Just as the moon decided to show its face over the darkened treetops of the pines, he decided to hide his own face; but night couldn't fall any faster. It seemed the moon had really taken its time this turn around- ever since his discovery of the mirror, he'd been eager to sneak off again. Alone. Which to him was an utterly alien feeling; no familiar figure, upright or fur-covered, was padding silently at his side. This was a journey he made alone and he planned to keep it that way, no matter how much the silent bondage of the maurauders held his trust.
The map unrolled quickly in his cracked palms, emitting a small sigh of dust. He muttered something under his breath, and there was a cloud of heat contrasting darkness in the chilled hall. James imagined what it would be like to an onlooker- dark, and suddenly a startling jet of steam from nothingness. He chuckled darkly as he searched for the telltale inkblots on the faithful parchment, moving, snaking around Hogwarts. Norris near the fruit portrait, no doubt waiting for sneaky and starving kids in the night to attempt to nick food; and Filch in his office, most likely dreaming about thrashing small children. Without another word James pulled the cloak tightly around him, shivered once, and continued on, down the mobile marble staircase that was dangerously swinging left to right. Little echoes seemed to creep up behind him at every turn, every stone wall a potential whisper, until he finally found what he was looking for: an odd little brick in the wall, carefully carved amongst all the others, which were worn down and blank. It was an eroded sketch of snakes, infinitely intertwining and locked in a sort of struggle. Carefully pressing his palm against the cold carvings, he pulled out his wand, tapped the stone, muttered: 'cellarium' and waited. A couple seconds passed and the snakes unleashed each other from their death-holds; first the carved brick receded with a hollow grinding, then the neighboring one, until a boy-sized hole opened up. James slipped one foot into the darkness, now half his face alighted by the moon, half swallowd by the doorway. The brown eyes glinted as James ran his hand through the thoroughly tangled hair, blending with the night. He stood there, indecisive, listening- and without further hesitation, his figure was eaten by the dark passage.
"Lumos."
No, the shock from his fist visit hadn't worn off. Ever since he took his first steps into this cavern of hidden wonders, he couldn't stop thinking about it, and now that he finally came to it once more his mouth still stood agape. A cave of treasures filled the inside of the walls of Hogwarts, a sort of storeroom, he supposed. Gold glinted everywhere, even in the dim light of James' wand. Hundreds of dark detection objects and charmed necklaces, jewels that he wouldn't dare touch or even glance at for fear of petrifaction. These objects shed that kind of presence- like when two magnets are repelling each other, and a force is felt but, none is seen. As he walked further inside, he hardly noticed the bricks re-arranging themselves with a dull groaning behind him.
Deeper, deeper into the hallway of gold. Only one thing was on his mind:
The mirror.
Finally, he saw it there in the corner. It was covered by an old, dusty rag, but silver glinted from the hinges. He ran his hand over the reassuring markings that marked its rim, strange gibberish-like words. The Mirror of Erised. He wasn't in it when he looked, not having taken the invisibility cloak off, but that didn't stop it from reflecting what he wanted more than anything, things he hardly dared admit to himself…
How much time had passed, he had no idea- the mirror has a knack for trapping time in a bottle and keeping you captivated there. However, light footsteps approaching snapped him out of the hypnotic trance. James found himself slumped on the floor, cloak still over him. He breathed shallowly as the footsteps got closer, closer, until-
A slim figure approached, narrowly missing him on its way to the mirror. She ran her fingers over the words just as he had done, then pressed her forehead against the glass. He saw her reflection cringe. She sank, sat inches away from him, watching intently… he could feel her heat, spare locks from the long waves of hair brushing his shoulders…
And as quickly as that, she was gone. The girl had suddenly risen and turned, as if staring at the silver was painful. With the sudden turn of actions, James scrambled to get away but in the midst of it all, her foot caught on his cloak and she fell to the floor. Up like a flighty bird, she searched the room, panicked, eyes wide. The cloak had slipped. He was a floating leg, now torso, and then-
"Who are you? How did you find this- what- "
It was then, in her widened stare, he recognized the emerald eyes. Could that honestly be Lily Evans? Evans? A nobody? A random girl- of course they'd had their few encounters, but nothing compared to this.
"Potter? James Potter. I shouldn't be surprised, should I? Where's Sirius, buried under the coins? Or is he out chasing cats tonight?"
He recognized the tone, her usual statement in wit- but the statement itself had caught him off guard. How had she known about Padfoot? Had she seen, weren't they careful-
But his mind was in too much of a blur for all the questions to come pouring out. One statement flew out a bit too quickly.
"I won't tell if you don't."
The long hair moved with her as she tilted her head to one side. The eyes glinted mischeiviously.
"I don't really have a choice then, do I?"
and she left him at that, sprinting out of the cavern in the night. Or morning. Through the hole she dipped out of, sunlight was clawing its way through. There wasn't much to be said- just to readjust his glasses, maybe muss up his hair more- before re-draping the cloak and sealing everything so that nobody had been there there, nobody at all… Already voiced poured from the dining hall. James was absolutely starving, but the lack of sleep didn't bother him. It wasn't as if it was the first time.