1

The pounding of footsteps echoed in the hallways - the pursuer and the chased sped down the otherwise silent corridors. With only sound to guide him, Lucius Malfoy heard a crash and hints of running to his left, towards the dungeon staircase. Immediately he veered down this path, desperate to catch the person who had broken into his trunk. There was something missing, something that belonged to him.

After a moment he paused, listened. Slowly he backed into the shadow a new moon provided; next to a statue. There was silence. In the dark he tapped his fingers together, waiting. His breath was heavy, he slowed and quieted it. He could feel them coming. Up from the staircase that lead to the potions classrooms. They must think he had ran past the entrance, and this was their chance for escape. Lucius wished he had seen them, seen who had rifled though his things. He didn't know how he managed, but he caught up to them in the hall. At every turn they eluded him, every corner they were one step ahead. He felt he had been chasing a phantom. His only glance had been at the corner of a robe. The fingers on his right hand tapped faster, his muscles tense. They were coming now, he could feel it.

Suddenly there was a scream, cut short and muffled. Lucius stared at the staircase in confusion, and waited. There was no other sound. No one appeared from the dungeon entrance. Still though, felt it, felt them coming. Reaching out one hand he touched the air in front of him, waved it around, expecting something. Minutes passed. Frustrated he trekked down into the potions classrooms, searching each room. Nothing. With an inconsolable rage his fist came down on a desk, and struck off several beakers and containers in one motion. He realized he had yelled in his anger. If he was not careful, Flitch and his cat would find him.

Slinking back to his house common room, Malfoy began to hatch a plan.

* * * * * * *

Lily cried out at the hand that appeared out of nowhere, covering her mouth and pulling her into a dark corner. She struggled, but eventually lost and found herself taken underneath what appeared to be a blanket - a blanket with somebody under it? There had been no one in the room, she was sure she had checked. Now all she could see was the uniform of a boy and a tie as he held her to him.he was tall, he wore Gryffindor colors. Frozen, she waited, as he seemed to listen. As he removed his hand from her mouth, his other hand tilted her head to face him. James Potter. Lily hated James Potter.

* * * * * * *

Lily Evans. James hated Lily Evans. He had seen her enter the dungeon earlier; he had donned his invisibility cloak and watched Malfoy pause at the entrance. James observed the Slytherin for a few seconds before going after Lily. He put her hand over her mouth to quiet her - there was no way he was going to let someone from his house get in trouble because of a Slytherin, they couldn't afford to lose house points this year, not when the race was already close. She fought him, throwing out a pretty good punch. He dodged and pulled her under the cloak, listening to see if Malfoy heard the noise and was coming down the stairs. There was nothing. James looked down and saw one of his hands still over Lily's mouth, the other tangled in her long red hair. He took the first hand off, guided her eyes to his, and put one finger to his mouth to indicate the need for quiet. A moment of suspicion flickered in her eyes, the green appeared for a moment startlingly bright, he could see the doubt in her expression. She said nothing, only took his other hand and tossed it out of her hair in defiance. Amused and annoyed at her implication, he pointed towards the staircase and moved towards it, motioning her to follow.

As they crept up the staircase and in front of a sculpture, James turned and Lily opened her mouth to speak. His eyes became wide as he reached to silence her. Behind her and out of a sliver of darkness one of Malfoy's hands was reaching dangerously close to her shoulder. Lily turned to see what James was looking at, and was confronted with a pair of icy blue eyes, angry, searching. The words about to escape her lips came only as a gasp as loud as a whisper. Still under the invisibility of the cloak and suppressing a scream, she stumbled backwards. After making a quick judgment call, James scooped up the stupefied Lily and carried her quietly around the corner.

After setting her down and receiving a dirty look from Miss Evans they continued on the back route towards the Gryffindor common room. As they climbed the last staircase to the tower, a crash and cry from the silence below startled them both. Almost is unison, their heads turned towards the spiral of the steps, twisting into the dark below. They looked at one another, and then away.

* * * * * * *

Lily whispered angrily at the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Camaro." The Fat Lady yawned and replied "I can't hear you dear, what's that you say?"

James stood next to her, apparently oblivious to the fact the Fat Lady was developing a hearing impairment.

"What is a Camaro anyways? Who came up with that for a password?"

"It's a car Potter - CA-MAR-O," Lily ended her sentence in as loud a voice as she dared.

"Oh - oh yes yes, sorry dear," the Fat Lady apologized as the portrait swung open.

"So all muggle cars are a Camaro - " wondered James, watching Lily out of the corner of his eye. When she moved to brush her hair behind her ear the sleeve of her robe slid down to reveal a deep cut on her left forearm. He felt uneasy at the sight of it.

"No, no they're - you know what, nevermind. I'm going to bed. Goodnight," called back a tired Lily.

"Oh no you don't Evans - " James followed her steps. He was curious now. "Not until you tell me how it is you happened to be wandering the hallways so late at night, and what you were doing in the potions dungeon, and now that I stop and think of it, you almost lost our house quite a few points -"

"-Potter," Lily interrupted, turning and walking quite close to the much taller boy. Her eyes took on the fiery sheen they had in the dungeon.

"If I were you," she said, taking his tie in her hand, and pulling him down to her level, "I wouldn't be asking questions. Nothing I've done today can possibly compete with that cloak you're holding, and I wonder.what were you doing wandering the hallways so late at night?"

She released his tie and resumed her walk up to the girls dormitory. She wasn't going to let James Potter intimidate or scare her. The nerve, really. Why was she in the hallway? Did Potter own the hallway? Only he must be allowed to roam it illegally at night with a stupid invisibility cloak.why not, he was allowed to do everything else. James Potter, the Golden Boy of Hogwarts. She laughed at her own mental imagery of James, pressed against the stone wall of the corridor as Filch and his cat slunk past.James Potter, draped in what looked to be something like her grandmas old curtains. Lily laughed. Yes, James Potter, how impressive.

*

James did not move and inch from the position Lily Evans and pulled him into. Even after she left, he remained, a little taken aback. He remembered the green eyes, the smooth voice, and the unmistakable arrogance of that damn Evans. He had just saved her from getting in some serious trouble, where did she get off treating him like the enemy? Things were not so easy with her as they were with others. He walked up to the dorm room and climbed into his bed. Only Sirius and Peter were there.

"James?" came a voice from the bed adjacent to his own.

"Yeah Sirius."

"Did you see anything?" his best friend mumbled sleepily as he turned on his side. James lay back on his bed and put his hands behind his head.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," James replied.

"Really? What?"

James ignored the question. "Tell me what you know about Lily Evans."

"Lily? Well if you haven't lived under a rock for the past six years she sleeps the next hallway over, Remus and I are friends with her, and." he yawned, "you two have never gotten along. You both think you know everything," he paused. "Am I forgetting anything - oh yeah you probably can't see her over the hoardes of women that mob you daily - " James thought. "When we were second years I accidentally turned her hair blue in potions class."

Sirius laughed. "Yeah I remember that - good times."

"She found a way to make all of my shoes disappear, and then the next day I woke up with no eyebrows," James continued. Sirius was practically hyperventilating with laughter.

"Yes! And then when you fell asleep in class Remus drew some on with a permanent marker," he cried, gasping for air.

"Yeah well, I think Miss Evans may be trouble," James added.

"Trouble? Lily? James, at worst she has a temper. You're not always a shining example of goodness yourself. You know what I think - I think she gets under your skin. That's why you two always fight like cats and dogs."

James started. "Under my skin - only if you're referring to the fact that she is lacking of any good qualities."

"Oh James, don't say that. You're just mad because she got more O.W.L.s than you. And that she's the only person, besides myself I might add, to ever put you in your place." He thought for a moment. "I think this is the start of something ugly James. You don't want to go to war with Lily Evans."

"She beat me by one. One O.W.L." James turned to go to sleep. There was silence as he drifted off, his anger at the red head fading with fatigue. He could hear Peter snoring and the grandfather clock ticking, and slowly his consciousness was slipping. He was jarred awake by a giggle.

"Permanent marker, that's funny - "

"Shutup Sirius."