026. Waiting at the airport

Word Count: 1,347

Lily walked out to the courtyard where James had made himself comfortable playing with one of the resident cats. "James, why are you out here all alone?" she asked.

James bristled at the comment but said nothing for a long moment. Hopefully she might, for once, take the hint and leave him in peace.

She did not. "James, I asked why you were out here all alone," she said. "Did you not hear me?" she asked, taking a seat next to James on the bench and ignoring the way the cat hissed at her before running away.

"Oh, why did you have to go and do that, Evans? You just scared off the only thing that I could have had a decent conversation with," James muttered off-handedly, watching as the cat disappeared into the shadows at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

"Why must you be so rude to me, James? I only have your best interests at heart," Lily said condescendingly, reaching out to pat James on the shoulder.

James quickly ducked out of her reach and glared at her, saying nothing.

Lily frowned but recovered quickly. She smiled at James, the look in her eyes reminding him vaguely of the mad twinkling found frequently in Albus Dumbledore's eyes. "I was absent from the school for the weekend, did you notice?" she asked.

"I knew there was a reason for the peace and silence found in the Gryffindor common rooms," James said coolly, glaring over at the red-head. "I have made it clear to you in the past that I am not, nor will I ever try to be, your friend. Why do you insist upon trying to force me to be interested in your personal life?" he asked.

"Because Headmaster Dumbledore has informed me otherwise."

"Headmaster Dumbledore is very much aware of my lack of interest in you, as I have informed him of such on a number of occasions," James said, keeping his voice quiet so as not to attract attention from any of the other students who might be milling around nearby.

Lily watched him as he stood and pointedly took a seat on the bench across from her before following him and sitting next to him. "Headmaster Dumbledore is a widely respected man, and given that he was strong enough to defeat the Dark Lord Grindelwald and that he has remained a beacon for the Light in these current times of conflict with the Dark, I find it more prudent to trust in what he tells me rather than what you allege to have informed him," she said, finishing her monologue with a haughty tone. "So," she said. "Did you notice that I was gone for the weekend?" she asked.

"If I say yes, will you go away and refrain from pestering me any further?" James asked acidly, edging away from Lily as subtly as he could.

She ignored him and started speaking. "My sister, Petunia, has been writing back and forth with a man in Germany," she said. "Petunia likes him, and I think he likes her, but over the holidays I looked through the letters he sent her to make sure that she wasn't being led on," she started out. "His name is Jonas, and he was going to come in to spend winter with us so he can get to know our family better. So, the day before Christmas Eve, we were waiting at the airport for him to come in," she said. Stopping suddenly, she looked over at James. "Do you know what an airport is?" she asked.

"Do I care what an airport is?" James asked icily.

Lily frowned at him but continued telling her story. "Two days before Christmas Eve, Petunia and I were waiting at the airport for his flight to arrive, since our parents had agreed to stay back home unless we called about something," she said. "When he came up to Petunia, I thought she was going to faint. Jonas is incredibly handsome, you know, and I just adored his accent. He doesn't speak too much English, but he told us that he had learned just for Petunia."

"Is there a point to this?" James cut in, all the while wondering why he was listening to her story in the first place.

"He told me that he was from Bavaria, and he brought pictures with us," Lily said, shooting James a glare that had no effect on him. "You should see this place. It's unbelievably amazing."

James bit his tongue, forcibly stopping himself from mentioning that the Potters had a villa in Bavaria. "Are you done with whatever you were saying?" he asked coolly.

"Just think about it. Headmaster Dumbledore has informed me that, while you may come across as harsh toward me, it's because you're afraid of being ridiculed by the other Purebloods in the school, and that you really feel genuinely attracted toward me," Lily said.

"The Headmaster has misinformed you, Evans," James said, standing up. "What is there to think about?"

Lily leaned back, crossing her arms and smiling brightly. "When you come to your senses and finally admit that you truly feel something for me, we can find a nice villa up in the Bavarian Alps and spend our spring holidays there together."

James frowned slightly, saying nothing.

"Jimmy! Jimmy!" Sirius yelled as he ran outside, looking frantic.

James took that chance to make a break for it and intercepted Sirius just as the young man ran out of the castle, trying to breathe while he laughed hysterically. "What the ruddy hell did you do?" he asked, starting to laugh as well as Sirius just grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the castle.

Once they reached the lake, Sirius apparently deemed it safe enough to stop and he knelt down, trying to catch his breath.

"What ruddy hell did you do?" James asked, still giggling himself.

No answer was necessary as, a few minutes later, Remus ran up to the two of them. It took James a moment to recognize him, though, as Remus was currently inhabiting the form of a Yorkshire Terrier yapping angrily at the two of them with murder in his eyes. This, of course, sent Sirius and James into fits of laughter.

When James and Sirius calmed down enough to breathe properly, Sirius reached over and picked up the Yorkshire Terrier that was Remus. The terrier eyed him warily, but did nothing.

"What was this?" James asked, choking down another set of laughter.

"The Professor informed me that, despite my skill in transfiguring animals, I would never be able to successfully change a human," Sirius said with a mischievous grin. "Remus and Peter heard her saying this to me, and we put down a wager. Peter and Remus both owe me fifteen Galleons," he said, glancing down at the terrier.

"When are you planning on changing him back?" James asked, glancing over at the Yorkshire Terrier.

Sirius looked almost confused at that question.

James paused for a moment, biting the inside of his cheek to stop from laughing out loud. "You do know how to change him back, don't you?" he asked.

"Of course I do," Sirius bit out, looking very much indignant at the accusation. He set Remus on the ground and slowly stood up, ignoring the look that he was getting from Remus at the moment. "I just think he looks incredibly adorable as a Yorkie," he said before taking off, Remus hot on his heels, growling and once again yapping loudly.