Damsel

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and everything related belongs first, and foremost, to JK Rowling, and then to her partnerships with Bloomsbury, Scholastics, Warner Bros., etc.

Summary: Jily Muggle AU: "I don't know you but I also know nothing about camping and you're the only other person I've seen here will you help me I think I heard a bear"

Posted: 04/09/15

To say Lily Evans knew nothing about camping wouldn't be entirely accurate. She knew that bringing enough supplies would ensure not having to hunt for things – so loading up her rucksack with dry foods and multiple water bottles seemed reasonable at the time. She also knew she was absolutely not going anywhere near a wooded area without toilet paper, and she felt very pleased with herself for thinking about that without Google's help, thank-you-very-much. And lastly, though she knew her friends would also be accompanying her and bringing their own share of blankets and sleeping bags, she couldn't rationalize not bringing an extra two along. (And she knew she didn't need to, but still found herself cramming a handful of extra pairs of underwear in the corner pocket of her pack.)

Camping was not her thing, but deep down she hoped that was more to do with her having never gone before, rather than her ineptitude. Thus, it was with fervor that she tied her hair in a high ponytail, strapped on her water-resistant boots (not entirely stylish, but camping wasn't about fashion, right?) and zipped up a green knee-length jacket that she was confident would swoosh when wet, though the salesman guaranteed it would leave her dry anyway. Tossing her rucksack in the back of her old clunker, she followed Mary's scribbled directions to the parking lot near the camp ground they were supposed to meet at.

When she arrived, there was only one other car in the lot, but she didn't think much of it. Mary, Marlene, Amelia and Amelia's brother Edgar, were all caravanning to the camp-site together, and she suspected one of them was elongating the process. On the backside of Mary's note, she had doodled a rough sketch of the camp ground area, and Lily hitched her rucksack over her back and followed its barely-legible directions.

The walk took nearly thirty minutes, with Lily pausing every so often to study some of the flowers along the trail's edge, and a few times becoming distracted by the sound of rustling leaves. There was no mistaking the campsite once she got there – there were bushes and large trees surrounding the area, but the area itself was bare enough to indicate people often set up tents and built fires there. Pulling the bag off her shoulder, she sat down on a tree stump and waited. Knowing her mobile phone would be no use, she left it locked in her car, and had therefore thought to bring a digital watch.

By the time two hours had passed without the arrival of any of her friends, Lily became worried. It didn't take long for her worrying to transform into fear – fear not for her friends, but fear for herself. The forest was growing darker. Though the sun was still a few hours from setting completely, the lush trees were beginning to block out the rays, and the tiny strips of light that were still lining the forest floor were unsettling in themselves. The leaves around her continued to rustle, barely heard over the sound of her rumbling stomach. Unfortunately she had packed the food and water under the piles of clothing and blankets and so she sat still on the tree stump, growing hungrier and hungrier.

Suddenly, her hunger was driven from her mind by the sound of a large thud from somewhere behind her. Without even thinking, she grabbed her rucksack and ran further down the path, deeper into the forest. She sprinted past the next two campsites when a stitch appeared sharply in her side, and her pace slowed. As she approached the next campsite at a brisk, gasping walk, she noticed there was a boy there, kindling a fire.

He looked familiar, though it took her a moment to place where. The few times Lily had ventured over to the business building at university, to meet Mary after classes, she had seen him. He drew her attention mostly because he was typically surrounded by three or more other students, and usually there was raucous laughter. As Lily drew closer and stepped on a large twig, the boy's face shot up and Lily was assured that he definitely was someone she had seen before.

"Hi," she panted out, daring to half smile at him. "Sorry to startle you. I just… I've been… Ooh, sorry. Gimme a mo'."

The boy looked at her curiously, straightening up and stuffing his hands in his pocket. He wore a long-sleeved checkered shirt, covered with an unzipped, grey camping vest, long blue jeans and large boots. Near his tent he had laid down a worn black rucksack, and blanket where he had stacked some pots and plates. Lily stood there awkwardly, her hands pressed on her knees as she caught her breath.

"Are you all right?" the boy called to her after a moment, though he didn't appear eager to move closer to her.

"Yes," she answered, standing up straighter. "I just heard a noise, and went running, and bollocks, I am out of shape." She gave a half laugh which he reciprocated awkwardly. "I'm sorry. I don't know anything about camping, and my friends haven't shown up yet. And then I heard a loud noise and took off…"

"So you're alone… And you decided to come out into the woods, knowing nothing about camping?" the boy asked skeptically, his eyebrow arching high above his rectangular glasses.

"You're alone," Lily said, defensively, having understood the boy's tone.

"Yes, but I know what I'm doing," he answered, and she was surprised that his voice was pompous in his proclamation. "Whereas you look like one of those models in the Outdoorsman catalogues."

Unwanted blush rose to Lily's cheeks as she straightened her jacket. "What do you know? I might be an excellent outdoors… woman. I want to be good at camping, I just need to learn."

"Okay, then. Come over here and I'll show you how to manage a fire," the boy said, his tone now bright and accommodating, which took Lily by surprise. "Or, I can walk you back to your car and you can go home and order take-out, and your biggest problem will be which telly channel to watch. But you'd better make up your mind now because we've only got about an hour before the sunset."

Lily's mouth dropped open, but the boy had gone back to stoking the fire. Closing her mouth and picking up her rucksack once more, she hesitantly walked over to him. If her father could see her now – in the middle of the woods with a boy she didn't know… Please don't be an axe-murderer, Lily thought to herself as she approached him. He looked up at the sound of her approaching footsteps, and smiled lopsidedly at her.

"So what's your name?" the boy asked, before gesturing to a small fold-up chair next to the fire.

"Lily."

"I'm James," he answered, without prompting. "You're friends with Mary Macdonald, aren't you? We worked on a project in Financial Management II last year."

Lily nodded, and then the memory of Mary having to cancel on dinner plans a few times last semester because she had a major project to work on came flooding back to mind. Her partner's name was James, come to think of it. "Yeah, she was actually supposed to be one of the friends I'm camping with this weekend."

"Ah. She didn't seem to be the camping type," James commented. "Are they running late, or something?"

"Not sure… Haven't heard from them."

James' eyebrow arched again as he got up from the chair he was sitting on. He walked over to his rucksack and pulled a mobile phone out of its pocket. After the phone powered on, he handed it to Lily, who took it hesitantly. "Give her a call. I have a signal booster that should create a clear enough signal for you."

"Err thanks," Lily said, before scrolling down and finding Mary Macdonald under the M's. Relief flushed over her as she pushed the call button.

After a few rings, Mary's uncertain voice answered, "Err…hello?"

"Mary? Can you hear me? It's Lily."

"Lily? Lily, what on earth? This number belongs –"

"To James, yes. Where are you, Mary? I've been waiting at the campsite for hours."

"Oh Lily! I've tried to call you about a hundred times. We had to take Marlene's car to the shop. It should be ready tomorrow morning but we can't make it out there tonight."

"But I'm already here!"

"I'm so sorry," Mary said, and she sounded it. "I can't believe James is there. Can I talk to him?"

"What? Err… yeah. Hang on." Lily looked over at James, who was barely holding the grin off his face. "She wants to speak with you."

"Okay," he agreed, taking the phone from Lily's hand. "Hey M-squared… Yeah, yeah, been a while, hasn't it? Why didn't you… Oh. Okay. Yes, all right. Don't you worry about her. Okay, we'll see you tomorrow morning. The lads are coming 'round then, too. Uh… knowing them, they'll probably get here around ten…. Don't you worry, M-squared, I'll be the perfect gentleman – hey no need to laugh. All right, you're wasting my battery. I'm hanging up now… 'Bye."

James laughed, powering his phone off again, before turning to Lily. "Looks like you're bunking here for the night. Mary will be here tomorrow morning, but for tonight you're just going to have to put up with me."

Lily looked at him, her eyes wide as she considered him, but what other option did she have? And at least she knew Mary knew James, and must have trusted him to have no reservations for Lily spending an entire evening in the woods alone with him. Lily's stomach rumbled its assent at the idea, and Lily forced her own nod.

"Okay, then. What's first?"

"Let's unpack your bag and get you settled in. Did you bring a tent?" Lily shook her head. "How were you expecting to sleep in the woods without a tent, Damsel?"

Lily pointed ignored his nickname. "Mary has a tent… I think, anyway. I did bring a sleeping bag though!"

James smiled in response as Lily got up and undid her bag before struggling to pull out the tangled mess of sleeping bags and blankets. After settling the sleep bags and blankets down on the ground near the foot of the tent, Lily dove back in her bag for a water bottle and a package of crackers.

"Want one?" she added, after standing up straight. "I brought a lot."

"No thanks," James said, kindly, getting up himself and disappearing into his tent. A moment later he came out with a big red cooler. "Do you like burgers?"

Lily's stomach roared triumphantly.

The evening faded into night-time, and the flames of the fire that danced in the slight breeze provided the only light for James and Lily as they finished cleaning up after dinner. James tried to focus on his mental check-list for camping, but kept finding himself distracted by the way the firelight reflected off of Lily's eyes.

"Do you camp a lot?" Lily asked after a while. James had shown her most of his gear and explained how to build his tent and start a fire.

"We camp as much as we can."

"We? The lads you mentioned earlier, yeah?"

"Yeah," James confirmed, nodding. "I have a couple close mates who love to camp. We've actually been camping together since grade's school."

"Why aren't they here now?"

"They had to work tonight, and I was able to get the night off, so I decided to come out a day early. We take whatever opportunities we get during the semester. Anyway, what about you? What's your story, Damsel?"

Lily smirked at the fire, less bothered by the nickname as the evening went on. "Not much to say. In my third year of university, trying to expand my horizons, you know? I spend a lot of time reading and studying… You would probably say I'm rather boring."

"Never," James said, before catching her eye. Their glances lingered for a long moment before the both turned away. James cleared his throat, standing. "We should get your sleeping bag set up. Here, I'll show you how to get it down evenly in the tent."

Lily followed James into the large tent; it was wide enough to accommodate three sleeping bags, though both had to stoop their heads to stand. Lily watched as James moved gracefully around the tent, despite being nearly doubled over. She listened with the intent to learn, but found herself distracted by the lithe way his hands moved the cloth around.

"Not too difficult?" he asked after a moment, and Lily agreed instantly, before watching James walk over to his own sleeping bag and pull it from the ground. "I'll leave you to it, then."

"Wait, what are you doing?" Lily inquired, fully brought into the present now.

"I'm going to sleep outside?" James said, though it sounded more like a question than a statement. "I'll pass you your rucksack so you can get ready for bed."

"You're going to sleep outside? But there's plenty of room in here!"

James cleared his throat, a hand shooting into his hair, combing over the back which was standing up in disarray. "Yeah, I know… I just… It's the proper thing to do."

"I feel terrible," Lily said, following James out of the tent. "You've been nothing but kind and now you're giving up your tent. Needlessly, I might add."

But James shook his head, clearing the spot next to the tent and lying his sleeping back down with ease. "Have the tent, Damsel. I'll be right outside if you need me."

This boy, Lily thought to herself as she sat down on her sleeping bag. The dim light of the fire silhouetted him against the side of the tent, and she watched him sit, with his arms around his knees until sleep overcame her.

Lily awoke slowly, to birds chirping, and the slight sound of wind lapping the tent zipper against the entrance. As her eyes grew accustom to the growing brightness of the tent, laughter met her ears. Stretching quietly, she quickly crawled to the edge of the tent and popped her head out.

James was sitting where he had been the day before, starting up a fire, but now he was surrounded by three other boys: one with black shoulder length hair, which he was in the process of tying back, another with shaggy brown hair who was kneeling at James' side, and a third boy with blonde hair, who was rummaging through a rucksack determinedly.

"Why'd you sleep out here last night?" the brown haired boy asked, but there was a kindness to his tone that was diminished by the snicker from his black haired friend.

"I had an unexpected visitor," James said, jerking his head toward the tent.

The two boys turned immediately to look at the tent and Lily flushed. "Err, hi," she said weakly, drawing James' eyes as well.

"Morning, Damsel!" he called cheerfully, rising from his seat to walk toward her. "Sleep all right?"

"Good morning. Yes, I slept fine," Lily answered, aware that one of the boy was mouthing 'Damsel' to the other, who shrugged in response.

"Lads, this is Damsel. She's a friend of M-squared, Padfoot."

"Ahh," the dark haired boy said – apparently these words meant something to him. He walked forward just as Lily extracted herself from the tent and stood up straight. "I'm Sirius."

"It's nice to meet you. My real name is Lily."

"Well, Lily-flower," Sirius began, and Lily realized that these boys were very keen on nicknames. "I offer my most sincere apology for you having to spend the evening with this prat. The rest of us, that is Remus, Pete and I, would've provided a much more entertaining night had we been able to be here."

James rolled his eyes, side-stepping to let Sirius closer to Lily. Remus and Peter remained where they stood, but they both smiled and waved their greetings to Lily.

"I accept your apology. But next time I'll expect you. I had a dreadfully boring time without you."

Sirius' face lit up, and he sent James a thumbs up from behind Lily's back. "Can I make it up to you by cooking you some breakfast?"

"Oh, err…"

"Lily's actually expecting M-squared and some friends to show up around now, so we're going to go see if we can find them," James answered on Lily's behalf.

Lily nodded, sending a grateful smile to James as she ducked back into the tent to get her sleeping back and rucksack. She was desperate to see her friends, if nothing else than to have a place to change her clothing. Sometime when she was sleeping, James must have changed his, which only made her more aware of the dirt stains on her own clothing.

"It was great to meet you all," Lily told them, once she emerged back out of the tent.

"Nice to meet you, too, Lily."

"Hopefully we'll see each other again, Lily-flower. James here is an excellent lad. You wouldn't believe me by the state of him now, but he cleans up well and – "

"Thanks, Padfoot," James told him, before turning toward Lily. His cheeks were flushed pink, and Lily found it endearing. He lowered his voice, "You ready?"

She nodded, before sending a last wave to the boys, and followed James away from the campsite and through the path in the forest. It didn't take them long to find Lily's friends, who had gone further into the forest than they had previously planned to. Upon seeing her, Mary and Marlene rushed over to hug her. After Mary released her she greeted James cheerfully, and Marlene carried Lily's rucksack to their recently constructed tent, where Amelia and Edgar were busy coaxing their own fire to life. After exchanging pleasantries, Lily looked around to see Mary walking toward them; James lingered, though, his hands tucked into his pockets as he watched her.

"I'll be back in a minute," Lily told her friends before walking back toward James.

He smiled as she approached him. "Well, how was your first night camping? You survived it okay, right?"

Lily smiled, "Not bad. It was definitely more interesting than I thought it would be."

"Good," James answered, before being interrupted by a loud call from Sirius.

"Oy, Prongs! Come on, mate. We're first up to go hiking!"

"Coming, Padfoot," James called over his shoulder. "Well, Damsel… I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend. Maybe we'll stop by later to see how you lot are doing."

Lily nodded, a small smile on her lips, as James, stuffing his hands in his pockets, turned away and began walking back up the path.

"James?" Lily called, before James walked too far away to hear her.

"Yes, Damsel?"

"Thanks… for… you know."

"It was nothing," he replied, smiling broadly at her.

Lily scoffed, "It most certainly wasn't! If it weren't for you…" she let her voice trail off ominously.

James studied her for a moment, before a smirk split his face. "Maybe you can make it up to me by taking me out to dinner next weekend? Somewhere more your speed, like an indoor restaurant."

Her eyes narrowed, playfully. "Maybe. But I think you'd like that too much, wouldn't you?" she asked cryptically, before turning on her heels and walking back toward her new campsite.

"Was that a yes?!"

Lily called over her shoulder, "Come back 'round later if you want. We're making S'mores."

Raking a hand through his hair, grinning, James replied, "See you then, Damsel!"