Belongs to JK Rowling, not me.
After the events of that afternoon, James didn't attempt anything with Lily for almost two months. He hadn't asked her on a date, he didn't pull her away for another 'lesson.' He went to class, and while pranks were being pulled, James couldn't have been pulling them. Lily tried to get him on a prank the Marauders had done, but as James said, he hadn't technically done anything, and therefore was in the clear.
Lily was getting antsy. Hell would certainly freeze over before Potter won, wouldn't it? Charlotte could not possibly right with the notation that since he had waited seven years for this, he wouldn't give up, could she?
But as Halloween quickly approached, Lily's worries began to subside. There wasn't a Halloween that had passed without The Marauders unleashing some sort of havoc upon the school.
"Hey Lily, I was wondering if maybe you take my patrol on tomorrow night?" James asked her on the 29th. "I would do it, but I sort of promised Moony I'd help him with something that night, and they'd kill me if I missed it."
Lily was all too happy to agree. As far as she was concerned, taking his patrol would mean that by November 1st, she would be done with him completely.
That night, Lily was sitting up in the common room after she'd finished James' patrol, waiting for him to come back, so she could inform him that he wouldn't be asking her out anymore.
But the night dragged on and Lily began to feel drowsy. Sometime around midnight, she fell asleep, promising herself that she would gloat to him in the morning.
Lily had begun to wake, but refused to get up. The blanket she was holding was incredibly warm.
"Lily…." A voice called softly. "wake up, please. You're on my arm and I can't move."
Lily eyes snapped open and she jumped off the couch, fully awake. She then tripped on the body of James Potter, who was lying on the floor next to the sofa.
"What the hell, Potter?" She shouted, rubbing her head where it had hit the floor and rounding on him. "What the hell did you think you were doing?"
"Oh, wizard god. Cool off, Lily. I wasn't going to attempt to sleep with you or anything. I came in late, and you were asleep on the couch. I tried to carry you off to bed," Lily opened her mouth to say something, but James didn't let her speak. "YOUR BED. In your bedroom, honestly. You'd think I was a complete prevent from the way your acting. Anyway, I tried to lift you, but I couldn't for some reason. I must have been incredibly tried, or something. Then my hand was stuck, and I attempted t pull it out without waking you, but you grabbed my arm and refused to let go. I tried to get out of your grasp for what felt like an hour, but I couldn't. So after a while, I decided just to sleep here. And it was bloody uncomfortable, too." James muttered, rubbed his back.
"How do I know that's not even true?" Lily scorned. "You're not known for honesty."
James sighed. "Because it's the first Quidditch match of the the season today and I needed a good night's sleep more than anything. Instead, however, I was stuck on the floor because I was trying to do something kind for you. Now get off my arm, I'm going to breakfast. At least I'll have some food in my system." James grumbled. He got up to leave, but before exiting the room, he turned to Lily.
"You're coming, right?" He asked.
"To what?"
"The match. It's Gryffindor versus Slytherin, you know. A rivalry match." James said, smiling. "You'll get to see me kick some lame Slytherin ass."
"As much as seeing you kick some lame Slytherin ass appeals to me, no. I don't really like Quidditch. I don't understand it." Lily said, getting up to leave for her bedroom.
"What?" James flew across the room and grabbed her arm. "Lily, you've don't like Quidditch? How's that even possible?"
"I told you, I don't understand Quidditch." She said, shaking his hand off, but James held tight. Suddenly his eyes lit up.
"Alright, then. Come to the match, then after the game, come find me. I'll probably be celebrating in the Gryffindor common room." He gave a pat on the shoulder, grinned and ran out of the room.
"What on earth are you talking about?" She called, running after him. "Potter! Potter, what?"
He just gave her a large wave and a smile and disappeared down the corridor.
Sighing, Lily reentered the common room, more confused than ever. She entered her room, and climbed into her bed. She had begun to drift back to when suddenly her door burst open.
"Lily! What the hell are you doing? Get up!" Aira said, flipping on the lights. "Get up, you're going to the Quidditch match?"
"Aira, what are you doing in my room? How did you even get in here?" Lily asked, sitting up.
"I'm getting you up! Get dressed, Lily-lass, the match starts soon, and we're meeting Charlotte, Ellie, Remus and Peter down at the pitch."
"What? Why?" Lily asked, watching Aira rummage through the closet.
"To see James and Sirius play, obviously." Aira said, tossing a pair of jeans and a sweater to Lily. "Now, get dressed!"
"Why on earth are we going?" Lily said, getting up and slipping on the jeans. "I don't care for Quidditch, and as far as I know, neither do you."
"Yes, but after today, we'll both be Quidditch fans. Believe me." Aira said, handing Lily her scarf and robes.
Slipping them on over the ensemble, Lily stared into the mirror. She looked like the prefect picture of Gryffindor support.
"You look great, Lily. Now let's go." Aira said, before dragging her out of the room.
After over two hours of watching the Gryffindor team slaughter the Slytherins, Lily sat in the Gryffindor common room, squeezed between Aira and Ellie. Sirius had snuck into the kitchen and stolen some food, which Lily didn't approve of, but the party had gotten better with the arrival of butterbeer.
Lily was having a fine time laughing with her friends when Aira suddenly stood.
"Uhmm, Lil? I think I left my… hat! In your bedroom"
She asked loudly.
"Well, since you apparently know the password, go get it." Lily said sarcastically.
"I don't know the password. Can we go get it now?" Aira said, staring directly at her.
"Yes, you do. How else would you have gotten in there this morning?" Lily asked, her eyebrows knit in confusion.
"Just, come on!" Aira said harshly, dragging her out the portrait hole.
They walked in silence, with only Aira humming as noise. Suddenly, Aira stopped and waved. "Here we are!" She said brightly.
"I thought you left your hat in my bedroom." Lily said, looking around. "This is the Entrance Hall, not the fourth floor."
"I know. I didn't leave my hat, see. And look, there is James. See you soon, Lily!" Aira thrust her down the steps and bounced off with a wave.
"Hey, Evans. Enjoy the match?" James asked, coming up beside her.
"No, I didn't. I told you before, I don't understand Quidditch." Lily said.
James smiled. "I know. That's why it's time for lesson two."
Lily snorted. "Lesson two? There is not a lesson two. You lost when you helped the Marauders pull that prank last night."
James looked bewildered. "What are talking about? I was helping Remus with charms last night."
"No! You were helping them pull a Halloween prank!" She insisted. "It's Halloween, it's what you lunatics do!"
"Lily, look around. All days, has there been a prank? No. There has not. Because last night, I was helping Remus with charms, not breaking our contract. So, unless you'd rather date me, come along." He said, turning and exiting the building.
"What we're going to do is Quidditch. You said you don't understand the game and you've never flown a broom before? We are going to change that. Two birds with one stone, see." James explained as they walked down to the pitch.
James brought her onto the field. In the center were the box of balls and two brooms.
"Alright, here is a quaffle." James began, opening the box and removing the offending ball. "The goal is to get it past the keeper and into those hoops." He pointed to the three rings that rose high above the field.
An hour or so later, Lily had learned about the quaffle, bludgers, snitch, beaters, chasers, keeper, and seeker. She been told all the rules, what each player was supposed to do, what types of brooms were used and even who the first person to cross the Atlanic via broom was.
"And now… we ride." James said, lifting up a Comet and tossing it to her. "That's one's mine, so be careful with it."
Lily caught it and just stared at him. "We're…. riding? Brooms?" She managed to choke out. "No thank you."
"Lily, you don't know freedom until you've gotten off the ground. Now, mounting is simple. You just swing you leg over one side, and gently push off the ground to lift." James did a small demonstration.
Lily climbed onto the broom, but refused to push off the ground. "No, thank you." She said again.
"Come on! It's easy." He said, flying over her head. "Just push off, like you're jumping."
Lily stared at him. "Potter, that's stupid and dangerous. I agreed to fun, not stupid. Learning about Quidditch was fun, sure, but this is stupid."
James flew down to where she stood. "Lily… you're going to fall."
Lily's eyes widened. "I wasn't worried about falling." She said indignantly.
"Yes, you were. And you won't fall, I promise." Hazel stared on green.
Lily broke his gaze and stared at her hands. "How do you know that? It doesn't make much sense that brooms stay up even when put under so much weight."
"Lily…" Amusement rang in his voice. "Airplanes, the muggle invention, can stay up even though they weigh thousands of kilograms."
"Yes! But that is because of engines are aerodynamics." She insisted. "Brooms don't have those."
James looked at the Comet she was sitting on. "No, they don't have engines, but they're aerodynamically correct. And brooms don't need engines because they're magic."
"I still could fall. I've seen it happen." Lily said, firmly planting her feet on the ground. James laughed.
"Yes, but that's because during an actual Quidditch match, you can hit with the quaffle or a bludger. But no one has ever fallen just flying around." James explained.
"I still don't trust these." She said, gesturing to the brooms.
James laughed. "Since you're so keen on deals, here's one for you. If you fall, I'll catch you before you even come close to the ground."
Lily looked at him. "I don't trust you, either."
"Lily, your options are fly and trust me, or date me and don't."
Lily sighed. "Fine. How do I do this, again?
James again went over pushing off, mounting, turning, steering, ways to make the broom speed up or slow down, stopping, landing and dismounting.
With a deep breath, Lily mounted the broom, closed her eyes and pushed off. She could feel herself rise higher and higher, but she didn't dare open her eyes.
"It's alright, Evans." James coaxed. "You can open them."
"I don't want to." She said firmly.
"Lily, if you can't see, you'll hit something. And then you'll fall." He added.
Her eyes snapped open and she stared wide-eyes at him. "You promised you'd catch me if I fell!"
"And I will. No matter what." He reassured her. "Now, we're going to just do a couple of laps around the pitch. It's should be easy, and I'll be here the entire time."
James did just as he promised. Even though she flew slowly, James never left her side. Whenever she wobbled, James got ready to catch her. After only two laps, he let her dismount.
"Brilliant, isn't it?" James asked as he dismounted beside her. "Flying's really excellent, don't you think?"
"Yes, actually. I like the way the wind feels." Lily said her voice distant. "I still thought I would fall, though."
"And I would have caught you, just as promised." James said, gathering up the brooms and stowing the box safely away. They began the trek back to school.
When they finally reached the castle, Lily spoke.
"Thank you for making me do that. And for make that ridiculous promise to catch me." Lily stated, walking inside. "I know you've probably got to put those in some broom closet, so I'm just going to head up and find the girls. Good bye, Potter."
As she walked away, James shook his head and opened the door to the closet.
"Lily, I wasn't being stupid. I was being serious." He whispered to her disappearing figure.
I love the way I ended that! It was really good, I think. Loving the reviews, you guys are awesome. However, wanna know something else that's awesome?
I saw an interview with Darren Criss (Harry from A Very Potter Musical/Sequel and Blaine from Glee) at the NYC premiere of Deathly Hallows and in the middle of it, Daniel walked by. It was pretty cool to see movie Harry and play Harry together. Then I watched some more AVPM/S videos and whatnot. I officially am in love with Brain Rosenthal and have a bit of a womancrush Lauren-as-Draco. (not a mancrush, Katie.)
Anyone get the AVPM/S joke in here? Go back and find it, then.
Loving the reviews, you guys are the best! Thank you so much for all of them, and please keep them coming! As usual, criticism is welcomed and loved.
And I have a question: When you write/read Harry Potter (not matter if it's the real books or fanfics) do you ever think in a British accent?