Almost done, but first another stop
You're tired, I get it, so let's end this on top
Planets and stars are pretty don't you think
When the sun goes down, you could say there's a link
Not your best subject I have to say
When you look at the sky your mind tends to stray
–
10. Lily Evans, beautiful genius
Fuelled by his desire to end this time consuming prank, James walked quickly up the many stairs to the Astronomy tower. He took a deep breath as he reached the top, his friends following right behind. Blues the bird was tweeting happily flying around James' head as he looked for the note Lily hopefully had left for him in this room.
James' admiration of Lily had faded quite drastically by the time they'd reached the tower. He'd learned his lesson. He deserved it. Whatever. He just didn't want to walk up any more stairs. His head and legs were aching and he could swear the tower was even colder than the grounds had been.
Sirius and Peter sat down on the floor as James spotted the tiny square of white paper fastened to the wall.
"Please tell me we're in the right place," Sirius groaned.
"You know, you didn't have to come with me," James sat down next to him with the note in hand.
"Do you want us to leave?" Sirius asked sounding slightly annoyed.
"No," he answered and opened the note. He grinned. "Listen:
"Congratulations! You did it! Here's the final clue
I'm here with the cloak and I'm waiting for you
You should probably go back to the place where you started
To where girls and boys are forced to be parted"
"So she is hiding in our dorm," Peter said, sitting up straighter. James answered by reading on.
"I needed to be sure you wouldn't find me before the end
So you can't get to me but you could ask a friend"
Peter slouched again while James laughed. "So the girls' dorm then," he said.
"Come on," James said. He got up and kicked Sirius' foot to make him move. "Let's go."
They walked back to the common room mostly in silence. James reached the portrait of the Fat Lady first. He said the password, crawled through the portrait hole and was immediately met by the unmistakable sound of Remus' laughter. He looked up and saw his friend almost falling out of the old armchair he was sitting in. He felt Sirius pat him on the shoulder.
"You do look ridiculous, mate," he grinned.
James looked around the room. Several people had seen him now and sniggering at his appearance. He saw Alice hiding her giggles behind her hand. He caught her eye and lifted an eyebrow. She gave a small nod before walking up the stairs leading to the girls' dorm.
Remus had calmed down and was wiping tears from his eyes. "I missed one hell of an adventure," he said shaking his head.
"You really did," Sirius agreed as he and Peter sat down with him. "Can I copy your homework? I'm too tired to do it myself."
James missed Remus' answer, though he guessed he already knew what it was, as Lily appeared in the common room with a small bag he assumed contained his Invisibility Cloak. Sirius handed him the book and the necklace they'd gathered from the courtyard and he walked over to her.
Standing in front her she smiled sweetly and said, "So?"
James held up the first riddle and sighed. "I don't know how you know about the cloak, but well done. I now hate riddles," he smirked. Lily laughed as she accepted the note he gave him. He then picked out Blues the bird from his hair and put him on Lily's head instead. "And please get this bloody thing away from me. He hasn't shut up since I got him." Then he held up the second riddle. "I can't believe you remember that." He held up the third riddle. "And I still think our stories are better."
Lily nodded respectfully as James gave her the notes. "Understandable," she said. "Next?"
Holding up the next riddle, he continued with mock-indignation: "Involving Hagrid? Evans, how could you!?" he grinned and held up the fifth note. "And encouraging me to break rules? Who are you?" Lily giggled. "Also, you'll be disappointed to know I did not run into Moaning Myrtle."
"She had one job," she said, shaking her head, making James laugh.
He held up the next riddle and took a deep breath. "You're right, I did not know you knew how to enter the kitchens. Also fuck you so much!"
Lily laughed loudly at this, showing that she had no remorse after making him eat those disgusting things she'd prepared for him.
"How do you know I don't like tomatoes?" James asked curiously.
"I told you," Lily grinned. "I know you." She took the riddle out of his hand. "Next."
"I'm a wizard," James said and shoved the seventh riddle into Lily's hand. "Let me do magic!" He handed her the necklace and the tiny notebook.
"Thank you," she said cheerfully, accepting the items and ignoring his statement.
He crumbled up riddle eight and nine and threw them at her head. "I'm glad I'm no longer taking Herbology. And why do you enjoy seeing me suffer? I guess what I'm saying is," He held out his arms so the words on the t-shirt were fully readable, "Lily Evans is a beautiful genius!"
Lily had a satisfied grin on her face as they exchanged the last note for the small bag Lily was carrying. James bent down and whispered, "I'm keeping this," referring to the t-shirt.
"I would prefer it," Lily answered seriously before giggling.
James chuckled and shook his head. "Well played, Evans."
"Well preformed, Potter."
They shook hands and he turned, walking back to his own dorm, finally having his Invisibility cloak back.
–
A/n: We did it! We made it to the end! Thank you all so much for reading Prove It. It means a lot.
I know I said this would be up last week, but I've been super busy lately so that didn't happen. I did finish the chapter earlier though, but it was so crap (yes, even crappier than this) I had to rewrite it and that took some time. But here it is at last! Hope you liked it.