Lily
Three days she was cooped up in that cabin. Three days. It felt as if the walls were slowly inching closer together and James' ego was getting bigger with each hour. Sirius wasn't nearly as annoying as Lily remembered from Hogwarts. Perhaps it was because James spent all his time bullying and pestering her that one of them needed to be the grown up.
Only the boys were allowed to leave the cabin, and only one at a time. Lily must always be in the company of one of the marauders. And despite the protective spells, she must not walk outside or leave under any conditions. It was miserable.
James was currently out on a food run before the next move. Lily spent the last few hours sitting on the floor of the tiny room she briefly occupied, staring at her suitcase. She was shocked at how small it was. This case held all of her possessions inside. This war was killing her.
James had ordered her not to use magic incase Voldemort's spies in the ministry found a way to track her; until he heard from Mad Eye, anyway. Lily felt like she was going crazy. Her wand sat on the dresser next to her. She wanted nothing more than to pick it up and apparate far away from James and Sirius, and to wherever the hell she wanted.
A few days ago, it seemed like not such a bad idea to be protected by James and Sirius. They were, after all, two of the best aurors Mad Eye had seen in while and at the top of the class at Hogwarts. But Sirius became strangely reserved and James had such dramatic mood swings that Lily couldn't keep straight what version of himself he was playing at the moment.
The first day, James was sincere. After her bickering with him, she found herself locked in her room until dinner. It was nice to just be alone. But James was always at the door, begging her to come out. He was worried, so he said. He didn't want her to be alone when she was as fragile as she was. Fragile, Lily huffed. He and Sirius had even cooked dinner, which finally brought her out of her room. It was quite nice, though. They talked about school, about Remus and Peter, about Noah and Quidditch, about the war. They seemed to treat her like an equal and not like a child.
After dinner, Sirius offered to clean up so she could take time alone again. It was kind of him. But Lily suspected he would return to normal after the initial shock of being torn away from her family wore off of her. James followed her upstairs.
"Hey, Evans. Can I get a word?" James asked. He stood halfway up the flight of stairs.
Lily shrugged, smiling at how small James appeared from her viewpoint. He bounded up the stairs and come to Lily's eye level. He wore a soft smile on his face, leaving no trace of the arrogant boy she knew.
"I know you've been hearing this a lot, but, I just wanted to make sure you're doing alright." He messed up his black hair anxiously as he awaited Lily's answer. But before she could speak, he interrupted. "It's a stupid question; of course you're not ok. I can't even begin to understand what it must be like. I know you're really close with Noah and your dad. I am really sorry this all happened to you, Lily. You deserve a lot better."
Lily bit her lower lip. "Thanks, James."
"Oh so you actually know my first name then?" He laughed and tried to make his usual jokes but Lily saw it… the way his face glowed as she said his name. It was as if he had been yearning to hear it for a long time. She pushed the thought from her mind that she could have so much impact on him.
"Goodnight Lily."
On the second day, Lily had started getting used to a kinder side of James and enjoyed it more than she let on.
Lily sat on the couch downstairs, staring longingly at the outside. It was such a beautiful day. "So there is no chance I can leave?"
"No." James and Sirius both said in monotone. They immediately went back to whatever they were doing.
Lily groaned and threw her head onto the pillow. "What if we played with my appearance? I know this spell to change physical features…"
"No!" It was James who stood up. His face softened after yelling. "Look Lily, I know this is hard, but it's only the second day in. Next time we move, I'll try to find somewhere without people always around. We just can't risk it right now."
Lily nodded, pulling the pillow to her chest and holding it tight. "I just can't be locked in here anymore. I'm going crazy…"
Neither James nor Sirius looked up this time. They sat at the kitchen table, scribbling away on some enchanted notebooks. Lily rolled her eyes and stood up, pillow still in hand. She stormed over to the boys.
"Excuse me? Are either of you going to listen to me?" Lily asked. Not one of their heads popped up. Not a single quill stopped writing. "Oi!"
Lily reached forward, grasping her hands against the papers and threw them far across the room. The marauders looked up, stunning expressions covering their faces.
"For Merlin's sake!" Lily slammed her hands against the table. "I'm going mad in here! I get that I can't leave, I really do. But you can't just pretend like I'm not here. I need someone to talk to. I can't just sit in a corner and think all day. I can't think all day…"
James eyes wondered around the room for a bit, like he didn't know what to say. He gestured towards the chair next to him. Lily sat down.
Sirius stared at Lily across the table. He lifted an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"Sorry?" Lily asked.
"About not wanting to think…" Sirius seemed quite genuine. His eyes were pleasantly kind. Lily hadn't noticed that before.
She took a deep breath. "My mind rambles. I don't mean to, but I start to think of every horrible thing that could possibly happen now that this is all real. Noah being murdered, Voldemort capturing me, torturing you two for having anything to do with this… I just, I don't want to think about that kind of stuff anymore. I need it to stop."
James sighed and ran his fingers through his already messy hair. Lily hunched her shoulders over, trying to hide the swelling in her throat and eyes.
"I can't imagine how you are even dealing with this." James said softly. He placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her. "But Sirius and I know what we signed up for as aurors. We would both gladly do what needs to be done to protect you. You're not just an assignment to us, Lily, we know you. Don't ever feel like you're responsible if anything happens to us. We're here because we want to be."
Lily looked up, the whites of her eyes a light pink. "Thanks." She whispered, before leaning onto James' shoulder. He smiled lightly as he relaxed and allowed her to close her eyes.
But today, they lost Lily.
In all honesty, she was fine. She was in the house the whole time. She was just… hidden. It was funny really, listening to the boys' footsteps running amuck upstairs as she sat, knee to chest in a corner of a closet in the basement. She smiled to herself as Sirius began to yell at James to recheck her room for the third time.
It was nice to be alone. Sirius and James were doing their best but it was getting tiring. James was being kind. Kind. Sure, she hated the arrogant, annoying James with a passion but this James… It was weird. He tried to comfort her when he could and the other day he made cookies. Cookies. He couldn't just make cookies and no one would notice.
Suddenly she heard feet storming down the stairs to the basement.
"Lily?" Sirius called. "Oh come on, I know you're in this house. Very funny. Really clever. Gold medal. Now just come out!"
Inside her little corner Lily began to laugh. She knew Sirius would hear her but she didn't mind. It wasn't him she was hiding from. The door opened, turning her dark hideaway into a bright and open space.
"I don't care if you stay, but close that door." Lily said, shielding her eyes.
Sirius laughed at the redhead who appeared incredibly small in the corner of the closet. He sat down next to her and closed the door behind him. It wasn't easy to see, but he supposed that might have been Lily's point.
"So… what are you doing?"
"Hiding." She said simply.
Sirius sighed, with an invisible grin on his face. "I see that. How come?"
"James is being nice."
That sentence forced Sirius into a fit of laughs. "You're hiding because Prongs has been nice? That boy cannot win with you, can he?"
"Oh it's not that." Lily groaned, pushing her back against the wall. "It's just… he's not himself. It's weird. At least Hogwarts James was consistent."
"Consistent?"
"He was always this arrogant, self-centered, flirty, wont-leave-me-alone-prat. He used to pester me about dating him and tried to trick me into kissing him or doing some prank for him. Now he's all 'How are you Lily?' and 'Do you want more cookies, Lily?' He calls me 'Lily' now!"
"That is your name…"
"Yeah, but not to him! And now he's got me calling him James. What is with that? And have you even noticed the cookies? He bakes cookies for God sakes Sirius!"
He began to laugh again, expectedly. "I thought you hated Hogwarts James."
"I never hated him." Lily said, playing nervously with the edges of her sweatshirt. That was mostly true. Even through all of the times she complained and turned James away, she never hated him. He was a smart, straight A student and had a fierce loyalty to his friends like no other. She admired that about him. He may be been incredibly annoying, but she never hated him. Not even once.
"But Hogwarts James didn't baby me. He treated me like an equal despite his sexist jokes and his constant need to protect me from Sev, to warn me about Sev, to undermine my authority as Head Girl, to intervene in every relationship I've attempted to have, to make me so furious I feel sick. But now? Now, he's nice." Lily huffed and pushed strands of hair behind her ears.
"He's nice because you've been traumatized."
"Yeah, well, he doesn't need to be. I'm fine."
Sirius shook his head, grinning wider than he had earlier. He understood Lily. He knew why it was bothering her and why she decided to hide in a basement closet with the lights off. James' constant need to make her feel better was making it worse. It was all just a reminder of how horrible everything was. "It will get better."
"Oh yeah, sure."
"No, I'm serious-"
"-nice pun-"
"-thanks. But Evans, I know that Prongs' niceness is annoying right now and it feels wrong and alien. He's going to grow on you. Eventually, you'll feel safe with us and more importantly with him and you'll come to love how kind he is."
"I don't think so, Sirius."
"He's always been this annoyingly kind, you know." Sirius said flatly. Lily's eyes perked up though he couldn't see her. "He's always looked out for you the way he is now. The only difference is that now he's letting you see it. He was always rude around you to cover it up. It's a guy thing I suppose."
"You mean to tell me that under all that arrogance and immaturity there is actually a decent human being?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
Just then the door swung open, revealing James and an enormous amount of light behind him. Both Lily and Sirius shielded their eyes. "Really?" James laughed and took a seat next to Sirius. "I've been running all over town. I blame you, Red."
"I think I'll get past it."
"Hey Sirius, you should leave." James said, kicking the door open. Sirius raised an eyebrow. A devilish grin erupted across James' face. "I think Lily may be interesting in some-"
"-Nope!" Lily jumped to her feet. "I don't think so Potter."
As she stepped over James' legs to make her way to the stairs Sirius lightly grabbed her arm. "See? He's not all gone."
James
They had packed up quickly after that day and made their way to a hidden shack in the Forest of Dean where Sirius visited as a child. It was quite cold and with little spare clothing, the three huddled close around a fire.
"Are you done running from me yet, Evans?" James asked; hints of his classic childish smirk on his lips.
"You're still a git." Lily said, holding her knees closer to her chest. She stared into the fire. The reds and yellows lifted and crashed like waves. She seemed so memorized. James struggled, trying to turn his eyes away.
"I think that's been established more times than I can count. I'm a git, I got it."
Lily smirked and leaned closer into the fire. It let up the edges of her face beautifully and she didn't even seem to notice. It was always funny to James how little she noticed her beauty, or rather cared. There were more important things to her. She was special.
Sirius smiled. "I agree. Look, I know it's been rough couple of days, but things will get better. I'm tired of being the responsible one. So, I've been thinking."
Lily perked her head up. Her red hair whistled around her face, falling gently onto her shoulders. James grinned, watching as she searched Sirius anxiously for answers. Her green eyes were huge.
"I think we can take her out." Sirius said simply, turning to James.
"Really?!" Lily yelled, nearly jumping to her feet. The smile spread across her face brought butterflies to James' stomach. She clapped her hands together like a small child on Christmas morning. After several days cooped up in wooden cabins, any other reaction would seem too modest. Suddenly, Lily gathered herself together and tried to appear like she calmed down a bit. "I mean, that would be cool."
"Yeah, James and I talked about it last night." Sirius continued. "If we can change our appearances enough and don't cause attention, we should be alright. There hasn't been Death Eater activity in a while and I haven't received any news from Mad Eye."
James stood up and walked closer to Lily. He pushed her shoulder playfully. "Where do you want go, Evans? It may be the last night out in a while."
"New York." Her answer came much faster than either James or Sirius expected. She was so sure though, like she had this planned for quite some time.
"New York? Can we apparate that far?" James turned to Sirius, a bit concerned.
"Of course we can! We got the three finest students at Hogwarts here." Sirius said, joining James and Lily. He wrapped his arms around their shoulders. "Nothing could possibly go wrong."
"You know bad things always happen once someone says that…" Lily stated, half laughing at Sirius.
"Hey, maybe I need to liven things up a bit."
The following day, James waited with Sirius in the kitchen while Lily finished getting ready. They leaned against the table top, picking at small slices of bread. James had already changed his appearance, as did Sirius.
He no longer wore his thick rimmed glasses and his eyes turned a bright blue. His messy and shaggy hair became short and brown. He was nearly unrecognizable.
Sirius, too, resembled a completely new man. With dirty blonde hair and paled skin, he looked like a relative of Malfoy's. James snickered at the thought.
"Oi! Stop laughing, mate." Sirius said, punching James in the arm.
"I can't help it! You look ridiculous."
Before Sirius could have a chance to hex his friend, Lily appeared next to them. Neither had noticed her come down the stairs because she hardly left any trace of the original Lily. Instead, her beautiful red hair turned a shade of dark brown while her eyes became a deep blue. A red dress flowed around her body and landed in the most delicate manners. James stood up straight, brushing at his pant legs.
"Wow, Lily, I hardly recognized you…" He stuttered over his words. Despite the fact that she didn't resemble the Lily he had grown to care for, she was still undeniably stunning.
"You guys look great! Nice suits." She said. She reached out and adjusted the collar on James' dress shirt. He blushed slightly and raised a hand to his hair anxiously. Lily had asked them to dress nicely tonight. Both boys happily obliged, wanting to give her a nice night after all that's happened.
"You ready?" Sirius asked, holding out his hand for Lily to grasp.
She nodded nervously as she took his hand. She then reached out and grabbed James' as well. He didn't expect her sudden gesture and hoped she couldn't feel his heart beating out of his palm.
James closed his eyes, waiting for Sirius to bring them to New York.
When he opened his eyes again, the busy sounds of the city awakened him. Taxis' horns blared, street venders shouted, and music played from the nearby shops. James turned to Lily, who still held both boys' hands. She smiled wide, staring up at the night lights. They stood in the middle of Times Square at roughly ten o'clock at night. James had never visited the city before, and he was quite certain Sirius hadn't either. But by the way Lily noticed everything around her, he knew her parents must have brought her here as a kid. Everything seemed to bring up a memory.
"Look!" She shouted, dragging the marauders to a corner by the Hershey's store. "When I was eight, I kicked my dad in the shin right here, because he refused to buy me chocolate! And over there! I cried for two hours when a stranger knocked into me and I dropped my ice cream!"
James laughed. "You were quite the spoiled kid, I see."
Lily pushed his arm, though a smile filled her face. "Oh, come off."
It was Sirius who spoke next. "I've got us on the list to this hot shot club down on fifth! Come on!" He charged off against the waves of people, leaving James and Lily to follow.
James looked to Lily; he smiled and reached for her hand. She willingly took it in an effort to avoid getting lost. James led the way as he pushed through enormous crowds of people, Lily straggled behind him, but as long he felt her hand he knew she was alright.
After ten minutes they finally caught up with Sirius. He stood in front of what appeared to be a run down bar from the late 90's. It was filthy on the outside, though an enormous line trailed around the building and down the street. With confidence, Sirius walked right up to the body guard and muttered a few words. The man nodded, and opened the velvet rope. A few people in the line yelled some angry swear words as the three walked through the doors of the club.
It was incredibly loud inside that it hurt James' ears. He looked to Sirius, who seemed to have run off into the mass crowd of dancers. Lily smiled, charging after him. James laughed, wondering how either of them enjoyed this sort of thing. True, he was always quite the partier back at school, but this was different. Here, it was loud and sweaty and random strangers seemed unable to dance without groping you. At school, he was always trying to show off to Lily; to prove he was popular, to prove that he was a man because he could down a whole bottle of fire whiskey by himself. It seemed silly, even then. Lily never cared about that kind of thing and he understood that now.
James made his way to the bar and leaned against the counter.
"I'll take a firewhiskey." James said, placing some muggle money on the counter. The bartender gave him a confused look. "Right, sorry. Just a scotch and soda."
The bartender nodded, raising his eyebrows at James before grabbing a glass from under the table. After a few moments he handed James the glass filled halfway with a dark brown liquid and ice.
James sat down at a table and searched the crowd for Lily's red hair. When he didn't find it immediately, his heart began to race. It wasn't until he saw Sirius' fresh blonde hair did he remember Lily was now a brunette. He didn't realize how much he loved Lily's ridiculously red hair until then.
He watched from the side as Lily and Sirius danced. She threw her arms above her head, twisting her hips and mouthing the words of a song James couldn't identify. Sirius was just as wild as ever, finding some random attractive girl, placing his hands on her waist and swaying along to the music. An hour passed before either came to see James. He didn't mind though, he was content watching Lily. She was happy for the first time in days and that alone made James feel like he was doing something right.
"JAMES!" Lily yelled. He spun around. She must have come up from behind. When did she leave the dance floor? He swore he had been watching her the whole time. He supposed maybe he had been watching the wrong girl. After all, Lily looked like a whole new person.
She pointed to a door that led to a balcony outside. James nodded, setting down his glass and followed her. The noise died down to a soft whisper. "I said your name nearly twenty times before you heard me."
"Right, sorry about that." James muttered, running a hand through his hair, forgetting it was too short to play with now.
Lily smiled. She turned and faced the busy city, resting against the railings. "Thank you so much for this. I know this club isn't really your scene, hell, it's not mine either, but it means a lot that you and Sirius did this for me."
"We just want this to be a bit less hard on you." James said, leaning his back against the stone rail.
A wide smile filled Lily's face. "You're a much better person than I gave you credit for, James Potter."
"I've been telling you that since year one."
"I remember well…"
"Hey guys! I've been looking all over for you!" Sirius' head popped out of the busy club. He ran up to James and Lily and tried to drag them back inside. Lily went along easily, but James shook his head.
"I'm good, Padfoot. I'm going to keep an eye out, just in case." James said.
Lily followed Sirius back inside. But as she reached the door, she spun around. "Too bad, Potter. I might have saved you a dance."
"I'll take you up on that later, I promise." James shouted after her as she turned and ran inside. Her heels clicked against the floor. James laughed to himself.
Another hour passed. Lily and Sirius were still all over the dance floor and James had drunk his third scotch. He had been keeping an eye out for any suspicious behavior, but didn't see anything. After drawing the conclusion that Death Eaters wouldn't locate them tonight, he drank his forth.
A tall man with shaggy brown hair made his way to Lily. James recognized him as Miles Parkinson. He had been in school the same year as Miles, though Miles resided in the Slytherin house. They never got along and he hated him nearly as much as Snape; especially since the day he attacked Lily.
It was the spring of his sixth year at Hogwarts. James strutted about the empty courtyard, tossing a crumpled up ball of parchment in his hand. Remus was at his side, trying repeatedly to snatch the ball.
"Give it a rest, Moony. This is why I'm on the quidditch team, and you're not." James said, grinning ear to ear. Remus snorted and crossed his arms.
"Yeah, well, shut up."
"Excellent come back, mate."
Remus laughed and punched James in the side, causing him to drop the parchment to the grass. "How about now, bitch?"
"Watch yourself, Moony." James grabbed his friend around the neck and threw his hair all out of sorts. Remus struggled to push him away.
"Oi!" Remus yelled after James finally released him. "My hair looked nice today..."
"You're being a girl again…"
Remus gave him a sarcastic smile before attempting to fix his mess of a head. In the far distance, James spotted Lily sitting under a large tree. She wasn't doing anything really; expect staring aimlessly into a book. He knew she wasn't reading it when she kept glancing up at Snape and his friend. She was trying to appear busy. Snape kept eyeballing her and it made James' insides burn.
Next to Snape stood Miles Parkinson, a tall bloke and quite clean cut for a Slytherin. The girls who were too blind to see his history with the dark arts fawned over him. He was annoyingly handsome, and even seemed to catch Lily's attention.
She looked up when she sensed Miles staring. She blushed slightly and looked back down at the same page she had been 'reading' for five minutes now.
Miles hit Snape in the side and nodding in Lily's direction. James was too far away to hear what he had said.
"What do you say, mate? Up for a game of Messing with Slytherins?" James asked, knowing Moony might scold him. But as Lily was actually Remus' close friend, he agreed when Miles took a seat next to the redhead.
"I don't like that bloke." Remus said as they made their way to the tree. "He's always talking about her at the prefect meetings."
"He's a friend of Snape's, and by association I hate him."
"Excellent use of logic, Prongs."
"Thanks mate."
Lily looked up and suddenly noticed Miles sitting next to her. She jumped slightly and began to laugh when he smiled. It irritated James that she didn't automatically despise him. But then again, she still saw the 'good' in Snape, so Lily's use of judgment was quite flawed in James' opinion.
"How's that book, Evans?" Miles said sweetly. Lily didn't notice his eyes trace the lines of her body.
"Oh, this?" She sat the book down next to her. "It's alright; I've been reading the same page all day."
Miles laughed and grinned through the left side of his face. "You look quite lovely today, Evans. I've seen some beautiful girls, and I must say you are knocking them all out of the park."
His charm was nauseating, but Lily seemed to fall like a school girl. Her face turned a bright red. "Oh, thanks Miles. That's so sweet of you."
Miles shrugged and adjusted his green and black tie. "I only speak the truth."
Lily nodded, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear like she always does when she's nervous. James shook his head, watching it all from a distance. He knew she did that little quirk when she was nervous and it made his stomach knot at the thought of Miles Parkinson causing her to do that. It should be him. So, he treated her like a child and called her names and hexed her precious Snape. He suddenly realized he wasn't off to a good start. But James truly cared far more for Lily than Miles ever could and that was all that mattered.
"So, Evans, I was thinking maybe later tonight me and you could head up to astronomy tower…" Miles said, leaning in close to her ear. She could feel his breath against her skin and she was suddenly uncomfortable.
James and Remus were still quite far away when Miles put his hand on Lily's knee. James watched as she stared at the hand. It slowly began making its way towards her thigh. James hands closed to fists and his pace quickened. Remus muttered something about keeping cool, but James wasn't going to have it.
Lily pushed his hand away and brushed out her skirt. "I'm sorry Miles, but I'm going to have to pass." She lost the flirty tone to her voice.
Miles laughed mechanically. He lifted himself to his knees and swung one around Lily's hips until he was straddling her. "No one says 'no' to me, mudblood."
As he pushed Lily to the grass, James broke into a sprint. The four of them were alone in the courtyard and Snape seemed to have disappeared.
Miles pinned Lily's arms down as she tried to avoid his lips crashing against hers. "Stop moving!"
"Oi!" James yelled. "Get off her!"
James sent a jinx right at Parkinson that lifted him off of the redhead and into a tree nearby. James raced after him, and threw his own wand to the ground. He was filled too high with anger and disgust that he couldn't concentrate long enough to send another spell. His fist collided with Miles' jaw.
Miles stood up quickly and sacked a punch into James' gut. "You think this will make Lily change her mind about you, Potter? It won't. She'll always see you as an arrogant jackass." Again another punch to his stomach.
"Talk about her one more time; I dare you."
"You know, Potter, you ruined my time with Evans. We could've had so much fun, her and me. All the pleasure she'd bring…"
James didn't even need to think about it this time. His fists seemed to move of their own accord, sending punch after punch into Miles' face and side. The brunette fell limp and James knew he was unconscious. Mcgonagall was going to take away every last Friday night until the end of the school year for this one, but as he looked back to Lily as Remus lifted her into his arms, he knew it was worth it.
James sprinted over. A bit of blood dripped down the side of his face. He bent over, panting. "You alright, Evans?"
He expected her to smile lightly, say no but thanks, and he could take her to the healing wing. But Lily was always unpredictable.
"I didn't need your help, Potter!" Lily spat. She pushed Remus away and rose to her feet. "I could have handled myself!"
"Right, you looked like you were doing just fine. Let's not forget that Miles is a 250 pound bloke and you can hardly lift two textbooks at a time." James said, irritated that she wasn't slightly grateful at all. She was yelling at him. Him? He hardly ever understood what exactly went down inside of Lily Evans' mind.
"Just because you take every opportunity to show off doesn't mean I have to worship you for it." Lily crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. James knew for a fact if he hadn't shown up, Lily wouldn't have been able to do anything to stop Miles. But he didn't care anymore. He was far too pissed that she was angry with him for saving her.
"Yeah, well, next time I'll just ignore you!" James yelled picking up his wand and shoving it into his back pocket.
"That's unlikely." Remus said under his breath. Both Lily and James whipped their heads around and yelled for him to shut up.
Lily brushed out the wrinkles in her skirt and swore when she saw the grass stains on her white blouse. "I don't need you to save me, Potter. Now stop acting like such a hero, and move out of my way. I have potions class to get to."
With that, Lily stormed off, leaving Remus quite confused and James absolutely furious.
James sat up in his seat anxiously as he watched. Miles didn't seem to realize that it was Lily he was trying to grope. Of course he wouldn't, she looked like an entirely different person. Lily spun around to face him after she felt his arm brush against her side. He stared down at her with a devilish look in his eyes. She was so small compared to him. James stood to his feet and set his glass down when he saw the fear across her face. Neither of them had seen him since graduation or seen him really since the incident in sixth year.
Miles had been rumored to be a Death Eater, but no one was really sure. But it was enough for James after what happened before. As he walked in Lily's direction, he noticed Miles reach again for her but she pushed him off, a defensive look on her face. It was happening again.
"Oh come on, sweetie, just one dance." Miles said, pulling on Lily's arm to bring her body against his.
"I said get off!" She struggled to push him away. Miles laughed, pulling her in even tighter. He pushed his body against hers and suddenly she felt incredibly small.
James began to run and within seconds he was at Lily's side. He grabbed her around the waist, and pulled her away with all his strength. He set her down behind him and pushed her hair away from her eyes. "Are you alright?"
She nodded and crossed her arms stubbornly. She looked behind him to see Miles slowly recovering from the blow to his pride. Her eyes were incredibly twitchy, scanning the room every five seconds, huffing and puffing away. "I'm fine." But James knew she was shaken.
"We need to find Sirius and leave, come on."
But before James could grab Lily's hand, he felt his body being swung viciously around. He looked up to see Miles towering over him.
"I had dibbs, mate." Suddenly a fist collided with James' cheek, pushing him backwards and into the people behind him. It was all too familiar. He shook his head and rubbed his jaw lightly. Miles grinned and lifted his arms in victory. James looked up to see Lily at his side. It was much too loud to hear what she was saying. She wiped away the blood from James upper lip quickly and helped him to his feet.
The next thing he knew, Sirius had jumped Miles, sending them both to the ground. He threw punch after punch, not allowing Miles to fight back. James made his way to his feet and grabbed Sirius' collar. "Enough, Padfoot. Let's go."
When James looked up again, nearly the whole club had spiraled into a brawl. Miles jumped up and tried to grasp Sirius around the throat, but he threw another punch at Miles' jaw. Miles' eyes were furious, but he quickly looked down at his watch and spun around on his heels and charged out of the club leaving James quite confused.
James felt Lily cling to his side, as bodies flew around the floor, arms and fists swinging. Miles' sudden exit didn't seem to matter anymore. He looked to the security guards in the corners, making their way over. The three pushed past the crowds of people and out the back doors. Once they found the open air, they broke into a sprint, not looking behind them. James could feel his feet kicking along the pavement beneath his body and for the first time, felt more alive than he had in months. The wind pushed through his messy hair as he spun his head around in search of Lily. A wide smile spread across her face as she pushed strands of hair from her eyes. James laughed and turned back and charged faster after Sirius.
After they made it out far enough, Sirius jumped in front of them, bringing the two to a stop. He began to walk backwards, facing them as he spoke. "Look, I know a shortcut to this party downtown. You guys up for it?"
"Another party? After the night we've had already?" Lily asked and you could hear the yawn in her voice.
"Hell yes!"
"How could you possibly know shortcuts, anyway? You've never been in the country before." James said, crossing his arms to brace the wind.
He shrugged. "I overheard some bloke give directions to Miles. It's just past forth, down the alleyway on eighth, and we should be there."
"That seems a bit out of the way. Are you sure those are the right directions?" Lily asked. "It sounds a bit sketchy."
"I agree with Evans. Besides, do we really want to go anywhere that jackass has been?"
Sirius groaned. "Oh you two are no fun. Come on, it's our last night to be reckless before James and I have to go back to being serious aurors."
"Are we ever serious aurors?"
Sirius grinned through the left side of his mouth. "Well… just go along with it, will ya?"
James and Lily exchanged looks and seemed to read each others minds "Fine."
"Yes!" Sirius jumped up, punching the air, half expecting a flat out rejection. "Follow me."
Sirius strolled five or six feet in front of James and Lily, walking with pep in his step. James leaned down to Lily's ear. "He's quite excited…"
Lily laughed. "I think he drank a bit too much."
James nodded, knowing Sirius' low tolerance for alcohol. He had once gotten drunk off of two beers when he first started drinking. James on the other hand, used to drink so much that now he could take down six glasses without a buzz. After joining the aurors, he got a hold of it. But that was too long of a story to remember now. He could feel Lily at his side and all his old ways of partying and drinking seemed to disappear.
James looked down, as Lily rubbed her hands against her arms. She shivered.
"Here." James unbuttoned and removed his suit jacket and wrapped it around Lily's shoulders.
"You must be cold too. You didn't have to do that." She said, but graciously slipped her arms through the arm holes. She was nearly swallowed up into the large overcoat.
"Don't worry about it. I'm quite the gentleman." James smiled, pushing his hands into his pockets, realizing he wasn't very cold at all.
"So I've seen."
They were silent for a while, and for a brief second it seemed like they were back in London, the first night he saw her after Hogwarts. It all seemed too insignificant now; how careless he had felt that night, not knowing the burden Lily had been carrying. It surprised him that she allowed herself to be with him on what she thought was her last night of freedom. Maybe she had changed her mind about him…
"Have you heard from the other aurors?" Lily asked suddenly. She looked up at him, knowing he wouldn't have the answers she was looking for. Her eyes were bigger than he had ever seen them, she yearned so much for some kind of information. He wondered how long she had tried to say those words before she could actually mutter them aloud.
"I'm sorry, no. We're not allowed to contact each other in case it's intercepted, you know that." James said apologetically. He knew how much it hurt her to not know if her best friend was dead or alive.
"I keep feeling like something's wrong. I have this horrible pit in my stomach." Lily pushed her auburn hair away from her eyes and James started to notice the red returning.
"I know you're scared. But I'm sure he's alright. I know his aurors and they are great men. Besides, Noah is a strong wizard. He's okay, I'm sure of it." James wrapped one arm around her shoulders. She leaned into his side as they walked.
"How is it you always know what to say?"
James shrugged. "I know you better than you think, I suppose."
Sirius stopped suddenly, staring into an alleyway. His face was removed of the excited schoolboy and replaced with an absolute fear. He sprinted into the alley. James released Lily when they reached the opening. He forced her to look at him and squeezed her shoulders. "Stay here and do not move."
She looked around wildly. "But…"
"No Evans! Stay here!"
With that, he ran after Sirius without waiting to hear Lily complain. When he finally reached his friend, he looked down to watch Sirius had seen. Miles lay on the concrete, surrounded by a pool of his own blood. His eyes were wide open, but were distant and covered with a glassy frame. Sirius knelt down and pressed his fingers against his throat. He looked up. "He's dead."
It was hardly less than an hour the last time they had seen Miles. He left in such a hurry… was this where he was heading? Did he know he could potentially die? James sighed heavily and clasped his hands behind his head.
Sirius searched Miles' body for his wand, not wanting the muggles to discover it, but he came up empty. Whoever did this was a wizard since they had the sense to take the wand. A long and deep cut ran from Miles left shoulder down to the right side of hip. It looked like he had been slashed with a sword. His shirt was ripped and covered completely in blood. James had never liked Miles, but he would never wish this sort of fate upon him.
"Oh my God…"
James spun around at the sound of Lily's voice. She pushed her hands to her lips as her jaw began to quiver.
"What the hell, Evans? I thought I told you to stay put!" James shouted, feeling regretful immediately. Her eyes stared at Miles' lifeless body. She hardly even breathed.
She nodded, her legs shaking. "I'm sorry, I just- I thought I heard something… and I didn't want… to be… alone." She had trouble getting her words out; she was so focused on Miles' lifeless body.
Taking a deep breath, James opened his arms, sensing her fear. Lily ran into them almost instantly. She wrapped her arms around his waist and peeked her head over his shoulder. "What happened?"
"I don't know. But cops will be here any minute. We should get out of here." James said, turning to Sirius. He rose to his feet as sirens began to blare almost as if on cue. Red and blue lights filled the alleyway. The sirens were almost deafening. Sirius sent a worried look at James, but before any of them could focus long enough to apparate, four muggle police men came running into the alley. "Freeze! NYPD!"
Lily released herself from James and took a few steps back. James threw his hands in the air and eyed Lily and Sirius to do the same. "We just found the body, sir."
"Yeah, likely story. I've received word that you three were at the same club at the deceased." A young officer said, pacing around the body. He slipped his gun back into the holder on his waist. The cop turned to Sirius, who still had Miles' blood on his hands. "Arrest him."
"What?" James shouted, dropping his arms. "Under what charges?"
"Reasonable suspicion in murder, kid." The cop pushed James aside. Two officers struggled to put handcuffs on Sirius. James stepped in front of Lily, grabbing hold of her hands. He could easily feel her heartbeat. James knew that if they were arrested, they were screwed.
A long time ago, Wizards had put antiapparation spells in the muggle prisons incase a wizard was arrested for a muggle's crime. If the three of them were locked up there, their wands taken and left defenseless, well, James didn't want to think about it.
He watched as the two officers pushed Sirius against a wall, trying relentlessly to place the handcuffs around his wrists.
"Get Lily, and run!" Sirius shouted. "I'll be fine, just go!"
The young officer turned back to James and grabbed his arm just before he could leave. "I don't think so. I have you two as accomplices. Book 'em boys!"
James squeezed Lily's hand and began to pull her in the opposite direction. "Run!"
As they began to sprint, Sirius slammed his head against the officer's forehead and the man fell to the ground. The second tried to keep hold of him, but Sirius sent a fist into the side of his face. He began to run after James and Lily who hadn't gotten far, because Lily seemed to be limping in broken heels.
The young cop pulled out his gun. "Stop!"
But they all kept running. James looked back as he felt Lily's hand slip from his. She had fallen onto the pavement, her knees shedding a bloody red. James spun around and charged back for her. He immediately felt a sharp pain in his gut.
A loud noise echoed as Sirius grabbed onto James and Lily, sending them down the front end of a watering hose and out the back into the shack in the Forest of Dean. Sirius jumped up, look of pure accomplishment on his face. "Hell yes! I can't believe we just escaped murder charges!"
Lily started laughing, running to Sirius. She threw her arms around his neck. "Oh, believe me, one day you will end up in jail for something…"
"No arguments here!"
"But that day is not today!"
"Hell no it isn't!" Sirius burst into laugher.
They both turned to James who remained uncharacteristically quite. He clutched his stomach, a sickened look on his face. From the spaced between his fingers oozed a dark red substance. He stared helplessly at Lily, who couldn't seem to find any words, and collapsed.
duh duh duhhhhh.
So that would be Chapter Four! Reviews would be wonderful to let me know how you guys think :)
Thanks! xoxo
Kasey