First Ever Detention
Sometimes he thought that being friends with a werewolf definitely had its advantages. Of course, at the age of twelve, werewolves were undeniably cool; James Potter used to dream of intimidating those prats in Slytherin and making girls fall in love with him. Then he grew up. Most of the time, being mates with a werewolf got him into trouble. It wasn't Remus Lupin's fault, James just happened to be a slight moron who found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, because of said werewolf. However this time, James Potter dragged Lily Evans down with him, and for that lycanthropy definitely had its perks.
Prowling around the library at night was not a typical habit for James Potter. While he enjoyed the odd Muggles of Mayhem novel, James favoured the Quidditch pitch to the dusted shelves of Hogwarts. Tonight was not the typical night for frivolity and flying. No, tonight James Potter was going to break into the Restricted Section and find the tutorial on becoming Animagus.
Lily Evans had a similar endeavour in mind. Severus had let slip the truth of Remus' lycanthropy in a desperate attempt to regain her favour; yet Lily only felt pity for the Slytherin, and compassion for her ailed friend. Being an adept brewer of potions, Lily had snuck into the library this very selfsame night, attempting to research the development of Wolfsbane.
James frowned in annoyance, underneath his invisibility cloak, as he unsuccessfully tried to jimmy the lock. Who in the name of Merlins left tit would make the Restricted Section, so restricted? Even the penknife that he had received from his father couldn't open the damned thing. Why were good deeds so difficult? It had never been this hard sneaking into Dumbledore's office; what secrets were hidden in the library? A dimly glowing lantern caught his eye. James turned slowly, careful not to make a sound, and came face to face with the lovely Lily Evans.
Of course, it was more like face to thin-air, for Evans, who had no notion that Potter had an invisibility cloak, let alone that he was underneath it right at this very moment. She approached the wretched door, to which James smirked; his fifteen year old ego told him that if he couldn't open the door, no one could.
Fifteen year old James Potter was a bit of a nitwit. Lily approached the door, and simply whispered, "alohamora", unlocking the lock and stepping inside. James followed, flabbergasted by her ingenuity. With her brains, charms and womanly assets, Lily Evans was the most perfect girl he had ever seen, and someday she would know it. Until then, the infamous feud between Potter and Evans would continue to haunt the hallowed halls of Hogwarts (much to the dismay of every professor and studious student.)
Remembering his mission, James stopped staring at a certain pair of "assets" on Evans' body, and crept towards the shelves of illicit magic and terrifying beasts. Silently he snorted, overwhelmed by the idea that Nancy-boy Lupin was terrifying. James had certainly faced greater dangers, due to his knack for mischief; Snivellus' underwear, Slughorn's bad breath and an illegal game of real-life hungry-hungry-hippogriff.
One such terror that James had yet to face, (though surely would, in mere moments time) was the wrath of a sleep deprived Lily Evans. Oh he had faced her fury at breakfast, between classes and after exams, but never in her most agitated tea-less state. Not yet, anyway.
Lily was having a significantly better time searching for books, after consulting her potions professor on the subject. She'd remained hypothetical, stating she simply wanted a challenge, to which he advised Most Potente Potions. Unfortunately, Slughorn had also insisted that he would not sign her permission slip, for such a gruesome book, until she was of age. Still, she knew the title, and possessed an aptitude for stealth that rivalled the Marauders; meaning that getting her hands on the book was not difficult at all. Walking out of the library, for another matter, was particularly difficult, especially for a clumsy redhead.
With the book tucked firmly under her arm, Lily turned to leave the restricting library, in favour of her warm bed. At the exact same time, an invisible James Potter had the same idea (he had resorted to taking all the books on his topic) which resulted in a crash between the two Gryffindors. Lily had accidently trod on the back of James' cloak, revealing his identity, and sending the books airborne. Immediately, the crash alerted Madame Pince (who slept in her office nearby), and sent the librarian running over in a state of fury. At this point, Lily was lying on top of a winded James Potter, awarding him a lovely sight of heaving breasts and tousled red hair, as well as the discomfort of another person's body weight. Still, he was a horny bloke, and sacrifices needed to be made.
"Alright, Evans?" James began, but his question was drowned out by the shrieking and hollering of the mental librarian. Their books were confiscated, library privileges revoked, and a week's worth of detentions instated; effective immediately.
The forbidden forest at night was eerily quiet. The looming trees were cloaked in darkness, with sweeping mists suffocating the sky. Essentially, the forest looked as foreboding and forbidden as its namesake, a fact that Mr Filch seemed to neglect with glee.
For all her courage and bravery, Lily had a primitive fear of the dark, possibly ingrained from her past life as an unsuccessful bat (she had flown into a wall, mere moments after birth and died). Still, she would never let James Potter act the hero, come hell or high water (or dark depressing forests). Filch rambled on about leaving them there overnight, with no supervision, as a testament to their wretched rule-breaking. So now, not only did Lily Evans have to endure darkness, she had to put up with Potter's company until daybreak. Briefly, she wondered if Filch would offer a more suitable punishment; a fight to the death, or cleaning ogre snot came to mind.
James was ecstatic. A whole night to wander the forest, with his lady love by his side! This was just like Muggles of Mayhem: wandering doom; where Doctor Hamish Lorcan found the lost princess in the Amazon rainforest. Except Lily wasn't exactly in need of rescue, and snakes weren't the most terrifying thing in the forest; as they were about to discover.
"AAGH EVANS, IT'S BEHIND YOU!" James screamed, startling the poor ginger. Lily abruptly whipped around; wand in hand, with a plethora of defensive spells in mind. The terrifying best in question? a toad. A smelly, warty toad that had scared a sixteen year old moron out of his mind. Oh she would never let him live this down. Lily cackled as James reddened.
"Shut up. It looked bigger by wandlight. I thought it was an alligator."
"Have you ever seen an alligator Potter?"
"Well no, but there's a first time for everything isn't there? Besides, that toad looks shifty, maybe it's an animagus Death Eater"
"Or maybe it's a charming princess waiting for a kiss... Muggle story, never mind" She shook her head looking at his astonished face.
"Muggles are so bizarre." He breathed, as Lily walked off in a huff. James briefly turned to the toad, "sorry, I've already got a princess to deal with."
After hours of aimless wandering (honestly, what was the point of all this), James found a suitable place to sit and rest. It appeared to be a deserted campsite, with a small fire-pit and smooth rocks, written in ancient texts. To Lily, it was just a place to rest her aching feet, but to James, it was an ongoing adventure.
"Stop looking at me Potter." Lily hissed, as she ignited the fire pit with her wand.
"I can't help it Evans, you're beautiful by moon-glow." James exclaimed.
"James" She warned, eyes growing wide. In the distance, howls were heard.
"Honestly Evans, it's not as if –"
"POTTER, THE MOON IS FULL!" She yelled, grabbing him by the arm.
"So?" He asked stupidly.
"So, genius, Remus is out here somewhere. As a werewolf. He won't exactly recognise us as friends, will he?" Lily insisted, tugging James towards the trees, as the howls grew louder.
James began to protest, insisting that the Shrieking Shack was firmly locked, until a cold shiver ran down his spine. The Snape incident. The door had all but shattered when Snape got in last month, and no one had repaired it yet. Remus was out. Now that was terrifying.
"Can werewolves climb?" Lily asked as James boosted her up into a tree. She pulled him up beside her, her small hands clasping his own.
"I sure hope not."
Higher and higher they climbed, sweating and nearly slipping in desperation to avoid a grisly death. They had reached a stable branch, just narrowly missing the starving wolf. For the rest of their lives, Lily and James would remember those seven agonising hours, spent in the tree, looking into the wolf's yellow eyes. For the rest of their lives, they would remember every panicked second spent, clutching onto each other.
Of course, each remembered it differently.
James would say, at a later time, that he had shielded Lily with his arms, soothingly whispering words of comfort to her, in a heroic manly effort. He would drunkenly note his bravery, willing to sacrifice himself for the fair maidens' safety.
Lily would say, at a later time, that she had cunningly protected Potter – her mortal enemy – by besting the beast in a matter of wits. She would note her ingenuity, in a state of intoxication, in distracting the wolf with her wand work.
Remus, the only unbiased source, would never say (for he had forgotten once the lunar spell broke), that the truth of the matter was that both Lily and James were lying cowards. They had spent the night sobbing, praying to every known deity and pledging to become vegetarians if they survived the ordeal. None of these facts were ever remembered or retold; and so promises of worship and animal-loving remained unfulfilled.
But, despite the conflicting accounts, one truth prevailed through every retelling. This was the night of Lily and James' real first kiss. Well, this was the 4:30 am of Lily and James' first real kiss. Apparently, surviving a terror is quite romantic, and so, after safely climbing down their tree sanctuary, Lily pressed her chapped lips against James'.
Being mates with a werewolf, was so worth it.
