Chapter 2
The chatter of students grew louder as the scarlet steam engine slowed to a stop at Hogsmeade station. First years sat in wonder, their noses pressed against the glass as they got their first look at the magnificent castle. Returning sat on the edge of their seats, eager to get to the start of term feast, their stomachs rumbling loudly. The Marauders were looking forward to their start of term prank, whilst the Slytherins were dreading it. Lily and her friends looked forward to spending time in good company, and learning more about the magical world.
"Will you be able to come up with us?" Alice asked, as she helped Lily take all their trunks down from the overhead storage.
"I don't think so, I'm going to have to help direct the first years and make sure all the other years get into the carriages safely." Lily replied with a dampened voice.
"Fiddlesticks." Chloe chimed, as she dragged her trunk out of the cabin door, almost flattening a second year. "Watch where you're going!" She cried, as the second year scurried away as quickly as possible. "You'll see us at the feast though, right?" She finished.
"Of course I will!" Was the response, as the girls made their way off the train. Lily dragged her trunk to the side, as Chloe and Alice made their slow progress toward the horseless carriages.
"Save me a seat." Lily called after them.
"Will do, captain." Chloe shouted back, before the two of them were swallowed into the sea of black cloaks.
Lily spun on the spot. "First years!" She bellowed, making the people closest to her jump. "First years over here please." A gaggle of small children made their way over to her shyly. When she had a large enough crowd she called "Follow me," and led them toward Hagrid, the gamekeeper, and the docked boats. She saw Potter doing the same thing from further down the platform.
"Hello Hagrid." Lily smiled up at the giant man, his young eyes bright, "How was your summer?"
"Aye, was alreet, nice t'be back at work alrigh'?" Came the gruff reply, scaring some of the first years, who began to whisper amongst themselves.
"I know what you mean," Lily laughed, "I know exactly what you mean."
After around twenty minutes, the platform had cleared and the queue for the carriages had dwindled to the last few stragglers who were now piling into the same coach. The first years had set sail, and Lily and James were just finishing slamming all of the train doors closed. They met in the middle.
"Think we're safe to go to the feast now?" James asked.
Lily wiped her brow with the back of her sleeve. "I think so." She said, doing a last minute once over to make sure nobody was left on the platform. "Come on." She finished, walking over to her trunk and starting to heave the thing along the platform.
"Here, let me." James said, taking the handle from her and dragging it along behind him with ease.
Lily's eyes narrowed. "Where's yours?" She asked stupidly.
James didn't meet her gaze, but stared straight ahead as they ambled along together. "Sirius and Remus took it up to the castle with them." He said simply. She took the opportunity to look at him curiously. She'd never really looked at him before. Not really, and not from this angle. His face had filled out since sixth year, and he had new glasses.
"You have new glasses." She stated, berating herself immediately afterwards for such a stupid remark.
He looked at her then, the corners of his mouth quirking up at the end. He didn't do his typical lopsided smile, the one that angered her, and the one she expected. "Yes, Sirius broke my others in a rather er… irreparable manner." His voice was warm and smooth, like hot chocolate.
"Well, they're nice." She said, for a lack of anything else to say.
He looked back the way they were heading. "Thank you." He murmured. To be honest, he couldn't have been more surprised. Since when did Lily notice anything he did, and since when did she like anything about him. He'd never lose these glasses, he'd never let anything bad happen to them, Lily liked them. His stomach did flip flops as she watched him. He'd never really been this close to her before without her screaming at him, and now she was walking alongside him, looking up at him curiously. His palms were moist with sweat.
"I'm surprised you noticed." He commented.
"Why?" She asked, "I've seen you enough times to know what your glasses look like."
He faltered. That was true. But still, she had said they were nice. He opened the carriage door and indicated for her to climb in first. 'Because you never notice.' He said to himself. He pushed her trunk in and clambered in last, clicking the door shut and taking a seat opposite her.
He had absolutely no idea what to say. James Potter, man of many words, was suddenly at a loss at the most inappropriate time. What are you supposed to say to an angel? More importantly, what are you supposed to say to Lily Evans without making her mad at you? He stared pointedly out of the window as he thought desperately of general chit chat he could turn into a conversation.
Lily sat with her hands in her lap, staring at the floor. Without their constant arguments, it was awkward. There was so much to say, and yet neither of them wanted to say it. She cleared her throat. "So you said you went fishing?" She asked.
'Halleluiah, something to ease the tension', James thought as he looked into her entrancing eyes. "Yeah." He said animatedly. "My dad taught us, although I'm really bad at it, I just don't have the patience. Sirius was surprisingly good."
Lily smiled. "I thought you were a very patient person." He would have to be to put up with her all those years. "But I can't imagine Black being a good fisherman."
He disregarded her second statement. "Was that a compliment, Lily?" He asked with a grin.
"No." She said shortly, nose in the air. "It was an observation."
"I'm going to take it as a compliment, though." He chuckled.
"As you wish." She eyed him. "If you think that's a compliment, then you obviously don't get complimented enough."
"Well, not by you." He stated, staring her dead in the eye.
"Yes… well… you…" She stuttered uncomfortably. She didn't compliment him because she had never seen anything in him worth a compliment. The carriage jerked to a stop, thankfully, distracting the both of them. Lily flung open the door, as James pushed her trunk out, and wheeled it over to the stack of trunks waiting to be taken into the castle.
"Thanks." Lily said, indicating the trunk.
"It's really not a problem." He replied suavely, and they were back to that polite and formal exchange of sentences.
They walked in silence into the castle and turned right into the great hall. The first years hadn't arrived just yet, and the noise from the students was deafening. Lily looked up at the head table, and Dumbledore gave them a smile and a nod.
She spotted her friends, and the seat they had saved for her. They motioned for her to come and sit with them. She looked up at James, shrugging in her friends general direction, "I'll see you later." She told him, "And thanks again for helping me with my trunk."
"As I said, not a problem." He replied, "See you." And he watched her scurry towards her friends. Taking her lead, he headed over to the other Marauders, noticing the interested looks from some of the girls, and took his seat next to Peter.
"So, you two looked pretty cosy," Sirius grinned mischievously, "What's that I hear?" He cupped his hand around his ear, "Oh, it's the sound of wedding bells."
James kicked his shin lightly under the table. "She doesn't like me like that, not yet anyway, maybe soon." He grinned, "I don't know, but she hasn't shouted at me yet!"
"I want the food to come so we can see the prank work!" Peter whined.
"All in good time, Wormtail." Remus responded.
"You did the prank without me?" James groaned.
"Yes, you were too busy making love children with a little redhe-" Sirius laughed.
"I was not making love children with her." James interjected forcefully, "I was doing my duties!"
Sirius raised an eyebrow and put his hands up in defeat, "If that's what you want to call it Prongs, doing your 'duty'," He said, air quoting with his fingers, "then that's fine by us."
"Will you two quit it, Dumbledore's standing up." Remus chastised.
James sent death glares to Sirius, before staring up at the elderly headmaster. The great hall became eerily silent in a matter of seconds.
"Welcome, welcome to you all." Dumbledore began, "We shall start, of course, with the sorting. Bring them in, please, Minerva."
The doors swung open and Professor McGonagall led a bunch of nervous looking children down the gap between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. They congregated at the foot of the steps leading to where the teachers were seated. Professor McGonagall read out the formalities and explained the sorting to the first years, and James watched them one by one as they climbed up and timidly put the old hat upon their heads. He clapped and cheered when someone was sorted into Gryffindor, and booed along with many others when someone was sorted into Slytherin. He was jealous of them, in a way. They were just starting their Hogwarts journey, as his was coming to a close.
At the end, McGonagall cleared away the hat as Dumbledore stood up once more. "Welcome, Welcome to Hogwarts." He said merrily, his beard wobbling as he spoke. "Before we eat, I must remind all of you that the Forbidden forest is out of bounds to all students," James swore Dumbledore looked expressly at the four of them, "and that there are a number of forbidden articles, of which you are unable to use here in the castle. A list of these can be obtained from Argus Filch."
Filch, who was about thirty, gave a short hand gesture to indicate that it was him who would give out the lists.
"Finally, to you all, would a fly without wings be called a walk?" He asked, retreating straight afterwards to his chair and clapping his hands twice in quick succession. The food erupted in front of them all, and a few gasped and applauded.
"Mad as a hatter" Sirius barked, as he fought to get as much food on his plate as possible.
"Oh thank Merlin." Alice said with delight, "I was sure I was about to pass out any minute now from hunger." She exclaimed as she piled a mountain of food onto her plate.
"Amen to that, Sister!" Chloe agreed, ripping off the top of a bread roll with her teeth.
Lily laughed at her. "Honestly Chloe, you're worse than Black!" She commented, and they all peered down the table to where Sirius was sitting, his face covered in food debris. James was laughing heartily at him, and Lily felt a strange emotion come over her.
"You're seriously calling me as bad as him?" Chloe said astounded.
Lily winced, "I retract my comment." She grinned.
"Good." Chloe finished, as she tucked into her food once more. "Aren't you going to eat anything?" She said, her mouth half full.
"Firstly, ew that was disgusting, I just saw your half chewed food, and secondly, yes I am, I'm just not that hungry for some reason." Lily answered, wondering how she could not be hungry.
Alice's jaw dropped. "Lily, we haven't eaten for at least twelve hours, how can you not be hungry?"
Chloe gulped dramatically, "I bet it's to do with James."
Lily looked at her sharply. "This has nothing to do with Potter," She reprimanded, as she poured pumpkin juice into all of their goblets.
"Sure." Alice drawled sarcastically, "And my name is Ben Dover."
"Well, you have a very unfortunate name." Lily retorted. "Look let's just drop it, okay?" She asked, piling food onto her plate for the show of it. She didn't want to have to think about James anymore tonight, he had already confused her little brain enough for one day.
A sudden high-pitched shriek caught her attention, and the trio turned in unison to look toward the Slytherin table, where a second year girl was spitting brutally onto the floor.
"What the?" Lily questioned, as her eyes scanned the rest of the green clad table. Almost all of them looked queasy, and not one of them was eating. Her eyes settled on Severus, who had pushed his plate of chicken away in disgust, and was hastily consuming as much pumpkin juice as was physically possible.
The great hall was enveloped in complete silence for a full thirty seconds, until one by one, each Slytherin began to sprout vibrantly coloured hair whilst their skin turned bright yellow. It reminded Lily of a blind family who all had severe jaundice. The hall erupted in laughter, and some students even stood on the benches to get a better view. It didn't take long for Professor Flitwick to take charge and reverse whatever charm had been placed over the food contents on the Slytherin table. The excitement died down after that.
Lily narrowed her eyes and swivelled in her seat to stare down the long table at the Marauders. Sirius had a smug look on his face, as Peter clapped him on the back. James had his head in his hands, although his cheeks were pink, evidence of his amusement.
"I didn't suggest that." James reprimanded.
"I made modifications." Sirius grinned.
Almost an hour later, the great hall was full of bloated teenagers, some resting their heads in their arms, whilst others merely groaned. The start of term feast was definitely one of those times when you had to wear the skirt you bought with an elasticated waistband, Lily thought.
Gryffindor table was a mess. Food debris littered the wood whilst the platters were empty. One lonely piece of chocolate torte sat in front of Chloe.
"Stop it." Chloe muttered, groaning as she rested her hands on her belly.
"I didn't do anything." Alice responded, her head falling onto Lily's shoulder.
"Not you silly, the torte." Chloe replied, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Uh-oh." Lily grinned, "What did the torte do this time? Don't tell me it's been calling your mother names again." Alice sniggered.
Chloe rolled her eyes. "Behave Evans, it's just there, looking at me." She fixed her gaze on it. "Don't you see it looking at me? It wants me to eat it, it's practically calling out for me to eat it." She shielded the view with her hand.
"Chloeeee, eat meeee." Alice cooed in a high pitched voice as all the girls fell about laughing.
"Ow, okay, laughing whilst being unbelievably full is not fun." Lily observed, pushing her empty plate further away from her, as though more food was going to appear on it at any second.
Just then, a strange hand delved into their peaceful little trio and clasped around the remaining slice of chocolate torte.
"So mine." Sirius Black said, before scurrying back to his seat, torte in hand.
"Oi!" Chloe yelled after him, "I was about to eat that."
"No you weren't." Lily said exasperatedly.
"How do you know?" Chloe challenged, "I could have eaten it."
"Chloe," Lily answered, in the tone she reserved for small children, "Five minutes ago you said you'd never eat again, and that even a sip of pumpkin juice would make you explode."
Chloe raised her eyebrow, "Yeah well that was five minutes ago," She flicked her blonde curls over her shoulder, "This is now."
"Leave it Lily," Alice laughed, "She's a lost cause." Chloe scowled.
"And now," Rang a warm voice. All three girls swivelled uncomfortably to stare up at the heads table, where Dumbledore was standing, wand pointed at his throat to magnify his voice. "I believe it is time for bed. Timetables will be handed out at breakfast tomorrow, first years please follow your house prefect to your respective dormitories. I bid thee goodnight." And with that, the hall erupted in noise, first years jumped up as a swell of students congregated near the door.
Lily took a deep breath, rolled her shoulders, and stood. "I suppose I'll see you tomorrow then." She said to the girls. When they looked at her curiously, she expanded, "I'm going to have head duties to do now, and then I'll be in the private dormitory."
"How could I forget!" Chloe exclaimed as Alice pouted. "Have a good night Lily, don't have world war three before we get to see the fancy private common room." She winked.
Lily laughed, "I'll try my hardest." And with that, she fought her way down the gap between the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables, to where James was getting to his feet. Her eyes scanned his friends. Remus had already left to chaperone the first years to Gryffindor tower, Sirius had chocolate torte all over his face and hands, and Peter was looking up at her mesmerized.
"You ready?" James asked her, swatting Peter's shoulder with the back of his hand. She met his eyes and nodded.
"Miss Evans, Mr Potter?" A rich voice called from behind them. Lily wheeled around to find Dumbledore standing before her, hands clasped, rocking on the back of his feet.
"Yes Professor." Lily replied, as James climbed over the table bench.
"I would like the two of you to go straight to my office, we have some business to attend to before you retire to your private dormitory. I will meet you there shortly, the password is chocolate frog, a rather favourite of mine." He informed them, his eyes twinkling behind the half-moon spectacles. Lily smiled at him.
"Yes sir, we'll go right away." James said, smoothing down his robes.
Dumbledore gave them both a pleasant smile, bid them goodbye, and wandered back toward the head table.
"I'll see you later guys." James said to his friends, his eyes landing on Sirius. "Padfoot, make sure you shower before touching anything. Remember what happened last time."
Sirius grinned and began licking the torte off his fingers, "Whatever you say, Prongs."
James rolled his eyes. "Come on, Lily." He said, dismissing his friends and falling into step next to the redhead. The unusual couple managed to push through the crowd swarming around the double doors, which diminished once in the entrance hall. They climbed the steps quickly and headed off to Dumbledore's office, leaving the heaving body of pupils behind.
They walked in silence for a while. James could feel his own heart beating as he watched Lily walk from the corner of his eye. He had to admit, he didn't expect it to be this way. He expected Lily to curse the ground he walked on, to constantly argue with him, to even go as far as refusing to work with him. He had never expected her to walk next to him, willingly, even if it was in silence. Maybe, just maybe things could work out this year. Maybe they could become friends, and she'd finally see the real James, the man who was madly in love with her. Despite what he had told his friends, he still held hope that Lily would finally be his this year.
"What happened last time?" She asked suddenly. The melodic timbre of her voice sending chills down his spine.
He looked down at her, confused. "What do you mean?"
She met his gaze, and like usual, he felt the fireworks explode in his stomach. Lily's eyes always reminded him of a distant emerald isle surrounded by a rim of turquoise sea. They were so beautiful, so deep, so entrancing.
"What you said to Black before, about something happening last time." She probed, and a look shot across her face, as though she wondered why she was even asking him.
He smiled, "I'm sure you've noticed that Sirius has a tendency to get, er, how to phrase it – messy." Lily nodded. "Last time he had a whole chocolate torte, he managed to stick two pages of Moony's favourite book together, permanently stain Wormtail's bed hangings, much to the disdain of the house elves, and vomited in my trunk. All in all it was a horrific experience for everyone involved."
Lily snorted with laughter, the kind that was infectious. James laughed along with her, watching as her cheeks grew pink. She had the most beautiful laugh, and he was saddened that he had never heard it before now, not up close and personal like this.
"I can't believe," She said through chuckles, "how disgusting that is. He really vomited in your trunk?"
James nodded, "Seriously. Over all my stuff. I still have nightmares about it."
The couple rounded the corner and paused opposite the stone gargoyle that blocked the way to Dumbledore's office.
"Chocolate frog." Lily said with her voice as warm as honey, her cheeks still coloured salmon.
James watched as the inanimate piece of chiselled granite sprung to life, sliding aside to grant them access to the winding staircase. Together, they climbed onto the first stone step, and let the stairs move them with ease up to the office above. James had been in Dumbledore's office many times before, more often than not he had done some obscene offence with Sirius usually in toe. It was a pleasant change, for once, not to enter this room knowing full well that, potentially, he could be expelled. He gestured for Lily to take the first seat, and she did so, eyeing him wearily.
He followed her lead and settled himself in the other armchair, fully aware of Lily's gaze. He immediately felt awkward. What was he supposed to do with his hands? Whatever position they fell in felt uncomfortable or not quite right. Was his breathing irregular, too fast? No… now it was shallow, rough. He fought the desire to run his hand through his hair, knowing that she hated the habit.
"Why are you staring at me?" He finally asked, sliding his gaze to meet her wonderful orbs. Her face was pale once more, and she had raised a single, neat, auburn eyebrow.
"I'm wondering why," She started meekly.
"Why what?" James probed, his lust for her building dangerously high in that moment.
In all honesty, Lily was wondering why he seemed so different, and why she even cared. The confusion of it all angered her.
"Why you pulled a prank already." She lied. James felt his stomach plummet. "We hadn't even been in the castle an hour, and already, you managed to ruin the evening for everyone in Slytherin. Didn't you see the looks on the faces of the first years? They looked distraught."
"Lily, I swear it wasn't me, I was with you the whole time." James defended, but Lily shook her head.
"No, it always comes down to being you in the end. Teachers can never prove it, but we all know." She said, her voice void of emotion.
Ouch. That stung. James looked at her strangely, he didn't know if this argument taking place without raising decibels was a good thing or a bad thing. Lily had looked away from him now, as though she was disappointed.
"Lily, you don't have to believe me, but I honestly didn't execute that prank. I can't speak for my friends, but I couldn't possibly have done it when I was with you." His eyes pleaded with her.
"Just because you didn't execute it, doesn't mean you didn't take part." She looked back to him then, and James got the strange sensation that she could see into his soul, that she knew everything.
"Based on past experiences," She stated coldly, and he flinched, "That sort of prank has James Potter written all over it in size one hundred font."
James looked like a deer caught in headlights. This was not the way he expected their first evening to turn. It seemed he couldn't do anything right.
"Well, yes. I'll admit I gave Padfoot the idea, but how was I to know he would implement it, and add to it." James stated, defensively.
"There you go with the childish nicknames again." She scolded. "I thought you said you were growing up."
James frowned then, "Just because you don't understand them, Lily, doesn't mean I'm going to stop using them. I am growing up, and from my perspective, I don't think I'm the only one who needs to."
"Well, if-" Lily began, seething, but she was cut short by the sound of the grinding staircase. Both heads turned to stare over the backs of their chairs as Dumbledore's pointed hat came to view, slowly giving way to their headmaster. He smiled warmly as he saw both seventh years seated, and opened his hands in welcome as he crossed the short distance to seat himself behind his desk. Their faces followed him as he walked.
Once comfortable, Dumbledore leaned forward, placed his fingertips together, and observed the two pensively for a few moments. Lily and James shared a mutual look. The silence had just begun to get uncomfortable, when Dumbledore finally spoke.
"Firstly, I'd like to offer the both of you my sincerest congratulations. You were the most outstanding candidates for head boy and girl, and to gain this title is an exceptional achievement." He smiled briefly at James, who severely questioned how he could have been an 'outstanding candidate'.
"I would also like to take this opportunity to inform you both that I am fully aware of your rather complex history," He looked from James to Lily, "And I hope that despite this, you can both find it in yourselves to resolve your personal issues for the benefit of the school. Conflict between the head boy and girl only leads to conflict between the students." Lily gulped guiltily.
"Will you both be able to put your differences behind you?" He queried.
James nodded quickly, "Yes sir, of course." Dumbledore inclined his head slightly, and both males looked toward Lily.
"I don't see that there will be a problem." She replied smoothly. James' chest swelled as he heard her words.
Dumbledore clapped his hands, causing them both to jump. "Fantastic, well let's get down to business then." And with that, they started to discuss the complexities of the head duties, things that have worked well in the past, strategies they could implement for team building and managing their own personal stress.
"And I want you both to remember, in all seriousness, NEWT year is extremely stressful and should you feel yourself start to slip or struggle, I want you to come and seek my advice. Do not jeopardise your own success. Am I clear?" Dumbledore finished, when both heads nodded, he stood abruptly. The two students followed suit.
"Before you leave, may I ask you one thing?"
"Of course, Professor." James replied.
"The daily prophet will want to write an article on the new prefects and heads elected, with your permission, I would like to take a photograph to feature in the article." Dumbledore told them.
They both acquiesced, and moved together by the fireplace. James put his hand on the small of Lily's back and the both of them smiled at Dumbledore, who had brought out an extremely old looking camera. There was a blinding flash, and Lily moved away from James' warmth immediately.
"Thank you, that is all. You must be looking forward to a good night's rest." They nodded in unison at this, "The entrance to your common room is opposite the portrait of Prince Raleus on the sixth floor. The password is ghoul. Goodnight, and I look forward to working with you both."
They recognised the dismissal, thanked Dumbledore, and made their way to the staircase. Lily was in the lead and had already disappeared from sight when James heard Dumbledore clear his throat. He turned, to see the headmaster smiling, the usual twinkle in his eye. "You are welcome, Mr Potter." James grinned bashfully, Dumbledore knew of his plight for Lily, had he made him head boy just to give him the opportunity of finally getting her to fall for him? Even so, it didn't matter now. With a curt nod, he replied "Goodnight, headmaster," and with that, he followed Lily down the stairs.
She was waiting for him at the bottom, her back pressed against the far wall, curls cascading over her shoulders. James allowed a brief fantasy to compose itself in his mind, pushing up against her, the feel of her lips on his.
"Are you okay?" She asked, emotionless, as she twisted one of those luxurious curls around a slender finger. She had obviously not gotten over their previous disagreement.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He responded, desperately trying to control his teenage boyhood desire. "Are you?"
She shrugged, pushed herself from the wall and started off down the corridor. He watched her hips sway exotically, before she turned. "Well, are you coming or not?"
He smiled at her, "Of course."
They set off together, the silence shrouding the couple yet again. It gave James the opportunity to think things through. He found it difficult to keep up with his thoughts when Lily was around. She made everything hazy, but in a good way. All the little things mattered, the blink of her eye, the tug of her lips, the hollow of her neck. Every bloody movement. How did she not feel this attraction? It was unbearable. He didn't understand how he could have thought, for even a single second, on giving up on this angel. He had to make her see, he just had too, or he'd regret it for the rest of his life.
"It should be right around here," He tuned into Lily speaking, and realised that they were still trying to find their dormitories. "Aren't you supposed to be a Marauder? I thought you knew this school like the back of your hand." She said suspiciously.
James laughed nervously, his hand jumping to the back of his neck. "Yeah, sorry, I was lost in thought. It's just over here." She followed him to a painting of three wizards hats in a row, opposite the portrait of the Prince that Dumbledore had told them about.
James cleared his throat, and like magic, which of course it was, the three hats were elevated from the ground as their respective owners appeared beneath them. All three were wizards, two of them balding, and one with a grey bushy beard.
"Well hello there," The fattest one said in a thick Scottish accent. "New head students, eh?"
"Where, where?" Asked the other portly wizard, also with a distinctive Scottish tongue.
"Honestly Alfred, you really need to keep tabs on where you put your glasses." The skinny wizard said exasperatedly, pulling a pair of rounded spectacles out of the frame and into the picture. He slid them onto the Alfred's nose.
"Ah," Said Alfred, "Thank you Glen." He blinked up at Lily and James, and his brown eyes widened in recognition. "Ah, Mr Potter, how lovely to see you again. And tell me," His eyes landed on Lily, "who is your beautiful lady friend?"
James chuckled, "Hello Alfred, this is Lily Evans, she's head girl."
"Oh really," Said Glen, impressed, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Evans."
Lily, who had been watching the whole dialogue with apprehension, let her facial features soften. "The pleasure is all mine." She spoke sweetly.
All three wizards smiled at her. It was as James always said, you couldn't help but fall in love with Lily Evans.
"I suppose you have the password?" The unnamed wizard asked.
"We sure do Eddy, it's ghoul." James informed him suavely.
"Bingo." Alfred smiled. There was a sound, like a latch swinging free, and the portrait swung forward. The wall expanded, making an arch which lead to their own personal tower.
"Ladies first." James said, and Lily didn't need telling twice. She almost flew through the arch and into the most beautiful common room she had ever seen. It was decorated exactly like the Gryffindor one, but much smaller. The fire was crackling merrily, the hearth beneath it slightly singed from some encounter years ago. The plush sofa was adorned with blankets and cushions, whilst a variety of light snacks lay in a basket on the antique coffee table. Along one wall sat two desks, separated by a bookshelf which was already packed with literature.
Lily gasped and ran her fingers along the spines of the books, some of which she noted, were definitely from the restricted section.
"Lily, look here!" James called. She turned toward the sound of his voice. He was standing in the middle of two open French doors, the breeze causing the soft white material of the curtains to dance. She made her way over to him, her mouth dropping.
"We have a balcony!" She squealed. "I can't believe it, this is amazing."
James grinned at her. "Let's check out our rooms." He said in an excited tone, racing her to the solitary staircase across from the balcony. They both took the stairs two at a time, and after reaching the top, were faced with two identical doors facing each other. Lily fingered the etching of her name on the door to her right.
"On the count of three?" James whispered. Lily nodded her approval.
"One." She said, her eyes wide.
"Two." He added.
"Three." They said together. The two doors were flung open, and an audible gasp emanated from both heads.
"Wow." James exclaimed, walking into his Gryffindor style bedroom, quidditch posters littering the walls, his trunk already at the foot of his gigantic scarlet fourposter.
"Incredible." Lily breathed. Her room was much more elegant, decorated as a French boudoir, with gold satin hangings and light blue drapes. An assortment of pillows and comforters lay atop her fourposter bed, whilst pieces of exquisite furniture had been spotted about the room.
James made his way over to her. "Lily, this is beautiful." He told her sincerely.
"It's what I always wanted." She whispered with wide eyes, the childish excitement plaguing her thoughts and distilling the madness she still felt for him. "What's yours like?"
"Just like home." James grinned. "Anyway, I'm going to bed, it's about time we got some sleep. Goodnight Lily, sweet dreams."
"Goodnight." Came the reply, and Lily watched him click the door close softly behind him. Despite their argument and the many questions that rose from it, it took neither of them long to fall soundly asleep.
