Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, places, objects or spells that
have anything to do with the Harry Potter world.
Chapter 11~To Hogsmeade and beyond!
The week leading up to Lily and James' first proper date passed slowly. James' friends succeeded in keeping
him away from Lily all week, apart from in lessons, and he had managed to keep up his depressed aura.
Unbeknown to his friends he had been the cause of Lily's hysterical laughter during their Charms lessons. It
hadn't looked like they were talking - and they hadn't been. Lily had sneakily given James a piece of
enchanted parchment. When he wrote on it his writing appeared on her sheet of paper and vice-versa. Laura
had suspected something, but she hadn't come close to the truth. Remus was nearer to the truth - he had
seen James' face flush red with embarrassment when Lily had laughed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday arrived and James was nervous like he had been at the St Valentine's Day ball. He felt at ease
talking to Lily, even though he still got butterflies in his stomach every time he was near her. It wasn't hard to
meet Lily without the rest of the Marauders noticing - Saturday was lie-in day and they always took full
advantage. He could hear Peter's loud snores, Remus' heavy breathing and Sirius mumbling something about
'traitor'. Frank was awake, but he was cheerfully occupied in his own business, a date with Alice, and didn't
ask James what he was doing. James took a quick shower, pulled on a pair of Jeans and a T-shirt and walked
down to the Great Hall to eat breakfast. He ate breakfast alone, and collected his coat from his dorm before
setting off to Hogsmeade. He arrived at the small gate that they had agreed to meet at 5 minutes early. He
sat on the gate feeling cheerful that he could finally talk to Lily instead of writing her notes. He was wondering
where she'd want to go - during the week she had talked about going to an ice skating rink. James hoped that
she wasn't serious - he couldn't imagine why she'd want to slide across some ice on two pieces of thin metal.
It sounded like too much effort just to stay upright. James snuggled into his muggle coat and looked down at
his shoes - comfortable shoes that muggles called 'trainers'.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lily arrived exactly on time. She was wearing flared jeans and a purple fleece with a hood on it. She grinned
at James and told him where she wanted to go. "I think we should go bowling," she said happily, then,
noticing the puzzled look on James' face she added, "It's a muggle leisure activity. I'll show you when we get
there, I think you'll enjoy it." They apparated to a close to a bowling alley in Portsmouth. James seemed
rather reluctant and hesitated in front of the shopping centre. Lily noticed and asked him what was wrong.
"Well, what if I'm no good at it?" He said rather sheepishly. Lily chuckled, told him that it didn't matter if he
was no good at it as long as he was having fun and pulled him towards the bowling alley. When they reached
the bowling alley, James saw other people bowling and grew excited. He insisted on paying for the games and
shoe hire. Lily showed him how to hold the bowling balls and explained what he had to do. She put their
names into the computer and took go first to demonstrate. She knocked down 8 skittles. James took his first
go and got a strike. He watched the 'X' flash across the computer screen and Lily explained what it meant. He
danced a victory dance and hugged Lily. Lily, however, was determined not to be beaten by a beginner and
eventually beat James by 1 point. James was undeterred and paid for several more games before finally
admitting defeat. They left the bowling alley and walked along the harbour to the pebbly beach. They walked
along the deserted beach front, watching the waves crash onto the pebbles. James chased Lily along the beach
and they both crashed to the pebbles, breathless and laughing uncontrollably. They didn't move for a while,
they just enjoyed the view and the calm atmosphere. Lily sat up and James followed suit. Their faces inched
closer to each other, their lips met and they shared their first kiss. After a while they stopped and James
noticed that Lily was shivering. He gave her his coat and they watched the rushing waves once again. James
picked up a pebble and skimmed it across the waves. Lily leaned backwards and then laughed to top half of
her body forwards to propel a pebble forwards. It sailed over the waves and landed in the water with a splosh.
James got up and offered Lily his hand. He pulled her up and they walked along the beach hand in hand. It
was getting late, so they apparated back to Hogsmeade. They shared another kiss and parted to make their
separate ways up to the castle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Remus sniggered when he saw James and Lily walking towards the castle. He wouldn't have suspected a thing
if it wasn't for..."James, you're doing a great job of pretending to be depressed, but the fact that Lily happens
to be wearing your coat kind of gives it away." He watched a blush rise across Lily's face as she removed the
coat and handed it back to James, who was grinning. "Can you..." James started.
"Yes, I'll do you a favour. I won't tell anyone, okay?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sirius had no idea that James and Lily were even on speaking terms. He didn't like seeing James so
'depressed'. He and his friends had kept James away from Lily all week, and he had used a new explosion spell
that he had made up on James in an attempt to cheer him up. Funnily enough, James hadn't been in the
slightest bit amused when most of his belongings had exploded at random points during the day. Today
(Sunday) he had decided to offer to swap seats with James for Charms and History of Magic so that he didn't
have to sit next to Lily. At dinnertime: "Do you want me to swap seats with you for Charms and History of
Magic, James?" James opened his mouth to say no, when Lily winked at him from across the table.
"Yeah, thanks mate." Lily finished her dinner and exited the Great Hall. Most people were still eating, so she
waited outside the doors. James arrived a few minutes later. "So, what have you got planned?" He had told
Lily about the explosion prank that Sirius had played on him. Lily had been right about them not knowing each
other properly, he had never known that she liked to pull harmless pranks - just like he did. She was more
sneaky than him and had only been caught once, in her first year. "We make it look like an amateur attempt -
he won't suspect you. We use simple tricks like the classic chair pull-out and add some of our own, you have
got some of your own?"
"Sirius knows most of them. He'd know it was me."
"Okay, I'll use my bird-shit trick, where blobs of bird-shit land on the person's head at random throughout the
day."
"At the end of the day, we'll reveal ourselves and our alliance against him."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you to everyone who reviewed Chapter 10! anonymus L/J reader, Ti, Trinity Day, Hrei-siesn, mintytoothpick, LegolasMirkwoodElfPrince, Izzy, Maraudertimes and Karen. Especially to Karen, whose backwards name ,Nerak, I used in chapter 10 because she annoyed me one day. This chapter took me ages to write and type, sorry I haven't updated for nearly two weeks but I had writer's block. Anyway, I've already started writing the next chapter! Please, please review this chapter! Thank you!
Twelvegrimmauldplace
Chapter 11~To Hogsmeade and beyond!
The week leading up to Lily and James' first proper date passed slowly. James' friends succeeded in keeping
him away from Lily all week, apart from in lessons, and he had managed to keep up his depressed aura.
Unbeknown to his friends he had been the cause of Lily's hysterical laughter during their Charms lessons. It
hadn't looked like they were talking - and they hadn't been. Lily had sneakily given James a piece of
enchanted parchment. When he wrote on it his writing appeared on her sheet of paper and vice-versa. Laura
had suspected something, but she hadn't come close to the truth. Remus was nearer to the truth - he had
seen James' face flush red with embarrassment when Lily had laughed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday arrived and James was nervous like he had been at the St Valentine's Day ball. He felt at ease
talking to Lily, even though he still got butterflies in his stomach every time he was near her. It wasn't hard to
meet Lily without the rest of the Marauders noticing - Saturday was lie-in day and they always took full
advantage. He could hear Peter's loud snores, Remus' heavy breathing and Sirius mumbling something about
'traitor'. Frank was awake, but he was cheerfully occupied in his own business, a date with Alice, and didn't
ask James what he was doing. James took a quick shower, pulled on a pair of Jeans and a T-shirt and walked
down to the Great Hall to eat breakfast. He ate breakfast alone, and collected his coat from his dorm before
setting off to Hogsmeade. He arrived at the small gate that they had agreed to meet at 5 minutes early. He
sat on the gate feeling cheerful that he could finally talk to Lily instead of writing her notes. He was wondering
where she'd want to go - during the week she had talked about going to an ice skating rink. James hoped that
she wasn't serious - he couldn't imagine why she'd want to slide across some ice on two pieces of thin metal.
It sounded like too much effort just to stay upright. James snuggled into his muggle coat and looked down at
his shoes - comfortable shoes that muggles called 'trainers'.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lily arrived exactly on time. She was wearing flared jeans and a purple fleece with a hood on it. She grinned
at James and told him where she wanted to go. "I think we should go bowling," she said happily, then,
noticing the puzzled look on James' face she added, "It's a muggle leisure activity. I'll show you when we get
there, I think you'll enjoy it." They apparated to a close to a bowling alley in Portsmouth. James seemed
rather reluctant and hesitated in front of the shopping centre. Lily noticed and asked him what was wrong.
"Well, what if I'm no good at it?" He said rather sheepishly. Lily chuckled, told him that it didn't matter if he
was no good at it as long as he was having fun and pulled him towards the bowling alley. When they reached
the bowling alley, James saw other people bowling and grew excited. He insisted on paying for the games and
shoe hire. Lily showed him how to hold the bowling balls and explained what he had to do. She put their
names into the computer and took go first to demonstrate. She knocked down 8 skittles. James took his first
go and got a strike. He watched the 'X' flash across the computer screen and Lily explained what it meant. He
danced a victory dance and hugged Lily. Lily, however, was determined not to be beaten by a beginner and
eventually beat James by 1 point. James was undeterred and paid for several more games before finally
admitting defeat. They left the bowling alley and walked along the harbour to the pebbly beach. They walked
along the deserted beach front, watching the waves crash onto the pebbles. James chased Lily along the beach
and they both crashed to the pebbles, breathless and laughing uncontrollably. They didn't move for a while,
they just enjoyed the view and the calm atmosphere. Lily sat up and James followed suit. Their faces inched
closer to each other, their lips met and they shared their first kiss. After a while they stopped and James
noticed that Lily was shivering. He gave her his coat and they watched the rushing waves once again. James
picked up a pebble and skimmed it across the waves. Lily leaned backwards and then laughed to top half of
her body forwards to propel a pebble forwards. It sailed over the waves and landed in the water with a splosh.
James got up and offered Lily his hand. He pulled her up and they walked along the beach hand in hand. It
was getting late, so they apparated back to Hogsmeade. They shared another kiss and parted to make their
separate ways up to the castle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Remus sniggered when he saw James and Lily walking towards the castle. He wouldn't have suspected a thing
if it wasn't for..."James, you're doing a great job of pretending to be depressed, but the fact that Lily happens
to be wearing your coat kind of gives it away." He watched a blush rise across Lily's face as she removed the
coat and handed it back to James, who was grinning. "Can you..." James started.
"Yes, I'll do you a favour. I won't tell anyone, okay?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sirius had no idea that James and Lily were even on speaking terms. He didn't like seeing James so
'depressed'. He and his friends had kept James away from Lily all week, and he had used a new explosion spell
that he had made up on James in an attempt to cheer him up. Funnily enough, James hadn't been in the
slightest bit amused when most of his belongings had exploded at random points during the day. Today
(Sunday) he had decided to offer to swap seats with James for Charms and History of Magic so that he didn't
have to sit next to Lily. At dinnertime: "Do you want me to swap seats with you for Charms and History of
Magic, James?" James opened his mouth to say no, when Lily winked at him from across the table.
"Yeah, thanks mate." Lily finished her dinner and exited the Great Hall. Most people were still eating, so she
waited outside the doors. James arrived a few minutes later. "So, what have you got planned?" He had told
Lily about the explosion prank that Sirius had played on him. Lily had been right about them not knowing each
other properly, he had never known that she liked to pull harmless pranks - just like he did. She was more
sneaky than him and had only been caught once, in her first year. "We make it look like an amateur attempt -
he won't suspect you. We use simple tricks like the classic chair pull-out and add some of our own, you have
got some of your own?"
"Sirius knows most of them. He'd know it was me."
"Okay, I'll use my bird-shit trick, where blobs of bird-shit land on the person's head at random throughout the
day."
"At the end of the day, we'll reveal ourselves and our alliance against him."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you to everyone who reviewed Chapter 10! anonymus L/J reader, Ti, Trinity Day, Hrei-siesn, mintytoothpick, LegolasMirkwoodElfPrince, Izzy, Maraudertimes and Karen. Especially to Karen, whose backwards name ,Nerak, I used in chapter 10 because she annoyed me one day. This chapter took me ages to write and type, sorry I haven't updated for nearly two weeks but I had writer's block. Anyway, I've already started writing the next chapter! Please, please review this chapter! Thank you!
Twelvegrimmauldplace