Lily Evans leaned against the tree, pulling her knees up to her chest. She shouldn't have been there. It was nearing curfew; she was supposed to be Head Girl! These thoughts were some of the many that swirled around her head, and yet, she could not bring herself to leave. The torn piece of parchment that had landed on her desk in Potions was crumpled in her hand. She uncurled her fist to give it's elegant script another glance:
L,
Meet me by the Black lake at nine o' clock tonight.
P.
It was curiosity that had driven her to come there. There were only three people in her Potions class whose first names started with a P: Peter Pettigrew, Penny Stratford and Percival Grindstone. Since the latter two were in Slytherin, that wasn't likely. (Unless they were to lure her out her to attack her, but she doubted that they would be idiotic enough to give her evidence of the fact.) Also, she had seen Pettigrew's writing, and it looked like chicken scratches. So, the only conclusion she was able to draw was that P stood for a nickname, and even then, she wasn't familiar enough with any of the students in her Potions class to know if they had a nickname, let alone what it was. All of her closest friends had opted to drop Potions after their O.W.L. examinations in fifth year.
As the night grew darker, Lily glanced at her watch. One minute to nine, it read. If they were going to come, they would be coming then. She strained her eyes to see if anyone was moving through the entrance by which she'd left, or if someone was walking closer to her. She saw nothing.
"Maybe, maybe they're not coming," she muttered aloud.
"Or maybe, maybe they sneaked up behind you," said a deep, male voice by her ear. She turned her head sharply, looking up.
"Potter." Lily said, her eyes widening slightly. It made more sense now; P hadn't stood for a nickname, or a first name. It stood for Potter, as in James Potter. As in her fellow Head, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, a well-known troublemaker, though he was competing for the top marks in their year along with Lily. He was also quite popular with their peers. Though he wasn't nearly as handsome as Sirius Black, his best mate and partner in crime, James Potter had this on his side: Unwavering, unnerving, confidence. This turned what might have been an average-looking boy into a leader, someone who many looked up to, and quite a few girls fancied.
Lily, however, wasn't one of the girls who fell at his feet. She could see he was handsome, but he was, in her eyes, an arrogant, trouble-making bully. At least, in past years he had been. Though still possessing his cockiness, Potter hadn't been seen bullying anyone in the month they'd already shared their honored position. Yes, he had committed several pranks with his crew of Black, Lupin and Pettigrew, but not once had Lily seen him hexing or tormenting another student, as he might have been in sixth year. She could see why he'd been picked for the position despite his past. He was dedicated, a good leader, and very charismatic.
She didn't know what to make of him now, but she didn't trust him. She couldn't, after the hell he'd caused during her fifth year, asking (more appropriate terms would be pestering, annoying, and even bribing) her to go out with him, taunting her about it whilst he tortured her then best friend. Of course, each time he was harshly and violently rejected. He may have been a good Head so far, but she couldn't forget how he'd acted before. They hadn't had much contact in the previous year, other than the occasional verbal match when he was bothering other students. She assumed he was over her (it would be very vain of her to think otherwise), but she was still cautious.
"You don't sound happy to see me," said Potter, grinning slightly.
"Your powers of deduction amaze me," she remarked dryly. "I just- wasn't expecting you. I'm not sure what I was expecting at all, actually..."
He smirked and sat down next to her. "And yet, you came." Potter crossed his legs, leaning against the tree as well.
"And yet, I came." agreed Lily. "Why is it that I was wanted here in the first place, Potter?"
"You know Lily, you can call me James. I'd prefer it actually. I think we should put our history -yes, I'm referring the fact I was a git in fifth year- behind us. And that, m'lady, is precisely why I asked you here tonight." Potter, or now, James, smiled at her. It was different than the way he usually smiled, a lazy, cocky grin that usually preceded a hand running through his raven-coloured hair. This was more like an offer, of friendship, perhaps. The softness of it suited him more than any smirk.
Lily was surprised at his reason for the note. "You had me come out here, breaking curfew, to ask if we could be mates? And why couldn't this have waited until tomorrow morning or something? We are in the same house, you know. You see me all the time in between classes, and even when we're arranging Head meetings and such."
He laughed. "Does that mean you don't want to?" asked Potter, -James, she corrected mentally- looking a bit more serious.
She thought about it. "I... I don't know, James." She said his name slowly, as if testing it out. "We haven't always been on the best terms.. Not that I don't think you'd make a good mate, but it's just, I don't know if I can trust you enough as of yet," Lily didn't care for the boy, but she wasn't malicious enough to want to deliberately hurt his feelings. She just didn't want a repeat of what had happened two years ago. James was known to go overboard when he wanted something, and so it was hard to take his offer seriously.
James seemed to consider her words, and after a minute, nodded. "I get it. I haven't always proved myself to be able to handle things responsibly. But I'm really trying this year, and I want you to understand that." His face grew more serious. "I mean, think about it. What if we graduate and we're still on unpleasant terms? What if one of us dies while out there, trying to live in these dark times? You must know there's a war on the horizon. Wouldn't it feel pretty bad to have never made amends while we had the chance?"
"I suppose it does make sense," said Lily thoughtfully. "And it does seem a bit silly to hold onto a grudges over things that happened over a year ago. I'll give this... being mates thing a chance. We'll see how it goes, alright?" She now offered him a smile.
Lily yawned slightly and decided this was a sign that it was getting later and was time to head up. "We should be going inside now, or Filch will see us and you know he'd love any excuse to make us look like bad Head students." She stood, expecting him to follow suit, but he didn't.
"You go on ahead. I'm going to hang here for a while. And don't worry about me getting caught by Flich, I have my ways of not being seen," He winked and grinned to himself, and Lily felt as if she was missing out on a joke, but she continued on her way forward, shaking her head at what an odd night this had been.
Half-way to the school, she paused and turned around to glance at James, who was staring up at the stars, which twinkled playfully in the night sky. Friends, she thought, considering the term. She turned back and walked into the castle, not noticing the eyes that were following her from their place at the beech tree.
"James!" Lily yelled up the stairs to the boys' dormitories, tapping her foot impatiently. "James, we have a meeting with Dumbledore in ten minutes," she called. James was never known for his punctuality, and contrastingly Lily was almost never late. She thought it polite to wait for him so they could both walk up the Headmaster's office together, but she was coming to regret that decision, for it put her in a situation when she was barely going to make it, and that was if they went quickly.
"Changing," was the only reply she received. She nearly rolled her eyes. Of course he would be changing when they only had ten minutes before the meeting. Did he ever come to anything on time?
Lily shook her head, glancing at her watch nervously. She sighed and yelled up the stairs, "If you're not down in five minutes, no matter what state of dress you're in, I'm dragging you all the way to that meeting, Potter," she threatened.
James popped his head out of the door and grinned at her. "Try me, Evans. Do you honestly I'll care?" he asked cheekily, before moving his head back inside and closing the door.
Lily rolled her eyes. She should've expected something like that from James. She briefly wondered whether all teenage boys were mildly perverted, or if it was just the ones at Hogwarts. Judging by her experiences with Muggle boys during her breaks, she supposed that it was all of them. She kept a rhythm with her still tapping foot and checked her watch every so often. Soon, five minutes had passed and she was past exasperated. She shouted as she began up the staircase, "I hope you're decent, because I'm coming up and we're going, whether you like it or not."
As her hand was turning the handle of James' dormitory door, the door suddenly swung open, leaving her stumbling into someone. Specifically, a now fully dressed James Potter. Upon seeing her, he grinned madly once again. "Sorry disappoint you, love, but you're not going to catch me in a state of undress today. But if you're lucky, maybe I'll forget my pants whilst dressing for breakfast tomorrow," he added with a laugh.
Lily shook her head at him, but couldn't contain her smile. In the few months that had gone by since they'd decided to be friends, she'd grown rather fond of his antics as opposed to irritated by them. "C'mon, we have to go. We're definitely going to late now," she said, trying to keep a reprimanding expression, and failing miserably. She decided his grin was simply infectious, and it was going to be an utter problem when it came to keeping his mischief in tow.
James threw an arm around her as they hurried down the stairs. "Lily, Lily, Lily, how you underestimate me. Surely you're aware I know of several... unconventional routes that will get us there in no time," he said, lowering his voice a bit so the people they passed would not hear.
Unfortunately, the attention of their peers was rapt. Needless to say, the newly found camaraderie between the once enemy Heads was a shock to almost all students of Hogwarts. Half of them expected it to end in a day, the other half expected them to start dating immediately. When neither happened, the two had to get used to eyes being trained on them constantly, watching and waiting for one outcome or the other. James adapted to this more easily than Lily, because he was already used to the constant surveillance of the student body, being as popular as he was.
Lily tried to ignore their gazes and marched forward with James. It turns out, he was right. Using some convenient passageways that Lily had never known before, they were in front of Dumbledore's office with a minute to spare. James smirked at her. "What did I tell you?" he asked smugly.
"How did you find these passageways, anyways?" Lily demanded, once again struck by how much he knew about the school.
He smiled mysteriously. "Now that's a story for another time, darling." James turned to the gargoyles in front of the entrance to Dumbledore's office and said, "Candy Apples," The gargoyles hopped out of the way and they headed into their Headmaster's office.
When the two walked into the room, Lily noticed Dumbledore's gaze move to James' arm, which was still around Lily. Noticing this, James withdrew it from her quickly and they took their seats across from the blue-eyed Headmaster. "Before we begin, let me congratulate you both on your new-found companionship. As Headmaster, I'm aware of the goings on at this school, and I knew when I placed you both as Heads that you had a history of enmity going a few years back. I was both pleasantly surprised and proud when I found out that the two of you were mature enough to let go of the past and become friends," Dumbledore told them, smiling cheerfully.
"Thanks you, sir," said Lily politely.
"You are very welcome, Miss Evans. Now, to get to the reason I summoned you here to my office." The Headmaster's smile now faded, and his expression became serious. His usually twinkling eyes now contained a certain graveness. When the Headmaster spoke, the young Head students exactly why Albus Dumbledore was so admired, envied, feared, and above all else, respected. "Now, as you are aware, the attacks on Muggles and Muggle-borns are becoming more frequent as time goes on. Men and women are being stolen from their homes in the night, not a trace of them found, or, being publicly tortured to let everyone know of the message that is being put out: Anyone who is of Muggle descent, or stands in the way of the attacks, will be taken down by Lord Voldemort."
Out of the corner of her eye, Lily saw James flinch. Having been raised in a Muggle community, she wasn't as prone to the knee-jerk reaction induced by hearing the name of the one who was threatening Muggle kind. James, however, was a pureblood, and had been told never to call the -for lack of a better word- man by what he was truly named.
Lily was not the only one who noticed the movement from James. "Fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself, Mister Potter. And in times like these, fear aids no one but Lord Voldemort." said Dumbledore wisely, not reprimanding, but simply giving James more courage.
"Right." James replied, nodding. "V-Voldemort isn't someone who deserves the help of anyone's fear. All he deserves is to be taken down and sent to Azkaban where the dementors can deal with whatever's left of that bastard's -pardon my language, sir- soul." He was now staring the much older man directly in the eyes, jaw set and more determined than Lily had ever seen him.
"I'm glad that you are so enthusiastic about the fight against the dark side. You would do well to remember, though, that enthusiasm and bravery are not all it takes to make a difference to this war. In fact, bravery and loyalty combined with recklessness are exactly what have lost us many brilliant wizards and witches. But we do have something incredibly powerful on our side: love. It is pure, binding, and stronger than any weapon that Voldemort could ever gain. He could ever understand something so innocent and untouchable and that is what will win us this war."
Lily looked from James to Dumbledore. "So it's a war now, sir? Is that why you called us to your office?"
Dumbledore sighed, heavy and heartfelt, his years truly showing on his face. "That is part of the reason, Miss Evans. Yes, it is a war. A war in which the casualties are mounting. And so, as Head Boy and Girl, I would like to request that you both teach any any willing older students how to defend themselves with more advanced spells. The Hogwarts cirriculum does cover several useful protective spells, but with the attacks' frequency increasing to this extent, it would be prudent for the students to learn how to fend off atttacks in any way they can. The professors are currently incredibly busy and I believe that students may respond better to someone closer to their age helping them. You are two of the best Defence students, and correct me if I'm mistaken, but you both have researched some of the more advanced techniques outside of lessons?"
James and Lily both nodded. They'd been practicing some of those spells the previous week, after a mutual close friend of theirs, Marlene McKinnon, had recieved news that one of her younger sisters had been stolen out of their home out for the McKinnon family's very open stand against Voldemort. Timidly, Lily questioned, "Sir, do you really think we're up to teaching that many students? I mean, we're barely of age ourselves,"
"I do believe you are both up to the challenge. I am not asking you to reach beyond what I know you are capable of. But you do have the knowledge of many higher level spells that other students do not, and I simply ask that you use this knowledge to aid your classmates. Of course, you are well within your rights to refuse, if that is your choice," Dumbledore added, examining her over his half-moon spectacles.
"No sir, that isn't my choice. I want to do my part in whatever way I can to help defeat Voldemort while still at school. After school, I want to become an Auror to help capture Death Eaters, as well as Voldemort himself if I can." announced Lily, sounding more brave than she felt. It was a terrifying prospect, but she'd also never wanted to do anything more in her life. She'd lost her best friend to the dark side, even if he hadn't died, he was still gone to her and Lily was firm in her stand that she'd keep as many people from losing the ones they cared about as possible.
Dumbledore smiled at her. "That is very good to hear, Miss Evans." He turned his head to look at James with a raised brow. "And you, Mister Potter?"
"Again, pardon my language sir, but hell yes," James said, looking torn between nervousness and happiness, so he allowed himself a sheepish grin.
The aged man looked upon the two nervous, excited teenagers. "That is all. You are free to carry on with your daily activities," he said, as an end to the meeting.
The two nodded and took their leave from Dumbledore's office.
As they walked out, James turned his gaze to Lily. "You want to become an Auror?" he questioned quietly, a furrowed brow and frown replacing his earlier grin. He seemed to struggle to keep his expression neutral, for reasons unknown to Lily.
"Yeah," said Lily, not turning towards him. Her eyes were facing forward, but her mind was in another world. She imagined herself already having achieved her dream, out on the field, fighting and rescuing people. A smile was brought to her face as she thought of what it would feel like to know she'd saved a life. Of course, she didn't care so much about how it would feel to her, she was looking forward to how good it would make the people she rescued feel. She knew she was getting a bit ahead of herself, but it was nice to imagine.
"Sounds..." James paused. "Dangerous." This surprised Lily. Out of all the words she could have expected him to use, dangerous was not one of them. Interesting, difficult, fun, intense, courageous, all were words she'd anticipate. But dangerous? Gryffindors, the Marauders especially, cared not for danger because their nerve carried them through whatever situation they needed to face.
She raised her eyebrows at him. "Aren't you planning to become an Auror as well?" she asked, sure she'd heard him mention something to that effect.
"Yes, but I'm not a Muggle-born, Lily. I don't doubt you could do it, but wouldn't joining the Aurors be like placing a giant target on your back?" he said, his expression unplaceable.
"Please, James," scoffed Lily. "As if you're not doing the same. There's scarce a bigger blood-traitor family than yours, even if you are pureblood. You've no more reason to be worried about my safety than your own." Lily murmured, frowning. "Why are you so concerned? You were friends with Benjy, before he graduated, and he was a Muggleborn who wanted to be an Auror. I don't seem to recall him telling me you'd ever protested to his plans."
James had a crease between his eyebrows. He appeared to struggle with the wording of his next statement. The usually articulate Head Boy seemed to be doing this often tonight. "You're... different."
Her frown deepened. "Because I'm female?" she surmised.
He shook his head vigourously. "No, Lily, it's not that, not at all. You know I don't think of women that way. Look at the woman I have for a mother, she's one of the most strong-willed, courageous, powerful people I know." James often spoke of his mother this way. His parents were both Aurors in their day, though they'd retired now. He looked to them, especially his mother as he got older, for a perfect example of what he wanted to be like. He'd confided quietly once that the fact his parents' health was deteriorating was one of the most painful things he'd ever dealt with.
"Then what is it?" Lily demanded, slightly upset. "Why am I different than Benjy, or any other Muggle-born who wants be an Auror, female or not?"
"You're... you."
Lily feigned a look of great understanding. "Yes, I am me. That completely clears things up. Thank you, James."
"Lily," James said, holding a hand up, "just give me a moment to think of how to explain this to you." He shook his head, as if to clear it of all thoughts but his current focus. The face he donned was quite similar to that of someone figuring out a puzzle, or how to escape check during a particularly noisy chess match. It was a look of strenuous thought and concentration.
She pursed her lips, impatient. Her expression was probably akin to the face McGonagall made whilst waiting for a student to respond to a question.
James sighed. "Lily," he said again. "You are different than the others, because I care for you in a different sort of way than them. I don't doubt your abilities, but you can see how the thought of someone as tiny as you in front of a mammoth-sized Death Eater could be a little nerve-wracking for me, yes?"
"You know, I've got just as much right to be worried as you do." Lily replied. "In fact, I might have even more right, considering the fact that you're bloody reckless and would taunt a Death Eater to his face despite the fact they had the upper hand. You tend to do things without thinking, and the thought of you in battle, spitting at Voldemort's face while wandless is much more nerve-wracking." The image that Lily's own words conjured up in her head was one that made her blood go cold. She was a little overwhelmed by how much the image bothered her.
"Ah, Evans, you do care," teased James, trying to lighten the mood. He nudged her with his shoulder, giving her a strained grin.
She turned her face away from him. "It's not funny," she muttered.
He grabbed her shoulders and made her face him. As soon as he had her eye contact, he spoke. "Look at it this way, love. We'll both be Aurors together. I sure as hell won't let anything happen to you on my watch, and I'm willing to bet that you'll manage to pull my head out my arse long enough for me to hear you say, 'No, you idiot, that bloke has the wand, so shut up for once in your life.'" He gave a poor imitation of her voice in a high, lofty tone.
He managed to make her giggle. "I don't sound like that." she disagreed, trying hard not to smile.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Lil." he said in a sing-song tone.
Lily poked him in the arm roughly, but he just grinned in response. "I guess it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if we became Aurors together. I'm sure we'd be able to do some good, and it wouldn't be the most terrible experience of my life to have a good mate on my team," she admitted, shrugging. The picture painted in her mind was a much more comforting one this time. She and he fighting side-by-side, saving one life after another. She knew they wouldn't be able to save them all, but it was a nice thought to believe they could save at least one.
James shot her a look of mock hurt. "We're only good mates? And here I was telling everyone that you were my best mate of all. Oh, now I feel silly."
"Sirius is your best mate of all." she argued.
He stepped closer to her. tilting his head to the side with a smile. "Perhaps you're my best mate in a different sort of way."
Lily mirrored his stance. "Perhaps," she conceded, smiling as well.
James moved closer still. Her face was nearly level to his chest. His smile widened as he said in a hushed tone, as if confessing an embarrassing secret, "I like being your best mate. In a different sort of way, that is," he added.
"As do I," she told him, her own voice secretive.
James tilted her chin up so he could see her face. His smile faded a little as he tilted his head in the other direction and whispered, "It's really good to have you as a best mate, so I'd rather you didn't hate me after this," With those words, he leaned in pressed his mouth to hers.
Though surprised by his actions, Lily found she did not mind at all. She leaned her head back and allowed the kiss to continue, locking her arms around his neck. She pulled away with a grin on her face, and murmured "I'm rather glad we're best mates in a different sort of way. I don't think I'd be too pleased if you did that with Sirius."
Disclaim.