Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, JK Rowling does.
It was a cloudless night, the stars were shining down brightly and the reflection of the moon glistened on the black lake. After looking out of the window for a few minutes, Lily slipped off the window sill, pulled some shoes on and quietly slipped out of her bedroom and out through the heads common room. The halls were empty; the last of the prefects had finished doing their patrols. A sigh broke out between Lily's lips, a sigh she didn't know she'd been holding. As she walked the noise of her footsteps bounced off the walls of the corridor, she tried to tread quietly but the silence of the empty hallway picked up on the smallest of sounds.
Before she knew it, Lily was crossing the Entrance Hall and had crept through the doors leading to the grounds of Hogwarts. She hesitantly paused on the front steps of the castle, the rule abiding part of her brain was screaming in protest. What am I doing? This was wrong and she knew it, being outside after curfew was dangerous enough but being outside after one in the morning was just plain stupid. But she was feeling reckless and the need to just sit and ignore the world was pressing against her mind like a constant headache. With the promise of a clear mind Lily pushed forwards and headed towards the lake.
Once she had reached her destination Lily kicked off her trainers and dipped her feet in the cold water. Goosebumps covered her arms as she let out an involuntary shiver. Dam it she thought of course it would be cold you blithering idiot, its blood October! It was a bad habit that Lily had, insulting herself. She did it daily, hourly in fact. Was it normal to be so self-critical? Doubtful, she let her mind wander on until it settled on one word, and dam this word was hurtful, but this time the voice in her head wasn't her own, in fact it was Snape's. Mudblood the voice spat out venomously. She cringed away from the word but it kept hammering down her wall of defence. It was stupid getting upset, hell it wasn't the first time he'd said it and he wasn't the only person who called her it. Admittedly it had been worse two years previously, the first time it came out of his slimy mouth. And then Potter, stupid arrogant Potter had tried to step in and be a hero. Of course that would make things worse; Potter thought he was being so valiant stepping in to save the day. Prick. But that was so long ago, and things had changed. Potter wasn't "Potter" anymore; he had grown up, matured and stopped jinxing people randomly in the corridors. And then of course the amazing but completely loony Professor Dumbledore had made him Head Boy. Head Boy for god sake! James Potter wasn't Head Boy material; well that's what she thought at the time. Things were different now, The stupid remarks he used to make that made her so angry now made her laugh, the ruffling of his hair was now endearing to watch and that annoying all knowing smile now sent shivers down her spine, awakening the butterfly's in her stomach that she never knew were there. She had confided in Marlene of course, the girl squealed with excitement at the news that Lily Evans had finally admitted her feelings for James Potter. Lily let out a laugh at the memory; she closed her eyes as the water swirled around her legs and as the wind let out a small gust of cold air. Again she let out a sigh, she felt oddly content sitting alone in the dark with nothing but the wind and water for company, maybe the giant squid was floating lazily nearby.
The sound of someone approaching broke her out of her happy serenity, and she slowly moved her hand towards her wand. Shit shit shit! She was an idiot, what was she doing out here, Fuck. Who was it? Oh God please don't be a Slytherin.
'Alright Lily' came a quiet voice from behind her. Lily relaxed at the sound of a familiar voice. Of course he saw you sneak out, the boy doesn't miss a thing.
'James.' She acknowledged with a nod of her head. She saw out of the corner of her eye James taking off his shoes and sit beside her. The water rippled as his feet sank into it but soon became still. He sat close to her, their arms were almost touching. God she wished she could shuffle a few centimetres towards him, to feel his skin touch hers.
'What are you doing out here?' His voice cut through the silence startling Lily slightly in the processes.
'Thinking' was the honest reply. She sighed again, a stupid habit that had suddenly sprung on her. She heard James chuckle, his face turned towards hers but she kept her own firmly staring at the moon straight ahead. James followed her gaze until he too was staring at the moon.
'Beautiful' he breathed, whether she was meant to hear or not she didn't know, but either way she didn't respond. Silence once again enveloped the two 17 year olds as they sat admiring the moon. It was a while before Lily spoke up.
'What are you doing here?' she whispered, she wasn't sure if she should have asked for some reason.
'Thinking' he replied, a small smile spread across his lips, the lips she so wanted to feel against her own. Lily threw her head back and let out a laugh, her auburn hair flowing in a tangled mess. James let out another titter of laughter as he stared at her. Feeling his eyes upon her face, Lily finally turned her head to look at him. His hair was a complete mess as usual and his mouth was pressed together in a warm smile, lips slightly chapped from the cold. His glasses were slightly askew and behind them were his amazingly beautiful eyes. Lily had never seen such striking eyes before in her life. They were a dark brown with flecks of light brown and grey. And at the moment they were staring into her own with such intensity that it made her blood grow warm and she felt a blush form on her cheeks and neck. She looked away cursing the blush that was so obvious on her face.
'What were you thinking about?' he whispered. The blush grew even brighter when Lily remembered that she was thinking about the boy next to her. What should she tell him? You, I was thinking about you because I like you and I want to kiss you senseless. Not Likely. James was still staring at her, waiting for an answer so Lily just said the first thing that came to her mind that was not James related.
'Snape.'She replied. Oh god why did I say that. One look at James' suddenly sour face was enough to tell Lily that it was a huge mistake to mention his enemy.
'I mean, I was thinking about what he said today, not so much him as a person.' Lily burst out. James face turned from resentful to angry as he remembered the incident that had happened earlier.
Slughorn had been droning on for the past 20 minutes and James was ready to eat his own hand out of boredom when the bell signalling end of lesson rang throughout the room. James grunted in response to Sirius as they headed out of the classroom. Once outside the door though he stopped taking in the scene in front of him. Five Slytherin's were gathered around Lily and Marlene pressing them up against the wall. Both girls had looks of fury on their face at being shoved about and James would have laughed for the poor Slytherin's if he hadn't spotted Snape with them. Seeing the greasy git added to James' foul mood. Lily said something to the stupid gits, a look of smug confidence on her face as she said what was probably a witty comeback. James noticed Snape open his mouth and knew what he was going to say before it happened.
"Shut it you filthy little mudblood' He spat at her. Lily looked as though she had been slapped. Marlene made a noise of outrage as she took a step towards Snape, but James got their quicker, ignoring Peter's "leave it Prongs" he stormed over, causing the other Slytherin's to back away as he did. A wise idea, he thought bitterly to himself. Before Snape could reach his wand James had him against the wall, he towered of the worthless piece of slime and held his own wand threateningly against Snapes throat.
'Take it back' he muttered, spitting out the words as if they tasted something sour. When Snape jerked his head in a motion the clearly said 'no' James pressed his wand tighter into the other boys neck.
'Take it back, now.' His sounded like a strangers, it was low and dangerous, and it was a tone that was not usually associated with the carefree prankster.
'James leave it, he's not worth it' Marlene spoke up from behind him; James ignored her, still glaring into Snape's dead black eyes. Everything about the boy screamed that he was evil.
'James' a different voice cut through his thoughts, a broken and quite voice full of pleading. A small soft hand rested on his shoulder. He watched Snape's eyes go from Lily's face down to her hand that was now placed on James' shoulder. With a hard shove, James pushed Snape to the floor.
'Count yourself lucky' he spat before stalking out of the dungeons.
'James?' Lily asked tentatively successfully snapping James out of his daze. James slowly turned his head back round to face Lily, his features had softened but the hate was still in his eyes.
'Ignore it, it was a vile thing for him to say' James spat out. Lily doubled back slightly at the venom in his voice. Taking a deep breath she said
'You really shouldn't have threatened him like that you know' James gave a snort of laughter that lacked humour, which sounded all the scarier coming from a normally cool and collected boy.
'I didn't threaten him Lily' James stated all the while staring into Lily's eyes, as though searching to find some hidden emotion.
'Sticking your wand into his neck while having him shoved against a wall is pretty threatening' Lily muttered just loud enough for James to know that it was directed at him. He scoffed before saying under his breath something that sounded like 'he deserved it'.
'I just don't want to see you get into trouble because of him' Lily said making James snap his eyes back to meet hers, a small smile now tugging at the corner of his lips. Lily realising what she had just said went an even darker shade of red, thinking all the while how unattractive she must look. She looked away from James trying to hide her beetroot complexion, she froze slightly when James' leg brushed against her own under the glassy water. She brushed it of as an accidental nudge but when he did it again and held his leg intertwined with hers she snapped her head back to look at him. James' face had so many emotions crossing it that it was hard to pick out which one was most evident. He smiled almost shyly at her as he moved to close the gap between their arms. Lily breathed out the air that she had been holding when their arms touched, his skin was warm considering the Antarctic weather.
'Thanks' He said momentarily confusing the red head in front of him. What? Thanks?
'For what?' she asked her eyebrow meeting in confusion, green eyes searching the brown for answers, the brown eyes that were very close. He let out a laugh before answering; it was a nervous noise coming from James.
'For giving a shit.' He said laughing again. Lily looked at him disapprovingly for a moment before giggling.
'No problem.' She finally said, James was so close now, she could feel his warm breath on her face. The moon light was casting an eerie glow on the two teenagers; their skin looked unnaturally pale in the silvery light. James noticed a new shade of green that appeared in Lily's eyes in this particular lighting.
'Beautiful' he murmured again, Lily didn't really know what to do, her heart screamed at her to kiss him but her brain was telling her that as heads they should not be mixing business with pleasure. Fuck off brain. Her heart had the right idea, but nerves were stopping Lily, what if he didn't want to kiss her? His eyes were unreadable. Lily opened her mouth to say that they should probably head back when she felt James' lips press firmly but softly against her own. Shocked by the sudden movement Lily just sat, unresponsive while James pulled back slightly. His eyes were so full of love, yet hurt was starting to make its way on to the scene. Realising that this was probably because she had sat like a statue while he had kissed her she was about to say sorry when he beat her to the chase. His mouth opened as he said
'Lily I'm sor- umph' Lily leaned forward and captured his open mouth with her own, their intertwined legs under the water pulling them closer together as James' hands found the back of her neck and waist, while Lily found one of hers tangled in his mop of raven hair, whilst the other was pressed against his leg. The kiss started off gentle but built in passion, their lips moved together as if they were synchronised to do so, his breath and her breath mingled together and the butterflies in Lily's stomach were fluttering wildly, while the beast in James' stomach was roaring in triumph. James trailed his tongue along Lily's lips, seeking entrance, which she gladly gave to him, deepening the kiss. They sat by the lake kissing for merlin knows how long. When they broke apart for breath James rested his forehead against Lily's breathing deeply but smiling all the way. Lily let a nervous laugh escape her mouth and he joined her, his deep rumbles of laughter mingling with her giggles.