?" Lily asked James who had joined her in the cramped space.
"Inside the walls," James told her. "Turn right." Lily obeyed and much to her astonishment found that the corridor led to the entrance to the castle kitchens.
"This is absurd," she whispered, more to herself than to James.
"I know. The Hufflepuffs have all the luck. They've got the kitchens and secret entrances." James agreed.
"Are there more like that corridor?" Lily asked.
"We reckon about seven," James shrugged as they walked the familiar path back to Gryffindor tower.
"How did you find them all?" she wondered, not bothering to keep the awe out of her voice.
"That's classified," James replied enigmatically. Before Lily could open her mouth he made a hushing motion. Curious, Lily followed his gaze to where Filch, the caretaker was patrolling. Lily's heart sunk. She'd had a nice time tonight, sneaking out, breaking the rules, freefalling through the night, but she was still Lily Evans, and she did not want to be caught. Just the idea of detention sent a shiver up and down her spine.
"Get in," James whispered. Lily frowned at him. While she'd been staring at Filch, James had somehow opened another secret passageway. He was holding aside a very ancient looking tapestry eyeing Lily with urgency. "Come on!" Lily didn't need telling twice, she ducked inside with James hot on her heels.
"Now where are we going?" she asked as James grabbed her hand and pulled her down another dimly lit, narrow passage.
"If I remember correctly, this should take us close to Ravenclaw tower," James said over his shoulder.
"That's all the way on the other side of the castle though!" Lily exclaimed.
"I know but it at least will get us up to the floor we need to be on," he pointed out. "We'll cover more ground undetected this way. It poses less of a risk."
James had a good point and he had much more experience with this sort of thing so Lily didn't offer up a counter argument. Instead, she concentrated on the upward climb they were now enduring. Step after step led them up floors and floors that might have taken much longer in the castle. She was nearly out of breath when they reached the end.
"Here," James said pushing the tapestry out of the way. Lily dipped her head and emerged on the other side; grateful she no longer had to walk up any more stairs. Her relief was short lived. Peeves was waiting for them on the other side.
"Oh no," James groaned. Peeves took one look at the pair of them, grinned maliciously, and then promptly began to make as much noise as he possibly could. "RUN!" James bellowed. Surely, the caretaker or someone else with authority would be on the scene shortly.
The pair of them took off like thieves in the night, which they were in a way. James's long legs lent themselves to sprinting so Lily had to run twice as fast to catch up. She followed his form down the hall, twisting, and turning on a path that only he knew where it led. Then, without any warning he skidded to a halt. Lily slammed into him from behind.
"In here!" he hissed throwing aside a painting. Lily jumped inside the opening only to find out that the space was barely bigger than a broom cupboard. James clambered in after her and pulled the portrait closed.
Simultaneously, they pressed their ears to the wood, listening for any sign of approach. A moment later, footsteps thundered past their hiding place. Judging by the awkward gait, Lily had to guess it was Filch.
"Where'd they go?" he wheezed.
"That way." Lily tensed at the sound of the poltergeist's voice. "Or maybe it was that way." Peeves was taunting Filch, having a grand time.
"Do you think he'll give us away?" she asked James in a whisper.
"You can never tell with him," James shrugged.
"Well you definitely accomplished your goal of turning me into a miscreant," Lily sighed.
"Changing your ways are you?" James whispered back.
"Well, I snuck out after curfew, jumped off a building, discovered two new secret passageways, and am currently hiding out in a broom cupboard while Filch searches for me," Lily ticked off the items. "I'd say mission accomplished."
"And you enjoyed every second of it," James reminded her with a knowing smile.
"That I did," Lily admitted, suddenly aware of their incredibly close proximity.
Lily had no explanation for what happened next. Maybe it was because her day had already been so surreal, or maybe it was because she'd discovered that she quite liked being reckless, or maybe it was because a nice boy had drawn a pretty picture of her and given her a night she'd never forget. Lily took a step forward and closed the gap between them, kissing James lightly on the lips.
"What was that for?" James asked, clearly astonished.
"I guess I just wanted to know what it would feel like," Lily laughed. "C'mon Potter, when was the last time you did something just because?" She repeated what he'd said to her only a week ago. James smiled ruefully back at her.
"If I had to guess," he pretended to consider it, "I would have to say, right about now." And with that declaration he kissed her back.