The moon was shining onto the black lake, stars glistening in the velvet sky. It was the second of June so the evening was warm, the breeze cool. Lily Potter sat with her legs crossed on a piece of rock jutting out from the path, a few metres above the water. Of all places she knew of within the castle grounds, this was her favourite.
"Thought I might find you here." A voice said from behind her, and didn't bother turning around.
Lorcan sat beside her, his brown hair especially messy and his shirt sleeves rolled up. He had beaded and string bracelets on his left wrist, one of which had a scarlet glass lily attached to it. She noticed and smiled to herself.
"What?" He asked, crossing his own legs and running a hand through his hair.
"What did your mum say?"
He grinned "She wasn't very impressed. She threw a cup at my head. She seems to think I'm corrupting her goddaughter."
"Bit late for that." She smirked.
"Well that's what I said."
Lily laughed and they sat quietly, looking across the vast stretch of water. In the distance, a tentacle poked up, disturbing the tranquillity and sending ripples across the surface.
She half wondered how she'd managed to get caught kissing her Godmother's son, how she'd been so naive to believe Luna and Rolf when they'd said they wouldn't be back for an hour...so naive to believe she wouldn't forget something important that she'd need to come back for (it was her wand, in case you're wondering). But the reason was simple, really; she was just too stubborn to admit it.
She liked Lorcan. She liked the way he laughed, she liked the way his hair stood up at odd angles, she liked the way his eyes were silver in the middle and blue around the edges, she liked the glint that appeared in them when he laughed, the way he simply didn't care about anything. She liked the way he laughed and the way he smiled when she was around. She liked the clothes he wore, the way he winked and the jokes he told. She liked him, and there was no other explanation. There was something he could do to her that made her lose all control, made her want to kiss him. It was probably because he was the exact opposite of what she was, and one of the few people she probably shouldn't go out with. He was more interesting than all the Slytherin's she'd been out with before the age of fifteen – when Lorcan had first kissed her. After that, he was the only one that ever got close.
"We should have gone upstairs. I actually saw her wand." He sighed, a small smile still on his face.
"You're an idiot." Lily chuckled. "Oh well...they were bound to find out sometime – it's been two years."
Lorcan chuckled "S'pose so. Lucky it was the last day of the holidays though..."
"Oh Merlin," Lily cringed "They would have given us the talk."
Lorcan elbowed her in the ribs "Shut up, that's disgusting."
She chuckled and he tickled her until she was lying down. He smirked and rolled off her, laying beside her and looking up at the stars.
"Do you know what's good?"
"What?"
"Night time."
"Yes."
"It's so much better than the day...so much more peaceful. So much calmer." He reached for her hand and she didn't pull away as his fingers interlocked with her own "You think they'll have a big talk and get us around the table over summer? Bloody hell," Lorcan winced "Do you think they'll tell your brothers?"
Lily smirked "I think my mum'll tell me to be careful, but that's about it. And Albus isn't stupid, he already knows."
Lorcan raised an eyebrow "You've told him you're sleeping with me?"
"He guessed...he doesn't know the details."
"And James?"
She glanced at him through the corner or her eye "You wouldn't be breathing."
He chuckled "Fair point."
"Tell me something interesting."
"Like what?"
"Surprise me."
"Alright," He smiled, pointing upwards with his left arm "See that star, right above us? The bright one?"
"Yup."
"Well, that Star's called Sirius. The dog star."
"Sirius...as in-"
"James Sirius, Sirius Black. Yeah."
"How do you know that, then?"
"I do astrology...and Lysander's big on it."
"Ah."
They lay quietly for a while, before the rock got too cold and they had to sit up. She rested her head on his shoulder and Lorcan smiled slightly, his hands in his lap and his cheek resting on her hair. He inhaled the familiar smell of honey and vanilla as he realised that he had never wanted to be anywhere else less. Somebody could pay him a million galleons to move from that spot and he wouldn't have taken it. Lily was the only person he wanted, the only person – apart from his twin brother – who he could stand to be around for so long, before getting bored or wanting to punch them in the face.
"I like you, Lily Potter." He sighed
Lily smiled softly, closing her eyes "I like you too, Lorcan Lovegood."
"What do we do, now then?"
"Oh, I don't know." She said softly "But let's not worry about that, let's just sit."
He smiled and she looked up at him "What?"
"Nothing...I'm just surprised you're not insisting we get married or something. You're a girl...a girl who has sex with me and expects nothing in return. Most girls would be-"
"There' your answer." She said "I'm not most girls."
"No." Lorcan looked at her, his eyes twinkling "No, you're definitely something different."
"Besides." She shrugged "I don't like having a boyfriend."
"Why's that?"
She pulled a face "Imagine having to be nice to somebody, permanently?"
He chuckled and they looked at each other. Her light brown eyes were shining in the moonlight and he glanced around them.
"This is nice, you know."
"I agree." She touched the flower on his bracelet and he smiled, messing with a piercing at the top of his ear.
"That's my favourite."
"So it should be. I paid nearly two sickles for that when I went to Spain."
He laughed "It's worth a lot more."
"It is, considering I never spend money on anybody."
Lorcan laughed and then looked down, meeting her gaze. He moved a strand of flaming red hair out of her face and kissed her softly. She smiled against his lips and he pulled away, still looking at her.
"Huh, Lily Potter," He muttered "Who'd of thought it?"
She smiled and then they fell into another silence, not caring that it was gone two am, or that they both had an exam first thing in the morning. It didn't even occur to them to even realise they were breaking an awful lot of school rules, sat on that rock. No, as the pair of Gryffindor's looked across the water, they didn't care about anything other than being happy. And, sat there on that rock, they were as happy and content as it's possible for two seventeen year olds to be.
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