Stood in the Entrance Hall, Lily waited patiently for James to join her. Her mind was busy thinking about what Saffron had said. Was something wrong in the way she behaved to Remus? Goodness knows she didn't want to do anything to hurt him, not after what had happened between him and Sirius. It had been a week now since he'd come back, but all the same things were strained between the two. In a way she was glad she wasn't a Gryffindor, James and Peter must be having a stressful time.
Deciding she could wait for James inside the Great Hall she pushed open the doors and walked in, closing it gently behind her. James had asked Dumbledore for permission to try this a few days ago and he had let them have this evening to experiment. The room was bare of all its usual decorations, all the chairs and tables were removed giving it a bizarre strange feeling. Even the fireplace was gone, Dumbledore truly had left them a blank canvas to work on. It was faintly lit from the dimmed candles that glowed above her and beyond them the ceiling showed a dusky purple sky as the evening descended.
Walking to the centre of the room she pulled out the piece of parchment rolled up in her robes. Kneeling on the floor she spread it out and placed magical tacks to hold it open. Sitting cross-legged in front of it her eyes wandered over the design that James had drawn out in miniature. Then she raised a hand over it and made a gesture as if she was asking someone to stand. Slowly the drawings blossomed, filling out and rising to stand in perfect miniature on the parchment that was now a soft green of tiny grass blades, a gentle rippling noise grew as a tiny stream gushed along reed lined banks.
Lily smiled at the little model and poked a plant here and there as she manoeuvred them into better positions. Finally, when she was satisfied, she stood and, holding the picture firmly in her mind threw her arms wide. A rushing breeze rushed past her, ruffling her long red-brown hair and a myriad of smells assaulted her, newly mown grass, delicate floral fragrances, wet leaves and woody aromas.
As the room filled with their creation James entered the door and gaped at what he saw. Lily stood with her back to him, arms wide and her wand nowhere to be seen. Underfoot soft grass muffled his footsteps as he walked towards her. To his left a bright stream cascaded down from halfway up the wall, flowing down past a young willow tree and gently rustling reeds. From the ground small stalks were pushing their way through the grass, straightening slender stems and unfurling tender petals of countless diluted hues of white, purples, pinks and pale blues.
Under the muted light everything seemed to shimmer in moonlight including Lily who turned, surveying her work to face him. Her long, unbound hair entwined in moonbeams almost glowed against the paleness of her skin; her eyes, vibrant and sparkling were the greenest he had ever seen. She smiled and he felt something stir within him and found he couldn't speak.
"What do you think?" she asked him, gesturing with a hand to the scenery around her.
"I think Hogwarts has never seen the like of it before," he replied with some difficulty, his eyes on not the forest-like scene around, but on her as she stood before him.
She coloured and looked away, "so what are all these plants?" she asked, in an effort to change the subject.
He gathered himself mentally and focused his attention on the flowering plants, "Well," he said, leading her over to the bank of the stream, "that's the Water Forget-me-not, Myostus Scorpioides…" she grinned, "what?" he asked.
"Well, there's no point telling me all those names, I won't remember them. And anyway, I prefer the common names. I don't know, somehow it seems to reflect the flower more, the name that people picked to describe the actual plant, not what scientists picked to classify them."
"I guess you're right," he agreed, "ok then, no latin." He smiled at her, "I love this plant you know. When it first buds like this," he bent down and lightly fingered the opening petals, "the petals are pink, but it turns a shade of sky blue." He stood up and seeing the look in her face asked, "what?"
"Nothing," she replied shaking her head, "it doesn't matter. What are the others?"
"The white sprays over there are Ground elder and over there with the long slender leaves and rose-purple petals is the Rosebay Willow…"
They walked on, James reeling of names and throwing in a comment here and there until they had come full circle and were back standing under the drooping branches of the willow tree.
"So do you think people will like it?" she asked as they sat down on the ground.
"They will if they have any taste!" he replied with a grin.
She smiled and said with a sly look, "It's nice to finish something early for once isn't it?"
He grinned, "who says I never finish things early?" She just looked at him and he started to laugh, "alright, alright, you're right!" She smirked triumphantly and his grin widened, "was that a smirk Lily Evans?"
"What me? Smirk?" she replied loftly, "please James."
"Don't play the innocent with me," he retorted with a laugh, "I know you, remember?"
"Do you really?" she responded archly.
He flashed her a grin and leant over to tickle her. She laughed and tried to squirm away, but he got to his knees and continued his assault, strong fingers tickling either side, grinning all the time. Laughing, she tried to grab hold of his hands and struck out with her legs, catching his. He fell into her, his hands shooting out to halt his fall. Their laughter subsided slowly until they were just smiling at one another. James's hands were either side of her head and his slightly raised torso lightly resting on her stomach.
Without thinking Lily reached up a hand and tucked a stray section of hair behind his ears the back of her fingers brushing lightly over his skin. His face changed to a more serious expression and she swallowed hard as her hand came to rest on his shoulder, "James…" she began in a half whisper, "I…"
Ever so gently he lowered himself so that his face was inches from her own, his eyes flickering over the whole of her face as he tried to take it all in and once and then without warning pressed his lips ever so gently against hers, feeling them part and a warmth rush through him. Then he pulled back suddenly, "Lily we can't-"
She heard him begin to say something, but she couldn't attend to what the words actually were. His proximity to her and the tingling feeling that was spreading all through her from her lips drove all rational thought away and she reached up with a hand and pulled him back. Her lips meeting his hungrily as she felt a flame begin to awaken within her.
The sound of voices at the door brought them back to reality and the pushed each other away scrambling to their feet.
"Oh dear Merlin!"
"I didn't…oh…I…"
The stared at each other, James running a hand through his hair uncomfortably and Lily running a hand over her slightly swollen lips self-consciously, both of them feeling the same confusing mix of desire and guilt.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," James repeated, backing away.
"Me too, I-we…it was an accident!"
"Right, I never meant for that to happen."
"Yeah, definitely a one time thing."
He nodded and scuffed his foot uncomfortably in the grass.
"Lily? James?"
Both turned and sighed inwardly with relief as Eliza and Alex came through the doors.
"Wow!" Alex said, visibly starting, "I mean…wow!"
"Good work!" Eliza said approvingly, "you two have done a brilliant job! Let's just hope the others can live up to this."
"So how long will this thing last?" Alex asked.
"Well," Lily replied, trying to ignore James while she gathered herself together, "this is just a fancy illusion really, the plants aren't actually there so I guess until I remove the spell. We were thinking of actually putting in real plants but-"
"-Oh no, don't bother, it's great as it is," Alex interrupted.
"That must be some powerful spell," Eliza said, "what is it?"
"Oh just something I made up," Lily replied evasively.
"So we're done then?" James asked.
"Yep, good job guys," Eliza said then added, "oh, but what about breakfast tomorrow? The Ball isn't until tomorrow evening."
"Well, I can re-do the spell tomorrow afternoon before the others need to come in and add their things," Lily offered, "It'd be no trouble."
"Right then, that'd be great," Eliza replied approvingly, "If you could get it done as soon as you can after lunch then that'd be fantastic."
Lily nodded, "sure."
"Ok then if we're done I'm going to bed," James faked a yawn, "I'm beat."
"Too much Quidditch practice I'll wager," Eliza replied with a grin, "alright then, I'll see you both at the Ball tomorrow night." She looked slightly strained.
"Come on Lizzy, everything's going to be just fine," Alex said, placing his hands on her shoulders and steering her out the room, with a wink at Lily and James.
As the two of them left they could hear her saying, "I know, but I just can't help worrying, what if the quartet doesn't get here in time, or if…"
Without looking at her James mumbled a goodnight and practically ran after them leaving Lily alone again. She turned and made her way back to the piece of parchment lying on the ground and shook her head.
"What have I done?" she whispered, clapping her hands just once as the illusion rushed back into the drawing. "Oh Remus, I didn't mean it…I'm so sorry…"
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A/N: Shorter chapter then usual guys but still, better than nothing right? Sooo naughty Lily!
Michelle- A new Huntress just comes along when one's needed really, not when another one died so there really hasn't been one for ages! And also, don't know if you've seen Buffy, but there's a line in the last series where she says 'what I do is too important to show the world' and basically that's what it's like for the Huntress, she's not supposed to show off her powers and make her presence felt like that, you know?
Sarai!! So nice to see you back! Was wondering if you were ok you've been away so long! Thanks for your lovely reviews on my other fics, they were really sweet, and yes I was kind of having a dramatic thing going on when I wrote them. ^__^ Interesting suggestions for the creature- not that I can say if you're right of course ;)
Next Chapter, which I hope to post soon- of course many reviews make Fiona post faster ;) (That's my real name btw), oh yeah next chapter's called 'Dating and Friendship' and I think you'll all have some idea of the kind of thing that'll happen in that!