AN: Just a little fun fact, this is one of the chapters I'd originally written in James's POV but then decided I liked it better if we don't know what he's thinking. (Mariana Zapata said once that's why she writes from single POVs and well, she's the slow burn queen for a reason!)

water under the bridge – adele

"and if i'm not the one for you
you've got to stop holding me the way you do."

Saturday
8:10 AM

Lily snuck out of the tent the next morning, trying to keep calm.

She had severely miscalculated her move to turn her back on James last night and had somehow ended up spooning with him.

She wouldn't say it was a bad feeling waking up with one of James's firm arms wound tightly around her waist, pulling her flush against his body, but the warm and fuzzy feeling had very quickly turned into absolute mortification.

Luckily enough, Lily's internal body clock had woken her fairly early, when James had been sound asleep still so she'd managed to crawl out from under his hold with some light contortion and sluggish pace without waking him.

She now gathered some supplies to make their breakfast. She'd been within earshot of the Muggle Studies class when Professor Galchenyuk had explained how Muggles made fire out of nothing. She collected her pile of sticks and leaves in a little pyramid and took out the lighter in her bag. She let the fire burn and using a long stick as a spear, she warmed up some pastries. She sang absent-mindedly as she waited.

I took my love and I took it down
I climbed a mountain and I turned around

The song had been stuck in her head since yesterday. For obvious reasons. And she had to take advantage of the surprisingly good acoustics in the forest.

Well, I've been afraid of changin'
'Cause I've built my life around you

Lily placed the pastries on some napkins and sat back, went through her bag to see how much water they had left.

And if you see my reflection in the snow-covered hills
Well, the landslide bring it down
Oh, the landslide bring it down

Just as she finished singing, a small noise from behind startled her. She turned to see James with his hair twice as mussed as usual, coming out of the tent. A red flush crept up her cheeks. She mustn't think about his arms around her waist. "Oh. Hey. I'm sorry I woke you."

James just... stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, looking at her, for a few more seconds. "I missed that."

Lily looked away from him, the red still overcoming her cheeks. "What?"

"Your voice," he said without hesitation.

Lily was shell-shocked. She thought they had a silent agreement to never speak of... Those Months again. James certainly hadn't made a reference to it all year... until now. Which had meant Lily didn't think much about Those Months either. She couldn't help it now. She thought of him finding her in a similar position; singing. You've the voice of a freaking angel, Evans.

It almost made her smile, as equally as it made her want to cry. She didn't know what to say.

She settled for: "I made breakfast."

James went over to her and sat on the log. Lily sat too, handing him the pastry.

"It's almost nine," Lily said, trying her best to move on from what just happened. "They must already be back at school and it's not as if they'd take the train back when they notice we're gone, so by any logic, they should be here already."

James thought for a second. "Well... they're probably just looking for us right now. They'll be here any minute."

Lily wasn't very convinced. She chewed on her pastry nervously. "I hate waiting."

"Well, you said it, we're supposed to stay put to make it easier for them to find us."

That didn't ease the pit in Lily's stomach. "I just can't shake the feeling that they're not even looking for us right now."

"That's just the fear talking, Lils. We gotta stay positive."

Lily offered him a weak smile.

"How'd you get the fire going?"

She looked over at him. "A lighter," she said. "It's a Muggle thing—"

"Need I remind you I've taken Muggle Studies for four years? I know what a lighter is, Lily. I didn't know you had one."

She nodded. "Right. Of course." She nibbled at her food. "Why'd you really take Muggle Studies?"

James seemed startled by the question. It's not as if Lily didn't believe what he'd said when they'd talked about it before, she just... had a feeling there was more to it.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, no. It's okay. It's just kind of a long story, I guess."

"Well, we have until someone comes and gets us," Lily said.

James's lips tugged upwards. He was quiet for a few seconds before inhaling deeply. "All right. I don't know if you've ever seen my parents but if you've had, you've noticed that they're somewhat... older than the rest of the other parents from our year."

James glanced over at Lily, and she nodded.

"Well, that's because even though they really wanted kids for a long time, they struggled to conceive. They'd actually given up on having children at all, until one fateful day in March of 1960. I don't know if you know this but my mum is a photojournalist, so she travels all over the world, and she was in Egypt at the time documenting a case on some heavily cursed pyramids there, when her team got a lead on another story. About a case of accidental magic gone severely wrong. Apparently, some kid in an orphanage in Alexandria had covered the entire building in some sort of mysterious green slime and the wizarding authorities in the country were not responding because of some internal troubles at the time.

"So, my mum took it upon herself to check it out. Even if it was just so she could help, not necessarily to report on it. And that's when she found the tiny little one-year-old baby who had been the culprit. She asked around and the orphanage people told her he'd been left at their doorstep as a newborn and they had never been able to track down the family. Of course, Mum knew that the baby was a wizard, and she figured she might find his family in the Egyptian wizarding community but she had no luck.

"And, being who she is, Mum couldn't just leave the baby in that Muggle orphanage to face the wizarding world in ten years, all alone. So, she brought the baby back to England. She said it was hers, a miracle baby if you will. And since my parents were always very private reclusive people, no one ever questioned them." He paused, taking a deep breath. "And that baby's name... is James Fleamont Potter."

Lily, who had been listening attentively to his story, rolled her eyes playfully. "Yes, I got that, James. And I still don't really get why you take Muggle Studies."

"Well, my parents always thought my biological parents were Muggles. I obviously presented some big signs of magic from a very young age, so they think my bio parents probably freaked out and thought I was cursed or something, and ended up dropping me off at the orphanage because they were scared. And honestly, that sounds logical to me. I'll probably never be sure, but it's my belief I'm a Muggleborn. So, I guess I just always wanted to learn more about Muggles because of that. I know it's dumb... since my Muggle family didn't even want me... but I still feel connected to them somehow."

Lily's head tilted, a soft look in her eyes. "It's not dumb. It's not dumb at all, James. I get it. I mean... when I learned I was a witch I wanted to learn every single thing there was to know about magic. I'd imagine it would be the same the other way around, even if Muggles are boring compared to wizards."

James smiled. "Oh, they might be boring to you but they're honestly fascinating to me."

Lily raised a brow. "Really?"

"Are you kidding? With their electricity, and their little tools, and their engineering, and their philosophy, and their science? They're fucking geniuses."

Lily smiled at him, taking pride in his words. "They kind of are." She bit her lower lip. "I can't believe you were already pranking people as a baby."

James beamed. "I know. Isn't it great?"

"I only have one question... if you were already a year old when they found you... does that mean you're actually nineteen?"

James shrugged one shoulder. "They think I was about 10 months old then. Because of what the doctors said. There's no way to know my birthday for sure. I am probably closer to nineteen than eighteen though."

Lily nodded in understanding.

She didn't know what else to say. He'd just confided in her with something... big. It was unexpected. Albeit not unwelcome.

James finished his meager breakfast and put away his trash in the small bag Lily had designated for it. Lily did the same.

"Well, I don't know about you," James said as he stood up. "But I'll go insane if we sit here doing nothing for much longer. I'm gonna go explore. You're welcome to join me, of course."

He started walking, and Lily had no choice but to follow.

Saturday
10:27 AM

They saw it after less than a kilometre into their hike. A small lake, a bit hidden behind some thick foliage. The water was blue and clear. Inviting.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" James asked. He'd stop to gaze at the lake right beside Lily.

"What's that?"

"Well, we should go in. It's not as if we have anything better to do. And it's getting hot."

He wasn't wrong about that. They'd been steadily shedding layers since they started on their walk.

"May I remind you you don't have your stuff, and therefore don't have a bathing suit?"

"I'm sure you have some shorts I can borrow."

Lily's eyes widened. He was really determined about this, wasn't he? She dropped her backpack to the floor. "Fine. But only a few minutes. We should get somewhere more within view."

James smiled at her so brightly, it kind of made it all worth it.

Lily forced her eyes away from his face and rifled through her bag. She threw a pair of short in his direction, grabbed her own bathing suit. She went behind a large rock surrounded by shrub to change.

She had no idea why nerves started creeping up on her while she changed. He'd seen her in that same bathing suit already. They had all swam in a larger lake just the other day. Maybe it was because this time there would be no one else around, and he was bound to look at her.

Lily wasn't as insecure about her body as she once was, but it still crept up on her occasionally. The feeling of inadequacy in her own skin. She ran her hands over her bare thighs, feeling the thickness and softness of her skin. She took a deep breath. She looked down at her chest. This bathing suit had her boobs almost pop out, but at least they looked good, which made her feel better.

She put her hair in a haphazard braid and walked out. Reminded herself she didn't care about what anyone thought of her body.

James was already waist-deep in the water. His eyes lingered on her, and Lily almost wanted to think he liked what he was seeing, but she knew it was very unlikely that's what he thought.

"Jump in, the water's great," he called out to her.

Lily was sceptical. She dipped a toe in, hummed. It was slightly cold. So, better to dive in quickly. She looked around for a second, towards the rock she'd just hidden behind. "Actually..."

Then she took off walking along the border of the lake. After some awkward climbing, Lily made it atop the giant rock, maybe a metre and some off the ground. So not very daunting. She didn't bother with any graceful diving. She just jumped.

The shock of cold water stung for only a second. She swam to the top, taking a deep breath upon breaching the surface.

James had a stunned look on his face. Lily swam towards him with quick strokes, a smile on her face.

James gaped at her. "What the hell, Evans, you daredevil?"

Lily rolled her eyes, still smiling. "It was barely two metres tall. I've seen little kids jump from higher up."

"Just take the compliment, Evans."

"I want to go again." She started swimming towards the shore. "Come on, jump with me."

James looked away from her. "If I had my wand with me, I'd do it, I swear."

Lily gave him a baffled look. "Wh—you can't be serious. Aren't the Marauders supposed to be fearless daredevils?"

James looked genuinely embarrassed, which Lily had never seen him look before. She'd thought him literally incapable of embarrassment. "I... I can't swim, okay?"

Lily didn't respond. She just stared at him in silence for a long second. Then her jaw dropped. It seemed so foreign to her. She'd grown up by the sea. And even though it had been a while since that, it still shocked her to find people who couldn't swim. "You... can't swim?"

He shrugged. "It's just not a wizard thing... to learn to swim like Muggles do. There are simple spells that keep you afloat."

Lily seemed to recover from her initial shock. "Well, we can't have the king of Muggle Studies not knowing how to swim, can we?" She held out her hand.

James could only stare at it. "You don't mean..."

"I absolutely do... come on."

James grimaced.

"I'll just teach you to float and to swim doggy paddle so you won't drown. Don't be a buzzkill."

Lily knew that was it for him. He'd take being called anything except a buzzkill. Especially not by the queen of buzzkills herself. "Fine."

Lily smiled. "Okay, so... first, floating. Which is not very hard." She paused to think about how to explain it. "You just sort of... kick hard upwards and kind of keep your body tight."

Lily started going backwards until she couldn't feel the earth beneath her feet, she engaged her legs and core so she wouldn't sink. She really thought everyone could do this naturally. "Come on, try it. I'm right here."

Slowly, James walked forwards until he had to go on his tiptoes. Lily could tell he couldn't touch the ground anymore when he started flapping his limbs wildly. Maybe Lily wasn't that good of a teacher.

He kicked like Lily told him to, and it kind of worked. "Oh shit, I think I'm doing it."

Lily laughed. "You can relax a little James. You don't really have to do much with your arms."

"Shit. Lily, I'm sinking. I'm sinking. What do I do?"

"Just go back a couple of feet where you can step."

He leaped towards the ground. "Well, that felt fucking awful. What do you do if you start to sink?"

Lily's head cocked in thought. She was probably teaching him wrong, but it was the best she could do at the moment. "Well, you just... sink. The water will pull you back up."

James stared at her. "The water will—Lily, you're great at many things, but you are not a good swim instructor."

Lily threw her head back and laughed. He wasn't wrong.

"I'm sorry," Lily said between laughs. "I just... don't know how to describe it. Um, I guess you could kick a little to pull yourself back up."

James tried it again, and it went better.

"Alright, now onto actually swimming," Lily declared. "It's not too hard. You just sort of kick your legs... almost like you're pedalling a bike. And you bend your arms and pull yourself like they're your little paws. Sort of like dogs do. You've seen a dog swim, right?"

He nodded. He seemed to be deep in focus.

"Look, watch me," Lily said.

She swam forwards, forcing her body to remember how to swim doggy paddle, which she couldn't remember the last time she'd done. She probably looked ridiculous. Alas.

"Can't you teach me the way you swam just now? I bet you don't ever even do the dog swimming."

Lily smiled. "That's too advanced for you, hon. This is just easier."

James made a face, but relented. With a deep breath, he launched into his swimming. If she'd looked ridiculous, he probably looked about ten times more ridiculous. Lily didn't want to laugh though, learning to swim wasn't easy, probably. She didn't remember not knowing how to swim.

"I know it's called doggy paddle James, but you don't have to shake like a Chihuahua."

"What?" James yelled.

"You can just sort of... elongate it, get your back more parallel to the waterline. Let the water carry you." Lily demonstrated beside him, surpassing him easily.

She stopped in front of him. She realised then she probably should've had him practice the leg and the arm movements separately. "Come on. Give me your hands. Just kick."

James let Lily take his hands in her and her anchoring pull allowed him to relax. He kicked and they went forward. "I'm doing it! I'm swimming, Lily!"

Lily smiled. "You sure are."

He then insisted she let go, and he went down almost immediately, swallowing a bunch of water. She couldn't help laughing that time. It made an unexpected pang go through her chest and she realised... She missed him. She really fucking missed him. She'd seen him pretty much every day since the start of Seventh Year, but something had shifted in their dynamic since the... unfortunate ending to Those Months at the end of Sixth Year. And she'd been missing him since. It just hadn't hit her until now just how much.

They hadn't really put any labels on their relationship during that period, they'd just sort of been hanging out. But he had been her friend. A true friend. And Lily couldn't lie to herself, he'd probably been her favourite friend at the time.

"You okay?"

James was looking at her with a crease between his brows. Lily almost couldn't bear it. She had the sudden urge to get away from him. But that wasn't a good idea. She needed to get a grip. She took a deep breath.

"Fine. You think you're ready to face that rock now?"