Disclaimer: And J.K. hast created Harry Potter. And thus she was disclaimest, and it was good. Ha ha, enjoy the story, folks.
Previously in "The Strangest Courtship":
Lily gave him a smile, albeit a weak one—but it was real, and it warmed James' heart. It scared him, because he felt like he would promise her anything in the world if she would smile like that at him—at him alone—again.
"And—thanks for the cloak, Potter," she said finally, before turning and walking swiftly out of sight. James stayed where he was and let out a great sigh. He looked down and saw he was still holding his cloak weakly in his hands, from when Lily had thrown it to him earlier. He held the folds to his face and inhaled deeply; it smelled intoxicatingly of Lily: a vaguely sexy perfume, fresh-smelling shampoo, clean rain, soft skin, a little sweat, a little like the chocolate Madame Pomfrey must have given her. It smelled so comforting and soft and sexy and like Lily....he never wanted to let it go.
Chapter Seven:
Sirius and James
That day was the first day of classes, and although James and Lily had all the same classes, they didn't speak once. Their last class of the day was Transfiguration, so Gryffindors had the whole afternoon and evening to enjoy the grounds and reacquaint themselves with their classmates.
The four Marauders walked out onto the grounds together, and as soon as James felt the hot sun on his face he knew that the only thing he wanted to do right then was—
"Quiddich!" cried Sirius happily. It's perfect weather—James, you could see the snitch a mile away in this air!—and Slytherins still have Care of Magical Creatures, so they won't bother us on the pitch. Come on, guys, two on two!"
"Erm....I have to...." said Peter, mumbling something incoherent. The others nodded knowingly; Peter hated flying.
"You in, Moony?" Sirius asked Remus. Remus wasn't on the Quiddich team with Sirius and James, but he was an excellent Chaser nonetheless.
"Not today, guys," said Remus apologetically. "I've been feeling a little....under the weather, recently. I'd rather not."
"Okay," said James. "We'll see you in the common room in a couple hours, then?" Remus nodded before setting off back towards the castle.
"Guess it's just us two," said Sirius. He grinned, turning to James. "Race you to the pitch!" he said, and they were off.
In a matter of minutes, they had both retrieved their broomsticks from the locker rooms and were sailing through the air, tossing a quaffle to one another and generally horsing around.
"So, where were you last night, Prongs?" Sirius asked, diving to catch the quaffle. James stiffened on his broomstick, but his expression remained controlled.
"What do you mean?" asked James.
"Aw, come on, James," said Sirius. "We're like brothers; you don't think I notice when you sneak out at night?"
"You were asleep!" said James.
"Yeah, operative word being were. You're loud, you know; I'm surprised you didn't wake up the whole Tower!"
"I was not loud," hissed James.
"Well, you weren't werewolf loud but you were, say, creaky floorboards loud." Sirius smirked; James winced. "So?" asked Sirius, "who's the lucky girl? Did you finally—"
"Shut up!" interrupted James, tossing the quaffle back to Sirius. "Stop assuming things. I just couldn't sleep. Went for a walk around the castle."
"Hm," said Sirius in a voice that showed he didn't believe James at all. "Fine, keep your secret, if you must. But you have to tell me who this girl is sometime soon; I don't want to hit on her by mistake!"
Ah, the irony, thought James grimly, but he said nothing.
Sirius, sensing that the conversation needed to take a turn, spoke again: "So, I had a dream about Lily last night," said Sirius, not realizing that he had just turned to the worst possible topic. James nearly fell off his broomstick in surprise.
"Wh—" James started to say, but he was at a loss for words. He looked at Sirius questioningly, not knowing how to word what he wanted to ask.
"Yes," said Sirius with a small smirk, answering James' unspoken question. "Yes, it was that kind of dream." He had a glazed kind of look in his eyes.
James' eyes widened in disgust, but Sirius mistook his intense stare for interest in the dream. "Well, in the dream, I was practicing Quiddich out here all alone, in the rain, and she had secretly come to watch me....so when I landed I was surprised to find her soaking wet by the locker rooms....and I offered to help her take a hot shower, to warm up....and we took a shower together....and then we came out onto the pitch and I fucked her brains out in the mud, in the rain."
James finally found his voice. "Ugh!" he exclaimed. "Don't tell me that kind of thing, Padfoot....you're such a pervert, don't ever tell me about one of your dreams again. Ugh!"
Sirius looked amused. "Whoa, reign it in, Prongs," he said. "I thought you'd want to know that I'm making progress."
"Oh, come on, that's not real progress; that's in your fucking brain!" said James.
"Hm," replied Sirius in affirmation. "But when my mind's in it and my body's in it—which last night confirmed, by the way—then making it actually happen is easy as pie. You know, you should have given me more of a challenge, Prongs. Being betted to shag Lily is like a fucking reward!"
"Hey!" said James, something flaring up in his eyes. "I did not bet you to shag her; I bet you to take her out on a date! Those two things are not synonymous, you know. Not for most people, at least."
"Yeah, well I see the shag as an added bonus. For all my trouble, you know; for having to be gentlemanly all the time and buy her things, and all that." James' eyes widened; he hadn't known Sirius was investing so much in this. Most girls threw themselves at Sirius when he was just being his normal, immature, prattish self; James wondered if any girl had ever resisted Sirius when he was acting like a gentleman. Oh, Merlin, James thought, what did I get Lily into?
He suddenly felt a wrenching feeling in his gut. "Padfoot, I've got a bad stomachache—I think I'm going to go in."
"Suit yourself, Prongs," said Sirius, apparently oblivious to the sudden change in James. "I'm staying out here for a while longer."
"See you inside, then," said James, and he flew off towards the castle; he wanted to be alone for a while....he thought maybe he'd relax in the Astronomy Tower, which was never occupied except during the night for Astronomy classes or—er—other activities.
James flew up near the castle, but when he got to the Astronomy Tower he found Eva Malfoy not only skiving off class but also—more offensively, for James skived off Care of Magical Creatures all the time—deeply engrossed in a makeout session with Archie Zabini. Quickly swerving off his intended course, James made instead for Gryffindor Tower, figuring he could get some sleep; he had slept fitfully the night before....
As he was approaching the Tower he heard girls' voices, and he could hear among them Lily's throaty laugh. He flew towards the window of the girls' dormitory, intending to ask Lily how she was feeling; but when he was near enough to discern words, he heard someone say "James," and he stopped stock-still. Hovering right above their window, he listened....
After Transfiguration earlier in the day, while the Marauders had left for the Quiddich pitch, Lily and Arabella had gone up to their dormitories to catch up on all they had missed over the summer.
Arabella flung herself exuberantly down on her bed. "Oh, Lily, I've missed this place so much!" she said. "Our little dorm and the house-elves cleaning up for us and talking to you and going to Quiddich games and using magic....I can't believe how hard it must be to be a muggle. Not like you, I mean, but people who never get to experience this. This place would be magical even if we had no wands—all the people and the classes and the castle...." Arabella's voice trailed off and Lily chuckled, sitting down on her own bed.
"Arabella, you're rhapsodic about this place!" exclaimed Lily. "Miss it much?" She paused, then spoke more seriously: "You're right, though," said Lily. "I don't know what I'd do—what I'd be—without Hogwarts, without my friends here and my classes. It feels more like home than London ever did."
"I know," sighed Arabella. The two girls talked quietly for a while about their homes, their families, and their muggle friends. Arabella told Lily about her summer trip to France with her parents ("it has a certain je ne se pas") and then Lily ranted about Petunia ("she has such a toxic personality I hope she might poison herself and save me the work!"), and about not being in France. Time passed, and then the subject shifted to the coming year.
"But this year...." began Lily uncomfortably, "everything seems different."
"How so?" asked Arabella.
"Well, everybody has been acting different towards me," said Lily quietly. "Especially Sirius and James."
....And this was the point at which James heard his name and stopped to hover on his broom just above the window of the girl's dormitory of Gryffindor Tower. He felt guilty and egotistical and vaguely perverted to be listening to Lily as she confided in Arabella (about him! About him?), but his curiosity got the better of him....
In the next chapter....James hears Lily's thoughts on Sirius and himself, and something Lily says makes him smash his fist into the stone Tower....
A/N: I know a lot of writers respond to individual reviews in each chapter....how do you all feel about that? I most certainly read every single review, but do you all want responses? I can make an effort to do that, but that would mean a longer wait for each chapter. Your call; let me know and I'll see what the general consensus is. As it stands now, I think I'm going to just mention my star reviewers and just respond to commonly asked questions or opinions. But reviewers know best!