Author's Notes: I loved the name for the Lily / James pairing. Evongs. Has a nice sound.
I'm leaving in about an hour. I want to thank each and every one of you that read the story, even if you didn't like it.
Thank you so much!
The sun was already rising by the time either of them felt in any condition to move. They both lay there, chests rising and falling unsteadily, hands tightly entangled as the sun rose into the sky above.
Lily was the first to move. Slowly, as if her whole body were stiff, her fingers twitched, then she pulled away from James, who let out a little moan. She pushed herself into a sitting position, then looked at James.
"J-James," she rasped. Her voice was scratchy and harsh. She licked her lips, which were dry and cracked. She coughed. "James, g-get up. Are you okay?"
James remained immobile, his hazel eyes half closed, his breathing shallow. Lily placed a shaking hand on his forehead only for him to screech shrilly and leap backward, squealing.
"Gaah!" he yelled, throwing himself back and slapping weakly at her outstretched hand. She stared. "Get away, banshee!" he looked at her more closely, then blinked slowly. "You're not a banshee…" he said in tones of dawning surprise, hand automatically darting up to ruffle his already messy hair. A leaf fell out and she caught it mechanically, then tore it in half while glaring at him.
"Well spotted, Potter," Lily said acidly, frowning at him. "Now, please tell me you have your wand."
James stared at her. He blinked, then slowly shook his head. Lily felt as though she had been punched in the stomach, the pangs of fear rising once again.
"Are you serious? Y-you don't? Why the hell don't you, Potter?" she demanded angrily, moving backward so that his hand wasn't touching hers. "Why would you go into the Forbidden Forest without your one weapon?"
She threw up her hands in disgust. James was looking extremely uncomfortable and staring at his shoes, which were badly tattered, she noticed with distant surprise.
"Stop mentally accessing your footwear and help me up," Lily snapped. James silently stood and offered her a hand, which she accepted gingerly. She swayed badly on her one leg; other foot balanced a half inch from the ground.
"Why are you here, Potter?" Lily asked the first question that came to mind. James shuffled uncomfortably. "What happened to your shoes? Do you know where your wand is?"
James smirked and Lily knew instantly what he was going to say. She narrowed her eyes and hopped forward to glare at him, eyes piercing into his.
"Potter," she hissed in a deadly voice. "I don't need a wand to be dangerous. If I ever hear you say that anywhere within a thousand meters of me, I will rip off some vital parts and make you eat them. Am I clear?"
Looking cowed, James nodded swiftly, gulping. Feeling as though she had been unnecessarily cruel and not liking the feeling one bit, Lily turned on her heel and hopped clumsily toward the trees.
"Lily?" James called from behind her.
"What?" she demanded, turning sharply and glaring at him. The feeling of guilt was not helping her sour mood at all. James looked odd, his mouth quivering as he fought to restrain a smirk. The result was that he looked as though he had a bad toothache.
"You're going the wrong way," he said, grinning at her. "The castle's that way."
She went as red as her hair. Casting him a savage look as she passed, she hopped past him. He followed at a more sedate pace and even without looking at him, Lily knew he was smirking at her. And she had a very good idea where his eyes were focused.
"Walk in front of me," she ordered, pausing to allow him to go past. He took a last lingering look, smiled at her, gave a mocking bow and a "As you wish, my lady," and strode ahead of her, whistling jauntily. She wished he wouldn't. The shrill noise only exacerbated her pounding headache.
"Please stop," she groaned after about five minutes of horribly off-key, high-pitched whistling. James turned to look at her, a look of mock surprise plastered all over his stupidly handsome face. He grinned at her.
"Why, Lily-Flower?" he said, deliberately using the one nickname guaranteed to infuriate her. And infuriate her it did. Her blood pressure skyrocketed and she saw red.
"Don't call me that!" she shrieked. Around her, she heard the call of alarmed birds as they took flight. The trees shivered, splattering her with morning dew and not improving her mood at all.
"What shouldn't I call you, Lily-Pad?" he asked, looking confused. Lily let out a strangled screech and curled her fingers into claws. He just laughed.
"Don't – call – me – that," she growled, shoulders hunched. James laughed and continued. She followed him, snagging a stick from the surrounding forest and using it as a makeshift crutch. It wasn't as good as her beloved older one, but it was serviceable. She limped on, glaring at the back of his head. His stupid messy hair, she thought bitterly, eyes boring a hole in his head. If looks could kill, Lily would be on her own.
"I have a nickname for you," said James after a moment, stopping and staring at something in the distance. "Carrot-"
"James," said Lily sweetly. "If you finish that sentence, I'll make sure your last moments are full of pain."
"Oooh, someone's cranky," James mocked, setting off once more.
"Of course I am!" Lily shrieked, face turning brightly red once again. "I'm trapped in a forest with an incompetent idiot who thinks that quills are tasty food and once fed an owl a Dungbomb! What do you think I'm feeling?"
James wasn't listening to her. His eyes were fixed off in the distance. She glared at him, her hands clenching into fists at her side. Her hands were tightening around her stick until her knuckles were white and the stick creaked in protest.
"In fact," Lily carried on, more stridently than ever. "I would rather be trapped in a cesspool with a Slytherin for eternity than spend one more moment with you-"
"Shut up," James said suddenly. Lily obeyed, more out of pure and utter rage than anything else. She couldn't even find the words. Her face turned steadily redder and she raised her stick in a threatening way. "You need to get down, Lily…" he said quietly, staring into the distance.
"What?" she said stupidly, anger making it hard to think things more complicated than 'Murder James Potter horrifically.'
"Lay on the ground for a minute," James said in tones more serious than she could believe possible of him. She glared at him, clutching her stick tightly.
"If this is a trick…"
"You'll feed me my innards, yes, yes, I know," said James with a little smile. He gave her an infernal wink, his eyes sparkling with the almost permanent cheer he possessed. She gave him one last look, then obliged and sat down, holding her stick for comfort.
He grinned at her one last time and winked, then began to stride off in a different direction.
"Where are you going?" Lily hissed after him. "You're abandoning me, aren't you? You bastard. I should have known not to-"
"I'll be back in a second," said James, turning to shoot her one last grin. "I promise."
She felt her fury waver at the melt-worthy grin, then it strengthened once more.
"I'll hold you to that," she promised.
James slipped through the trees, four long legs effortlessly covering ground that would have taken his human form hours. His keen eyes noted the crushed foliage, the broken sticks and branches, the smell the creatures left behind.
He lowered his head to poke at a particularly strange rock when something alerted him. He froze, keen ears twitching slightly. Slowly, as to not provoke them, he raised his head.
There were six of them, more than he had expected. Six hulking, massive beasts. Their yellow eyes watched him curiously, their heads tilted with interest. The dire wolves were immense; at least three times the size of normal wolves. Their bodies were muscular and lean and as one took a step toward him, he noted the sinewy grace – not unlike cats.
The one in front bared its teeth, revealing two-inch long, yellow, sharply serrated teeth. It took another step forward, massive paws sinking deeply into the forest loam, silvered claws catching the light. If he could, he would have shivered. The claws were three-inches long and looked deadly. James felt doubts upon seeing the monstrous creatures. He had only seen them in textbooks… somehow they were far more imposing and frightening in real life.
He tossed his head and snorted, then lowered his head as a challenge to the leader of the pack, a heavily scarred wolf that was even larger than the others. It snarled and slipped forward past its fellows to face James.
James would have smirked if he could have.
Too easy...
Lily waited, shivering slightly and clutching her stick for comfort. She had no idea what James was doing, but suspected he had run off to do something stupidly 'heroic'. She muttered curses at James while wondering what she could do.
There were suddenly a series of horrible howls from the forest in the distance. One was cut abruptly short and there were additional howls of what sounded like rage. Lily's eyes widened and she spotted a large rock on the leafy ground a few feet away. It was weathered and small, but sharp.
She grinned.
Perfect.
James lashed out with a bone-shattering kick.
The massive wolf howled in pain as it connected with its foreleg and fell back, dragging its leg behind it. More wolves closed in, slavering jaws snapping at him. He danced back, kicking one and goring another's eye with his horns. More howling.
Now the wolves were more cautious. They moved around him in an uneasy ring, occasionally leaping forward to snap at him. He whirled and kicked anything that got near. There were several sickening snaps and wolves fell back, howling in agony.
Inside, he was laughing. This was far too easy.
Lily grinned and dropped the rock, then inspected her stick with satisfaction. It had been whittled as best she could by the sharp rock into a savage point.
"Right," she muttered, using it to climb to her feet. "Just try to get me with this…"
There was a sudden cacophony of howls and finally she could hear the sounds of animals running through the forest. She gripped her stick still more tightly, lowering it and preparing to use it as a spear. She could hear thumps and crunches as something made its way through the foliage.
She crept behind a tree, sharp stick raised threateningly. The thing stumbled out and she moved.
"Yaah!" she yelled, leaping out from behind the tree and stabbing her stick forward, intent on killing before she was killed. Whatever savage animal it was, it would soon learn not to mess with Lily Evans.
The spear halted inches from James' throat.
He blinked in shock and raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. For a second, Lily stood frozen, staring in surprise at James. He swallowed with difficulty – and with good reason. The makeshift spear was pressed to his throat.
"Er…" James said uncertainly. Coming to her senses, Lily blinked and dropped the stick.
"James? Where were you and why did you run away?" Lily said. Questions were tumbling out without cease. "What were those animals doing? Please tell me you did not run off to fight those animals in the woods. Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
James looked confused. Sighing, she looked down and for the first time registered his appearance.
He was covered in leaves and twigs. His clothes were ripped and she could see blood oozing from shallow wounds on his sides. He moved stiffly and he was breathing hard.
"James? James!"
He toppled forward, taking the unprepared Lily with him. She was pinned under him. His eyes were closed and she could see that his glasses were cracked.
"James? Wake up… come on, James… wake up…" she pleaded with him. His breathing was growing steadily shallower and a thin trickle of blood dripped onto her face from his temple, where there was a deep wound.
"Come on, James, wake up… we need to get to Hogwarts and…" her voice was breaking. "Please…" she pleaded with James. His hazel eyes were half closed; she could see a strip of white under his lids. He seemed to be growing heavier and heavier. His elbow was jammed in her ribs and his knee was pressed into her stomach. There was only one thing to do.
"James," she said in a soothing, persuasive voice. His breathing hitched slightly and another drip of blood dripped from his temple. She winced. "James…" she cooed. "If you wake up, I promise I'll… I'll kiss you."
For a moment, there was no response. Then his eyes opened and he focused on Lily. He let out a groan and Lily held her breath, looking at him in fear. What if he was more badly wounded than she thought? What if he had internal injuries? What if he died? He let out a hacking cough and Lily stared at him, eyes full of worry. He muttered something and she leaned closer.
"What, James?" she whispered. Maybe he was telling her his last wishes.
"Ki-" he broke off into a fit of coughing and her worry intensified. Maybe he was sick. He let out a rasping cough, then- "Kiss?" he said, eyes hopeful. Lily stared at him, internally kicking herself for ever being worried about that prat. He looked at her with massive eyes that begged her. Lily half closed her eyes, letting out a tiny groan.
A promise was a promise.
Twenty minutes later, James was still bouncing around the clearing, whooping and singing at the top of his voice. Lily sat in the middle of the clearing, her head buried in her head. She groaned.
"Why…?" she said piteously, thumping her head against the ground with each word. "Why would I promise that? Why?"
She whimpered and rocked back and forth. "I kissed him," she said in shock, putting a hand up to her lips. At the memory, she spat on the ground and scrubbed at her mouth with the back of her hand as if it would erase the last half hour.
"I hate you," she said to James, who was singing loudly and hugging random trees. James bounded around, then actually skipped over to Lily. He bent down, grinning brilliantly at her.
"Why, Lily-Flower, Lily-Pad, Carrot-Hair-"
Lily reached up and seized a clump of hair. James let out a pathetic little squeak as Lily yanked, forcing his head down.
"If it weren't for the fact that I did promise, I would be ripping all your precious, beloved hair out and feeding it to you," she hissed threateningly in his ear. James squeaked in reply and she released him. He rubbed the side of his head, still grinning.
"Kinky," James said, winking.
Lily threw back her head and screamed.
Finally, once James was finished loudly singing to the forest that he had kissed Lily Evans, the two set off again, Lily moving as fast as she could. Never had she been more eager to escape James. James was still humming the song he had made up under his breath.
"You were faking it, weren't you?" Lily said to James a moment later after a long stretch of silence. He looked up, surprised. She continued, anger making her words more cruel than she had intended. "You just pretended… I suppose it was the thrill of your life, making me kiss you. Why I ever believed you…" she threw up her hands in disgust. "I should know that you're a lying, cheating idiot who likes to eat quills."
"That was once!" James said in protest. "I thought it was one of Peter's Sugar Quills! As for the rest…" he lowered his head and muttered something that she knew wasn't meant for her ears, but years of hindering the four boys in any way she could honed her senses. "I thought you knew me better."
Lily had no reply for that.
They trekked through the forest, both of them now silent. The only noises were the singing of birds and the rustling of animals. The sun sank steadily lower in the sky, the light turning red and making Lily's fair skin blood-red. Finally, Lily spoke.
"Why were you so scared of the banshee? You just… froze."
James didn't reply and she sighed and lowered her head, cheeks burning red with shame. When he spoke, however, he sounded as though he had been considering his answer, not snubbing her.
"My grandfather… a banshee came. I was there. She screamed and he – he died," James finished lamely, looking embarrassed. Now his cheeks were just as red as hers.
"Sorry," said Lily quietly. James smiled, though it looked rather forced.
"It's okay," he said. He slipped his hand into hers and for once, she didn't protest.
Several hours later, Lily finally staggered into the castle. Moving slowly and stiffly, still clutching her stick, she walked toward Gryffindor Tower. Students gaped at her, shocked at her appearance, but she either didn't care or didn't notice. Leaves and bits of detritus fell behind her, leaving a trail that Filch would scream over many hours later.
"Boomslang," Lily told the portrait, who peered questioningly at her, lowering her wineglass.
"Where have you been?" the Fat Lady said in tones of shock. "A prefect like you should-"
"Shut it," Lily said tiredly. The portrait, still looking shocked, swung forward and she clambered inside.
There was absolute silence in the common room as stunned students turned to stare at Lily as she staggered toward the girls' dormitories, tripping and stumbling. A bit of leaf fell from her hair as she hopped forward, stick clunking against the floor and echoing in the silence. Lily climbed the stairs gingerly and opened the door.
Mary was curled up on her bed, sobbing frantically. Marlene sat by her, patting her head consolingly. Mary was gasping something out, but her hiccoughs and sobs made the words incomprehensible.
"And she'll hate me!" Mary cried in a rare moment of lucid speech. She promptly dissolved into wails once more.
"Now, don't be so stupid," Marlene was saying as Lily walked forward silently. Neither of them had noticed her yet. "Lily would never hate you."
Mary raised her tear-stained face to glare at Marlene.
"You're right… she won't… and you know why? Because something ate her and I was the one that sent her out there!" Mary howled, hiccoughing frantically.
"Nice to see you have so little faith in me," Lily said.
For a moment, there was absolute silence. Then as one, the girls turned. Mary gaped at her while Marlene settled for looking relieved. For a moment, suspicious wetness welled up in Marlene's eyes before she wiped it away with a sharp gesture and merely smiled cheerily, the corners of her eyes crinkling.
"Oh good," she said as Lily hopped forward. "I have an essay on Monday and I can't let Mary write it; that would be a disaster."
Mary just gaped at Lily, then collapsed, absolutely howling.
"Mary!" said Lily in alarm, rushing forward. Mary clutched at her like she were drowning, hiccoughing and sobbing. She was hiccoughing out two words over and over, but her sobs made it difficult to discern what she was saying. Lily strained to listen.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Mary howled, gripping Lily's robes like she would disappear if she let go. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
"It's fine, Mary, really!" Lily tried to assure her distraught friend but Mary just fell back onto her bed, crying - whether it was with relief or sadness, Lily didn't know. Marlene rolled her eyes and fanned herself with a magazine.
"She's been hysterical the entire day," she informed Lily, who was patting Mary comfortingly. "She told the teachers. Where were you, by the way?"
"Forbidden Forest," Lily muttered, trying to pull free of Mary's clawing hands.
"Fluffy," Mary managed to whimper. Lily winced, her cheeks going scarlet.
"Listen… I'm really, really sorry, Mary, but I couldn't find Fluffy. I promise I looked but-"
Marlene snorted loudly and Lily shot her a disgusted look.
"You could be a bit more sensitive," Lily hissed over Mary's head. In response, Marlene just pointed behind Lily and she turned.
Fluffikins was sitting atop Mary's desk, his tattered ears flicking and his thin fur standing on end. He hissed when he saw Lily and his ears flattened to his skull.
Lily just gaped at him.
"He came back ten minutes after you went into the forest," Marlene informed her. Lily just stared, her mouth hanging open. The mangy cat hissed, baring yellowed fangs. He gave Lily one last supercilious look and curled up on Mary's desk, his tail curling around his body. Lily could only whimper, staring at the cat in disbelief.
If cats could have smiled, Fluffy would have been grinning.
Author's Notes: I promise, when I come back and get unpacked, I'll upload a lot of chapters. Thank you for everything.
Bye for three weeks and thank you once again!