I know, I know, I suck at updates! I'm so sorry, I promise I'll try to be better!

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This chapter is called "Flight". Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: not mine. no. nope. never.

"Patrol is over" James's voice cut through the deep silence that surrounded the empty and dark corridor. Lily realized he had stopped walking moments before her and now stood a few paces away staring at his wrist watch, only visible thanks to the light erupting from the tip of his wand "you said you would"

"What if we get caught?"

"We won't" James sounded very confident of his statement "come on, I got everything ready"

"Everything?"

Without knowing what James could have possibly planned to show her this time and hesitating for a moment, Lily followed him in the direction of the Entrance Hall, walking by portraits depicting now sleeping people and peaceful landscapes. As they walked, more and more candles were lit in their way, so by the time they reached the Entrance Hall, James's and Lily's wands were tucked safely inside their school robes with no need of the Lumos Charm anymore.

"How do you know Filch isn't around? You don't even brought your map" she said looking around, checking if nobody was following, ready to give Gryffindor's Head Boy and Girl detentions "not very clever"

"I told you; Moony, Padfoot and Wormtail are trying to retrieve it from Filch's office, remember?" he silently pushed the entrance door open, revealing Hogwarts's moonlit grounds "still, Filch's on the third floor on Thursday nights" he stepped out and Lily followed his quick pace across the grounds. She shot several looks back to the castle and to the Gryffindor Tower, wondering if it would be a better idea to go back and be warm in bed, safe from detention, rather than in the middle of Hogwarts's grounds, with the chilly breeze creating goose bumps on her skin and the possibility of getting caught. The reason why she had agreed to sneak out with James Potter was something she didn't understand.

The half moon glared at the whole castle, each and every stone that formed it and every leaf from the trees that surrounded it, reflected beautifully on the lake's surface, just like it would on a mirror. Grey clouds lingered around the moon but seemed unable to eclipse it, making it a beautiful sight. Lily tightened the scarf around her neck and kept following the black haired boy ahead of her.

James turned around and made Lily stop in her tracks instantly just in front of him. His expression was hard to read, but his hazel eyes were upon Lily's own green ones. Neither said anything and the only sound that Lily could hear was the light wind against the trees and the one of her own, beating heart. She prayed for James not to hear it and give away the sudden fluttering of her insides and thanked that it wasn't light enough to notice the heat increasing on her cheeks and ears.

A swishing sound that had nothing to do with the wind made Lily jump on the spot as she suddenly saw a Quidditch broomstick flying by itself in their direction. She hadn't even noticed James taking out his wand and summoning it, maybe before he had turned around. He now extended his arm and caught the broom in midair, placing it by his side.

"Are you showing me what a good flyer you are?" Lily asked raising her eyebrows and folding her arms. The fluttering inside her was gone and, slightly amused, she felt she was back in fifth year talking to the old, full of himself, show off Potter. Trying to hide the fact that her lips were arching upward she said "is that it? Because honestly, in every Quidditch Match there is I'm able to –"

"No, of course that's not it, Lily" he said rolling his eyes, as if Lily suggesting that James was trying to show off his flying skills was completely ridiculous. Lily couldn't help now the smile that spread on her face "I'm going to fly, but you're coming with me" he mounted his broomstick.

The smile was gone, her previously folded arms dropped and her eyes widened

"What?"

"What?"

They would not only get caught and sent to detention probably for weeks, but Lily would freeze to death and puke too, knowing how reckless James was, especially on broomsticks. She started to back away from him, shaking her head slowly and frowning, her arms folded once again as she let out a firm "no".

"You said you would!"

"I said I would come with you so you could show me something" Lily said "now you have. And now I'll go" she was already turning to leave straight to the common room, but James seized her by the arm and made her turn around abruptly "James!"

"Lily! What are you afraid of?" James said, widening his eyes. Lily could see one half of his face clearly, his lips, his straight and long nose and his long, heavy eye lashes defined perfectly and beautifully "Nothing will happen! We won't get caught, I promise. And I'll be careful; you know I wouldn't let anything happen to me...sorry, to you. I meant to you" Lily rolled her eyes and once again couldn't help but smile as James started to chuckle "Please?" he added after a moment where they had become silent again. He pouted and widened his eyes, resembling an abandoned, little puppy.

"I haven't ridden a broom since first year!"

"So? I'll be careful! Now, come on."

"Okay" she mumbled after a small pause and James instantly smiled widely and gestured for Lily to climb up behind him. Before doing so she tightened even more her scarf and made sure no one was around, just in case and still fearing the possible detention. Hesitating for a second, she cautiously slipped her arms around James's waist, trying to make as little contact as possible. Her embarrassment couldn't be worse, her face and ears were once again turning a bright shade of pink and her heart threatened to hammer its way out of her chest. Again, why had she agreed to do this?

"Hold on tight, will you?" James said. Lily rolled her eyes, of course he wanted her to hold tight, he enjoyed physical contact and it couldn't be more obvious. Her body was a few inches away from his and her arms were as loose around his waist as they could be without her falling over.

"I'm fine like this!" Lily said "now let's get this over with, shall w–"

But the last word came out as a loud shriek and without knowing it, Lily was clutching on to James for dear life and her green eyes were tightly shut. He had jumped off the ground and flown upwards without notice but with such a speed that almost threw Lily off the broom.

She opened her eyes, breathing heavily, and looked down at the place where they had been standing a few moments before but that now seemed so far away. Her head was spinning and she felt her heart would fail at any moment. Looking down made her stomach swirl, but she couldn't help it, her eyes drifted unwillingly at the grounds that seemed to be getting smaller and smaller. The wind flapped against them and made Lily's red hair wave madly, slapping her own face. But she couldn't fix it, her arms were wrapped around James tightly and she was unconsciously digging her fingernails on him.

"James!" she shrieked "you said you'd be careful! Put me down! Get me down! Now!"

"I'm being careful! You're the one that didn't hold on!" said James without making the slightest change on the broomstick's direction. They were still flying upward and the wind kept getting stronger and colder.

"Go down!"

"No"

"Now!"

"No! We're almost there"

"Almost there? Almost where!" Lily said loudly, almost shrieked, not only for James to hear her over the howling wind, but because she was currently unable to control her voice and fright. She decided to look at his face on one side of his shoulder, instead of looking down at the place they had left before, wishing that somehow it would help the swirling sensation on her insides.

"Just wait!"

"Wait? No! Where are you taking me, Potter!" she hadn't called James like that in a very long time, but right now the situation required it. She prayed for the enchantments and charms that surrounded the school to keep them inside it, because who knew where James was flying to "Tell me! Where are we going?"

"Will you just shut it, Lily, for Merlin's sake! You're going hysterical!" he said loudly, and Lily had to agree, she seemed quiet mad and hysterical "if you're so scared, then close your eyes and I'll tell you when to open them. And I'd appreciate if you stop trying to nail your fingers on me. I liked it at first, but now it just hurts"

Lily's breath got stuck on her throat and not even the cold wind could cool her heated face. She hadn't even noticed her own fingers pierced against James's waist, and showered by a dose of embarrassment they instantly let go of him, but her arms were still tightly around him, it didn't matter, if she didn't hold she would fall for sure. This had proven Lily that James indeed enjoyed physical contact.

Catching her breath, which was still quiet heavy, Lily decided to do what James suggested and closed her eyes very tightly. She remembered the times when she had gone to the amusement park as a little girl and her parents told her to get on one of the roller coasters. It had been a small one for little kids, but Lily had screamed her lungs out and hadn't opened her eyes until the ride came into a full stop. This was exactly the same thing, but the screaming was replaced with the fact that she was holding on to a boy who lately made her thoughts drift and her stomach jolt.

The cold air entered her body through her face, creating goose bumps all around her skin. Lily buried her face on James's back and breathed against her own scarf, her nose, ears and fingers going slowly numb.

Suddenly, the broomstick slowed down until reaching a stop. They were not on the ground because Lily's feet were still hanging. The wind was not howling and hitting them anymore, it had turn into a swift, chilly breeze caressing both of them. She was scared of opening her eyes, scared of finding out they were already on the stratosphere, or worse about to exit Earth. The fact that they had stopped didn't make Lily loosen her arms, but tightening them even more around him.

"Now you can open your eyes"

Lily opened her eyes, but her face was still buried in James's back. She breathed deeply, realizing that she was shaking slightly of both cold and fear, and raised her head to look at James, not daring to look down.

He was grinning slightly; his face was calm and his expression content. He turned his hazel eyes at her and raised his eyebrows for a moment, then they drifted slowly to a place on their left and his grin widened.

Lily followed his gaze, wondering if this was it, the thing he wanted to show her.

Lily gasped, her eyes widened like plates at an unbelievable sight; even though they had flown upwards for hours (at least that's how it had felt for Lily) Hogwarts still stood gloriously large and majestic before her eyes, the moon shed its light over it from the side and the castle glowed like a gigantic, beautiful star. Little lights twinkled from some of the dark windows, and there was a huge contrast between what was lit and what was covered in darkness; it was like looking at a painting, a picture of something so beautiful you think you'll never get the chance to see. But Lily was seeing it, looking at it. And that was not all, but very near, the moon and the trees were perfectly reflected in a wide mirror; the lake, in which creatures now were peaceful and the water was still.

Lily tried to find her voice, tried to find words to say, but everything she could come up with didn't seem enough to describe what she was seeing.

"Quiet beautiful, huh?" James said. Lily's gaze shifted from him and back to the castle.

"It's… it looks so… beautiful… amazing… it's…" she gave up, she wouldn't be able to describe it, ever "how… how did you…"

"After a Quidditch practice at night, I flew up here and thought it looked pretty amazing" he said "and I thought you'd like to see it too. Girls like this stuff, don't they?"

"We do" Lily said, her voice had become rather tiny compared with the ridiculously loud shrieks she was making before. They hovered in mid air silently with the Hogwarts castle standing at their side, the trees waved vaguely at them. She couldn't believe James was capable of doing nice, meaningful things like this, she didn't want to consider it romantic, but it really was. Just the thought of it made her stomach jump to her throat.

"Let's go" James said after some minutes. Lily couldn't even react; they were already plummeting back to the ground. She felt as if someone had reach out and squished her stomach; she was doing her best not to scream as her organs rose to her throat, the wind howled once again against them and she felt goose bumps erupting around her neck. She was holding even tighter to him and she couldn't help but scream "Stop!" when she realized they were flying directly to the lake.

"What? Here you go again, mental Lily. Stop worrying!"

"We'll get wet! Go up! Up! Up"

But James ignored her. They were going to get wet, they were diving directly into the lake, Lily was sure of it, in no time the cold water would soak them and she'd die of hypothermia. Well, not really, a simple charm would dry her, but something reckless like this had to be included in one of James Potter's plans!

Her eyes were tight shut, her face hidden on James's back, and every muscle of her body was tense, waiting for the water that was coming. She waited, any time now.

The broomstick came to a sudden halt and they started to drift softly, no water had soaked her and there had been no splashing sound. Lily opened her eyes after a moment of hesitation, and was surprised to see they were floating above the lake, their feet a few inches from the water.

"I told you not to worry"

She looked down, just to see her own face looking back at her. She saw her green eyes widening in surprise, surprise in seeing a perfect reflection of both of them, flying slowly above the water. James's black hair waved slightly and so did her red one. A ticklish, nice sensation formed in her stomach as they glided. The tip of her shoe accidentally touched the surface, and the mirror-like water was gone as little, disturbed waves formed around her foot. She lifted it, but her eyes were still stuck on the lake and she thought she had never realized how much more beautiful Hogwarts could be.

Her arms loosened, but they were still around James. It didn't matter anymore, and it didn't matter that she was now resting her head against his back, just below his neck. A thousand emotions fluttered inside her and her face became warmer and warmer, but she wasn't embarrassed as she realized that she too enjoyed the contact between them.

They reached the other side of the lake, just where the beech tree stood, and they slowly came to a stop under it. He got off and offered his hand to her, which she took pleasantly and got off the broomstick after him.

When she was fully standing on the ground, James let go of Lily's hand and caught his broomstick, lifting it above his shoulder. He grinned at her, his lips pressed together, asking her silently what she had thought about the whole thing.

They started walking in the direction of the castle, taking slow steps, side by side. James was terribly close to her, his arm brushed against hers on every step they took, every brush left a tingling sensation on the place it had touched, even if it was under her robes.

"It was really nice, James. I truly enjoyed that"

"I'm very glad you did" he said, and he smiled at her widely, the corners of his eyes wrinkled happily and he unexpectedly reached out and grabbed her gloved hand. Her breath got stuck halfway out again, but she dissembled it as well as she could. Without taking her eyes off his face and without stopping their slow paces, she interlaced her fingers with his, wondering if it was the right thing to do, this was, after all, James Potter.

But this was a different James Potter, a nicer, more grown up one. One that had trusted her as his confident, and had turned into a decent, good friend. So she looked away, grinning sheepishly and decided that it was the right thing to do.

James squeezed her hand and without saying words, they had told each other how good this felt. They had had way more contact than this between them before, much more, he had even kissed her before, just after a victorious Quidditch match, but it had been brief and followed by a slap on the face. None of those times had meant so much to Lily as this one did, even if their hands were gloved and her skin was not actually touching his, this was more meaningful, and more beautiful too.

They walked through the dark castle silently without letting go, holding their lit wands with their free hands. It was already late and they quickened their walk to get to the Gryffindor common room as soon as possible. Besides asking what time it was and getting an answer, no more words were exchanged, but there was no awkward silence, just a sweet, understanding one.

James pulled Lily through the hole behind the Fat Lady's portrait and they were finally surrounded by the warm, nice environment of the common room. It was surprisingly empty (other Gryffindors always sneaked out on late hours) and the fire flickered, its glow illuminating the whole room.

They turned to face each other at the bottom of the steps that lead to the girl's dorms. They stared at each other for a moment, without saying anything. Lily's eyes dropped to her hands, her fingers around James's. She let go of him slowly, and his hand lingered for a moment, as if hoping it would be held again, but it dropped beside him after a second.

"Thank you" she said softly. She pulled out her gloves and tucked them inside her robes' pocket "so much. This was really fantastic… a bit mad at some points, I must say" they both chuckled "… but still fantastic"

He grinned slightly and briefly, his eyes looking down, his head dropping. Lily was sure James had understood rejection by her letting go of him, but that was not it. With both of her hands, she reached out and took his gloved one, the one she had been holding before, lifting it until it was between them. His eyebrows pulled together slightly as he looked at what she was doing. Lily pulled off the black glove from James hand, revealing his slightly rough skin. She looked at him and his frown disappeared as she entwined her fingers with his, and he held tightly back. Electricity was being shot up and down her arm, directly to her heart, but Lily ignored it as James's face came to be just a few inches away from hers.

She tried to keep her breath even as his hazel eyes locked with her green ones, and James closed the tiny gap between them and kissed her softly, placing his hand on the back of her head and letting his fingers run against her hair and down her neck. A rush of emotions swirled from Lily's feet to her head.

Her heart was hammering its way out of Lily's body, but she kissed him back, her hand letting go of his and running up his arm.

They broke apart, and Lily felt her face had never been warmer, wondering if James could see her probably maroon cheeks. What did she have to do know? She couldn't slap him like last time, because this time she had enjoyed it. Run away? Kiss him again? The last one seemed the best option and she truly wanted to do it again. She decided to look up at him, and found him gazing back at her, smiling.

"And that was our first kiss, my dear"

Of course, he had to ruin it somehow; she had forgotten for a moment that this was James Potter and that some things never changed. She dropped her arms that had been still on his sides and said "Way to go, James" she sighed heavily, and added "plus, you've kissed me before. Remember?"

"Of course I do. My face hurt for days. Besides, that was my first kiss. I'm talking about ours" an irresistible smile appeared on his features.

"Of course" it didn't matter. Nothing mattered now. She kissed him again, throwing her arms around his neck.

Hope you like it! From now on, I'll answer your reviews, ok:D . Ooh, ooh, I have a question too: When James and Lily moved into Godric's Hollow, how much time passed until they did the Fidelius Charm? I'm a bit confused about this... was it as soon as they moved, orshortlybefore beingmurdered? Well, thanks for reading, and if you review...you get a cookie!