Everything She Knew

Lily Evans had always disliked Halloween. She just didn't see the point in getting scared for fun – surely there were better things to do with your time than with something as childish as Halloween? Uninterested, she glanced around the Great Hall at all the students chatted animatedly to their friends.

Evidently, they didn't seem to think that this holiday was such a total waste of time like Lily did.

It was the same every year. To Lily, it was just another feast, where all she wanted to do was eat, enjoy the delicious food, and then leave without anymore fuss. But every year, Alice continually persuaded Lily to stay longer and longer and eventually she had finally gave in, not because she wanted to stay, but just to stop Alice going on and on about it. She just didn't understand Lily's opinion – nobody seemed to. But anyhow, this year was Lily's last year, so she supposed she better 'enjoy' it.

The Great Hall was adorned with the usual array of Halloween decorations. There were live bats swooping above everyone's heads, pumpkins the size of small houses at either end of the staff table and a number of people in costume, who were dotted around the house tables, excluding Slytherin (who never seemed to enjoy themselves at this time of year enough to make any effort – this time, Lily agreed with them). A few of those students had even tried to put charms on themselves but many were noticeably unsuccessful. This made them stick out horrendously above the other students who had dressed up and Lily found herself stifling a snort.

'Oi! Evans!' Lily rolled her eyes as James Potter called from a little way down the Gryffindor table. 'Want to go for a little … stroll, after the feast?'

She glared at him. There he was surrounded by his friends: Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin.

They'd been inseparable since first year. Black was by far the tidiest looking one and pretty much every girl in the whole bloody school swooned over him. He, however, took that as a sign to sleep with them all, or so the rumours said. Lily didn't care much for rumours.

Potter had a similar issue with girls, and it had seriously inflated his ego. It was all: Quidditch this, Quidditch that. Not that Lily didn't enjoy a good Quidditch match every now and then (it was interesting to watch), but you'd think it was the only thing he ever talked about.

Then there was Peter Pettigrew. He was a small boy with a rounded face who followed Potter and Black like a little lap dog. She didn't really know much about him, for he was awfully quiet. Lily used to worry about him, but when she told Alice of her fears, her round-faced friend had told her that he could look after himself. Even now, though, Lily sometimes struggled to shake of that worried feeling.

Of course there was Remus. Remus was okay, and they took similar classes and helped each other out with homework from time to time. He always looked ill, but was very nice to Lily and secretly she was quite disappointed when he didn't get Head-Boy. Dumbledore had to give Potter Head-Boy. She was sure that the old man had his reasons (he always did), but that didn't mean that she agreed with them.

What on earth was he thinking?! Lily sighed.

'Oh shut it, Potter. I don't know, or care, how you got the far fetched idea that I actually like you into your oversized head, because I really, really don't. And anyway, I've got some Potions homework for Professor Slughorn.' She retorted before things could get awkward.

'Stuff old Sluggy and his Potions homework!' called James, but Lily was no longer listening. In her opinion, Potter wasn't worth it, even if he had followed her for years, trying (and failing) over and over again to get her attention, but it had never worked. So he just made out that he hated her to spare his pride, but Lily knew better. She had turned her back on him to talk to her friend Alice who seemed to be deeply involved in a heated debate as to whether Halloween was worth all the fuss or not. Lily was most definitely more than happy to jump in and give her opinion.

'So, do you like Halloween yet, Lily?' asked Alice with a sly grin.

'Not really. I mean, how can somebody enjoy getting scared? I don't. I feel like there's enough real things in life to be scared of.' Lily said, disgruntled.

'I see your point,' she replied, putting on a surprisingly good 'posh' accent as she spoke, 'Very good … What do you think, Marlene?' Alice said, turning to Marlene McKinnon, a blonde girl who was in the sixth year, below Lily and Alice.

'Well, personally, I think that Halloween's just a silly bit of fun. What's not to like?' Marlene had a much more positive approach to Halloween – this didn't surprise Lily. The fair-haired girl that sat opposite her had always loved anything that was exciting or different, and was known for her outgoing personality.

'Well, there you have it,' Alice grinned, 'Some very reliable evidence right in front of you there, Lils.' Lily rolled her eyes, the hint of a smile passing across her lips before she responded.

'And your conclusion is?' she asked questioningly.

'Lily, Lily, Lily. Isn't it obvious?' she said with look that clearly proved to Lily that Alice was going to say something that resembled nothing like a well thought out conclusion.

'Halloween is awesome. FACT.' Alice smirked, and Marlene couldn't help but laugh. There it was, Lily thought to herself and she raised her eyebrows and shook her head at her fellow Gryffindor.

'I'm glad that next Halloween we won't be having this conversation," the red-head sighed. Alice muttered something along the lines of Oh yes you will in a creepily high voice and Lily did her best to ignore her as food miraculously appeared on each table.

The remainder of the feast passed quickly. Frank Longbottom, Alice's boyfriend, had made a brief visit from the Hufflepuff table and James Potter and his little gang had tried to pull something which Lily was glad Professor McGonagall had put a stop too. She was sure that the prank would have not ended well and that the whole hall would have ended up covered in green goo, or something equally as nasty.

Soon enough Professor Dumbledore was dismissing everybody with a call of 'Time for bed! Off you go now, chop chop!' The red-haired girl had already said goodnight to her friends from the other houses (whilst trying desperately to avoid Severus' gaze) and was almost out of the Great Hall when someone grabbed her wrist and spun her around. Thinking it was Alice, Lily turned around with a smile on her face, but the smile soon turned to a frown when she saw who it was.

'Oh. It's you,' she said, not making any effort to keep the disappointment and distaste out of her voice.

'Yeah,' James replied eagerly, failing to notice the filthy look that she was shooting him through narrowed green eyes as he tugged her wrist gently to lead her from the Great Hall.

'What do you want?' she asked coldly, pulling her hand from his grasp. Potter had always been like this, grabbing her hand instead of calling for her. She wasn't really sure if she liked it or not.

He tugged her wrist for a second time before speaking. 'I want you to come with me.'

And without notice he pulled her behind the nearest tapestry.

Lily was so surprised she almost tripped, but James caught her. She hid her flushed face from his gaze as she wondered what they were doing hiding behind a tapestry of a rather severe-looking woman who was preening herself with an air of great importance. How could nobody have seen them? Gathering herself together once more, she tried to look James directly in the eye but as he wasn't looking her way she found this quite hard to accomplish.

'Potter, what on earth are you doing?'

James ignored her, and continued rummaging through his bag, muttering 'I'm sure it's here somewhere.'

'Potter, are you even listening?' Lily whispered heatedly. 'Potter. Potter! … JAMES!'

'Hmm?'

'Were you even listening to me? God, you can be so … insolent, sometimes. Did you know that?'

'Nope. News to me.'

Lily sighed, exasperated.

She said nothing more as James still continued to rummage through his bag. Looking satisfied, he pulled out a wad of silvery fabric that rippled like water.

'Ah ha! Here it is!'

'What's that?' Lily asked him, who by now was feeling very frustrated.

'This is an invisibility cloak.'

Lily was confused as James threw the cloak over the pair of them. They stepped from the tapestry into the now-empty entrance hall.

'Um … James. I'm not too sure about this.' Lily had to tell James of her fears.

'Lily, please … trust me. I promise I won't hurt you. I just want to show you something. I promise.' James' promise seemed so genuine that Lily felt that if she didn't trust him at that moment, she probably never would.

Lily wasn't entirely sure how they had managed to get there, but soon James had his hand on the heavy oak doors that led outside into the grounds when they heard a noise that came from behind them. Lily's heart froze with fear as she locked eyes with James, who stood next to her and was trying hard not to look slightly unnerved as he pulled out his wand.

They waited for what seemed like an eternity (although realistically it was no more than a few moments) in silence. Nothing happened.

'Must've been Peeves,' James muttered as they made their way steadily down the stone steps, perhaps a little more cautiously than they needed to.

The dew drops glistened on the grounds under the bleached light of the crescent moon that hung high up in the sky. The sky itself was scattered with stars that shone brightly like diamonds and it almost seemed fake, but Lily found herself completely in awe. She didn't know where they were going, but was surprised to find that she trusted the hazel-eyed boy who perfectly matched her quick stride as he walked alongside her as they passed the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. For once she didn't feel the need to question James Potter's actions, but after a long while of walking in silence her curiosity got the better of her.

'Are you going to tell me where we're going?' she asked as they jumped over a gurgling stream.

'Nah, I don't think so. You'll just have to wait and see. I want it to be a surprise. Anyway, I know that you'll love it, so there's no need to worry.'

Honestly, thought Lily. Typical Potter. Mr Know – It – All. Mr Suave. Mr I – Always – Know – What – I'm – Doing – So – There's – No – Need – To – Question – Me – And – My – Amazingness.

They lapsed back into silence for quite a while, never stumbling, never unsure of where to go, or which path to take. They only slowed when they could hear the gushing sound of water between the shadowy trees.

'C'mon,' whispered James, carefully taking Lily's hand. She didn't pull away this time. She felt intrigued, and determined to find out what was so special that James wanted to show her. She also couldn't deny the little voice in her head that said: his hand feels quite nice, too. Whoops. She shook herself. Since when did Potter's hand feel nice?!

They picked their way through the rocks for a few more minutes until James stopped abruptly at the entrance to a clearing. Lily stopped too, and gasped. Her jaw dropped open in pure amazement.

'It's beautiful.'

A tumbling, shimmering waterfall crashed down over a sheer face of glistening black rock into a swirling, abyss below before it joined up with a river which that wove through the landscape and into the night. Trees towered above them, whilst autumn leaves carpeted the floor, leaving it even more difficult to walk through than it already was (it was soft and boggy, saturated with rain

from the previous nights). The night air was cool, even cold, compared to the warm cosiness of inside the castle. The smell of the autumn filled Lily's nostrils, mixed with the smell of phlox and some herb which Lily didn't recognise from her Potions lessons. The only sound was the continuous white noise of the river beside them: apart from that the air was still and quiet. Laying a few metres away from the river bank was a chequered red and white blanket, on which sat several plates of mouth-watering food which included a golden treacle tart, a bulging pumpkin pie, a thick, delicious-smelling beef stew, a pair of mini pizzas and two mugs of hot chocolate drenched in cream and sprinkled with marshmallows.

'Pott– I mean, James, just – wow. How on earth did you manage this?'

'The house elves are more than happy to do me the odd favour every now and then.'

Lily laughed at this: why did that not surprise her?

'And it's all my favourite food. How did you know?'

James tapped his nose and grinned cheekily down at her. 'I have my ways.'

'Oh, I love you, James Potter.'

It was only in the awkward silence that followed in which Lily realised what she had just said. She blushed scarlet and looked away, but not before she saw the look on James' face. It was surprise, mingled with – what was that? Disappointment? No, it couldn't be. But Lily didn't look again, afraid of what she would see.

'Um, I didn't mean that, sorry …' she bit her lip anxiously.

'It's okay,' James said quietly. Lily was shocked that she was able to detect a hint of sadness in his voice. 'Er … do you want something to eat?' He indicated towards the food laid out on the blanket. Lily was relieved at his change of subject.

'Yeah,' she said thankfully, trying to stop herself from blushing before she reached for the treacle tart. She knew that savoury came before sweet, but now didn't seem the time for worrying about unimportant things like that.

They ate in an awkward silence. Lily was annoyed with herself when she found that the delicious food felt slightly tasteless in her mouth, which she struggled to appreciate as fully as she would've liked. After a while, she spoke up, trying to eradicate the difficult atmosphere she'd managed to create.

'I thought I knew everything about you, James, but now, I don't think that I know anything about you at all. When you're on your own, and not surrounded by your friends, you seem … different,' she struggled to say what she was thinking. 'I like it.'

'Well, um, thanks,' James looked slightly nervous, for a reason completely unbeknown to Lily. He reached into the picnic basket and brought out a ready-carved pumpkin. She smiled as he continued, murmuring a charm that caused bright blue flames to materialise in his hands, leaping and dancing and licking playfully at his fingertips. Carefully placing the fire into the pumpkin, he said,

'Do you like Halloween?'

Lily looked at the carved pumpkin – it sort of, scared her, the way its cut-out face leered at her stupidly.

'Not really, I suppose.'

'Is there anything that would change your view?' James looked somewhat hopeful.

'I doubt it. It would have to be something really great, really special.'

'Like what?'

'Oh, I don't know, really. Why do you ask?' Lily was curious as to why something unimportant like this bothered James as much as he was making out.

'Oh, it doesn't matter, really. Hey, Lily, why don't you come over here?' He patted the space on the blanket next to him. Lily shuffled towards him nervously and he put her arm around her.

His body was strong and warm, and the way her body slotted into hers felt like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle finally realising how perfectly they fitted together. It was a feeling unknown to Lily: she'd never hugged anybody in that way before. His scent was strangely familiar – she decided that she'd smelt it before, when he had brushed past her in the school corridors, but it had never been as strong as it was when she buried her face into his jumper.

'Lily,' he whispered, 'Look at me.'

Lily looked up, and her emerald green eyes met his warm, sincere hazel ones. She felt a strange overwhelming sensation filling her body, coursing through her and making her body tingle pleasantly, causing her heart to beat twenty times faster than it really should have. She felt comfortably warm, even in the chill of the late October evening. Oddly, Lily had never realised that something could feel this wonderful. It made her smile, and she found herself wondering about the future … but no. She couldn't think about that. Once again, her over-active imagination was letting her run away with dreams and fantasies that would never come true.

'There is something I should have told you a long time ago, Lily Evans. I love you.'

'I love you too, James Potter.' She meant it from the bottom of her heart. And she knew that James knew that she meant it too.

As if to prove it, he kissed her, so deeply that it took her breath away. It was too long for an average first kiss, but this had been long awaited and that was what made it better. This was a kiss that smelt of the night and tasted of treacle tart. It was a kiss that threatened to drive her completely crazy, capture her in its unbelievable beauty. A kiss that possessed her and made her tremble with excitement every time she thought about it. It was a kiss that made up for three years of loving the other but being too afraid to admit it.

And it was that kiss changed everything Lily knew.

Competitions:

The Halloween Competition by spiral nebula – Pairing: James/Lily – Prompts: they heard a noise that came from behind them, possess, fear

The Magic Competition by l0stinl0ve – Veritaserum

Harry Potter Video Competition by SuNRisESuNSeT96 – /watch?v=UL7vt7ibBjE

Creatures of Hogwarts Challenge/Competition by Budapest All Over Again – Dragon

The Diagon Alley Challenge by me – Ollivander's

Honeydukes Competition by owluvr – Chocoballs

Pairing Diversity Bootcamp by Ralinde – Prompt #49: phlox

The School Subjects Competition by ladyoftheknightley - Category: Care of Magical Creatures - Prompts: silver, wand, forest

The One Shot Competition by G-L-I-M-M-E-R-ESSENCE - Prompt: first kiss

And thanks once again to the truly amazing AlwaysPadfoot for beta-ing so amazingly for me. She deserves most of the credit here – without her I wouldn't have been able to write half of what was in here. And I mean it. Seriously.