A week later, the group of witches were restless in the Common Room.
"I'm too excited," Dorcas groaned from her spot on the couch. She kicked her foot out in frustration, knocking into the coffee table's foot.
"Hey! Watch it," Alice warned, reaching to steady her mug of hot cocoa. "Yes, yes, we all know you're excited. We all are."
Marlene harrumphed nearby, flipping a page in her transfiguration book.
"Time will go faster if you don't think about it," Lily suggested, embellishing her last sentence in her own essay with a decorative signature.
They simultaneously glanced up at the clock at the same time.
8:13.
They still had four more hours till they all met in the Entrance Hall.
"I don't think I can stop thinking about it," Emmeline admitted.
Like clockwork, Alice conjured up the game of gobstones, offering it up to the group.
"You always win," Marlene complained. "And I can never get the sap out of my hair unless I shower."
"Come on," Alice said impatiently, already setting it up. "You can go first this time."
"Gee, thanks."
Lily sat back absentmindedly with a smile, reading over her essay before glancing over towards the corner of the Common Room.
The Marauders had taken up residence on the couch, talking in loud excited tones, joking around. As if he could sense her gaze, James looked up, meeting her stare head on. His expression morphed into an excited grin and he winked.
Lily rolled her eyes, letting out an exasperated huff, dropping her gaze back onto the parchment in front of her.
As per the ritual, so as to not draw attention , each girl took their turn heading up towards the dorms as the witching hour neared. Yes, here I am, heading to bed. Long day! So tired. Going to sleep like the dead, you know, all through the night.
Emmeline left shortly after Dorcas had departed – and Alice soon after, detouring around the space to bid Frank good night. She gave Lily an excited look before ascending the stairs.
As the time ticked by, Marlene finally collected her belongings excitedly and left to go upstairs, not speaking a word to Lily in her haste.
The final girl, Lily smiled to herself as she took her time stacking her notes and books together, collecting them into her arms. She glanced up at the clock; half past eleven. As casually as she could, she deviated from the path towards the girl's dormitory stairwell, passing by the occupied sofa in the corner.
Remus was the first to notice her. "Hello, Lily," he greeted, his knee bounced excitedly as he leaned forward. The rest of them turned to her simultaneously.
"Hello, boys," she replied, fighting a smile. "Catch you all at lunch tomorrow? Noon in the Entrance Hall?"
Noon, already discussed as being code for midnight. The Entrance Hall didn't really need a code – despite how much Sirius pushed for it.
"I'll be there with bells on," he said, smiling wolfishly. "You sure we aren't meeting at Camelot's Approach?"
Lily rolled her eyes. "No. Pretty sure we agreed on the Entrance Hall."
"We'll be there," James said before Sirius could argue further, grinning as Peter nodded his enthusiasm, tinged with the tiniest trace of nervousness.
"See you then," she smiled, turning on her heel to walk towards the stairwells.
The sight before Lily as she emerged through the door to the 6th Year girl's dormitory made her smile once again. The small group of girls were visually preparing themselves for the game, overly serious and solemn; silently putting together strategies.
The Game was sacred. It was a time to remain calm, cool, and collected.
Lily could tell they were anxious; milling about the room to keep themselves busy. Marlene was sitting on her bed, re-plaiting her blonde hair, talking about schemes and plans of attack with Dorcas, voices low, but speaking in fast, excited tones. Alice and Emmeline were sitting next to each other on a bed, talking just the same.
Marlene was the first to notice Lily as she entered the dormitory. "Did you remind them?"
"Yes," she confirmed, gaining the attention of the room. "They looked ready to start the Game right then and there."
"Good," Marlene grinned, rubbing her hands together in excitement.
Quickly, Lily stripped herself of her uniform skirt and shirt, rifling through her trunk to locate her favorite pair of old, black leggings. She held them up to the light, frowning as she examined the state of them.
They'd seen better days – the knees were threadbare and torn, holes from where she'd scraped her knees against the corridor's stone floor in attempts to evade and escape. Or tripped, trying to get away from her opponents. The mending charm could only work so much.
She pulled them on regardless, snapping the waistband against her stomach and smiling at where the skin of her knees were exposed. She searched for her lucky black jumper next.
And it wasn't that Lily was necessarily superstitious – but it couldn't be denied that every time she happened to wear this combo of top and bottoms, her name would be near – if not at – the top of the scoreboard. With the momentous occasion of this evening, she didn't want to take any chances.
"You going topless this time around?" Marlene taunted from across the room. "That's one strategy I hadn't thought of."
"Ha," Lily said dryly, tossing the contents of her trunk around. No luck. "Absolutely. Think it'll work?"
"I'm sure it'll cause more than just a distraction."
"I'm sure there will be more than just blue spells getting knocked around," Dorcas added with a straight face.
"Guys," Lily chided with a laugh, falling to her knees to start the search over – methodically – from left to right. She'd just worn the bloody thing two weeks ago!
Emmeline giggled. "Going starkers would probably give you a cold anyways. It's pretty drafty in the corridors at night…"
Marlene scoffed. "She's not going completely starkers. She's got her knickers and leggings on."
Lily let out a noise of frustration, having flung the clothes this way and that to find her sweater.
"What's wrong?" Marlened asked.
"I can't find my black jumper – you know the one with the whole in the elbow? You haven't seen it, have you?"
"Your lucky jumper?"
"That's the one," she huffed, digging deeper into her trunk as if it had grown a secret compartment in the last hour. "I swear the house elves placed it right there –"
"Your lucky lucky jumper?" Marlene clarified.
"Yes," she stressed, abandoning her trunk to head towards her night stand. Maybe they moved it…?
Lily could hear Marlene hum in thought. "I've seen your lucky jumper."
"You have?" She tore open the top drawer, rifling through the papers, books, and random candy wrappers. "When did you last see it?"
"'It' – your lucky jumper?"
"Yes," she hissed, snapping the drawer shut and pulling open the bottom. More books, some hair things and scarves. No sweater. "They couldn't have thrown it away, you think? The elves?"
Lily turned to face the room, gaze searching across the floor, the beds – before landing on the faces of her friends, each looking away innocently. Too innocently.
Her eyes went to Marlene's form, where the girl was lounging on her own bed, casually flicking through a mag. Too innocent.
"Marlene," Lily warned.
"I mean," the blonde mused. "I personally wouldn't choose this strategy. Like Em said – this castle gets too drafty. Plus, I'm sure James and Sirius had already seen my tits in the locker room. Covered," she added hastily at Emmeline's affronted look. "We'd been mates since before school – come on, now."
"Mar," Lily said in a clipped tone, holding her hand out. "Give me my sweater."
"I'm sure it'll be a great tactic for you, though," Marlene continued, flipping another page idly. "I say you try it and see how well it works. I'm positive James would –"
"She's got a point," Alice teased. "Probably would work if we got caught by Filch, too. Some distraction, eh?"
Lily scoffed, a bit too loud and defensive. "Don't even go there. Now come on, hand it over."
"I don't have it," Marlene responded blasély. "You must've lost it."
Lily grabbed her wand from her bed. "Accio jumper!"
Marlene let out a shriek of laughter, nearly rolling off the bed as she was hauled a few feet forward, dragging the sheets and bed covers with her. With quick hands, she wrestled with the fabric beneath her, as if fighting a corporeal ghost.
"Marlene Sophronia Mckinnon!" Lily exclaimed reprovingly, dashing towards the girl.
The witch herself was laughing uncontrollably now, grappling with the sheets of her bed. Lily's spell was still active, trying its best to return the article of clothing to its rightful owner.
"Lily!" she cackled. "Really! Try out the Topless Tactic so we know how it goes!"
With little warning, Lily leapt forward, tackling Marlene on the bed. "Give it to me right now!"
The two girls tussled, fighting to grab onto the rolled up sheets.
"Shouldn't you be saving the fighting for the Game?" Dorcas asked idly, question ignored.
"You can even use this strategy as an auror!" Marlene continued. "Moody would appreciate an eyeful –" she shrieked as Lily swung a fist (not hard, of course) and it made contact. "My tit!" she howled. "Get off!"
"I want my jumper!" Lily exclaimed. "Marlene, I swear to God, if you –"
"Get her off!" Marlene pleaded, the two locked in an impasse, Lily's arms around Marlene's torso while the girl clung to the ball of fabric. "Help!"
"You're on your own," Dorcas protested. Emmeline and Alice both nodded, unsympathetic. "Mind it, though. You'll wake the rest of the tower."
"Give it!"
"No!"
Lily twisted hard and the two tumbled to the ground, Marlene landing first, wind knocked out of her when Lily landed on top. They scuffled.
"Ow – your bloody elbow –"
"Stop moving – Give it here –"
Lily managed to wrangle the rolled up sheets from Marlene's arm finally – using a foot to push the girl away as she attempted to retrieve the lump back. "Ha! I've got it! Back off!"
"Ergh, fine! Fine!"
Lily clumsily rolled to a standing position, shaking the sheets apart until the jumper was released. It fell to the floor and she snatched it up before the other girl could make an attempt.
"I was just trying to help," Marlene extolled, pulling herself up onto her bed. "Think how many times you could freeze the boys tonight."
Lily laughed, quickly pulling the shirt over her head; the fabric staticky but comforting. "I highly doubt I'll need help with that," she said tersely, smoothing it down over her chest and stomach.
"I don't know – you need all the help you can get."
"Don't make me come back over there," Lily threatened with a suppressed smile. She grabbed an elastic from her nightstand to pile her hair atop her head.
"I'd like to see you try," Marlene taunted back, grabbing her wand from her bed and pointing it warningly.
"Okay, okay," Dorcas said, holding up hands. "Shall we head down before you two start snogging?"
Lily and Marlene burst into loud laughter, eyes tearing up as they looked at each other.
"We can save it for after the game," Lily retorted, wiping at her eyes. She struggled to pull on her shoes, shaking with laughter.
"A celebratory kiss," Marlene confirmed, standing from the bed. "We can all join in."
Emmeline snorted. "Only if I'm on the winning team."
"I'm down for whatever," Dorcas added, already standing near the door. "Al, you should probably check with Frank first."
Alice waved her off. "I'm positive he'd be chuffed."
"Shall we head down before this turns into a full porno?" Marlene voiced, having barely recovered from her giggles. "I'm sure the boys might want to join."
"I'm sure," she said derisively with an eye roll. "Let's get down there before we're late."
Dorcas held the door open for her, allowing Lily to descend the stairs first. The others followed closely, breaking into the occasional giggle as they made their way into the dark common room.
The fire had been put out completely and the torches that lined the room extinguished. While the room was usually dark, it wasn't normally this dark. Lily shuffled forward carefully, eyes squinting, reaching back to grab a hold of Dorcas's hand to lead them.
She was mindful of the tables and sofas, trying to work via her memory to sidestep and avoid running into them. She smiled in satisfaction as she bent low, feeling along the low table that always seemed to be exactly in the way each time she was first in line. She moved forward –
Into a living, breathing person.
Her high-pitched scream was cut off as someone roughly clapped a hand over her mouth. From behind her, she heard her friends' shared noises of alarm.
"Agrippa, Evans – it's me," a voice whispered harshly – and it took her a moment to recognize it was James.
Angered at being startled so, Lily tore his hand from her mouth and shoved it away.
"God, Potter," she hissed. "Don't scare a witch like that."
"If I knew you'd scream like a banshee, I would have steered clear."
Lily reached out her hand to shove at him in annoyance – it landed on what she could tell was his chest; hard, warm, and firm. She snatched her hand away as if it had been burned.
"Shall we head down to the Entrance Hall, then?" Remus's voice asked near where Lily suspected the portrait entrance was.
Mindful of their proximity, Lily slowed her pace intentionally to add space between her and James.
When they'd all made it through the entrance without fault, the group of nine students stopped, sharing a moment of exhilarated silence before returning to business, trekking their way down to the ground floor.
"Camelot's Approach," Sirius said contently as they all arrived at the Entrance Hall.
James chuckled. "Give it up, Padfoot. It won't stick."
Sirius shot him a disapproving look. "Don't kill my fun. Shall we get started? Teams of three, right?"
"How do we pick the teams?" Marlene questioned. "Shortest wands paired together?"
"Just at random," Remus said, ignoring her sardonic tone.
"How do we do that?" Emmeline asked him.
"Count out to three?" he answered. "Ones with ones, twos with twos, and threes with threes."
Lily nodded in concurrence, finding the idea simple, but effective.
"One," Sirius said unprompted.
"Two," James counted immediately, forcing the order clockwise around the group.
"Three," Peter spoke quietly.
"One," Marlene.
"Two," Lily said.
"Three," Dorcas inserted.
"One," Alice.
"Two," said Emmeline.
"Three," Remus finished, nodding. "Easy enough. Team One: Sirius, Marlene, and Alice. Two: James, Lily, and Emmeline. Three: Peter, Dorcas, and I. That seemed to work," Remus said, pleased.
Marlene was already giving Lily a goading look. "You're gonna lose," she promised quietly.
"You wish," she retorted with her own smirk, turning to the larger group as she pulled her wand out of her waistband. "I didn't quite have a chance to test the spell out, but the teams should definitely help."
"So how do we notify everyone if we run into someone again?" Peter asked curiously as Lily focused on the practiced wand movements.
"Just hold your wand against the spell on your arm," she murmured distractedly, concentrating on the wand work. She'd need to add an extra twist to group the separate members together.
"Do we meet back at the Entrance Hall if we have a warning?" Remus asked.
"Well," Marlene stepped in. "We've only had to use the warning a few times. I think we decided just to go back to the tower, right?"
"Right," Emmeline confirmed. "We couldn't be sure who had gotten caught and where. Remember Alice in 4th Year? When Filch caught her on the way to the Hall?"
"He had me cleaning the Entrance Hall's floors for weeks. Totally unfair."
Marlene shrugged. "So we just thought it safer to return to the dorm instead. Say we're heading back from the infirmary or something."
"Not sure they'll believe that coming from you lot," Dorcas cut in with a smirk. "But it's worth a shot."
"I'm a wonderful storyteller," Sirius insisted. ""Sides, we've got our own ways around Filch."
"Okay, I think I've got it," Lily murmured, interrupting. She gestured towards the groups, "Can you move into your teams? This might be easier to cast…"
They did as requested, shuffling into their smaller groups. James came to stand on her right, just as Emmeline took the place on her left.
"Em, want to go first?"
"Absolutely," the girl replied, lifting her sleeve to reveal her bare arm. She held it out for Lily to hold onto.
Focusing on her intention, Lily tapped her wand against the skin of Emmeline's forearm, tracing down. "Reor et praesto tessera," she murmured, twisting the wand in a tighter, neater loop along her arm.
It took an extra moment longer than normal, but soon Lily's handwriting bloomed across the skin there, golden and glowing. The chart was much smaller than it had been before, only needing Roman numerals to signify the three teams. The timer had shifted to the left, closer to the wrist.
Satisfied regardless, she nodded to herself, pleased, before spinning to face James next.
"Arm please," she requested, holding her hand out expectantly.
He gave it willingly, placing his wrist against her palm. Patiently, she turned it over to reveal the tan skin of his inner forearm, catching sight of the muscular, lean muscles just beneath the skin. She tried to not notice how her fingers hardly wrapped around the width of his arm, the muscles feeling extremely foreign in her grip.
Businesslike, Lily rolled his sleeve up further to reveal more of the skin there, ignoring the heat of his skin against her cold fingers. "Reor et praesto tessera," she repeated, careful to replicate the wand movements from before.
Her familiar scrawl appeared daintily against his tan skin and she watched as he flexed his hand as the chart appeared. With his wrist still in her grip, she could feel the contraction of muscles beneath her fingers. She released her grasp quickly, allowing him to take his arm back from her.
He ran his fingers over the glowing numbers, impressed. "It's warm," he mused, twisting his arm this way and that. The golden letters remained in place.
"You get used to it," she assured.
He nodded as he pulled his sleeve back down his arm, continuing to give her an impressed look. Still businesslike, she turned away quickly to apply the spell to the rest of her friends, spelling Peter's arm last.
Lily tried to discreetly wipe her hand on the thigh of her leggings once she'd let his arm go, a thin layer of sweat coating his skin already, but Sirius caught her in the act, giving her an amused look.
Emmeline caught her attention, motioning both James and Lily towards her.
"What's the game plan?" she asked quietly once they'd moved over, looking between Lily and James expectantly.
It took Lily only a moment. "Divide and conquer," she decided resolutely.
James chuckled at her immediate response and she glared in return.
"You asked. Any suggestions, 'Captain'?"
"No, no," he said with a grin. "Divide and conquer. Sounds like a wonderful plan to me."
Emmeline nodded, confirming the final vote.
The rest of the others appeared to also be devising their game strategies, talking in low voices. When their whispers died down, their faces resolute, Lily stepped forward.
"Should we begin the countdown?"
"Just like that?" Sirius asked.
"Just like that," she confirmed as the group subconsciously moved into a circle. "You get a five minute head start – no tagging – and the spell will heat to signal its time is up. The Game has begun."
Holding her wand to her own arm, she prepared the timer.
"10," she said softly, eyes flickering between the faces of her friends, her teammates and opponents.
"9…8…"
Dorcas, Marlene, and Alice all carried the same determined expression; war-worn and prepared for the coming battle.
7...6...
Emmeline and Remus had similar looks; nervous but intrigued. Em gave Lily an excited smile when she caught her eye and Lily was able to return it easily. Peter looked plain nervous, wand turning over in his hand as he fidgeted with it.
5…
Standing across from each other, Sirius and James were locked in a staredown, both solemnly serious in their expression, a recognizable mischievousness in their eyes.
4…3…
They all began to back away slowly from each other, breath silent in anticipation.
2…
Lily took a deep breath, involuntarily catching James's eye once he'd looked away from Sirius.
1…
He winked.
"Go!" she called out, a single wild laugh escaping as it bubbled up from her chest in anxious excitement. She turned on her heel and took off towards the back hallway, Transfiguration classrooms in mind, as she knew the beyond corridors housed a set of stairs that led to the next floor up.
From there, she would improvise. She stuck close to the walls as she ran, energized by the adrenaline running through her veins, only pausing occasionally in random nooks and niches to make sure she wasn't being followed.
The staircase was very similar to the one that led up to Dumbledore's office; they remained hidden until spelled to reveal themselves. The only main difference was that they were probably a third of the size. Though the space was tight and the ceiling low, she took the steps two at a time, welcoming the burning feeling in her thighs.
The small set of stairs led into the rear entrance hall and Lily crouched low as she surveyed the large, low ceilinged room for any signs of movement (not that she expected anyone to be there yet).
The room was carpeted, walls lined with bookshelves that reached to the ceilings. Pausing for a moment longer, she slipped out from behind the stairwell entrance, satisfied that the room was empty. She kept her back against the wall as she headed towards the large entryway, her hip sliding along one of the wooden bookshelves.
She crouched again as she reached the archway, peeking her head out of the entry and squinting into the darkened corridor. Portraits lined the corridor's walls and their frames reflected little light from the windows, the inhabitants supposedly asleep.
Lily knew better, catching small movements here and there of the paintings from the corner of her. She strained to listen, but the corridor remained silent.
The spell on her arm heated; the five minute grace period was up.
Venturing out, she stepped into the corridor, pressing herself against the wall as close as she could. Her footsteps slowed, mentally preparing for someone to jump out and begin an assault of spells, but there was no sign of anyone.
Growing more confident, she quickened her steps, keeping close to the wall as she went.
Her footsteps stuttered at the rustle of fabric, sounding from back the way she had just come. She searched in the darkness as she looked backwards, scanning for any sign of life.
None.
As Lily began to turn to return the way she came, the slightest movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention.
"Cesso!" someone whispered fiercely, the spell originating from the dark corner.
The incantation was aimed expertly, coming straight at her, but she dropped and fell back against the stone wall. The spell exploded brilliantly against the stone above her, momentarily blinding her as bright blue sparks fell into her face.
The stone scraped against her shoulder blades as she attempted to regain her balance.
"Cesso!" she retaliated, blindly sending the spell towards the corner where she knew her opponent was hiding.
Remus fell forward into the hallway, dodging her spell, crouched on all fours as he grinned in exhilaration. Recovering quickly, he scrambled back onto two feet and legged it towards the way she had just come.
He was gone in seconds, his dark shadow disappearing down in the staircase behind him.
She laughed breathlessly, leaning back into the wall as her hand ran across her forehead, brushing hair out of her face. Who knew Remus could run so fast!
Lily debated for a moment; chase after him or continue on her previous path?
Deciding to hurry before he changed his mind to come back for her, she progressed down the hall, tiptoeing past the Infirmary's doors as she stayed low to the ground. Only shortly after, she passed the History of Magic's set of classrooms, pausing and freezing every time she thought to hear a noise.
It was quick to notice how much more paranoid she was with more players in the game. Under normal circumstances, she knew her friends' individual strategies and styles. With the unknown, she knew she couldn't rely on old tactics.
She tried not to let this faze her, knowing that overthinking would be her downfall.
"Cesso!" Marlene's voice rang out from behind her.
Lily spun defensively, astonished at having been caught. The spell hit her directly in the middle of her chest and she was frozen, a curse on the tip of her tongue.
Marlene emerged from a small alcove that housed a Knight in armor, rubbing her hands together and cackling maniacally. "Still think we're not going to beat you?" she taunted.
"Cesso!" Emmeline called from further down the hall.
This spell hit Marlene in her side and the girl's expression froze in surprise.
Emmeline was already laughing gleefully. "Yes, she does!" she sang, answering on behalf of Lily. She took off down the hall, throwing a thumbs-up at Lily as she passed by.
Moments later, Lily was mercifully released from the spell, promptly bursting into laughter.
"She got you good," she told her frozen friend, already backing away. She twiddled her fingers in a small goodbye, grinning widely as she spun and took off to trace Emmeline's steps.
After a few paces, there was no sign of her teammate. Lily veered off towards a corridor that led back around to the changing staircases. However much she hated them, she knew they were an easy way to get someone off your tail.
She reached them in record time, gripping the banister tightly as she looked up into the great expanse, watching as the stairs slowly changed direction at their own will.
Something caught her eye from a landing two floors above her and she quickly moved to kneel to hide herself from sight. From between the banister's posts, she recognized Dorcas's platinum blonde hair being ruffled by a draft.
Lily stayed close to the ground as she ascended the stairs, nearly crawling on all fours as she kept her eyes on where Dorcas remained in the entryway, her head weaving in and out of sight.
Slowing to a stop, Lily lined herself up with the railing, using it as a guide for her wand as she pointed it at the unsuspecting girl.
"Cesso," she whispered, the spell hitting its intended target seconds later.
Lily grinned catlike, feeling very pleased. She zigzagged up the staircases, riding along with the last one as it shifted below here, before jumping the small space onto the fourth floor landing. Even when she was yards inside the corridor, she could still hear Dorcas's howl of anger once she unfroze.
As she passed a random storage room, she ran into Remus again, who was looking more confident and less cautious in fighting her head on.
They dodged each other's spells for a short time, his wolf-like grin made her nervous, but she was able to dodge and duck his advances with eased practice.
"You're good," he huffed, straightening after dodging one of her own spells.
"Thanks," Lily replied with a flattered smile, just as breathless. She jerked back away from a streak of blue, knocking her elbow against the stone wall. She hissed in pain, but fired back the spell at him. It caught him on the shoulder and he froze in an awkward battle stance.
She jumped past him, whispering an apology, clear of any remorse. She was glad to see that he was beginning to become more comfortable with the battle aspect.
Lily passed by the library doors next, pausing to crouch in the corner of the large doorway. Further ahead, she knew there was a small hallway that led back to the staircases, filled with odd, jagged corners. Between the doors and the hallway though, were multiple hidden alcoves, all covered in tapestries. This was the area that always truly tested her stealth.
She crept forward, her sneakers feeling awkwardly heavy as she pressed herself against the wall. Lily breathed silently through her nose, refraining from huffing in annoyance as more of her hair fell from her haphazard bun. Her eyes scanned the corridor ahead, checking for any movement in her peripherals.
She froze as she caught the tapestry to her right slightly flutter. Her fingers tightened around her wand.
Now, maybe any other student would assume that it was just a draft or a breeze. But Lily knew different.
The fact that Peter's worn, dirty white sneaker stuck out from under the cloth confirmed it.
She darted towards it, tearing it away from the wall to reveal an overly surprised Peter, caught unaware. He lightly squeaked as he brought up his hands in surrender. His eyes widened in fright and Lily felt guilty.
"I'm so sorry," Lily told him sincerely, before raising her wand and freezing him. "Really am," she added, folding the cloth tapestry back over him.
Deciding to not take any chances, Lily fled from the corridor, knowing that Remus was still further back somewhere, lurking. She grinned as she realized just how exciting this really was, surprised at how much she was beginning to like the mix of opponents.
Time passed quickly then, as she sleuthed her way around on the same floor, pausing and hiding in various small groves and alcoves. At one point, she found herself hiding behind a Knight in Armor as both Peeves and then Remus passed by her. She slipped out from behind her metal savior, waiting until she could no longer hear Remus's footsteps or Peeves's cackles.
As she rounded the last corner that led back to the staircases, Lily let out a small shriek as a bright blue streak flew past her face. She dodged another, dropping to her knees and crab-crawling backwards back around the corner to cover herself. She sat back against the wall and cursed silently, peeking just a little around the corner.
"I saw you, Lily," Dorcas called, casting another spell her way in a lazy goading way.
Lily huffed and moved to stand, surveying the way she came to check for any opponents. It was too risky to return the same way. This was a situation that Lily knew she'd have to charge, taking the offense.
She breathed deeply, centering herself as she adjusted the grip on her wand. When ready, she leapt out from behind the wall, pointing her wand and randomly shooting the spell in a way that, she hoped, would catch Dorcas off-guard.
"Whoa, hey!" James exclaimed, ducking his head just in time. He stood above Dorcas, who sat frozen crouched against the wall.
"Sorry," Lily grinned bashfully.
His hair was horrifically messy – more so than normal – but he had a wild, ecstatic look in his eyes. He held his hand out to her.
"Let's go," he insisted when she didn't respond immediately, already moving towards her.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her back the way she had come. His hand gripped her fingers tightly, the skin warm against her own small fingers.
"No, no," she said in a hushed tone, knowing that they didn't have much time until Dorcas unfroze. She tugged on his arm as he basically dragged her. "I think Peter, Remus, and Dorcas tagged this floor as their base. I already ran past Remus and Peter back there," she said quickly, grateful that he at least decided to slow down. "We've got to go that way."
He huffed, but nodded once, changing direction swiftly. He still hadn't let go of her hand as he led her towards the staircases.
She struggled to keep up, but allowed him to pull her along. When they reached the landing, James released his tight grip on her hand to lean over the railing. She flexed her fingers experimentally, chalking the tingling up to how tight his grip had been.
"We should go down," he said, a skillful eye scanning the field.
"I'll go up," Lily said in response, taking a step towards the staircase that led up. She gasped, jerked back as he reached out and grabbed her hand again. "What?" she hissed, craning her neck to look up into his face.
"We should stick together," he said definitively.
"I thought we chose to 'divide and conquer'?"
"Better to stay together."
They both let out similar noises of surprise as a burst of blue sparks hit the railing in front of them. They ducked together, before James motioned for her to move up the stairs, his arm sweeping in front of her as he gestured.
She shook her head frantically. When she didn't move, he forcibly pushed her to move, his hands pressing against her back.
"Go, go, go!" he ordered, letting out a manic laugh as more blue sparks showered about them, the spell hitting the banister that protected them.
He followed closely behind her as they bent low, climbing the steps. They barely avoided another shot of blue sparks. "Quicker!" he laughed.
"I'm trying!" Lily exclaimed, pushing past the feeling of her thigh muscles burning in exertion. Her foot missed a step, causing her knee to slam painfully into the stone step below her. She cried out, almost stumbling.
James caught her by the waist, righting her on the steps hastily and urging her forward.
As they made it to the top of the next landing, though her knee was throbbing, she turned to run down the hallway. James stopped her by grabbing her around the waist once more, nearly lifting her off her feet.
"One more," he encouraged, swinging her around back towards the stairs.
She let out a noise of frustration, but complied with his order, driven by the grip he held tightly on her waist as they ran.
"It was Sirius," he informed her, catching his breath easily as they finally made it to the fifth floor landing and hid just inside the hallway.
Lily huffed, swallowing air in mouthfuls. How had she never gotten used to this? She paced back and forth, trying to walk off the pain in her knee.
"All right there?" he grinned, running a hand through his hair, pushing the hair off of his forehead. She noticed with slight selfish satisfaction his skin glistened with a light sheen of sweat. "Is your knee okay?"
Lily waved him off, conspicuously trying to massage a stitch in her side as she glanced away and then back.
Annoyingly, he stood unaffected by the mad dash that had just taken place, an excited, childish grin on his face. He was already moving to covertly check around the corner.
"Where should we go next? Sirius will be tailing us," he whispered loud enough for her to hear, searching for any signs of pursuit. He glanced back at her, as if to make sure she were still there, before ducking to peer around the corner once more.
Unbidden, a smile came to Lily's lip as he reminded her of the times she'd watch reruns of James Bond movies with her mother on the telly.
In a similar manner, James Potter was crouched in position, wand at the ready at his thigh. His dark brown hair looked black in the barely lit hallway, and she could almost imagine his black sweater was a tuxedo jacket.
"What?" he asked, catching her amused smile.
"Nothing," she said quickly, turning to check out the other end of the hallway. "We should probably split up still. It'll be harder for them to get us, won't it?"
He studied her for a moment, gaze intense.
It made her feel as if she'd said the wrong thing. Maybe she had.
"Okay," he said finally, giving a short curt nod.
Lily stepped forward to the right, at the same time he moved to his left, causing them to clumsily try to sidestep each other. They shared a mutual laugh at the awkward action, though Lily couldn't help but think hers sounded nervous.
He looked as calm as ever. "I can go towards the Prefect's bathroom."
"I'll go towards the Muggle Studies classroom," she said.
He nodded, stepping back to let her advance forward without impending her path, before he too took off.
"Good luck, teammate!" he called to her, picking his pace up to a jog. Lily didn't respond, but turned her head just enough to watch him disappear.
She took a deep breath, falling into step alongside the wall, and carried on down the corridor. The tall ceilings of the corridor caused her footsteps to echo more loudly than she cared for, and she tried to lighten her steps into a slower pace. Turning to hide inside a small alcove, she pulled her sleeve back to check the scores.
She smiled eagerly, noticing that she, Emmeline and James were first in place. Sirius, Marlene, and Alice followed, with Remus, Dorcas, and Peter falling last. Lily nodded contently to herself, silently praising Emmeline and briefly wondered how many shots James had taken.
Pulling her sleeve back over her wrist, she sat back on her haunches, peering around the corners before creeping out of her temporary hiding place.
Involuntarily, her pace increased as she became aware of how little time they had left. Though her legs felt tired and shook, a renewed sense of energy and urgency took over her. The night was not turning out as disastrous as she thought it would.
"Oh!" she gasped, running head long into someone's back. At first, she thought it was James she had run into again, as the person before her was about the same height and build.
However, it was Sirius that whirled around swiftly, his longer, black hair falling into his eyes. He looked just as shocked to see her as she was to see him, but he recovered quickly, an amused smile sliding onto his face.
"I don't think that's how you taught us to play this game," Sirius said.
Lily laughed, shaking her head while she tried to gain back her breath. "I never said accidental, physical force was out."
"So how do we continue? Do we call this a draw? You go? I go?" he asked, his smile growing into a smirk. "We could always duel."
"Technically, the Game is dueling" Lily informed him, matching his smirk. "Cesso," she spelled, touching her wand to his chest. "Constant vigilance!"
She hightailed it out of there quickly, knowing he was the type to come back for revenge.
The time it took Lily to make it back around to the stairs had to have been a record, having pushed herself as hard as she could. She paused to contemplate on going up or down, and froze when loud, heavy footsteps sounded from the hall she had just come from. She cursed, damning Sirius's long strides.
Down, she decided, stepping out onto a moving staircase. She made haste, skipping down the steps and waiting at the very edge, for the staircase to attach to the landing.
From above her, she saw Sirius slide onto the landing, nearly running into the stone railing. He spotted her quickly and almost comically sprang forward towards the stairs she had just descended.
Her lung onto the next moving staircase was not as nimble as she would have hoped, nearly stumbling from the momentum of it as Sirius hurled his next spell at her, the bright blue streak almost striking her arm.
She shrieked unintentionally and recoiled, trying to concentrate on the steps as she ran down them, doing her best not to slip.
The loud thumps of Sirius's boots sounded behind her as he chased her, far away enough she had time, but close enough she found herself too nervous to look back to see how close he actually was.
Her movement was halted as she came to a stop at the next landing, only open air in front of her as the staircase shifted in the open air.
She was sure the stairs had joined in on their game.
Only they weren't on her side.
Like she had in the previous game, her impatience grew too strong. She glanced back surreptitiously, surprised to find Sirius still had a ways to catch up to her.
Taking a deep breath and moving back a few paces, Lily gave herself a head start, bracing herself as she leapt out into the open air.
From behind her, Sirius gave a great, startled shout.
Her stomach slid to her throat as she let herself drop in air, the landing below rising up to meet her much more quickly than she was expecting.
Despite having done this maneuver multiple times previously (okay, maybe not this far), she had somehow underestimated the distance between herself and the below landing's edge. Lily realized her mistake when the ground seemed to almost be just a bit further out of reach than needed.
Instead of falling onto the landing like she'd done in past games before, she almost missed it; her upper body slammed into the edge of it, the impact knocking the breath out of her as made contact. Her wand was knocked from her hand as her arms hit the ground. She watched, helpless, as it skidded to stop a few feet in front of her, just out of reach.
She struggled for a moment, scrambling for purchase as she began to slide from the landing, feet dangling in the open air. She refused to look down.
Acting quickly, she kicked her feet out, clambering to pull herself onto the landing fully. The tips of her fingers felt raw as she tried to claw herself up and Lily could feel the fabric of her clothes stretch and tear as she worked to scale up over the rough stone.
"Lily!" Sirius's voice warned and she glanced over to find the staircase quickly approaching, the grating of its movements almost deafening.
Or was that the mixture of blood and adrenaline rushing in her ears?
By some miracle, she was able to pull herself up, hooking her knee on the ledge and hurling her body fully onto the landing.
The staircase locked itself onto the landing as she rolled herself over onto her back. The laugh that escaped her sounded insane even to her own ears as she took inventory of her body, aware that her ribs and arms would pay for her choice of actions. She was sure her chin had split open, the skin there wet.
She grinned though, unable to register the pain fully as the adrenaline thrummed in her veins.
When she looked up, propped up on her elbows, Sirius's expression was one of disbelief and awe. He remained frozen in shock until the staircase he stood on shifted to move, breaking him from his trance.
"What the bloody hell!" his voice echoed into the expanse above.
With disjointed movements, she stood – not as graceful as she would have liked – and twiddled her fingers in a farewell to him, grinning widely. She quickly stooped to grab her wand from the ground and made haste down the corridor before he resumed his trek after her.
The hallway was blissfully empty as she traveled down it, back towards the 'rear' Entrance hall. As her jog slowed, she began to feel the catalog of aches and scratches on elbows and knees, the encroaching fatigue quickly settling into her bones.
"I'm too young for this," she complained aloud, distracted by the familiar warmth that suddenly washed over her arm, alerting the players of the five minute warning to the end of the game.
Her new main concern was getting back to the Entrance Hall without getting tagged.
Which, it turned out, was fairly easy.
She danced down the stairs, alert still, but found no movement. Her initial suspicions were that the other teams would have settled near the main floor, patrolling for anyone returning to base early (this may or may not have been her own strategy in the past), but with no sign of other opponents, she wondered if everyone was still on the upper floors of the castle.
Lily slowed her pace even further, choosing to take her time down the corridor leisurely.
Her chin had started to throb and she used a dusty sleeve to dab at it, the fabric too dark to tell how much blood came away with it.
There weren't any ambushes along the Transfiguration classrooms, the corridor quiet, except for the portrait's inhabitants that dozed peacefully, unaware of the late night wanderer as she walked on.
When she entered the Entrance Hall, she was surprised to find that she was the last one back.
Emmeline greeted her with a bright smile, giving her another thumbs up. Lily laughed breathlessly, looking down to her arm as it warmed.
Time was up.
"Just in time," Dorcas noted rather sourly.
"Like always, it seems," Emmeline smiled, nudging Lily's elbow with her own as the redhead took up the space beside her.
"Ow," Lily chuckled, rubbing at her sore elbow. It felt wet. Ignoring it for the moment, she smiled at the boys. "I'm really surprised everyone made it back in time. It took us weeks to not have anyone disqualified."
The four boys looked pleased to have learned this.
"I wasn't sure if I was too early," Peter said, his expression somewhat hidden in the darkened room. "So I hid behind the house hourglasses."
"Better safe than sorry," Alice nodded in understanding. "But you probably shouldn't do that next time since you told us."
"Oh, right," he replied, bashful. "Yeah, I won't go there next time."
"I ran into Prongsie here just on the landing," Sirius said, throwing his arm around James's neck and pulling him down to ruffle his hair. "Thought he could outrun me."
James shoved at him, pulling a punch to the boy's ribs. "You thought you could catch up," he mocked. "A Beater outrun a Chaser? Don't be daft."
Lily could not understand how they had the energy to roughhouse, but they did – Sirius knocked back into James, giving his cheek a quick slap.
"Alright, alright!" Marlene called to order before the two boys broke out into a full tussle. "Enough testosterone. Let's get to the scores," she demanded, tapping her wand impatiently.
Lily laughed at the clipped demand, waving her wand to allow the 'scoreboard' to appear.
I. 125
II. 180
III. 95
"We won!" Emmeline exclaimed, throwing her arms up and spinning in place and Lily laughed with her, watching as her friend twirled around the others in the circle, even reaching up to high-five James.
He was just as enthusiastic, taking her hand to spin her into a spontaneous twirl as she let out another cheer.
Caught up in the excitement, Lily barely thought twice when he extended his hand towards her. He seized her hand as she offered it and with surprising force, pulled her towards him and spun her in a clumsy pirouette.
He reached out and grabbed Emmeline's hand again, spinning the two girls simultaneously. Lily laughed aloud, the last of her hair spilling out of her haphazard bun.
When they'd settled, breathless, Lily caught sight of James's smile, his face nearly split by the wide, exhilarated smile arranged on his lips and for the briefest moments, Lily's stomach swooped – his gaze dropped to her mouth –
"You're bleeding," he pointed out, raising his hand to gesture towards her chin.
Inexplicably embarrassed, Lily reached out with her fingers to touch the skin there, wincing at the sting. "Oh," she said, fingers covered in blood. "That must've happened when I fell –"
"Fell?" Sirius cut in with a guffaw. "I'm pretty sure what you did wasn't falling, so much as –"
"Helping my team win the game?" she interrupted with a smile, pulling her sleeve over the heel of her hand to press the fabric into the wound. She grimaced.
"Here," Emmeline said, stepping forward with her wand already raised. "Tergero."
She could feel the skin knit itself together neatly and smiled her thanks.
"No, no, no," Sirius said with an admonishing tone. "And I thought Prongs had a deathwish on his broom – you bloody jumped –"
Emmeline laughed. "Yeah, she does that."
"You jumped where?" James asked curiously.
"She's mad," Sirius said simply, crossing his arms. "I didn't think you were that much into this game."
"Of course I am," Lily replied without thought. "Even with the consequential damage." She gestured to her chin and to her body, where the knees of her leggings were already torn, they appeared even more so, revealing scraped, slightly bloody skin. Beneath her shirt, Lily knew the skin was raw and bruised. "It's worth it," she admitted with a tongue-in-cheek smile.
Sirius scoffed. "If she plays like that, I want a bloody rematch."
"I suspect we'll have many more games," Em assured, giving him a singular pat on the back.
James looked impatiently unimpressed. "Someone needs to tell me what happened."
Lily shrugged with a smile. "All you know is that I helped us win the game."
From nearby, Dorcas was grumbling. "Last," she muttered, giving her teammates an impressed look. Remus tried to console her, but Lily caught Dorcas' dirty look that sent towards Peter, who seemed to cower beneath the glare.
Remus, despite his team's loss, looked happier than she'd seen him in days. He was smiling, the light scars across his cheek stretching in the dark light.
"I still don't think it was fair game," Marlene declared, playfully glaring at Lily.
"What makes you say that?"
"Because you won," she replied, sticking out her tongue.
"Let's head back to the dorms before it gets too late," Alice said to the group, nodding her head towards the stairs. She stifled a yawn, barely able to cover her mouth.
"Sounds good to me," Dorcas agreed, stretching her arms high above her. "Let's head up."
The small group followed each other back up to the Gryffindor tower. And although Lily was worn out she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep much from the leftover excitement.
