Disclaimer: I don't own HP or his magical world...even though it'd be totally awesome if I did. Does anyone actually read the disclaimer anyway?
A/N: A bajillion thanks to tenniStar514, POTC Freak, Kinz, and hi for your AWESOME reviews! I'm so glad some people appreciate my fic. Anyway, here's the third chapter. Enjoy! (And review!)
Escape From Hogwarts-Chapter 3: The Almost Kiss
Drip. Drip. Drip. Lily woke to the sound of water droplets. She put on her clothes and peeked around the divider to the other side, wondering what on earth James was doing. She found Sirius and Remus standing over James' snoring body. Water was dripping from the tip of Sirius' wand. Every time a water droplet protruded form the tip of the wanted, it would make a noisy splashing sound. The front of his robes contained a big dark splotch. His two friends moved the wand closer to his face. The drops of water now splashed into James' mouth. He snored loudly, causing the water to fly down his windpipe. James sat up and started coughing, drenched with water dribbling out of his mouth.
"Five minutes and twenty three seconds," Remus said, reading off of the hourglass he held in his hand. "Ten more seconds than least time."
"Yes!" Sirius shouted, and gave Remus a high five.
"I don't have any other clothes!" James protested.
His friends shrugged. "This is the Room of Requirement," Sirius stated, and he was right. As soon as the words came out of his mouth, new clothes were spotted on a nearby chair.
James glared at Sirius and Remus, but he looked relieved. He was just about to start changing when he noticed Lily standing there. He cleared his throat, and Lily jumped, startled. She blushed and stepped behind the divider. Sirius and Remus joined her, not wanting to witness a naked James.
When it was safe again, Remus and Sirius came out only to hear the bell ring, causing Sirius to jump.
"I knew I shouldn't have had those bell cakes for breakfast," he groaned, disgusted with himself.
"Paddy, old chap, I think it was the bell," James chuckled. "Bell cakes?"
"Yeah. The elves made them 'specially for me so that I could hear bells every time I bounced up and down," Sirius said innocently.
"And why he wanted to do that in the first place, I don't know," Remus sighed, shaking his head.
"Well, you two better go," James told them reluctantly.
"All right. Come on Moony, you heard the man. He wants us out." Sirius pushed Remus towards the door. "Lucky we have Binns next. We'll talk to you then through the mirrors."
"Wait!" Lily, who had still been on the other side of the divider the whole time, rushed forward with a letter clutched in her hand. "Give this to Kandi, will you?"
Remus took the letter and said gently, "Of course."
The two left without another word. About five minutes later, Sirius' face appeared on James' mirror.
"Jamesie! How're you holding up in there?" Sirius' chirpy voice rang throughout the room. "Binns is sleeping so we can do anything we want."
"Tell Lily that Kandi got the letter. That's the only reason we're risking getting in trouble," Remus hissed to Sirius.
"Oh right. Tell Lily that Kandi got her letter," Sirius repeated. "Oh wait. I think she's coming over here to try to talk to Lily."
As soon as he said that, Lily, who had been eavesdropping on the conversation, came over and snatched the mirror from James' hands.
"Kandi!" Lily cried into the mirror.
"Lily!" Kandi's worried face filled the mirror. "Lily! We've been so worried about you! What happened? There are some rumors going around that you and James are terribly sick. We tried to visit you in the Hospital Wing, but they wouldn't let any of us come in. No one's seen you since yesterday morning!"
"Kandi, the weirdest thing happened. Try to get Sirius or Remus to bring you here," Lily said vaguely, trying to keep her voice down. "Hurry though."
"Ok. Misty and I will come with Sirius and Remus right before lunch," Kandi promised. Her eyes wandered up for a moment, then came back down with panic. "Oh no! I have to go, Lily. Binns is waking up. I'll see you later."
"Bye Kandi." Kandi's face disappeared and Lily tossed the mirror back to James.
After what seemed like hours, the big brass door that allowed people into the Room of Requirement appeared, and it swung open to reveal Sirius, Remus, Peter, Kandi, and Misty.
"Lily!" The two girls cried simultaneously. They ran to embrace her in a tight sisterly hug.
"So what's the real deal here? Why are you hiding in here?" Misty asked.
Lily explained to her two friends what had happened the past couple days, with the help of James interrupting every couple words. After she had finished her story, her friends gaped at her. Sirius and Remus remained very blasé, as they had already heard the story.
"So are you just going to hide in here the whole time?" Kandi asked.
"Just until we figure out who framed us," Lily assured her dark-haired friend.
A loud grumble escaped Sirius' stomach and caught everyone's attention. "Oops," he apologized with a sheepish grin. "Guess I'm getting sort of hungry here." Peter laughed, or rather, giggled furiously, and the lot turned to look strangely at him.
"Sorry," he mumbled. "I thought I was supposed to laugh."
"Well, that's our cue to leave," Remus said brightly, excusing Peter's strange interruption. "Bye James. Bye Lily."
"Bye Lily," Kandi and Misty said tearfully. "Bye James."
Lily and James' friends left, and not five minutes later, Remus and Sirius came barging back in, very out of breath.
"James! Lily! You won't guess who we just saw," Remus said, panting.
"Or who just saw us," Sirius added.
"Who?" they demanded, confused.
"Cecilia and Damian-," Remus started.
"Together," Sirius interrupted.
"And they saw us coming from the corridor," Remus continued, shooting a glare at Sirius.
"Damian's that one chap from Slytherin. He's the captain of the Slytherin quidditch team," Sirius piped up.
"Damian Rockwood?" asked James, shocked. "We're they…well, you know…going together?"
"The point IS that they saw us, and we just barely brushed them off," Remus pointed out.
"Not sure. She's still head over heels for you mate. She can't be with him," Sirius said. "Oh, and they saw us, so you two better find a new hiding place."
Remus smacked himself and his two friends turned and looked at him strangely.
"Well, there's no time to chatter. Damian Rockwood is a Slytherin, and that is never a good thing," Lily cut in. "We have to find somewhere else to hide."
"Well, there's always Hogsmeade," Sirius suggested.
Lily shook her head. "Too many people on the weekends."
"Forbidden Forest?" James proposed.
"Way too dangerous," Remus said. "How about the kitchens? It's really big, so there are a lot of hiding places, and you have an unlimited supply of food. Teachers never go in there either, they usually ring for house-elves."
"Good thinking Remus," Lily said admiringly. James felt a stab of jealousy.
"I could've thought of that," he grunted.
"So how are you going to get there?" asked Sirius.
"My invisibility cloak, of course-" he stopped suddenly. "Oh no! It's upstairs!"
"Well we don't have any time to get it. Damian's probably going to come soon," Lily said hurriedly. "I'll just disillusion us."
She took out her wand and tapped the top of James' head, muttering some words. She then tapped her own head and a cool tingling sensation spread out from her head to her fingertips and toes. Lily looked down, and sure enough, she saw nothing but a pile of cushions near where her feet would've been.
"James? Lily? Where are you? Can you come by me?" Sirius waved his arms around, then realized that he looked very foolish and stopped. "Right. So just follow me and Remmy here will be right behind us."
James and Lily both stepped towards Sirius and each jumped back, clutching their heads.
"Ok maybe we should hold hands so we don't crash into each other while we're walking," James suggested. They walked towards each other and found the other's hand.
"Ok we're ready."
"Aye, captain," Sirius saluted and grasped the big silver handle. He pushed, and the door opened silently. "Oiled right before coming in," he stated proudly.
Sirius crept out, and then Lily and James stepped over with Remus far behind them. Remus took cautious steps, afraid that he would accidentally bump into Lily or James.
They walked in silence down the stairs. Lily suddenly noticed how big and calloused James' hand felt. Probably from quidditch, she thought. For the first time since hiding, she felt protected and safe, just from holding his hand. She held on tighter, not wanting to let go. Her slim hand fit perfectly with his big one, their fingers laced through each other's.
"Are you ok?" Lily heard James whisper. She realized that he had noticed the grip change.
"Yes, I'm fine," Lily replied. She loosened her hand and blushed, glad that no one could see her.
"Be quiet you two. We're almost there. I think someone's coming," Remus hushed them.
Footsteps echoed the hall from around the corner. The four seventh years stopped suddenly. James and Lily froze, not daring to even breath. They filly relaxed when Cecilia's form came out of the shadows…followed by Damian Rockwood. Lily felt James stiffen.
"Lupin. Black," Damian acknowledged. Cecilia nodded, then her face took on a strange expression.
"Why are you two standing like that?" she asked, taking a step closer. Remus and Sirius darted toward each other, standing side by side right in front of Cecilia.
"No reason," Remus said lightly. He put his hands behind his back, signaling to James and Lily.
"Cecilia, come on. Just forget about them. Let's go get a butterbeer," Damian's silky voice whispered loudly in Cecilia's ear as he sneaked his arm around her waist.
Cecilia squirmed out of his embrace, a little annoyed. "Damian, you go on. I'll meet you at The Three Broomsticks."
The Slytherin stood there for a moment. "Ok," he said simply, casting suspicious eyes over the three of them. He left and headed down the stairs, robes billowing out behind him.
James glared at Damian's back. If looks could kill, Damian would've died ten times right on the spot. He stared long and hard until the Slytherin was out of sight. James then turned his attention to Cecilia.
"So. Damian's your new boyfriend," Sirius said that as a statement, not a question. "I wonder what James would say."
"James won't say anything because James doesn't know. Dumbledore thinks he and Lily are Death Eaters. How can I still go out with him?" Cecilia hissed, narrowing her eyes.
James felt his blood go cold. He wanted to cry out to her and tell her that he was innocent. Then he felt angry. Why would she think he was really a Death Eater? How could she go out with Damian? Of course, she didn't know we found proof. She probably felt betrayed, so she was seduced by Damian unwillingly; when she wasn't thinking right, James thought to himself. He smiled. That's it.
"Cecilia!" James cried. He felt Lily's hand clamp over his mouth. James struggled for a bit, then fell quiet.
"Is there something wrong with your voice?" Cecilia asked suspiciously. Remus had opened his mouth as a quick reaction to James' exclamation.
"Oh no. You know, sometimes my voice just changes randomly," Remus squeaked to prove his point. Then he switched his tone to make it low. "I guess it's puberty, you know?"
Remus turned a bright shade of red while Sirius stifled a laugh. Cecilia gave them a rather disgusted look. "I could've sworn I heard James' voice. Well if you insist it's…puberty…then I suppose I must leave. We'll talk later," she said at last. "Oh, and if you do happen to see James, tell him that I love him, even if he is a Death Eater."
Cecilia spun on her heel and walked away in the same direction that Damian had gone, her heels clicking on the marble floor. James watched her leave, and empty feeling in his stomach. He felt betrayed. He felt like a fool. He finally engaged in a serious relationship, and he was rejected; pushed aside after so much love. He stood there, until he finally felt Lily tug on his hand. James stumbled forward, regained his balance, and followed Sirius and Remus down the rest of the stairs, still holding Lily's hand. They went through a door by the entrance into a brightly lit corridor. When they reached a painting of a bowl of fruit, Sirius reached dup, tickled the pear, and the pear turned into a handle. He grasped the handle and pulled it down. The portrait swung open and a bright light blinded the four of them. The kitchen was a large room, bigger than the Great Hall, with pots simmering and pans sizzling. Stoves, ovens, sinks, and more covered the pastel walls. Stools littered the floor, so that the house-elves could reach high places. The pieces of floor shone with cleanness. Long tables held spices of all kinds-sage, rosemary, cinnamon, thyme, paprika, and hundreds of others. House-elves scurried about, most of them preparing that evening's dinner.
"Blueberry! Some service here," Sirius called out. Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius' wonderful manners.
"Masters Padfoot and Moony! Blueberry is glad Masters are back to visit poor Blueberry who is with baby elf," a small elf said, patting her bulging stomach. A blue terrycloth was draped around her shoulders with a gold strip of fabric around her waist, making her look like, indeed, a blueberry. "Blueberry must wonder, where is Masters Prongs and Wormtail?"
"First, could you have Jaggle set up a table for a lady and her lover?" Sirius requested, smiling because he could picture the looks on James and Lily's faces. "Then could Jaggle and another elf…maybe Strawberry…find a room for two people?"
Blueberry's eyes grew bigger, and her smile turned into a pout. "Does Masters not like Blueberry anymore?" she asked tearfully.
Remus was taken aback. "No! Of c-course not, Blueberry!" Remus stammered. "You need to rest. Your baby's coming soon. We want you to be completely healthy so you can help us after you have your child."
His words calmed Blueberry. She smiled again and scampered away to find her elf husband and her elf sister. Less than a minute later, she came back with two more house-elves with eager eyes. The first one was a bit taller, only about half an inch, and seemed to be a male elf. He had a white cloth wrapped around his waist held by a gold strip of fabric, identical to Blueberry's. The gold "belt" symbolized marriage between two elves, just like wedding rings symbolized marriage between two humans. The second elf looked a bit like Blueberry; except she had a red terrycloth draped around her shoulders and she did not bear a strip of gold.
"How can Jaggle and Strawberry serve Masters?" Strawberry piped up. Sirius repeated his instructions and the two house-elves ran off to complete their tasks. Blueberry stayed by Remus and Sirius' side.
"Prongs, Lily, you can disillusion yourselves now," Remus muttered under his breath. As soon as he said those words, Lily appeared, as if out of thin air, followed by James. All the elves in the kitchen had stopped working and gasps were heard, followed by clapping and giggling.
"Sir? Jaggle wish you to know that your table is ready," the tall elf tugged at James' robe. He led the two to a faraway corner in the shadows of the kitchen, where a small table was set up with piles of food: mounds of mashed potatoes and heaps of hamburgers. Lily and James sat down on opposite ends of the table and began to dig into the food.
"Sir? Master Prongs?" James felt a tug at his robe. He looked down to find Blueberry standing there.
"Yes Blueberry?" He said, mouth full of food.
"Blueberry wish sir to know that Blueberry wants to greet sir," she said. Her voice seemed a little quivery, but James disregarded it, thinking that she was just happy to see him.
"That's very kind of you Blueberry," James said kindly. "Shouldn't you be getting some rest? Your baby's due in about a week."
"Yes sir. Blueberry is leaving now." The small elf took a step away from the table, and collapsed to the ground.
"Blueberry!" Both Lily and James cried out at the same time. They rushed to the small elf's side and leaned in. Lily suddenly found her face an inch away from James, and he noticed at the same time. They both looked up, and into each other's eyes. James' warm brown eyes held Lily's soft gaze, and they both leaned in. The world seemed to stop for both of them. Lily's heart was beating 100 times a second, and her mind seemed miles away. James could smell Lily's minty breath and her rose scented hair. They both froze for a second, excited, yet anxious about what would happen next. Their mouths were just a hair away, when all of a sudden, Lily pulled back.
"We should probably get her to the other house-elves," she said, averting her eyes to Blueberry, who had just opened her own little elfin eyes.
"Yeah. Blueberry, are you okay?" James asked, truly concerned for his furry little friend. The elf nodded and the two of them helped her up. On the way to the main part of the kitchen, both Lily Evans and James Potter were thinking the same thing: We almost kissed.
A/N: Well, the end of chapter 3, FINALLY! So, I hope you've enjoyed it, and I hope that you review!