I'm still sick, and I hope that this hasn't done any damage to my brain. At least, I've got an excuse if this part's rather bad. *g* I've tried to put in a bit more romance, but it's not that easy for me, normally, I don't read books 'for the heart'. But I did my best. :-)
Nail a pudding on the wall!
Part 5
It was late at night, two weeks before the Ball, and James couldn't sleep. Although he could barely keep his eyes open, every time he almost dozed off, a pair of bright green eyes emerged in his mind and he was wide awake again.
This was getting stupid, he thought, after all, she was just a girl, even if she was one of his best friends. He wanted to kiss her, right, he wanted to hold her in his arms and look into her eyes, it was pointless to deny it, but he had other girls before, he had kissed them and hugged them, this was just the same as ever! He was not going to fall in love with Lily, he wasn't going to fall in love at all! It would take so much fun out of life, wouldn't it? And Lily didn't love him, she would never be one of those girls that followed him around and agreed with everything he said or did, they would nod and clap their hands even if he tried to explain that riding a broom backwards was the only way to do it properly. Lily would just laugh and do it the way she liked it.
'And that's why you love her' a tiny little voice in his head said before he could tell it to shut up.
'No', he corrected the voice silently, 'I don't love her. I like her, that's all.'
And with a sigh, he got up, hoping that some exercise would clear his mind, walked down the stair to the common room – and stood rooted to the spot.
In a chair near the fire sat the girl he had been thinking about for nearly two hours now.
Lily was watching the flames, her green eyes sparkling and her dark red hair glowing in the light of the fire. Nero, the cat she had met four weeks ago, had curled himself up in her lap and she was stroking it, lost in thoughts and twisting a strand of hair round her finger. Since she had met him, Nero had been a sort of her tiny shadow, he would follow her everywhere, and even the teachers had finally agreed to let him watch their lessons. No wonder, the alternative would have been to bear a miaowing tomcat who was sitting in front of the door to the classroom until Lily came out again. James couldn't blame him. Nobody who knew Lily could stand the thought of being apart from her. At least, he couldn't.
He realized at once that he must have been gazing at her for a long time, when she turned her head and saw him standing at the bottom of the stair to the boy's dormitory. As she smiled, he smiled back sheepishly, approached and took the chair next to her.
'Why am I so shy?' he wondered. 'I've never been shy before, and besides: Hey, that's Lily! My friend! There's no reason to be so nervous!'
He noticed that she must have said something as she was looking at him, obviously waiting for an answer.
"Hmm? Sorry, er, did you say something?"
She stared at him with astonishment in her confusing eyes, but he was grateful that she made no comment and repeated her question instead.
"'Couldn't sleep, Nero was struggling in my bed and woke me up every time I was nearly sleeping. What about you? Is Sirius snoring?"
"No, I was just... thinking." He nearly hit himself. Why couldn't he just nod? Hopefully she wouldn't ask what he had been thinking, he couldn't tell her once again that he had tried to find a way to get Snape expelled. "I decided to get some fresh air, so I went down to the common room."
Lily grinned mischievously.
"Now that we're both awake, why don't we look if our poisonous green Ms Norris shines in the dark? Or we could try to persuade Moaning Myrtle to leave her toilet and haunt the Slytherin common room instead. Or..."
"Nope, I know something better: Let's go to Hogsmeade!"
"Not bad. But how can we get there? Is there a secret passage or something?"
"Yes, there is. Come on, dress yourself, we'll take the cloak with us!"
***
About forty minutes later, two teenagers were walking down the main street of Hogsmeade, laughing, talking and gazing into the windows of the closed shops. Every time the boy would reach for the girl's hand or put his arm around her shoulder, she would tolerate this for a minute and then free herself gently in pointing at one of the shops or in turning around and dancing out of his reach.
"That's cool, James! Hogsmeade at night. Why didn't you tell me earlier about the secret passage, though?"
"Uh, just forgot it, I guess."
Then, suddenly, he winced, put his arms around Lily and dragged her in a dark corner between two shops.
"McGonagall!" he explained in a whisper. "If she recognises us, we're dead."
Lily was leaning against the wall while James still had his arms around her, turning his back to the street and hoping that the darkness would hide their faces completely.
When you wait for something, the time until it happens seems much longer, and so, for Lily and James, the two minutes it took McGonagall to pass them were like two hours. When her footsteps finally trailed off, both of them took a deep breath and became abruptly aware of how close they were.
"Er, James? Why didn't you just use the invisibility cloak? Would have been much easier, don't you think?"
She could see his teeth gleaming white as he grinned.
"Yeah, maybe. But I think I liked it much better this way."
His quiet laugh was enough to give her a thrill, but a moment later, she came back to her senses and stepped to the side, trying to hide her confusion.
"Do you think that the Three Broomsticks are still open?" It was the best question she could think of at the moment.
He nodded. "Yep. They close at about three in the morning, so we'll have about an hour. Let's go, I'll invite you to a butterbear!"
***
When they entered the Three Broomsticks, they were almost deafened for a moment, the noise of the customers was unbelievable. But they were glad to have the chance to thaw their frozen hands – now, in the middle of November, the nights were icy and the wind, which had blown for several days, didn't make it more comfortable to be outside.
Anabelle, the landlady, discovered them the moment they entered and directed them to an empty table in the back of the room, a few seconds later, she brought them to butterbears and sat down as well.
"It's good to have you here, kids – by the way, Lily, you can be proud of yourself. 'Can't even remember the last time James was after the same girl for such a long time!" She grinned evilly and James flashed her an angry look which made her grin even broaden.
"Anyway, I don't think it's a good idea to roam the streets at night, now that You-Know-Who gains power. Okay, it's not likely that he goes for students, but he's mad. You'll never know whom he'll kill next."
James, whose father worked for the ministry, nodded, but Lily, being Muggle-borned, didn't know what they were talking about, so James explained.
"It's an evil wizard, Lil. His name's Voldemort, but most people are to frightened to say his name, so he's You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He killed some wizards who were standing in his way, and sometimes, he and his followers even go for Muggles, just for 'fun'."
"But the ministry will stop him, right?"
Seeing the fear in her eyes, he leaned over and took her hand.
"Of course, Lil. Don't worry."
***
Lily and James were among the last customers to leave the Three Broomsticks, and when they set off for Honeydukes, where the entrance of the secret passage was, they were almost sleepwalking.
Lily bent to climb through the small window they used to leave the shop, then, suddenly wide awake, she turned around.
"Er, James? I know this may sound stupid, but... At what time does Honeyduke open?"
He stared at her for a moment, then understood.
"You don't mean that the window's locked, do you?"
She nodded. "This spell that you can only open it when you're inside the house. Dunno how to break it."
"Uh-oh... Well, at least it's Friday. No teacher will miss us in his lessons."
"D'you think they ever miss us?"
He grinned. "Probably not."
"So, what are we going to do?"
"Sleep." He sat down on the ground and leaned his back against the wall, then spread his arms invitingly.
"Uh, James? – Not that I don't agree with you, but could we perhaps go somewhere else? You'd be a nice attraction for the first passers-by."
He looked up at her, then he rose staggering. "All right. But I won't go any farther than behind this hill there."
The moment they reached it, both collapsed into the grass, and when James sat up again, about ten seconds later, Lily was already fast asleep. He smiled at the sight of the girl, her eyes with the long lashes closed tightly, her hair spread all around her head and her mouth slightly open. He took out his wand, conjured a - for some reason blue - fire to keep them warm, spread his cloak out over both of them, kissed her gently on the forehead and eventually closed his eyes as well.
***
The next time he opened his eyes, it took him a few seconds to remember what had happened, where he was, and, above all, why Lily laid in his arms, her head against his chest and now moving slightly. Then he grinned, brushed a strand of red hair out of her mouth, and she awoke with a start. He could tell by her eyes that it took her some time to get the whole scene clear in her mind, then she sat up and glanced at her watch.
"I can't believe it! It's already half past 9!"
"Yeah, and a wonderful morning to you, too." James grinned.
"Oh, um, yeah, morning, James."
He got up, helped her to her feet, and after they removed every trace of their fire, they marched off for Honeydukes.
"By the way, where's Nero, Lil?"
"I told him to stay in the castle. He wouldn't have liked the Three Broomsticks."
"I guess you're right."
They walked in silence again for a while, both too embarrassed to say something. James startled when Lily spoke suddenly.
"Know what? We're happy that no one saw us, especially Sirius and Sarah!"
Just the thought of it was terrible, James pretended to shiver.
"Don't even say something like that. The next year would be a perfect hell for us. It's enough that they know we stayed at Hogsmeade the whole night, but I'll hope they won't tease us too much about it."
"You know Sirius and Sarah, don't you? Remus and Jessie won't be that bad, but if you seriously hope that Sarah and Sirius will let us even one minute in peace..."
He grinned. "I've always been an optimist."
***
"Ooooh! Just look who's there!" Sirius looked as if he was going to have the time of his life. "May I ask Mr and Mrs Potter" - at this point he was given two identical glances that promised a long and painful death, but he didn't care - "where they spent this wonderful night or would this be too... er.... indiscreet?"
Lily and James both dropped into a chair in the Gryffindor common room (they missed breakfast, of course, instead they had eaten something in the Three Broomsticks), then James glared at his friend.
"First, it's not Mr and Mrs Potter. And second: We've been in Hogsmeade, couldn't get back because the owner of Honeydukes locked the window we climbed out with some spell."
Sirius grinned. "Well, Jamsie, and what abut the other secret passage, eh?"
James stared at him in real surprise. "Uh, yeah... Guess I was too tired to remember it..."
"Really?" Remus laughed. "Sure you didn't want to forget about it?"
Lily, who had been sitting in her chair without saying a word till now, scowled. "Of course he didn't. It was three in the morning and we were nearly dead on our feet."
"But you don't look too tired to me." Now Sarah also took part in the conversation - or should we say interrogation?
"We slept a few hours." The moment it was out, James wished he had paid more attention when they learned this memory-spell in Charms, but it was too late: Identical, evil grins appeared on the faces of Sirius, Sarah, Jessie and Remus, while Lily's face was almost as red as James'.
"Sooooooooo? Did you?" Sirius enjoyed every single syllable to the full.
Lily wished her face hadn't the same colour as her hair - dark red, for all those with lapses of memory *g* -, but there was nothing she could do about it.
"It's not what you think. We aren't together, okay?"
"Prongs, do you share your girl... er, Lily's opinion?"
James couldn't say yes. Somehow it was even impossible to nod. No, he didn't share her opinion! He wanted them to be together! But when he caught Lily's pleading eyes, he finally nodded, but didn't say anything.
James as well as Lily were relieved to see Nero climbing through the hole (The Fat Lady had an affection for animals, so she let them pass, normally), maybe it was enough divert their friends. Nero jumped onto Lily's lap, miaowed reproachful for being left alone such a long time and curled himself up.
***
If Lily and James had been thinking that their teasing friends were the worst that could happen, they changed their opinion quickly: Everyone had seen that they both had skipped breakfast, and some Gryffindor had disseminated the message that they had entered the common room together, and so, no matter where they went, if they were walking alone or together, it was always like running the gauntlet. Girls were staring at Lily either with hate or with pity (for being the next one with a broken heart), some boys were glaring at James or even challenging him to a wizard duel (although they were just showing off, none of them wanted to end as a mouse in the hospital wing, James was excellent in transfiguration), and all together, they hadn't a very comfortable time this afternoon.
Things didn't improve when it leaked out that they would go to the Ball together, and so, when Lily climbed in the common room after the dinner, she was totally exhausted and hoarse from repeating only one sentence the whole day: "No, we aren't a together, we're just friends!"
"I don't know if I can stand this any longer, James." Lily was indeed looking rather pale. "Maybe we should try to avoid each other for a couple of weeks and get another date for the Ball..."
James ground his teeth. It was bad enough that these ... (A/N: He thought of a word I don't dare to write, I mean, it's G, this fic) were making fun of Lily and him, that they were insulting and glaring at them, but that they actually tried to separate them was definitely too much.
"Never ever, Lil! Don't even think of it. I'm not going to give them the satisfaction to destroy our... friendship!"
Slowly, she nodded. "You're right, James. Of course you are. We'll get through it, kay? Together." Now she looked determined, and when he hugged her, she didn't flinch.
"Together." he repeated.
*****
Aw! I'm sorry that the end (of this part) is so awful. I really am. But I needed to finish it somehow, and I'm not very good in endings. So, sorry, okay?
Disclaimer: It gets quite difficult to think of a different disclaimer for each part, believe me. Maybe I'm feeling a bit more creative the next time, but today, it's only the standard: Almost everything belongs to J. K. Rowling, except the things you don't know. Oviously, her brain's much bigger than mine.
This time, I won't tell you to review. You already know that I live for reviews, so, if you want me to die, don't write one!
Someone - RavenNat? - told me that there was not enough Remus in my fic. To tell the truth: I miss him a bit, too... But it's quite difficult to give him and Sirius bigger parts without neglecting Lily and James. But I'll try it, I think I've got something for them in the next part.
@Sydney: James, Sirius, Remus (and Peter, but he's unimportant) are in their fifth year. Only Lily, Sarah and Jessie are in their third year, Lily's thirteen, right, but her birthday will take place in the next part. (Thanks for giving me the idea. ;-)) - I don't know, but I don't think that Lily and James are too young to fall in love. I mean, James is fifteen, Lily's (almost) fourteen, and at this age, girls are normally about two years more mature than boys of the same age. (Did I make me some enemies now? ;-) ) I think it's quiet usual to have a boyfriend with 12 or 13, but, hey, if there are, er, let's say... five more complaints about them being too young, I'll try to fix it, kay?