Chapter Twenty-Six: Students Out of Bed
Lily caught a glimpse of Alice turning the corner at the end of the hall and raced after her. Remus had stopped at the stairs and peered around. Peter held his finger to his lips and mouthed something to the girls as they joined them.
"What are we going to do with the house banners when we steal them?" Alice whispered when they started moving again.
"I'm sure we can think of something, can't we Prongs, Wormtail?" Glee was stretched across Remus's face. This was what he lived for. This mischief. These moments.
They dodged two teachers and the Grey Lady on their way down to the Great Hall. The five students slipped into the hall and closed the door behind them. Lily looked up at the enchanted ceiling in awe. She had never before seen the hall unlit. The stars seemed brighter than ever before.
"You've never been down here at night have you?" James murmured to Lily as he watched Remus magic the banners down. Lily shook her head and watched a shooting star streak across the sky. She closed her eyes for a moment and made a wish.
"It's beautiful." Lily grinned at James, her heart pounded in her chest when he grinned back at her.
Remus had three of the four banners down when the door to the hall creaked open. All five of them turned and froze. Argus Filch came through the door and stared at them. Peter grabbed Alice's hand and dragged her to the door to the left of the teacher's table behind Remus. James grabbed Lily's and ran right.
"Students out of bed! Students out of bed!" Filch danced in the doorway before dashing to the hall and yelling bloody murder.
James pulled Lily behind a statue on the second floor. She was a little out of breath from their sprint up a flight of stairs and her cheeks were flushed. James heard the scratches on the stone floor and pushed Lily flat to the statue and pressed himself into her. He breathed 'Mrs. Norris' to her, their faces near touching. Lily was able to nod her head just slightly. They listened for the cat to turn the corner.
"Lily, I'm so sorry." James tousled his hair as he peered around the statue. "I should have thought about it before I dared Remus. I promise to get us both back without getting caught."
Lily raised her hand and held it in the space between them for a moment before letting it drop. "I knew it was after hours when I left our dorm. Did I think I would let you be such a bad influence so early in the year? No. But watching Remus's heart ache was too much."
James smiled. The love Lily had for her friends spoke volumes. It was something that attracted him to her. Once he was sure that the coast was clear, James beckoned Lily out from behind the statue. He led her three quarters the way down the hall and stopped in front of a tapestry.
"Before we continue, I need you to swear that anything you see between here and the Heads dorm you will take with you to the grave." James held his hand over his heart.
"Huh?" Lily looked at him confused and then tried to move past him to intersection of halls. James grabbed her arm and stopped her.
"What you're going to see tonight is strictly Marauder business. And I need you to swear the you won't share the secrets." Lily could just see James's eyebrow raise in a little challenge in the dim light.
"Alright," Lily held her hand up in the air. "I, Lily Evans, do hereby swear to never speak of the secrets of the Marauders which I am privy to tonight."
James grinned and swept the tapestry aside to reveal a dark staircase. "Welcome to the mischief, Miss Evans. After you."
Lily entered the stairway and lit her wand to light the way up the steps. James led her through multiple secret passages on the way back to their dorm. King Arthur grinned and let them through to their dorm. Lily laughed when she saw them.
"Well that didn't take long, did it?" James grinned and looked at the Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw banners that hung from the mezzanine railing. "How the hell did the bloody bastard even get in here?"
"James, look." Lily swatted him in the chest. The boy turned around and saw that Remus had gone back for the fourth banner. It hung on the wall beside the second King Arthur painting. "How?"
Lily turned to James stunned. He had a dopey grin stretched across his face. "A Marauder never divulges his secrets of mischief."
She stepped up to him. "Is that so? Because I seem to recall that I was sworn to the Marauder mischief earlier tonight."
"Oh, and you think that makes you a Marauder, Evans?" James had an edge to his voice. He smirked at her.
Lily's heart was pounding out of her chest. There was only a step between them. She hadn't felt this electricity since the night of Slughorn's Christmas party last year. Something was different about tonight though. Last time it had been a quick spark but right now she felt this warmth spreading through her.
"Well, I have been sneaking about the castle in the middle of the night. Is that not a cornerstone of being a Marauder?" Lily matched the challenge in James's voice.
James tipped his head back and laughed. "Maybe a first-year Marauder, but Lily dear, we're seventh-years. The stakes are much higher."
"Mhmm, like daring each other to steal house banners in the middle of the night?" Lily could still feel the last of the firewhiskey in her.
"Not high-stake enough for you? And what dare would you have for me?" James leaned in slightly and raised an eyebrow. He watched the fire dance in Lily's green eyes. Time seemed to slow.
"A dare is it? Alright then. James Potter, I dare you to kiss me." Lily tipped her head up in defiance at him.
James, who hadn't had a sip of firewhiskey all night, felt drunk. He wrapped his hand around the back of Lily's neck and pulled her into a fierce kiss. Lily's arms came up around his neck to deepen the kiss. James's other arm went around her waist. He waited for her to pull away, slap him, call him arrogant. But it never came. The heat that Lily had, spread to him. James walked her backwards into the the wall, up against the stolen Gryffindor banner.
He kissed down her jaw towards the tender spot beneath her ear. James grinned when he heard her breath hitch. He kissed butterfly kisses up and down her neck and laced his fingers in hers. He pulled back and looked at her, both teens breathless.
"Lily, I —" Lily placed her finger over his lips. She moved away from the wall and led him over to the couch. As she pulled him down beside her, a wave of giddiness washed over her. It felt very reminiscent of that night on the Astronomy tower.
James picked up Lily's hand and ran his middle finger across the lines of her palm. Lily laughed and told him that it tickled. James grinned but didn't stop tracing the lines. "I could read your palm for you."
"I never understood why you boys took Divination. It always seemed like such a waste to me."
The boy shrugged and continued tracing the lines on her palm. "Your love line is very interesting. It's deep and profound but it's been cut short. You'll have a passionate and intense love but it will be short lived. You'll have one love and take no other."
Lily rolled her eyes and pulled her hand away. She scratched her palm absently. A yawn escaped her. "If I recall, you never had a knack for Divination."
James smiled at her. "No. My third eye was never quite open enough for it. Actually, if I'm being honest. I took it because I thought you would."
"You thought that I would take Divination?" Lily looked at him amused. James launched into the story about how McGonagall had asked him what classes he wanted. He heard Marlene say Divination and if Marlene was taking a class, Lily would probably in it. But he had missed the other half of the conversation because Sirius was trying to plan a prank. So when he showed up to the first Divination class and Lily wasn't there. "Sirius made do all his homework for the year until McGonagall let us drop the class. Peter continued with it though, he seemed to be the only one who was ever any good."
Lily and James talked into the wee hours of the morning. When Lily didn't answer one of James's questions he looked over at her. She was fully asleep. Her fingers were still laced with his. James summoned a blanket from his room and settled it over the two of them. He fell asleep on the couch beside her. A smile on his face.
Lily woke up with a terrible pain in her neck. She could barely turn to look over her shoulder. But she didn't need to do that to know that she was on the Common Room couch under a blanket next James Potter. He was asleep on her right arm. She couldn't feel any of her fingers. Lily tried to pull her arm out from under him but bloody hell was he heavier than he looked. She tried to wiggle away but only managed to roll onto her back with James's dead weight on top of her.
"Get up, you sack of potatoes!" Lily said loudly, she didn't want to shout in his ear but if he didn't move soon she was going to take drastic matters. After a whole minute of trying to make him move she stuck her left pinky in her mouth and then jammed it into his ear.
"Bloody hell!" James woke with a start and jammed his elbow right into Lily's belly. He ended up on the floor in a heap, tangled in the blanket. He rubbed the spot on his head that had hit the floor.
Lily rubbed her stomach and glared at him. "Why didn't you wake me up? My neck feels like I've been getting whipped around on a broomstick all night." Her stomach grumbled loudly.
"What time is it?" James muttered and looked up at the clock. His stomach rivaled hers for volume.
The redhead stood up and stretched. Her body made all the popping noises that one's body makes after they've spent the night asleep on a couch. "We missed breakfast. And lunch doesn't start for another hour."
Lily tripped on James's leg as moved to head to her room. She muttered something about going to take a shower before getting food. James hadn't moved from his spot on the floor when she came back down the stairs from her room with her robe in hand.
James sat up when he heard the door to the loo close. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and stood up. His body made equally loud popping noises as he reached his arms up over his head. He climbed the stairs to his own room, dragging the blanket behind him. He collapsed on to the bed and went back to sleep.
"Nice of you to join us for a meal, Lilyflower. Where's Prongs? Do you have him tied up?" Sirius chuckled to himself and loaded more food on to his plate.
Lily glared at him but didn't say anything. She loaded her plate up and dug in. She felt like she was starving. Marlene and Alice giggled but knew better than to try and talk to Lily when she was in a mood like this. Instead they talked with Remus and Peter. Sirius's contributions to the conversation were minimal based on the fact that no one could understand a word he said.
"You missed quite the commotion this morning." Remus murmured to Lily. "Rumors are flying around that a group of vampires broke in and stole the house banners last night."
"Come on, Moony. I heard it was trolls." James sat down beside Marlene. He reached for the carafe of pumpkin juice. He poured himself a glass and then passed it down the table to the third-year who asked for it. Lily looked to the front of the hall where the banners should be. The space looked odd without them.
"What I want to know is how you managed to get into the Heads' dorm last night." Lily turned her head so that only Remus could hear her.
Remus grinned and looked across the table at Sirius. "Don't worry, I won't tell Sirius."
Sirius looked between the two of them. "Tell me what? James, what are these two whispering about? Make them tell me! You know, don't you?"
"Marlene, make him stop!" Peter slapped his hands over his ears. "He's like a mandrake!"
Marlene was sitting across from Sirius. She reached her leg out under the table and ran her foot up his calf. James tried to maintain a straight face but couldn't. "Mar, I know your gran really wanted us to get together but I really see you as more of a sister." She went bright red when she realized it was James's leg.
"Well, I'll be in the library studying." She stood up a little quick and almost tripped over the bench. Alice stuck her arm out to catch her.
Sirius waited all of thirty seconds after Marlene left through the wide double doors before racing after her. Peter called out that he had never seen Sirius so eager to go study. Remus and James chuckled at that.
Remus popped a strawberry into his mouth. "I take it neither of you had any issues last night?"
Lily looked up at him from her sandwich. She tried to seek his face for any double meaning. James grinned. "No, Moony. No problems, though I was impressed at your ability to loop back and beat us."
"I'm assuming you had no issues, Moony?" Lily stressed his nickname. He grinned at her and denied having had any issues last night.
"Alice, Peter, and I split up. Wormtail got Alice back to the tower without a problem, isn't that right Wormy?" Peter grinned and gave two thumbs up. "I wasn't too far behind them. Close call with Mrs. Norris though. That cat." Everyone grumbled in agreement.
Lily didn't realize that she had missed dinner until her stomach grumbled. She had been working on the potions reading that Slughorn had set for Monday morning's class. She'd had to read the chapter twice to understand it. There were a few things in the instructions that she thought she could improve on. She rubbed her eyes and looked up at the clock. She groaned and let her head hit the desk with a loud thud.
"I can't believe I missed two meals in one day." She murmured.
"Lily, you okay? I heard a loud thud." James was leaning over the mezzanine railing. He had been studying in his room. "Is that really the time? Bloody hell, it's been a long time since I missed two meals in one day."
Lily didn't turn and look at him. She had a flat look on her face. Of course James hadn't missed two meals in one day. Not until they were stuck living together in the same dorm. She heard James come pounding down the stairs. He was halfway to the portrait tunnel when he saw that Lily was resting her forehead on the text.
"Alright, Lily?" He walked a little closer to the desks. Lily turned around and looked at him. She looked a little cranky. James realized when she opened her mouth she was just a little bit more than a little cranky.
"You know, I have never in my six years as a student here missed a meal. Never. And yet today I have missed two. Tell me why." Lily didn't give him a chance to even breathe. "I woke up after sleeping on the couch in a pair of jeans and a bra. My neck is sore. I missed breakfast. Yesterday I missed my morning shower. I listened to you drum out music on your desk for the last four hours. And now, I've missed dinner."
She let out a little huff at the end of her rant. "I'm going to go get some food, you should come with me. You seem like you could use some."
Lily squinted at him confused. "James, it's almost nine-thirty at night? We have thirty minutes before curfew."
James smiled that dopey smile at her. The one that made her stomach flip. Right now she was a little too hungry for it to do any flips. The voice in the back of her head told her if she ate something maybe it would be able to flip. He made sure not to get to close so that he'd have space to dodge anything she might chuck at him. "You ready for your second night of Marauder fun?"
She couldn't help herself. Lily laughed at him. He was so corny sometimes. She nodded her head and let him lead her out of the dorm. "Now, you have to do everything I tell you to do. Otherwise, I'll send you back and you'll have to wait for whatever I bring back for you."
Lily pretended to roll her eyes and walked past him. They were on the third floor when they ran into Professor McGonagall. They stopped to greet her with smiles.
"Mr. Potter, Miss Evans. It's getting close to curfew. Miss Evans, I did tell you that the teachers would handle patrolling until the end of next week, didn't I?" She seemed quite perplexed.
James was going to step in to say something but Lily beat him to it. "You did, professor. And I know that all the prefects are very appreciative of the staff's assistance in letting us settle in before we start patrols. James asked if we could walk the patrol route this week so he could be comfortable with it. We're using this time to create plans and schedules for everyone." Lily flashed a beaming smile, her right dimple showed.
Professor McGonagall couldn't help but smile back. "Well, I'm glad that you're both taking your Heads duties seriously. Make sure you're back to your dormitories soon though." With that she continued on down the hall.
"Miss Evans, I am shocked. And I don't know which is more shocking. The fact that you're such a suck up or the fact that you just lied to a teacher. Doubly impressed by the fact that you did it all in one breath." James whispered to her.
Lily smacked the back of her hand into his chest lightly. "It's not a lie if I start telling you about how we make and distribute the schedules to the prefects at our monthly meeting. Now, where are you taking me food?" Lily couldn't help but feel like she had a stupid grin plastered on her face. Her record so far this year was not good. Out of bed two out of three nights so far? Not good.
"The kitchens." James led her down towards the Great Hall, he steered her towards a door on the opposite side of the hall. Similar to the hallway that led to the dungeons and potions classes. Lily also knew that the Slytherin dormitories were that way. They passed no students.
James stopped towards the end of the hallway in front of a painting of a bowl of fruit. "Now, remember how you agreed to do what I told you? I need you to tickle the pear. Lily, tickle the pear."
Lily reached up and tickled the pear on the painting. The fruit giggled and the portrait swung open. The smell of food blasted her in the face and she walked through the portrait hole without asking questions. "James Potter, you have been holding out on me all this time?"
She realized they must be below the Great Hall. Four tables were set up just as the house tables were. Lily knew that you couldn't magic food from nothing and she had never really known how the food appeared on the tables but she completely understood now. "This is incredible." It was then that she realized there were a near a hundred little creatures, dressed what she suspected were tea towels, bustling around.
James caught Lily's confusion. "House elves. Have you never heard of them? That's a silly question. Sorry Lily. Sometimes I forget that you're muggle-born."
Lily gave him a what-does-that-mean look. "No no no, that's not what I meant. Even in Wizarding households, the hallmark of a house elf is that they're not seen. A lot of children in Wizarding households don't know about them until they get to Hogwarts. They keep this place running."
A house elf appeared at their side. "Can I get Master Potter anything? Tea, cakes, a roast sandwich?"
"Master? James you didn't —" Before Lily could finish her sentence James shook his head.
"This is Lily Evans, she's the Head Girl. We were studying and missed dinner tonight, so I brought her down here for a quick bite."
"Oh you missed your dinner, Mistress Evans? Oh no, that won't do. Mistress Evans, Master Potter. Please sit? We will bring you some dinner." James steered Lily to the end of what would be the Hufflepuff table.
Lily sat down and looked at the small creatures. She thanked the two who brought over a tray stacked with roast beef sandwiches and chips. They bowed to her and scurried off. "I never knew that this was here. I don't know much about this castle, do I?"
James grinned at her as he picked up a sandwich and placed it on his plate. "Some days it feels like I don't either and I've spent the better part of six years trying to learn all that I can."
A muffled noise was coming from James's pockets. Lily looked bemused as James ruffled his hair. He dug around in his pocket before pulling out a mirror. "You are a traitor, Prongs. Why not give away all our secrets."
"Errm, Padfoot. Mate." James turned the mirror around so that Lily could see what it was.
"Jealous, Sirius?" Lily grinned at him and took another bite of her sandwich. Sirius made a disgruntled noise from the mirror and demanded he see James again. Lily couldn't help but laugh at him. He sounded sort of like Petunia when she demanded to speak to the manager or person in charge when things weren't going her way.
"Sorry, Lily." James stood up and walked a little bit away. Lily could hear his chatter but couldn't make out what he was saying. She grinned in spite of herself when she heard James's warm laughter. He rejoined her at the table, two-way mirror returned to his pocket. "Sorry about that."
Lily couldn't get the stupid grin that was plastered on her face to go away. She watched him ruffle up his hair at the back. Ugh she wanted to do that so badly. They chatted about the prefect patrol schedule while they filled their bellies. When they got up to go, three house elves came over to offer them food to take with them. James and Lily thanked the house elves profusely as they backed their way out of the kitchen.
"Makes me feel bad turning down their offerings." Lily murmured softly as they made their way up the hall. There was that adrenaline rush as she realized how late it had gotten and that they were out of bed the second night in a row.
"Well if it makes you feel any better, Peter and Sirius never leave empty handed. They take everything back with them and then some." Lily giggled at the thought of Sirius and Peter carrying platters of food all the way back up to Gryffindor Tower.
James pulled Lily back towards him as they were close to rounding a bend on the third floor. She held her breath. She could feel the warmth from his hand on her hip with his forearm pressed to her belly. "Didn't even think to check around the corner for a teacher. You are such a first-year Marauder." James murmured into her ear. Lily snorted softly in response to this.
"I can't believe you think I'm Frankie First-Year. I looked around the corner and didn't seen anyone."
"You completely missed the Bloody Baron." James whispered in her ear. His breath tickled and Lily was confident he could feel her heart pounding. "Come on. The last thing I need is for McGonagall to think I'm the reason we're out of bed."
Lily let him pull her towards the tapestry covered passage from last night. "You are the reason we're out of bed."
James was feeling a little bold. He thought it was safe to say that Lily wasn't going to bite his head off for being Head Boy. She had let him convince her to sneak around the castle with him almost immediately. "Would you like to give me a reason to be in bed, Evans?"
Lily couldn't see his face because he'd let go of the tapestry cover before either had lit their wand. "In your dreams, Potter." She continued up the steps and made sure to check that no one was in the hallway at the top.
James barely whispered it, "I'm sure you have dreams too." Lily heard it and felt her face go red. He couldn't possibly know. She was thankful for the darkness to hide her embarrassment. If James knew the things that she had dreamed about. She shuddered at the thought. She said a quick goodnight once they returned to the Heads dorm. Lily didn't bother to grab her belongings from the desk. She went straight for her room and closed the door softly.
Lily leaned her back against the door and listened to James climb the stairs slowly. She heard his door close. Her heart was racing. Memories from last night were at the front of her mind. Lily sighed almost longingly. The part of her that liked James was growing and she knew that she was powerless to stop it.