11. POOL NOODLE PARTY
Friendship/Romance, 1,856 words, Rated K
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments)
Assignment #2: Travel & Tourism Task One: Write about characters visiting a swimming pool or spa
Chocolate Frog Cards Club: Alberic Grunnion (Silver): Incorporate a prank or prankster into your story
Seasonal Challenges: Days of the Year: Best Friends Day: Write about best friends; Summer Prompts: (word) Vacation; Flowers: Aster: (word) Attractive; Fire Element: Leo: (pairing) James/Lily; Shay's Musical Challenge: Guys and Dolls: Write about someone going out of their home country; Gryffindor Themed Prompts: Characters (Easy): James Potter; Gryffindor Themed Prompts: Characters (Medium): Peter Pettigrew
Hey James, I'll be waiting by the pool for you today. Maybe we could spend the day together, just the two of us? I miss having alone time with my dorky four-eyes ;) -Lily
James smiled thoughtfully as he leaned against a railing overlooking the pool. It had come as a surprise to find a note from Lily delivered to his hotel room by staff that morning; mainly because it hadn't arrived by owl. Then again, that was his girlfriend being sensible while they were staying at a Muggle resort.
The Marauders and co. had been saving up for this vacation for months now. It felt like their biggest adventure in a long time, to leave Great Britain and stay abroad for two weeks during the summer. They had all chipped in as much money as they could, and even though James had put forward one of the larger donations, he didn't mind. He was having the time of his life, enjoying the great weather that could only come from a foreign country's sky, and listening to his friends laughing and joking; not to mention, Lily speaking French to the locals had to be one of the sexiest sounds he'd ever heard.
"Prongs!" he heard vaguely from somewhere below him, and had just decided to zone in and peer over the railing when something long, hard and soaked with water smacked him right in the face.
James scowled, hastily wiping his glasses - which had nearly been knocked off of his face altogether by the pool noodle - to glare down at Remus and Peter, who were waving up at him with cheesy grins on their faces. He couldn't hold his glare for long, a laugh escaping him at their expressions. It was especially heartwarming to see Remus so cheery, who had been so hesitant to go at all, despite their dates carefully picked and checked. He felt uncomfortable showing off more skin than he had to, despite his friends' words of comfort. When Sirius had bought him a long-sleeved wetsuit, he'd been - well - over the moon.
"Well, are you gonna join us or not?" Peter called up to him teasingly, and let out a whoop as James threw the pool noodle back down into the water, right in front of his face.
Lily's note temporarily forgotten, he tossed his glasses into a cubby hole shelving unit behind him and hopped the railing, hugging his knees as he fell with a warning screech of, "CANNON BALL!"
Remus and Peter dived out of the way, grinning like madmen. James hit the water with a splash and quickly surfaced, gasping at the sudden change in temperature. "Merlin, the water is cold!"
"You'll warm up pretty quickly," Peter assured him, though was barely heard over Sirius' loud voice.
"Aw, don't be a wuss, Jamesie!"
James whipped around to narrow his eyes at the dark-haired figure. Sirius was sitting up in a lounge chair at the edge of the pool, grinning stupidly at him, his usually pasty chest an alarming shade of red that shone in the sun.
"Says the one who's dry!" James called back teasingly, before concern forced him to add in, "and badly sunburnt? Have you even put on sunscreen?"
"No, mother, I do what I want," Sirius shot back, sticking out his tongue as James rolled his eyes. "And I want to tan."
Marlene snorted a laugh from where she was lying down on the chair next to Sirius', startling James, who had thought she was asleep. "Good luck with that," she said sarcastically, eyes fluttering open and head lifting for a second to glance at Sirius, before falling back into a wave of strawberry-blonde hair.
Sirius pouted, folding his arms. His retort, however, was silenced by a high-pitched screeching from the other side of the pool, "NO, DORCAS, I AM NOT GETTING INTO THE WATER, AND THAT'S THAT!"
It was safe to say that heads were turned. Dorcas Meadowes was nearly choking on her laughter, bent so far backwards that her head was about to submerge into the pool water, her dark, tightly-braided hair floating on the surface. Mary Macdonald was standing at the pool's edge, hands on her hips and face red with either anger or sunburn, in stark contrast with her pale blonde bob.
Sirius must have found an incredible amount of humour in the usually quiet girl's outburst, because in no time at all he was laughing as hard as Dorcas, causing Marlene to grumble. Before James could playfully roll his eyes at all his friends' antics, he was smacked by another wet pool noodle.
"Hey!" he yelled, spinning around in the water, only to have said pool noodle thrust into his arms by Remus.
"Pool noodle duel," Peter announced with a stifled giggle, from where he was now perched on an inflatable crocodile, "begin!"
James blinked in surprise as Remus was quick to unleash his mad pool noodle duelling skills on him. Despite all the adventures James got up to with his friends, he had never actually pool noodle duelled someone, and was struggling to keep up with Remus' random and surprisingly powerful swings and blows. Just as he was getting into a rhythm - left sweep, block, left sweep, block, right sweep, block, block - Remus disappeared below the water's surface.
"What?" James spoke aloud, and before he could glance in questioning to Peter, there was a sharp tug on his leg and he was pulled under.
The two boys quickly surfaced, James coughing and spluttering. "Not fair!" he accused Remus once he had his breath back, pointing a finger at the smug teen. "That's cheating!"
"We never specified the rules," Remus replied with a shrug and a smile.
James made a grab for his pool noodle. "Then I haven't lost yet-"
And with one powerful smack, Remus used his own pool noodle to send James' flying, where it landed with a glorius splash right on top of both Sirius and Marlene.
Sirius sat up in a flash, dark hair dripping with water and face twisted into a scowl as he pinpointed the guilty. "MOONY!"
Remus scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Sirius, ah-"
"YOU BETTER START SWIMMING!"
With his dramatic yelling over, Sirius made a graceful dive straight into the pool. Remus' eyes widened as he realised how serious - ha ha... - Sirius really was, and began to rapidly doggy paddle towards the pool's edge.
James snorted a laugh as Sirius knocked over Peter's float in his swim past, before making his way over to the edge of the pool where the noodle had been hit. Marlene was still lying down, eyes closed, despite being covered in a decent amount of water - until she muttered a spell and subtly waved her wand at her side, drying herself instantly.
"Careful Marlene, Muggles," James teased her, whispering the last part. In fairness, she had been pretty careful; and she seemed to agree as she proceeded to ignore him, chest rising and falling slowly as though she were asleep.
James rolled his eyes and leaned down to retrieve the pool noodle at the same time as another, daintier pair of hands did. His hazel eyes darted up to meet bright green ones, almost instantly causing his cheeks to flush and butterflies to awaken in his stomach. The two straightened up, and James couldn't help but admire his girlfriend for a moment, despite the awkward situation of holding a pool noodle with her.
Lily Evans blinked at him thoughtfully, her pale, lightly freckled face framed by waves of auburn hair. Her lips curved upwards into a small smile. There would never be a day that James Potter didn't find her attractive. "You got my message?" she asked, her sweet voice a sound he would never tire of hearing.
James nodded, smiling back at her, though he was sure he looked goofy in comparison. The young couple stood awkwardly, Lily releasing her grip on the noodle. Remus slid past them, giggling with laughter, Sirius hot on his heels and continuing to yell exaggerated threats. James and Lily shared a small laugh.
"I don't think we'll be getting much alone time around here," James admitted, glancing around at his friends with a warm smile. Dorcas had now convinced Mary to sit at the edge of the water and stick her feet in, while Peter paddled over to them, back on the crocodile. Remus was somehow chasing Sirius now, having acquired a weapon - another pool noodle, of course. Marlene might have actually fallen asleep at this point; it was hard to tell.
Lily reached out a hand and smoothed down his messy hair affectionately, her smile growing as it sprung back into place the second her hand left. "Maybe that's okay, though," she said thoughtfully, "because I can still do this."
"Do what?" James couldn't help but ask, his gaze returning to focus completely on hers.
She beamed at him. "Close your eyes," came a soft whisper as she leaned towards him.
He did so, heart fluttering as he tilted his head ever so slightly, blind to her position - and in an instant he was shoved right back into the pool, flailing limbs creating an impressive splash. He surfaced, spitting out water as he raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend. She was grinning even wider down at him now, enjoying the view of him once again being drenched from head to toe.
"Lily, babe?" he spoke up almost quietly, a competitive nature firing up as he slowly made his way towards her.
"Yes, deer?" she shot back in the same, overly-sweet tone.
"Oh no, puns won't save you now," James replied, a smirk forming as he reached the pool's edge. Moving with haste, he hoisted himself athletically onto the surrounding smooth concrete, as Lily took off, laughing.
James took chase, pushing his way through lounge chairs and hurdling abandoned floaties as he tailed his girlfriend. He sped past Sirius and Remus, who were now engaging in a pool noodle duel out-of-water - Merlin help Sirius; Dorcas, Mary and Peter, who were all in hysterics - likely over one of Peter's corny jokes; Marlene again, still snoozing, meaning he had lapped the pool by the time Lily was within reach, her hair gleaming in the sunlight as she ran. He managed to grab a hold of her wrist, spinning her around to face him. She blinked innocently at him, a small, pursed smile her silent plead. He simply grinned before throwing them both off balance - and into the water.
"Revenge is sweet," he teased, once their heads were above water once more, and poked her lightly on the nose. He was confused for a moment as to why she was more interested in grabbing a nearby pool noodle, until her gaze met his once again and she replied.
"So is this."
And she brought the pool noodle around his shoulders to finally pull him in for that kiss.
Finally some fluff after all that angst! (Take a shot every time a pool noodle is mentioned)