For the Endless Possibilities Challenge, with James/Lily, lightning, and the prompt: You fell asleep on the the bus, and your head is on my shoulder. I'm almost to my stop, but I don't want to wake you.
Then for Choose-Your-Wand challenge, write about a Gryffindor
FRIENDS Challenge, of course :D
Time passes, and it's a funny thing.
It's been two years since I was last at Hogwarts, and now.
Well. It's late. It is dark and quiet and that is about all I can comprehend right now.
The bus pulls to a stop and curiosity makes me look up, and I expect to see some rebellious, obnoxious, rowdy teenagers. What I do see- well. It's not too far off the mark.
I personally know the man who steps on, and his friends, and blood drains from my face. James Potter. I never thought I would see him again.
He takes notice of me immediately, just as I suspected he would. I groan inwardly but he just bows his head in my direction and returns his attention to Remus.
I blink, surprised.
Sirius and Remus sit together, fingers linked. I envy them. It's been- what? Five years, since I got them together when we were all fourteen? And they still look at each other like the other is the sun and moon and stars and I wish I had a relationship like that. I never have.
James sits alone, tugging his wand subtly from his back pocket to move it to his sleeve, where it's less likely to break. He stares sleepily out the window, eyes glazed, as the bus begins to move. Lightning streaks across the sky, and then the rain starts, and I think they were lucky, just barely missing the storm.
Three stops and two hours later, the three of them are still on the bus. I lick my lips, nervous, and I wonder at myself- will he even welcome my forwardness? Or is he bitter? I shake the thought away and hiss, "James!"
He jerks and looks over, eyes wide and suddenly alert behind his glasses. Sirius looks at me sharply, eyebrows raised. James waves him off and the former Gryffindor shrugs, turning back to Remus. The blond stares at me with a question in his eyes before refocusing on Sirius. Their low murmurs are lost to the sounds of the rain outside and the sounds of the bus engine.
"Lily Evans?" James inquires, peering at me curiously from his square glasses. His eyes are a sparkling hazel- intelligent and calm, and I can't believe I never noticed.
"Come here," I say, gesturing for him to join me. His eyes widen and he glances at Sirius. The Black nods slowly, and Remus makes no indication of his thoughts at all. Evidently James gleans something from this because he moves quickly from his back row seat to my middle row one.
"What's up, Evans?" James asks. He sounds lightly inquisitive, but weary. Uncertain. My heart clenches.
I have done some damage.
"You were alone. I figured…" I flounder. I didn't think this through. Not really. I haven't seen the Marauders since graduation and. I missed them, somehow. Like one misses an addiction or the way you feel when you revisit home for the first time in many years. Nostalgic and wistful.
"Pity party, Evans?" He sounds sad, but unsurprised. Like I have disappointed him somehow. "Doesn't suit you." He moves to leave. I grab his sleeve, and he stops, pinning me with his too old gaze. "Hey, Evans," he says. "Let go."
"There was a time when you wanted me to pay attention. Here I am," I say quickly. It's the wrong thing to say. His eyes darken and his gaze shutters.
His mouth turns with displeasure. "You rejected me every day for five years. Why should I give you anything now?" he questions lightly, and I wince. I release his sleeve. He twists his wrist to catch his wand before it falls. He eyes me curiously and sits back down. "My feelings for you never really died," he says seriously. I can't comprehend that he had any for me to begin with.
"It was a crush," I say. He frowns again.
"Sure," he agrees. "It started that way. But after fifth? Sixth year? Maybe. It changed. I saw you for you- not some unattainable prize, but as a woman who deserved to be treated first as a person, then as a celebrity. I saw the way you care so much for a family that doesn't seem to like you, the tutoring for the kids in our year and below- the ones who never have passed without you. You pay kindness to people who certainly don't deserve it… I really fell for you, hard. Beyond the fact that you're beautiful and smart, I mean."
He falls silent, watching me digest that. I'm aghast. I never guessed that he noticed anything beyond my looks. It's a sobering feeling, and it's almost like my whole world is tipping on its axis.
The bus stops and a young boy gets on alone. James' eyes widen. "Excuse me," he mutters, flicking his eyes to mine for a brief moment. He stands, moving to the front of the bus. He pays the fee for the boy and kneels in front of him, hand on his shoulder. "Where are you parents?" he asks. The kid shrugs, looking lost and afraid. "Okay. Okay. I'm James," he says. "What's your name?"
"Carter," says the boy, and James nods.
He looks at the bus driver, who hasn't moved and is watching the scene with soft, curious eyes. James says, "I'll be right back. Carter, where do you live?"
"Fifteen Grimmauld Place," and James smirks while Sirius groans loudly, slamming his head back on the seat. Remus pats his hand in sympathy. James, however, makes a rude hand gesture at Black behind the boy's back and takes the kid's hand.
"I know exactly where that is. I'll get you home."
Never mind that it's on the other side of the city.
James guides the boy off the bus and a minute passes before I faintly hear the distinctive crack of disapparition. I check my watch and see that it is only because it's nearly three in the morning that the driver waits. James returns and smiles, running his fingers through his hair, fluffing it up. He looks carefree like he used to be. "His parents were thrilled," he tells the driver. She smiles.
"It's not often I see kindness like that, young man," she says. James scratches his head and shrugs, a dusty pink darkening his cheeks.
"It was nothing."
The driver shakes her head and puts the bus in gear. "You've got a keeper there, girl." I feel my lips curl upward without my consent and I just nod. James returns to his seat next to me and says nothing.
"You grew up without me noticing," I mutter.
He barks a sad, sardonic laugh and shakes his head. "You never bothered to look," he says. And I suppose that's true. I saw a young prankster who cared little for who he hurt, without the potential to see beyond his own wild dreams. And until now, I thought that's all I thought I would ever see.
"'m tired," he mumbles. He leans back and tucks his knees into the crevice of the seat in front of us and closes his eyes.
The bus driver travels a long way to get to London proper. It makes me wonder what we're doing, on a muggle bus in the middle of the night, in a storm. I turn to ask him, but his head lolls to the side and rests on my shoulder before I get a word out. His breathing is slow and even, face relaxed without any hint of the James Potter I thought I knew.
He's beautiful, I think hazily, and I wind my arm around his shoulders and lean my head on his, tucking him into my side. I let him rest.
I remember now the regret I felt at graduation. I saw Remus and Sirius together, and Peter with one of my best friends Marlene, who told me all along that James and I would be great together if I gave him a chance, and I remember that I never gave in.
What I can't remember is why.
My house comes and goes and it's nearing dawn when James sucks in a sharp breath and Sirius comes over. "Potter Manor is at the next stop. James." A manor? How rich is he?
"Mm?"
"Home. I'll be eating your food with Remus. Are you joining us?"
James blinks dubiously at Sirius, then sits up, a flash of- something- going through his eyes. He notices my arm and I quickly pull away, heart racing. He smiles at me, but there's no heat to it.
"Alright, mate?" Remus checks.
James nods after a weighted second, slowly and unsure. "Cheers, Lupin," he says, voice cracking. He clears his throat and pointedly does not look at me.
Remus lays a hand on James' shoulder, "Again?"
"Always."
James seems to shake himself from whatever nightmare he'd had and smiles charmingly at me. "You should come with us, Evans."
I blink. "I- ah. Alright."
He grins, more genuine, and stands, leading the way off the bus. He salutes the driver, who grins and repeats the gesture. When we're all off, standing in light rain, the bus hisses and emits a line of smoke before heading off on the road again.
James watches it go and turn a corner. He grabs my hand. Sirius winks at me, grinning stupidly, and I make no move to reply. Remus and Sirius link hands, too, and Sirius swings his arm over Remus and tugs him close. He presses a kiss to the blond's cheek and then I feel sickening sensation of side along disapparition. I stumble when James releases me, and then I see a blink in the air before Sirius and Remus appear, much more attuned with the practice than I am. It's the one bit of magic I can never stand to use.
"Alright, Evans?" James checks.
I nod. Then, "Lily," I say. He looks confused, so I elaborate, "I'm eating at your house, you might as well call me by my first name."
James' eyebrows shoot into his hairline before he laughs, raw and free. "Finally," he says.
I don't ask; I already know.
He reaches for my hand again and then says, "This is going to either be the best or worst decision of my life, but com'on, Lily, and let me show you something."
He reaches for my hand and the ring on his finger glints in the blooming sunlight, and it's almost too cliché for my tastes. But then I think, what the hell, and take his hand.
He tugs on my hand and I follow him willingly, noting that Sirius and Remus are long gone, though I don't know where. James leads me to a large gate, all winding metal and ivy vines along it, surrounded by high walls made of green bushes, the perfect picture of wealth that I've never seen in real life. I eye the dark entrance with trepidation, and as I look at it, I realize something: there's a lion at the top, very clearly the family crest, and underneath, there's the name Potter overlaying two crossed swords. I swallow heavily as my mouth runs dry and my breath leaves me.
But James pushes the gate open without a care, and I realize it's nothing new to him. He's lived with this all his life.
I've heard of the wizarding nobles, and on some level I knew that the Blacks, the Malfoys, the Lestranges, the Prewetts, and the Potters all rank among them, but until now I never truly registered that. I've never seen their home bases before.
Alice Prewett- now Longbottom- has got to show me more.
"Let me key you into the wards," James says absently, taking my hand and guiding me to a platform just inside the gate. He gestures for me to step on and I do, and he mutters a spell, waving his wand in precise, elegant movements. I feel a rush of ice on my spine, and I shiver, but he just grins brilliantly at me and, "How do you like gardens?"
He doesn't wait for me to answer and just points. I look and, oh Merlin.
More lions, mostly, but also giraffes and tigers and elephants. Giant, swirling topiaries are being clipped to perfection by shears suspended by magic, and I can vaguely see a small creature staring at them with serious intent. A house elf.
James has those?
The totally shallow and materialistic part of me goes; I've got to marry this boy for the money!
I shake the thought away but still it lingers, and I wonder at the protections that he could install without a thought to the price for my family, and I can't help but hope to start a relationship, a real one, with him.
Maybe he'd do it.
"Alright?" he asks, breaking my thoughts, and I nod jerkily.
"It's beautiful," I tell him honestly, and he looks at it.
"I suppose it is," he agrees. "But I can't decide what I like best so my house elf there, Mink, is really starting to hate me."
"I like it as it is," I say, and he nods.
He doesn't tell the house elf to stop, though.
Instead, he walks along a stone path through the garden, and I alternate between watching him and looking at the splendor around me.
"So what made your parents decide to give you control over the garden?" I ask, catching up to him to walk beside him.
He gives me a funny look like he can't believe I just asked that. "Well. They didn't, really," he says. "But that's what happens when you inherit the property."
I feel like slapping myself.
"Sorry," I say, but he waves me off.
"Never mind," he says, and then stops walking for a moment. "Well," he continues, and he makes a sweeping gesture, "This is where I live."
Six stories high and gold, Potter Manor is pretty insane. I've only ever read about this. There's eight windows across the length of the house, and the door spans two stories. The crest is above it, elegant and proud. There's a slim walkway to the door, but no individual garden like a palace would have. Though, I think wirily, this might as well be a palace.
"We only use the first two floors on the right," he says, and I wonder fleetingly how he managed to reach the door without me noticing. "You coming?" he calls.
I nod frantically and walk inside after him. It's like walking into a ballroom.
I can hear Sirius and Remus in a side room, but for now I stare at the shiny floors and auburn walls, the gold chandelier in the center of the ceiling, and the large sitting area in the back of the room, framed by think red curtains with gold trim along wide, open windows that make the room seem bigger than it actually is.
"I had no idea," I say. James snorts in laughter and takes my hand, dragging me from the room to a smaller living area.
There are portraits of his family on the walls, and they wave at James and I cheerily while a small house elf comes up to me and asks, "May I take your coat?"
I glance at James, eyes wide, and he's just smiling knowingly. He nods to the elf and then turns his twinkling gaze back to me. "Well, Evans?" and it's a dare. I shrug out of my coat and hand it to the elf, who scurries away to some unknown part of the house.
"Don't worry, you'll get it back when you leave," James says. "Sirius and Remus are in the kitchen, probably harassing Titcha over how red to make the meat, like she doesn't already know."
I snort and James nods to a door, arms crossed over his chest. "In there."
I walk over and push the door open, and sure enough, there are the other two members of their trio, and it occurs to me- "Where is the fourth member of your little gang?"
"Turned traitor," Remus answers promptly, while Sirius' face darkens and the door slams shut behind me, James stepping into the room and laying his hand on my shoulder while he passes. "We found out last month. He slipped up."
The war. It takes us all in different ways.
"The little rat!" Sirius snarls, and Remus tuts at him.
"We know, Padfoot. Don't think about it. Say, Prongs," Remus asks, and James hums, tugging a chair out from the table and slamming into it. "Did you give Ms. Lily here the full tour?"
"Oh, hardly," he replies. "She stood and gaped at the garden."
"I still think you should model them after us," Sirius latches onto the subject and James snorts with laughter with Remus rolls his eyes.
"You're crazy, Black," James says. "I don't want to."
An alarm goes off, and James glances over at the wall, gritting his teeth. "Five am, time to get up," he says bitterly. "And we're just sitting down to dinner."
"Call in sick," I say, and James shrugs.
"Can't do that, Evans," Sirius says loudly, standing and grabbing a string of grapes from the passing house elf, who puts the remainder of the fruit on the table. "Ministry needs us all to be working best we can."
"You haven't slept," I object.
"Slept on the bus," James reminds. He looks unnaturally serious. "You and Remus eat. Sirius and I will talk to Frank and see if he can't pull some strings for us to get at least a few hours off work this morning to sleep and eat a little. We pulled a late-nighter for them, after all."
I blink at them, but the duo is already leaving through the fireplace on the far left side of the kitchen, bursts of green flames marking their leave.
Remus sits in silence, looking at the fireplace. Then he jolts a little and smiles at me, a little forced. "Sit down, Lily. It should be any minute now."
I take a seat, feeling out of place without James in his house. "Does he really live here?" I ask, looking around. There's two windows, a stove between them, and a sink to the right. Two house elves bustle around, moving what looks and smells like a roast to the table with quiet mutters between them.
"We all do," Remus agrees, also looking around. "It's one of the safest places in England, maybe even safer than Hogwarts since that's easy for wizards to find. Thank you, Red," he adds, taking tea from a particularly small house elf. He also hands one to me, and I smile at him gently. He leaves through a side door next to the fireplace I hadn't noticed.
"It's a bit- much, isn't it?" I question, blowing on the drink to cool it before taking a sip.
Remus shrugs. "Like James probably told you, we only use about eight rooms. Six if we don't have company."
"I live on the outskirts of Surry," I say. "I've never seen anything like this except Hogwarts, and that wasn't- it wasn't someone's property-"
"Oh, I know how you feel," Remus assures, putting his hand on mine. "You'll get used to it."
"When?" I ask, feeling like that won't ever be true.
Remus grins, and I suddenly am reminded that he is the devious mind behind more of the Marauder's most elaborate pranks. "Well, I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of you soon, Lily," he tells me like it's a secret, and then leans back in his seat. "You've given in to James, and we don't let go if we can help it."
"Then-"
The fireplace blooms back to life before I can ask if Remus thinks James will agree to protect my family. Sirius walks out of the flames with dignity, and James follows soon after, stumbling over his feet a little before he manages to steady himself.
"We have the day off," James announces, and Remus grins, while I smile, more relieved than I believe I should be.
"Thank Merlin," Sirius agrees, giving Remus a kiss.
"Red?" James calls, and the little house elf pokes his head out from behind the door.
"Master James?" he replies.
"Have a room made up for Ms. Evans, here, and please have the food delivered to the rest of us, including her. I think we should sleep."
"Prongs," Sirius declares, "You are a genius. Come, Moony."
"It's already been done, Master James," Red admits, ears drooping.
"You anticipated that?" James asks, smirking. "Well done."
The elf perks up immediately, bowing. "Thank you, Master James. Miss Evans, if you'll follow me."
"Night, Lily," James says, and my throat is closing. I can't believe it.
My whole life has turned around. I walk over to him while Red pauses at the door, and I step onto my tip toes to give James a kiss on the cheek. He flares red, eyes wide, "Thank you, James," I say.
"Of course," he answers, clearly without thinking.
"Good night. I imagine I'll see you in a few hours," I say, turning to follow Red.
"Lily!" he says. "If you need a place to stay- ever- and I know your family needs help- you can call on me."
My prayers have been answered.
"Thank you," I repeat, blown away by his generosity.
"I have safe houses all over Europe and Asia. They can pick where they want to go."
And me?
"And you can have the room you're staying in," he adds, without me prompting him in any way. I feel like crying.
I return to him and kiss him properly, tears in my eyes. "Thank you," I breathe against his lips, my hands on his cheeks and his on my waist.
"Or you can share my room," he suggests with a wink when we pull apart. I laugh.
"Maybe," I agree.