Disclaimer: Well, I think that it's rather obvious that I do NOT own Harry Potter, as I would be filthy rich if I did. And lets face it, I'm not. And also, that J.K. Rowling is one of the most inspirational writers of all time.
Hair whipping and cracking behind her like a wild fire, the sixteen-year-old sped through the cavernous halls of the ancient castle. Keeping her eyes peeled at all times for any professor who might be having trouble sleeping lately, she idly wondered if she ought to have asked for the map tonight. But she supposed that since the three of them were traveling together, and at an earlier time, it was crucial they have it rather than she. Nevertheless, she sped her pace a bit, not wanting to be the one caught, to get in trouble for the first time she could remember at Hogwarts. Finally, she emerged into the stark white courtyard, it's colors bleached by the moonlight. Fast-walking out of the courtyards outer walls, she turned left and pulled out her wand.
Roughly twelve feet down the stone wall, she stopped, turning to face it. Placing the tip of her wand against the singular red brick in front of her, she quietly muttered 'Phoenix Order'. As the grey wall of stones sunk in on itself and slid to the right, she quickly glanced at her surroundings, assuring herself that nobody was around to see her before she vanished into the dark passageway that had opened for her.
'Lumous', she quietly said after the opening had sealed, leaving her in the darkness. She followed the light thrown from the tip of her wand around the curve of the staircase, then along the narrow passage that shot down and directly away from the walls of Hogwarts. Soon she heard the whisper of voices - too soon to tell yet that they were male though she already knew - growing louder as she grew closer to the end of the underground hall. "Nix," she mumbled after placing her finger on another irregularly colored stone, blue this time. The light from the tip of her wand died out and she replaced her finger with the tip of her wand yet again, muttering her name this time. The wall of stone in front of her dissolved out of sight and she walked into the room beyond. Remus was the first to sight her as she sat herself quietly down upon a plush sofa. He smiled in greeting, which she returned. He sat back from where the boys hunched over a circular table.
"We can continue to plot our smarting defeat over our enemies another time boys. For now, there is a lady amongst our ranks." His two black-haired companions straightened their backs, turning their heads to face her. The boy to Remus' left shook his shoulder length hair out of his face, his usual arrogant and humorous smirk now gracing it. She grunted, showing to the boys she still could not find it in her to care much for his perpetual attitude.
"Funny mate, thought you'd said something like 'lady'. Not to fret though, 's only Evans." He laughed as she rolled her eyes at his pitiful remark. Her eyes landed on the other teen at the table, his messy black hair sticking out in nearly every direction, hazel eyes shining behind his glasses. She smiled a little at him. "Hey Lily." Was all he said, his cheeks turning a titch pink as he whipped back to the table, the hood of his Quidditch sweater swinging over his right shoulder before slipping back to its natural position.
She watched as they rolled up the piece of parchment they'd been examining and put it into a bag one of them had broughten, propped against a table leg. Remus joined her on the couch while Sirius and James sat in the overstuffed chairs facing them. The blue flames to her right crackled away merrily in a moment of silence between the group. None would really call them friends, not this early on in such an alliance. While the boys were the best of friends, Lily had just recently joined them. She was still attempting to push past their flaws, many though she saw. She shifted slightly, stripping herself of her traveling robes and draping them over the arm of the couch.
Sirius pointed his wand over her head, Lily jumped slightly before calming down enough to grasp the steaming cup of hot cocoa floating towards her, along with the others. She muffled a laugh by biting the edge of her mug as she watched James' glasses fog up from the steam. She quickly looked away as he looked up, thinking he knew that she'd been watching him. Instead, he set his mug down precariously on the edge of the coffee table in front of them and proceeded to whip off his glasses and clear them by rubbing them on the front of the scarlet and gold sweater. She went back to sipping at her hot cocoa, desperate for a distraction. As of late, nearly every time she saw him she saw someone nice, sometimes even cute. It felt like a betrayal to Severus, befriending his worst enemy, seeing him glare horridly at James as he did whenever they passed by a group of him and his friends in Slytherin. She huffed angrily. But then, Severus was no friend of hers any longer, now was he. Though she never saw him glare at her personally, she could never go back to him after what he had said, what he had called her...
Lily sat the now-empty mug on the table, her tongue burning. She'd accidentally drank it all, scalding her throat on the way down. She frowned, searching for a distraction from her unpleasant thoughts. She nearly hooted in joy as she found a simple one, inconspicuous. "So, what is it you three were doing that lady's such as myself," she threw a withering glance to Sirius, who merely smiled, "shouldn't know of?" She questioned, keeping the desperation out of her tone. The boys smiled amongst one another. "Scare tactics." Sirius finally said, wiggling his eyebrows at her. She raised one, looking at the three of them in turn. It clicked in her head. "These - scare tactics - you mention, they wouldn't happen to have anything to do with the upcoming Quidditch match against Slytherin House, would they?" She watched him, saw the smile he was trying to fight off. She frowned, now adressing all three. "You three have put Gryffindor enough below in our house points. We don't need you to put us actually BELOW Slytherin. Ravenclaw is already beating us by four, at least they were at the end of yesterday. We should be focusing on beating them. You know, which requires good behavior." She tried desperately to divert them from whatever they were planning. She knew who'd been pulling out all the stops against Slytherin in the previous weeks, and she knew why. They, all three of them, had been present when Severus had called her that dreadful name, and she knew by now, since she had stopped despising them, that amongst them all, not a one harbored any feeling of good towards the word. They all despised it with a surprising intensity for boy's so young. She only hoped that she could get through to them with her knowledge of this singular fact.
She sat back, calming herself. They all watched her raptly, expecting more outburst any second. She glanced back at them all coolly. "You can't do this to defend me. Severus may call me whatever he wishes, whether I approve, you approve, or nobody approves. It is a dreadful thing to say to someone, but the truth of the matter is that it is over with. Do not make Gryffindor House suffer for a word used with such carelessness." She spoke smoothly, never raising her voice, never inflecting them with a deeper meaning. The three boys looked back at her in a stretching silence, impregnated with held-back oppositions and arguments brewing in their heads. Slowly, they conceeded. Remus was the first to nod in acquiesence. James came roughly 20 seconds later, slumping back into the cushion of his chair with exhaustion that seemed nearly physical. All three stared at Sirius, the only one left to decide. After about a minute of everyone staring at him, he expelled a large gust of breath. "Fine!" He said in angry defeat before adverting his eyes to stare into the flames of the enchanted fire. She sighed and sent a dazzling smile to the other boys, who simply nodded and looked away.
They sat in a rather uncomfortable silence for a minute or two before anybody moved. Eventually, the boys turned back to face her and one another, though the silence continued as pensive looks were cast everywhere but to the other people. Eventually, a voice broke the noise, startling everyone, seemingly even its owner. "Oh. You're out of hot cocoa." James said before quickly pulling his wand out and flourishing it towards her mug which suddenly filled once again with hot cocoa, this time little marshmallows floated on top. She smiled a little at it and picked up the cup, bringing it to her lips for a sip. "Thank you very much." She kindly replied, and continued to sip at her sweet drink. Remus stood suddenly, catching their attention. He walked over to the bag they'd placed the parchment into earlier. He pulled out a leathery, brown bag that fit in his hand and carried it back to the couch with him. Pulling the drawstring open, he pulled out a small round object. It was bright pink and as such, looked like a painted wooden bead. He handed the bag to her. She took it carefully, setting her cocoa onto the table, suspicious as to what he'd pulled out of the bag. She watched him pop it into his mouth and figured it couldn't be TOO horribly bad if he was eating it. She dropped her hand in and pulled out a bright green bead. His eyes widened hugely as she slowly lifted it to her lips. Just before the rubbery bead touched said lips, he dove for her hand, yelping a sudden 'no'. Her eyes widened as she was knocked down onto the couch under him, the bead falling from her fingers onto the floor from her shock. He lay half on top of her now, holding her wrist tightly but not painfully. He huffed, blowing hair off of his forhead. He crawled back off her, grasping her hand to pull her back into a proper sitting position. She only stared at him with wide eyes, obviously expecting an explanation for his odd behavior.
He sighed. "That's not the kind you were supposed to grab. Try again. If you get another green one, just toss it back." He obscurely assured her. She frowned, but dug again, closer to the bottom this time. The one she pulled out was electric blue. She frowned up at him, but as he did not react the same way, she popped what she presumed was a candy into her mouth. Her eyes widened in wonder, though she made sure she chewed and swallowed before speaking. "It's tastes just like an AirHead!" She proclaimed excitedly, searching through the bag in her hands to find another blue bead. She looked up as she chewed on the second one and viewed three masks of confusion staring at her. After she'd swallowed again, Remus spoke. "What is an 'Air Head'?" Her eyes widened in realization as the truth hit her. "That's right! I'm sorry, I totally forgot you were all raised in a wizarding society! I was raised with muggles, so... Well, anywho, an AirHead is a type of candy. Long and individually wrapped, chewy and somewhat stretchy. They have different flavors, Cherry, Watermelon, Blueberry, and so on... The blue ones, they taste like the Blueberry AirHeads." She explained rapidly, searching avidly for yet another. Once she had found it and savored it, she looked up again, feeling stares.
All three boys were watching her, tiny smiles on their faces. She was snared for a moment by James' lopsided lips, wondering what they would taste like combined with the taste of the candy. She blushed, looking back at the bag. Seeming to only now remember where it had come from, she thrust it back at Remus, who watched with eyebrows raised in surprise at her sudden movement. "Here, they're yours. I mustn't eat anymore. May I ask though, where you got them? I should like to buy some myself." She questioned amiably as he held the sack. He frowned at it for a moment before pulling the drawstring to close it and tossing the small sack to her lap. She caught it, frowning at him. "No, Remus, I couldn't. You spent your money on them, just because I like them..." She started to protest, but he quickly cut her off. "No no, you see, I didn't spend anything on them. I MADE them, Lily." She only blinked at him in her surprise. "You... Made them?" She questioned, taken aback. "Yes! I was very proud. I'm glad to see the first person to try them liked them." He smiled pleasantly to her. She seemed to get some of her stature back, and smiled politely back to him. "Glad to be your taste-tester, Remus." She said jokingly, setting everyone to laughing. "Just whatever you do, don't eat the green ones." Her brow frowned in confusion. "They taste like bogies." He answered the unspoken question. Sirius burst into a rather loud fit of uncontrollable laughter. James merely snickered before controlling himself.
Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius, turning back to Lily. "Or anyway, I THINK they taste like them. They're supposed to, but I haven't had the courage to test them myself. Either way, best not to try." He spoke loudly, struggling to be heard over Sirius' catterwhauling. James snickered again. Lily smiled in earnest to Remus, befrore reopening the pouch and pulling out every color she could find, questioning what it was supposed to taste like. Once Sirius calmed down, it was much easier to converse as the hours dwindled down until the knew they would leave soon so as to be back in time to get to classes without anyone noticing they'd been gone. Soon enough, she found herself standing, pulling on her traveling robes and stuffing the pouch of beans into an inner pocket. The boys all watched her. She sighed. "I have to go now. How unfortunate that, unlike you three, I am not so wondrous in my sneaking abilities. I don't relish the thought of being caught, thank you." She said before turning her back to the boys, walking towards the exit. "Wait up!" She heard, she stopped and looked over her shoulder. James was reaching for his own traveling robes, laid over the back of the chair he'd been in at the table, then rushing over to her. He pulled out his own wand, pressing it to the other side of the blue stone. The wall disintegrated and James allowed her to pass in front of him. She lit the wand, leading him and herself out of the little space that was quickly become a slight bit claustrophobic.
She took giant but silent breaths of clean, fresh air when they at last were outside of the castle's walls, above ground once again. The earth around was lit by the pre-dawn brightness of the sun they still could not see, there were birds chirping and other animals rustling all around. She sighed, smiling, at the magic all around her that was nature. She glimpsed James, seeing that he was watching her with an odd look on his face. She let her arms fall back to her sides. "What?" She questioned. He simply shook his head, the look flashing away. "It's nothing, don't worry about it." He stated, reaching into his robes, pulling something out of an inner pocket. It was wrapped into a tight bundle, and even though she'd seen it only once, she recognized it immediately as his Invisibility Cloak. He draped it over his shoulders, causing the odd effect of seeing someone's head floating around without a body. He headed back towards the courtyard, but stopped just outside of it. He held the cloak open towards her. "Come on," he whispered. "I can get you back to the common room without being seen. We just have to be quiet." He waved at her to come to him. She was reminded of the feeling of claustrophobia in the tunnel, then looked again at him. It was truly the only fool-proof way to get back without getting caught. She smiled a bit, barely lifting the corner of her lips.
She shuffled under the cloak with him and he closed it about them. They stood facing each other, frozen for a moment of time, faces close and eyes wide before he coughed, turning from her. She turned to face the same direction as well, and they shuffled off into the corridors lit by the light of pre-dawn, up staircases to the Gryffindor Common Room, where they parted ways for their own dormitories.
AN: Yes, there are many things I may need to explain. As Rowling has described them getting together finally in their 7th year, this is set in the 6th year(hence the age). I figured that there had to be a time where she saw him and he was changing. It is apparently never mentioned(though if you've heard otherwise from a reliable source, I'd like to know) when exactly during their schooling that Voldemort rose up, so I placed it reasonably close to the end. They were part of the original Order of the Phoenix, and I intended their little underground room to be a sort of meeting place for the Order, which they, mainly the boys, just liked to use to hang out sometimes. Though I guess it's not explained very well in the story, Lily was not expected to be there that night. I had to make Lupid really fit in with James and Sirius, so I made him a bit more like Fred and George. Sorry if this totally throws anyone off. Lastly, thank you for reading, review please. =)