Chapter Ten: Getting Nerves and Breaking Glass

James ran as fast as he could through the corridors leading up to the Heads Dorm, broom in tow. He had lost track of time at try-outs, and as a result it was nearly nine o'clock. The time he was supposed to patrol with Lily.

He reached the portrait swearing, he wasn't going to have time for a shower, and he smelled horrible, a mix of rain, grass, sweat, and blood. He entered the common room to see Lily reading patiently on the sofa, she looked up at him as he entered and smiled.

"Ready?" he asked dropping his broom on one of the squishy chairs.

She closed her book and placed it delicately on the coffee table and stood, she took a look at James, with his Quidditch practice robes on, his hair was damp, there was mud on his face, and grass stains all over his trouser legs and boots.

"I think the real question is, are you?" she laughed.

James smiled. "I lost track of time. Besides, I kind of have to be ready, it's five till nine, and we are supposed to relieve Jacob and Remus."

"I know." replied Lily, leading the way out of the common room. "If you're sure you're going to be comfortable walking around for three hours in soggy, dirty robes, let's go."

"Don't forget horribly smelly." added James as he followed her out.

Lily laughed her beautiful laugh and James smiled, patrolling couldn't be uncomfortable when he had it with Lily.

Once they officially started their patrol, and after they had said good-bye to Jacob and Remus, James felt the need to start a conversation.

"So who patrols after we get done, I mean, we're the late shift and we're only out here till midnight." he started.

Lily smiled as they walked. "I guess you wouldn't know, as you weren't a prefect."

"Merlin, Lily. Not this topic again. We can only establish the fact that I wasn't a prefect and ponder the idiocy of making me Head Boy a hundred and one times." he replied on edge, the topic making him a little nervy. He wasn't all that confident in his placement, and any questioning just made him antsy.

"Oh I didn't mean it like that." retorted Lily, seeing her mistake. "You've been a great Head Boy." She smiled. "Not too many other guys could put up with me as much as you could, James."

James had to fight the urge to ask if Emerson could ever be as patient as him, and he won. "Do you really mean that?" he smiled.

"Sure, you've been fantastic." she assured him, not quite sure to which part of her previous statement, but decided it fit with both.

They shared a silent smile and she finally spoke up.

"To answer your question, the ghosts patrol, and there's always a painting looking out that has a painting in Professor Dumbledore's office. He always knows what's going on."

James looked around. "It kind of makes me feel like we're being watched." he replied, smiling eerily.

Lily laughed. "Oh at Hogwarts, I'm pretty sure we're always being watched."

"Not everywhere." answered James sincerely. Lily raised an eyebrow.

"You mean to tell me you know a place where Dumbledore has no spies?" she asked, pulling a red strand of hair behind her ear.

James nodded. "I can name ten off the top of my head."

Lily's mouth dropped in amazement. He grinned.

"Do you really think that the Marauders would be as careless as to not find a few places where we could get our work done?"

Lily nodded in understanding. Of course. The Marauders always knew how to get around any precaution Dumbledore set up.

"I'll have to show you sometime." started James, he shot a glance at her to read her reaction. She was smiling. "But about half of them Remus deemed not safe enough to go to on a regular basis."

"Oh, Potter, if you're going to take me on a tour of the school, you're taking me to the dangerous places!" she laughed with excitement. "I live my life on edge." she smiled.

"Alright, Evans. Tomorrow night. I'll give you danger." James promised with a small laugh, but Lily could tell he was being sincere.

"It's a date." she replied without really thinking about how it would sound once it left her head and lips.

James smiled nonchalantly and they continued to walk.

"Alright, Moony, what the hell is eating you?" interrogated Sirius, as he, Remus, and Peter played a silent game of Exploding Snap.

Remus had been sullen and rather moody for the last week, and it was finally getting to Sirius.

Remus let out a long, exaggerated sigh, carelessly tossing a card onto the growing stack. Peter watched on edge, the last three times they had exploded piles of ash on to him, and him only. He was starting to think Sirius had jinxed them, as he laughed hysterically each time.

Just then, Allison and Ellie walked by, Ellie glanced at Remus, made eye contact and turned her head. Remus's face was red.

"Merlin." whispered Sirius. "You've got girl problems!"

Peter looked at Remus in shock, and then chuckled nervously.

Remus's eyebrows raised and he sat back in his chair.

"I guess you could say that."

"With Ellie?" Sirius questioned. "Because Allison's taken. Allison! Oh love triangle! Drama Drama Drama!" rambled Sirius excitedly.

Remus shook his head. "No, Ellie."

Sirius grinned devilishly. "She's a babe, Remus. So what's the problem? Hovering older brother?"

The flashed look that crossed Remus's face at that instant made Sirius realize he hadn't even thought of that yet.

"Don't worry, Moony. I'm sure he'd approve of you. You and James are like the perfect boyfriends to bring home." Sirius grinned. "I threaten most parents. It must be my wicked good looks."

Remus rolled his eyes.

"We still haven't solved your problem---which is?" Sirius asked again.

"I like Ellie---I really do. And I know she likes me, too. It's just, I probably shouldn't get too close to anyone, being who I am." answered Remus, the last phrase filled with a depressing resentment.

Sirius just shook his head. "No, Moony. I'm going to give you James worthy-advice on this, because it's true." He looked at his friend sincerely. "Ellie is a great girl, she's friends with Lily, for Merlin's sake. Just give it a try. Don't worry about getting close till there's something there."

Remus considered Sirius's words.

"And what if I do get close?" he questioned.

Sirius looked at him like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "She'll understand, Moony."

"Well I guess it's worth a shot." stated Remus uneasily. "I'll ask her to Hogsmeade this weekend."

"There you go, Moony, ol' boy." he hit Remus on the back. "I'll have a date too."

"Who?" asked Peter.

Sirius licked his lips. "Grace Melbourne. Seventh year Ravenclaw."

"I suppose I'll need a date, then." started Peter. "I'd hate to be the odd man out… again."

Remus looked at Peter with shock. Peter rarely took initiative in finding dates. "Well good luck with that."

Peter smiled, and was about to say something when Sirius interrupted.

"James doesn't have a date. If it doesn't work out you two could always hang out."

Peter nodded. "Yeah, I guess so. He really should get over her."

Knowing exactly who "her" was, the boys nodded.

"But he's in love. There's no getting over it." remarked Remus before getting out of his seat.

"Where are you going?" asked Peter.

Remus turned and motioned towards where Allison and Ellie sat by the fire.

Peter nodded and Sirius gave Remus a thumbs up.

Remus smiled and sucked in a breath and went to where Ellie sat beside Allison, engaged in rampant conversation. Remus casually made himself noticed by picking up a book on the coffee table in front of the girls. Ellie looked up and smiled, as did Allison.

Now, Remus. Do it now. "Hey, er…Ellie, could I have a word with you?" he asked, hoping he didn't sound too nervous.

Ellie nodded and started to stand when Allison stopped her. "I'll go, I wanted to sneak a visit to Jacob before I went to bed." She smiled peevishly at Ellie and then looked at Remus. "You realize you have a third year divination book in your hand, right?"

Remus looked down. Indeed, he did have Unfogging the Future, in his hands. He grinned, embarrassed. "Oh well, you know, I never really learned anything in that class in the first place. Sirius's hair gel made the pattern of a bowler hat today when it came out of the tube. I was hoping to find answers." Allison and Ellie both giggled and Remus grinned bashfully, glad he was able to use his rare humor to get him out of an embarrassing situation.

Allison continued her way, and the seat beside Ellie was now vacant. Remus sat down and let out a breath.

Ellie looked up at him expectantly, and he remembered he was supposed to have something to say to her.

"Um…er…Ellie, I was wondering." he started, keeping his eyes on the book and talking quietly.

"Yes?" she inquired, and from her voice Remus could tell she was smiling.

Now or never.

"If I could take you to Hogsmeade this weekend? Would that be alright with you? I mean, if it's not that's okay, I understand if you already have plans." he asked in one breath, talking very fast. He turned to look at her and to read her expression.

She was smiling. That beautiful smile of hers, her dark hair was loosely falling out of the bun that kept it back, and she looked completely thrilled.

"Of course, Remus. I'd love to go with you." she replied.

Remus beamed as he looked at her. "Good. I'll meet you after breakfast on Saturday?"

"Sure."

Remus shuffled in his seat nervously. "Well, I think I'm going to go do some studying. See you later."

He was five feet away when he heard his name being called. Ellie. He turned around to face her.

"Yes?"

She had the divination book in her hands. "You forgot your book."

Remus smiled as he took it. "Oh thanks."

"Well, good night." she waved as Remus continued walking towards the boys' dorms.

The next night, James waited in the Heads Common room patiently. His feet bounced in front of him as he sat on the comfy chair and he slapped his hands on his knees. It was five till eight, he was to meet Lily at exactly eight o'clock to take her to one of the rooms to get a few of their head duties done. Then he promised to show her the odds and ends to the castle she had never explored. He had with him his bag, which contained an invisibility cloak, the Marauders map, a roll of parchment, several ink bottles, and a set of fine quills.

James checked his watch again. Three minutes. He smiled to himself. Lily had referred to this as a date. He knew it wasn't, it was nothing more than head duties and a tour, he kept telling himself. But it was fun to imagine it as a date…holding hands with Lily, letting him kiss her neck and cheek affectionately as they walked down the halls. Lily holding on to him when she got scared, kissing in the moonlight.

"James?"

He snapped out of his slight daydream. The distortion of reality. Lily stood in front of him, with a polite smile and a bag slung around her shoulder.

"Lily." he stood up and brushed off his robes, as if looking for something to do. "Ready?"

She nodded, looked at him peculiarly before shaking her head and leading the way.

"So where are we headed to?" she asked brightly, still leading the way. James sprinted a few steps to catch up with her.

"The best room in the entire castle." he glanced at her and lead he way through an array of staircases and corridors before reaching a particular one and stopping abruptly.

"Ok." he whispered. "We need to walk by here at least three times, thinking hard about finding a place to work in private."

Lily nodded and bit her bottom lip in concentration. James smiled at this notion, and she grinned.

"What?"

James turned his attention to in front of him. "Nothing."

They walked by three times when the familiar door swung open. James beamed and held the door open unnecessarily for Lily, as she pointed out as she was walking through with a grin. It indeed, was unnecessary, magic held the door open.

"I was being gentlemanly." he tried.

The small argument was forgotten as Lily gasped at the room in amazement.

James stood back impressed as well; you really could use this room for anything.

A cherry oak table was in the middle of the room, with two matching chairs side by side. Books about Hogwarts, holidays, planning parties, and party decorations lined the many bookshelves.

"This is amazing!" she cried. "This room does what ever you need, right?"

James nodded, wondering how she caught on so quickly.

As if reading his mind she offered an explanation. "I have read about these. I had no clue Hogwarts had one!"

James played with several books on carving jack o lanterns. "Most people don't."

"And just how did you find it?" she asked almost playfully as she took a seat. James copied her by taking the second chair beside her.

He began pulling out his parchment and quills. "Sirius, Peter, Remus and I accidentally fell into it one night. Peter had left the cloak somewhere and Mrs. Norris was chasing us. It turned into a lounge for us."

"I see." she replied as she began taking her things out as well. "What cloak?"

James looked at her with a mischievous grin. "You'll find that out once it's after hours and our tour begins."

Lily giggled. "Alright. Let's get started then. What was it you wanted to work on?"

James cleared his throat. He had come up with several things he and Lily could work on tonight.

"Well, to start, I thought we could start our report for this month. You know, the one we turn into Professor McGonagall at the end of the month. "

Lily nodded in agreement. "Alright, I'd hate to procrastinate it." She shot James a small smile. He looked so…handsome.

"So, what sort of problems have we run into?" James started, quill poised and ready.

Lily bit her quill as she thought. "Mmm…well there's the fact that Peeves has been misguiding first years all over the castle. They're lucky to get to class on time twice a week."

James wrote her words down, and looked up, ready for more.

"Moaning Myrtle has been exploding the toilets again. Anyone that tries to go to use the lavatory is soaked."

James chuckled as he scribed.

"How do you know Myrtle?" inquired Lily. "She's in the girls toilet."

James smiled. "She takes trips down to the showers by the Quidditch field occasionally." Lily laughed.

"It's always so awkward to realize you've been being watched by a ghost."

Lily laughed hard. James pretended to be offended. "And just how would you like it if the Bloody Baron found a way through the tubes to watch you shower?"

Instead of responding, Lily just laughed, and James laughed with her.

The next two hours were spent brushing up on the Halloween banquet and contest, finishing the report, and just talking.

"Alright. It's officially after hours." James smiled as he checked his watch, ten after ten. "And we're done."

"Time to explore!" exclaimed Lily, putting her stuff away. Deep down, she felt confused about being this excited about spending this much time…alone…with James. But what scared her, was that she wanted to. She was realizing that he wasn't the big bad guy she thought he was. It frightened her and thrilled her at the same time.

Her excitement energized James, he hurriedly put his things away and pulled out his most treasured two objects, the cloak and the map.

Lily looked at him oddly when he showed her the old bit of parchment.

"Now." James started as they approached the door. "Before we go, you have to take the Marauder's oath."

Lily giggled. "As long as it doesn't involve signing anything in blood."

"But that's the fun part." joked James.

"Is this the oath given to all of the Marauder's guests?" asked Lily.

James grinned. "I don't know, I don't know that there has been any."

James looked at Lily intensely for a moment before looking away, she caught his eye and inwardly her stomach flip-flopped. Oh God. What am I feeling?

"Just promise not to repeat anything you see, hear, do, smell, or taste tonight to anyone else." spoke James, breaking the moment of awkward silence.

Lily scrunched her nose. "Smell, taste? Where are you taking me, James Potter?"

James wiggled his eyebrows. "Just promise."

"I promise." agreed Lily.

"Alright, now the fun begins!" exclaimed James. He pulled up his shiny invisibility cloak.

"What is that?" gasped Lily in amazement reaching her fingers over the smooth silvery material.

"This is an invisibility cloak." explained James proudly. He held up the cloak wide and high enough for both of them to get under. "Come on." he urged.

Lily looked at him curiously, thinking it over, and then followed him under the cloak.

She let out a slight squeal of excitement as she realized that she indeed was invisible. James sucked in his breath as he pulled the cloak tight over them and there bodies came to a closer proximity.

She smells so good, like flowers mixed with cinnamon, thought James.

"Okay. Now this map." James pointed to the map with his wand and mumbled something Lily couldn't comprehend, but she guessed it must have been some sort of password as scrawling began flowing over the old, faded parchment. "Will show us where to go, or rather, where not to go."

Lily stared at it in fascination as she saw the two dots labeled "James Potter" and "Lily Evans.". As they began to walk, the dots moved. "That's us, and this is Hogwarts."

James chuckled. "Well aren't you a bright one." Lily rolled her eyes and continued to watch the map with fascination.

They took several turns down corridors and several stairways, and Lily had to hold in all her questions for fear of getting on James's nerves, and for getting caught. She had never done anything this risky.

As they reached an old classroom with a statue of a witch with one eye, James paused and whispered the password.

"Dissendium."

Lily jumped as a hidden passageway began opening up, she backed straight into James, who caught her by surprise. They laughed and James propped her back awkwardly. James lit his wand and led the way down the tunnel.

About fifteen minutes later, Lily's legs were exhausted and she was surprised to hear the sound of breaking glass. The fact that James's face was now tense and alert, and that he had stopped asking her how she was holding up every five seconds told her that this was not part of the scheduled tour. James held her back.

"I'm going to go a little ahead and see what—who it is." he whispered.

Lily opened her mouth to protest, but James put his hand over her mouth. "Don't give me your stubborn independent routine right now. Merlin knows you can look after yourself. I know. Just let me go first." fought James impatiently. Lily decided to cut her protest short and to let him go ahead, because the crashing of glass was becoming louder and louder.

"Just stay right here. I'll be right back." waved James as he crept forward.

Lily swore mentally. Not because she was left behind, that would have been understandable. She could understand that. It would have been her character. She was worried because she was worried for James. She was fearful for him. God, thought Lily. When did I start to care about James Potter?

After a few minutes she heard the clashing of glass stop and soft words being spoken.

"Lily! Can you come here?" she heard James call, and the panic in his voice made her alert as she sprinted the way down to the depths of the pathway.

In front of her stood a stricken James holding up a cut up Sirius, who had a broken glass bottle of firewhiskey in his hand, he raised his arm to throw it, but James caught it.

"Padfoot. Stop!" he cried. "What's the matter?"

Sirius stopped and his gray eyes caught James's hazel ones. His speech was slurred and alcoholic. "She said no, Prongsss. No."

piperHalliwellCharmed: I think the next couple of chapters should have some drama, so I hope you're not disappointed.

chikichiki and all previous reviewers—thanks for reviewing!

as always, please remember to review!