A Thief's Apology

Lily stood by the lakeside in the early hours of Saturday morning. A light breeze danced across the surface of the water and tickled the sides of Lily's thin cloak, causing it to fill and billow around like the sail of a small ship.

The grounds were strangely silent at this time of day, as if the whole castle were holding its breath in anticipation of the day's activities. The subtle, melodic ticking of the clock tower was the only sign that time was still moving forwards.

Yesterday afternoon in potions class, Lily had been putting away the books when a petal had floated down and landed on the faded cover of the textbook she was holding. As white as the feathers of a snowy owl and as delicate as the wings of a butterfly, there was no mistaking that the petal was from a Lily flower. When she picked it up, the velvet softness beneath her fingers seemed to tingle, and suddenly thin gold lines rippled across the surface from where she had touched it. They wove themselves into a perfect line of very small, very clear words.

7.30am, Lakeside, Saturday

So here Lily was, at 7.30am, by the lake, waiting like a fool and doubting whatever instinct had convinced her to come in the first place.

Creeeeak, creeeeak.

She whirled at the noise, but no-one stood upon the steps that had groaned. Watching intently, a movement in the grass caught her eyes, little patches of grass being pushed flat by some invisible force, getting closer and closer to her. Lily debated whether or not to scream, but before she could come to a decision her thoughts were pulled up short by the figure that appeared before her.

'Evans.' The boy said. His hair was deliberately mussed-up to create an awkward frame for his melted-chocolate eyes. Those eyes that glued Lily's feet to the ground and made her chest go tight. 'I wondered if you would show up.' he murmured in a smooth voice. 'I'm glad you did, otherwise there would have been no-one to appreciate my majestic entrance.' He grinned and made a sweeping gesture with his left arm, the end of which was missing. Lily gaped. 'The whole speechless-in-my-presence thing is overrated.' He sighed. 'I would much prefer it if you talked.'

'Potter.' Lily managed eventually, grabbing at the first piece of logic her mind offered her. 'You did this?'

She pulled the petal from the pocket of her cloak and thrust it at him. The instant he took it, the white flower petal faded to a dull brown and the delicate skin began to sag and wither.

'You sound surprised.' James chuckled. 'There's more where that came from.' With a flourish James tugged his invisibility cloak off of his left arm and brought it back into view, along with a whole, white Lily. He held it with gentle purpose and tapped its centre with the end of his wand, muttering under his breath. Petals pulled away in pairs, forming pure white butterflies that danced in pretty circles before settling on Lily's hand, still as statues.

'They're beautiful.' Lily breathed, reaching out cautiously to touch one. 'How did the rebellious James Potter bring himself to actually study some decent magic?' Her lips flickered into a mocking smile, but it did not reach her awe-filled eyes.

'I know enough decent magic already, no studying needed. I learn through trial and error, it's much more productive to learn from your mistakes.'

'True.' Lily mused, looking up to meet his eyes in a way that made James' heart pound like a caged phoenix – strong and full of fire. 'But surely you can't learn from your mistakes if you don't learn about what you're doing wrong.'

'You might have a point there.' James rubbed his chin thoughtfully, looking down at the base of the Lily still in his hand.

'Well, unless you want me to continue making clever points, would you care to tell me why I'm here?'

'To accept a thief's apology' James said simply. Lily frowned.

'A thief's apology isn't worth much.'

James shook his head. 'A thief's apology is worth twice a normal man's apology.' He argued. 'To move a corrupt man to regret is quite a feat.'

'I suppose so,' Lily pondered. 'Fine. Apology accepted. Anything else?'

'Yes.' James looked down at his feet for a moment. 'I have a question.'

'Ask away.'

'Why do you hang around with Snivelus?' The directness of James' question was softened by his charming question-mark expression.

'You really ought to stop calling him that.' Lily said with a hint of reproach. 'Do you really want to know why?'

'Yes.'

James looked at her then, all high cheekbones and dark, tousled hair, and Lily lost her words for a moment.

'I like him because he's kind and sweet and patient, and because he's there for me when I need him to be. He saw goodness in me even when my sister couldn't.'

'But isn't that boring?' James asked with that familiar cheeky glint in his hazel eyes – those eyes that held the power to give Lily all the confidence in the world, or to take it all away.

'Boring how?'

'Well don't you want someone a little more adventurous? Someone daring, who won't sit quietly by to comfort you when you have a problem, but someone who will sweep you so far off your feet that you will have no more problems?'

'Well sure,' Lily grinned. 'But someone like that is very hard to find.'

'Maybe you're just looking in all the wrong places.'

'And where would you suggest I look then?'

Any answer that James would have made was cut off by a loud chiming in the clock tower. Time for breakfast. James' mind worked frantically for the few seconds the tolling lasted.

'Well, the great hall is a brilliant place to start.' He flashed a mischievous grin at her. 'Would you care for some accompaniment?' He offered her his arm, stashing his invisibility cloak away under his robes.

'Thank you.' Lily graciously took his arm and laughed, light and breathless; a laugh that sounded to James like the soft flutter of a golden snitch; one he would happily chase across the skies to catch and keep forever.

D: Shall we? *waggles sunglasses in hand*

A: *Nods and puts on own sunglasses* Lets.

D+A: OPPA POTTER STYLE! *dances to song*

R.L: Umm, what are you guys doing?

D+A: *freeze mid-dance and look at Remus*

R.L: Whatever... *Walks off*

A: Lets just get on with the next chapter...

D: Yeah...

D,A+R.L: Thanks once again to everyone who's read/reviewed/favourited/followed our story, We love you all ;D