Higher Than Your Heart
Chapter Nine
For long you live and high you fly
But only if you ride the tide
And balanced on the biggest wave
You race towards an early grave
Breathe
Pink Floyd
The next three hours Lily spent cruising Hogsmeade village with James. Their first stop was the Three Broomsticks, where he flirted up a storm with Madam Rosmerta (much to Lily's embarrassment).
"And then Dumbledore made me Prefect in sixth year," James told the lovely bartender, "and I guess I did a good job, because…" he gestured to his Head Boy badge.
"Right lovely Head Boy you are, skipping class to have rum," Lily said loudly. She had ordered a pint of rum, herself, but her objective was to get James to be quiet. He seemed to realize this and closed his mouth, shooting her a reproachful look.
"Where's Sirius?" Madam Rosmerta raised an eyebrow. "Hardly see the two of you apart."
"Ah, he's… around," James said, a little cooler. "It's just Lil and me today."
"Don't you worry," Madam Rosmerta said, as if divulging a secret. "I'll keep this expedition between you and me." This was directed mostly at James, who winked. Lily kicked him under the bar.
James lifted his tankard in toast. "To girlfriends who nag!"
"I can't believe you actually convinced me to come here," Lily grumbled. "And to drink, no less."
"If you really don't like the Broomsticks we can go to the Hogs Head," James offered before emptying his tankard. "Or is it you're needing a fag?"
"You're a prick." Lily sipped her rum, glaring at her boyfriend over the rim of her mug. "I don't badger you for wanting to get pissed in the middle of the day. Hell, I came along with you."
"Sorry?" answered James, sensing trouble. The simple reply seemed to satisfy Lily, and she set down her drink.
"I thought it would be more exciting," she said. Seeing James's bemused look, she changed subjects. "Anyway, can we get out of here? I'd like to look at the shops."
After a quick drag (during which James simply stood off to the side and appreciated the second-hand smoke) the pair browsed through Honeydukes. Not wanting to be reported to McGonagall, who visited the village frequently, they stashed their robes and ties under a trap door in the candy store's cellar. They now simply appeared to be well-dressed visitor: James in his dress shirt and grey slacks with brown shoes, Lily the same but feminized, and with a modest, plaited skirt.
Each selected some candy, which James paid for (Lily had no money with her, except for a few pound notes in her shirt pocket that she didn't remember leaving there).
"Graduates of Hogwarts?" asked the fat, slightly balding man. Both nodded. "Ah, thought so. You're a tad familiar."
"Howard and Janine Potter," James offered, shaking the man's proffered hand.
"Parents of James Potter?" the man lifted an eyebrow, as if debating within himself how old these people were. Then, taking in the rather boring (and frumpy) clothing, as well as the tired (drunken, really, but he couldn't know that) expressions they had, and the stubble on James's chin, he smiled at them. He had fallen for it.
"Indeed," James said, throwing a wink in Lily's direction.
"Well, you tell him to come around to my shop more often. I haven't seen the little fellow in two years. He sends hi friends in for him every now and then, though."
"We'll do that," Lily added reluctantly. They left. Once outside, James snorted indignantly.
"Little! Really!"
"I don't see how we just pulled that off," Lily exclaimed. "No offense, but aren't our parents… old?"
"In their late fifties," James said lightly. "But you know, some people will believe anything."
"You've got charisma coming out your ears," Lily moped. "It's quite unfair. And when will we go back for our things?"
"I'll get them tomorrow if you remind me." He ran a hand through his hair. "Well, wife, where do you want to go next?" he teased.
"Gee, husband, I don't know," replied Lily, looping her arm in his. She mused for a moment before checking her watch. "We've an hour and a half," she informed him.
"Then it's too late," said James briskly. "The fasted route back is up through the mirror on the fourth floor, and if you recall, it took twenty minutes to get here." He smiled the tiniest bit. "Now skipping Divie isn't even a choice!"
"Except I'm not taking Divie," she reminded him. "I'm taking Muggle Studies third period."
"Don't you already know enough about that?" He had a point – Lily's parents were both Muggles – people with non-magic blood. She grew up, consequentially, in a very "normal" family, with Hogwarts being her only real connection to her magical self.
"Oh, do shut up," she joked, as they approached a bookstore she hadn't been in more than once or twice. "Let's stop here, shall we?"
They stepped in, a bell jingling as the door swung closed behind them. A very thin, tall witch with silver hair nodded to the pair before continuing to dust the counter.
"Look at this," Lily said, nodding to a book called Dark Wizards and Their Downfalls. James, however, was quite absorbed in a new edition of Which Broomstick. A photograph of the newest standard broom models was plastered on the front.
"Well, we can all see you've found your place in the world," Lily teased. She continued browsing the books, but found them all highly-priced. She could afford such things but had always been a thrifty spender (as one thing Lily detested was exchanging money at Gringotts. Handing over pound notes and getting gold coins in its stead made her feel as if she was taking away from the bank. After all, they only got little slips of paper).
"Lily – Silver Arrow 200 or the Cleansweep? Tell me which is better?" he begged, waving the magazine in her face suddenly. "I need a new broom…" this trailed off into a whine, and Lily realized this was the first time she had seen him drink and not sound, well, completely wasted. She didn't point this out.
"Why don't you save your money to buy something even better when the next broom comes out?" she said reasonably. "After all, everyone is going to want the Cleansweep, but for all you know, the next Silver Arrow will be loads better."
"I guess." James replaced the magazine and shoved his hands in his pockets. He quirked a grin at Lily, something he did often and randomly. Lily smiled back.
They ended up leaving the store within minutes, Lily buying nothing while James purchased a small stack of Quidditch catalogs.
With a short selection of places to visit, Lily and James put shopping aside and settled on a bench outside the haunted house villages had dubbed "the Shrieking Shack". James sent it a furtive glance every now and then.
"I heard a group of ghosts moved in there right after it was built," Lily mused. "Sir Nicholas did say something earlier in the year." Sir Nicholas, more commonly known as Nearly Headless Nick, was the ghost of Gryffindor Tower.
"Yeah," James said quietly. He twiddled his thumbs.
"Of course, it could be some sort of animal. A really angry ghoul. No one's been in there, right?" Lily cast him a sidelong look.
"I have."
Now, that wasn't the response Lily had been looking for. She had actually expected a "yeah" or "erm." Or maybe silence.