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Lily Evans turned over in her bed with a groan. Was it morning already? She reached blindly for her wand, her eyes still half stuck shut. When she eventually located it in the blurred world around her she gave it a swish and dropped it on her bed, silencing the charm she had set the night before.
6.30 am. That's what the time would be if she bothered to look at her watch. But dejectedly she turned over and buried her face in the pillow mumbling into it incoherently about 'bloody mornings' and 'no decent person should get up at this hour'.
After a few minutes of self pity she flung herself onto her back and stared at the hangings of her bed, her eyes gradually un-sticking, allowing the world to come into focus.
With yet another groan from her protesting body she pushed herself into a sitting position with one hand and sleepily rubbed her eyes until the fog was almost fully cleared. She ran a hand through her wild mass of sleep-tangled hair and contemplated flinging herself back on her pillow and indulging in another hour's sleep. Instead she pushed herself out of the bed and slumped her way towards the bathroom and the revitalising pleasures of the morning shower.
Now most people would say that the best thing to wake you up in the morning is a cold shower. But Lily thought the opposite. In her mind there was nothing quite like the feeling of a near scalding shower to warm the blood and get things moving. It was lucky, she thought as the hot water ran over her, that she was at Hogwarts. After all, when had they ever run out of hot water? But if she'd have been at home, in the muggle world, she would get no end of grief about her usage of the mornings hot water. She smiled to herself. Oh the many wonders of magic.
Steaming slightly from the heat of the bathroom, she emerged wrapped in a dressing gown, hair under a white mass of towel turban at the top of her head. She glanced at her sleeping dorm mates as she crossed to the mirror. None of them would dream of being up at this ridiculous hour and wouldn't be awake until about half past seven to begin their own morning rituals. As well as her dearest friends Marlene and Dorcas, she shared the room with Emmeline Vance and Beatrice Maloney. Decent enough girls but who mostly stuck with each other.
Turning back to the task at hand she grimaced at the girl staring back at her in the mirror and quickly grabbed that life saver of cosmetics, her concealer, the wonderful product that could transform her from a tired, worn out face into a fresh as a daisy princess. Once suitably concealed she grabbed her transfiguration book and slumped onto her bed, swotting up for the lesson she had the most difficulty in.
By the time her friends were rousing Lily had put the book away, knowing she'd get a talking to by her friends, who both thought she studied too much. This way she could keep herself out of trouble but also have a head start in understanding the days lesson. So when her friends awoke she was sitting plaiting her hair down get back, uniform at the end of the bed.
"Morning" came the groan from Marlene as she trudged to the bathroom. "You're mental for getting up so early"
Lily just smiled and tied her hair.
From her bed however Dorcas watched her shrewdly. "You were just awake getting ready then" she said with a knowing smile. Lily just ignored her and put on her uniform. With Dorcas, sometimes silence was the best response.
Sometimes.
Today Dorcas simply shrugged and pulled herself out of bed. Lucky escape today.
Within half an hour the Gryffindor girls were walking into the Great Hall. As the smell of breakfast hit them, Lily sighed, a smile spreading on her face. As they walked to their normal seats at the Gryffindor table, Lily's eyes fell upon Remus, Sirius, Peter and James. The "marauders" as they were now calling their group, their plates piled high, shoving food in their mouths and laughing amongst themselves. As her eyes fell upon the table James Potter looked up and she found herself meeting his eye, much to her surprise. As she was about to quickly look away, James smiled, and she found the corners of her mouth lifting involuntarily. His smile widened a little before he turned away, pushing Sirius' hand away from his plate with a loud laugh.
Lily quickly put her eyes to the front, disconcerted by this silent exchange but unsure why until she was sat down with a plate of pancakes, syrup and bacon in front of her. As she started to eat she realised why she was so bothered by it. For the past few months there had been no bother from James Potter at all. He barely spoke to her and when he did it was because he had to, he barely even glanced her way, not that Lily had been complaining, in fact she'd barely noticed until just that moment. She shook her head slightly. What did she care what he did as long as he wasn't bothering her? But she had to admit, it was a nice realisation. Perhaps he was finally starting to get over his thing for her.
The rest of the day proceeded apace. By all accounts an ordinary day in the life of Lily Evans, trying to keep her head above the water that threatened to drown her. She could feel herself sinking on some days, the strain to be the best and achieve what she was capable of, dragging her down. She envied James Potter's life today as she sat at lunch, already feeling the effects of the day. To be able to be so carefree was a wonderful dream, but a very far away one in Lily's eyes. There was nothing more important than working to the best of her ability.
The day wore on until finally it was time to stuff their faces once again in the Great Hall. Many students at this time tend to eat slowly, savouring the wonderful food provided for them. Lily however ate as fast as she could, gulping down pumpkin juice hurriedly and bolting out of the Great Hall with a quick wave over her shoulder at her friends who rolled their eyes. Tutoring.
Lily always liked to arrive at the library for her tutoring sessions early. It allowed her time to peruse the stacks of beautiful books and to acquire any she may need for that lesson. Today she was tutoring a second year who was struggling with her charms work. This was the part of the day Lily enjoyed the most, despite the slight indigestion she got from her manic eating. She found herself a quiet spot and put a couple of books on the desk. The door of the library opened and she looked up, smiling as the young girl came in. She waved to her from across the room.
"Hi Rachel, you ready to get to work?"
The young girl nodded hesitantly. She'd only been working with Lily a couple of weeks. Lily smiled and did her best to put her at ease.
"I'm just here to help you remember? We're going to do this together and by the end of the year you'll be able to impress your friends with all the cool tricks I'm going to teach you. So are we ready to work I said?" The girl smiled a genuine smile this time and sat down.
An hour later the pair of them were laughing happily as the quill in front of them changed colour and hovered in the air. "Great job Rachel!" Lily enthused, "I told you that you could do it!"
The girl just grinned and lowered her wand from the quill, "Thanks Lily" she said, "I don't know what I'd do without you"
Lily just smiled, "Same time next week?" she said, gathering up the books.
Rachel nodded, "Are you not coming as well?" she asked.
"Now just yet, I want to grab a few books for myself first" Lily said with a smile, ushering the girl off to her common room with a small wave of her hand.
Lily wandered up and down the aisles, absently running her fingers along the spines of the old books. There was something rather wonderful about this library full of treasures that Lily never quite got over. One book in particular caught her attention. She pulled it gently off the shelf and blew away a small layer of dust off the cover. The Potion Brewers Manual the large gold letters on the front said. She flipped it open in her hands and began to read.
The library turned black and Lily was startled from her reading with a jolt. She glanced at her watch. She'd been reading for hours. It was now almost midnight, way past curfew. "Bugger" she muttered, pushing the book back onto the shelf and creeping to the end of the aisle. She saw Madame Pince the librarian's silhouette in the doorway just before the shut the door. She must have been distracted reading as well, Lily thought to herself. She crept towards the door and listened as the sounds of footsteps disappeared. She turned the handle gently, wincing at the squeak of old metal and wood rubbing together. She slipped carefully out of the door and made her way quickly back to Gryffindor tower.
After a small argument outside the common room with the fat lady who wanted to know why she was so late back Lily finally allowed herself to relax, collapsing to the floor against the now closed portrait door. She let out her breath in a huff. That was when she heard it. The squeak of an armchair as someone quickly vacated it. "Bugger it all" she muttered. She'd been hoping there would be no one in the common room at this time, that her little misdemeanor would go unnoticed.
"Wow Lily what happened?" came a voice which made her freeze. Of course it was going to be him. She glanced upwards to the sound of the voice prepared to give the intruding boy a piece of her mind when she saw the look of concern on his face. James Potter? Concerned about her?
"I lost track of time in the library" she found herself saying. Oh merlin why did she have to engage in conversation with him?
"Just a little" James said with a laugh, walking over and holding out a hand to help her up. "You gonna sit there all night?"
Lily rolled her eyes but took his hand, pulling herself upright. She released her hand quickly and rubbed her arms, trying to rid it of the tingling that had coursed through her. "And why are you up so late on your own Potter?" she asked, a slight bite in her voice as she glance dover to where he'd been sitting. A single book sat on the chair. "You were reading?" she asked incredulously and before he could stop her she'd darted over and grabbed the book. As she read the title she stopped. "You're reading a muggle book" she said quietly.
"Yeah?" he said defensively, taking the book away from her, "So what?"
"Nothing" Lily said, "I just wouldn't have expected you of all people to be reading Peter Pan..." she trailed off, confusion written on her face.
James rolled his eyes. "And why's that? Because I'm a pure blood? Because I'm supposedly elitist and concerned with peoples blood status? In case you hadn't noticed Evans. None of those things have ever mattered to me so why should it, I ask you, be a big deal for me to read a muggle book if I so please"
"I never said that" Lily shot back quickly, "You just don't find many people of non magical bloodlines reading muggle literature so excuse me for taking an interest!"
James smiled a little, throwing Lily off guard who was about to fall back into their common argumentative times. "Have you read it?" he asked
"Of course I've bloody read it Potter" she said, trying to prevent the smile from creeping onto her face.
"Did you like it?" he asked, looking somewhat like a puppy in his excitedness.
"Loved it" Lily replied. She gave a small yelp as James pulled her over to one of the sofas and pulled her down onto it next to him. As he rifled through the pages quickly she shuffled a little further away from him. Being that close to him made her feel rather queasy.
"I just think the way he writes about flying, for a muggle is just brilliant" James said after a moment, pointing at the page he'd found "It's almost like he'd really experienced it but of course he couldn't have he's a muggle but he explains it so perfectly" he looked over at Lily and grinned, a big goofy grin that spread across his face, so different from the crooked smile he tended to show to everyone. No, this smile was endearing where the other was annoying.
"The reason birds can fly and we can't is simply because they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings" Lily said quietly, quoting a line from the book. "I was so excited when we started flying lessons in first year because I remembered the book and thought it would be simply marvelous" she said with a distant smile.
There was a moment of quiet before James said. "And was it?"
Lily's smile faded, "It was until I plummeted swiftly to the ground and broke my arm while you all laughed" she said slightly bitterly. "After that I guess I lost my faith"
The pair of them stared at the fire, usually roaring but now dulled down to a soft shimmering of the embers. "I didn't realise." James said and Lily looked over at him. "I'm sorry for laughing" he said solemnly
Lily waved his apology away dismissively. "It's fine, I'm sure it was rather funny to see" she said, "But I've never been able to fly since" she said with a small shrug
The silence this time was more prolonged, however Lily found that it wasn't uncomfortable. She realised all of a sudden this was probably the first decent conversation she'd had with James Potter.
"Well that settles it" James broke the silence jumping to his feet. "We've got to fix that" he said with a grin and held out his hand to Lily. "Do you trust me Lily Evans?"
Lily gave him a dubious look and didn't reach out her hand. "No" she replied
James just laughed, "What is it that Peter says? All you need is faith, trust and..."
"Pixie dust" Lily joined in with the end of the quote. "Well unfortunately I don't possess any of those Potter so whatever hair brained scheme you've got in mind is not going to work"
"Well you've got me there" James said sullenly, before pulling his wand out of his back pocket and making golden spark cascade over her. "Will that do Wendy Darling?" he asked with a coy smile, offering his hand once again.
"I can't believe I'm doing this" Lily muttered to herself before taking his hand and allowing herself to be pulled of the sofa once again.
James grinned "Come on," he said darting quickly for the portrait door. He pulled out a piece of parchment from his pocket and pointed his wand at it, muttering something. Lily, curious tried to look over his shoulder to see but he simply swatted her away and put the parchment back in his pocket after another tap.
"What was that?" Lily asked quietly, once they were outside the common room and creeping down the corridor.
James simply smiled, "That, is my secret weapon" he said, "Come on, over here" he gestured towards a large tapestry and before Lily could object pulled it to the side and pushed her through a small archway that was hidden behind it. Lily stopped to take in the passageway that led downwards in spiralling steps but was pushed forward again by James saying, "Move along Evans, there'll be enough time for gawping another day"
It seemed to Lily that the stairs would continue on forever. The passage was dark with sparse light from the odd blazing torch on the walls that illuminated a few feet in front of them and nothing more. The smell of old stone filled Lily's nose and made the air seem thicker than it was. Using their wands for extra light they maneuvered their way down further and further, to what Lily thought was the depths of the Earth. Looking back later she would've come to realise that they had been in the enclosed passageway for no more than five minutes at best, the anxiety of what she was doing clouding her judgement of time.
When they finally emerged, after James looked at his parchment again, Lily noticed that they were one corridor along from the entrance hall. Instead of taking them towards there as Lily expected James pulled her by the arm in the opposite direction. Lily would've protested at such manhandling if not for her fear at being caught that had left her tongue tied.
Eventually James led them outside, through a side entrance to the grounds. It was then that Lily noticed a slight problem in James' plan. "Erm...James..." she said quietly. "There's just one teeny tiny problem I can see"
James stopped suddenly and turned to face her, a big grin on his face, "You called me James" he said incredulously.
Lily folded her arms, "Sorry" he said quickly, "There's a problem you say?"
"Yes" Lily said, wishing now she hadn't called him James and she wouldn't have had to have to seen that look on his face, a look of pure happiness and she found herself unable to fully regret it. She stumbled over her words a little, "Well...if you were planning on flying...well, you don't have a broom"
At this James just gave her his crooked smile and said, "Well that is very easily rectified Lily" he said and raised his wand. The sound of wind filled her ears as a dark shape fly from the Quidditch broom closets. With the skill of a seasoned chaser he caught the broom in his hands as it flew at him.
Lily raised an eyebrow, actually rather impressed but loathe to admit it. James swung his leg over the broom and turned back to look at her, "You coming or not?" he said, "Come on I won't let you get hurt." he held out a hand to her.
Lily held back, fear keeping her rooted to the spot. She hadn't been on a broom since that one day and the memory kept gnawing at her, taunting her.
"The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it" James said quietly.
"Oh quit quoting Barrie at me" she moaned, but a smile had crept onto her face. Now Lily are you a lion or not, she asked herself. "Too right I am" she muttered and grabbed James' hand, hooking her leg over the broom.
"Right then, hold on tight" James said, a smile in his voice as he pulled her hand t around his waist. Lily griped on as if her life depended on it and James choked out, "Perhaps not quite that tight, I need to breathe"
"Oh" Lily let go slightly, "Sorry" but her apology was lost as without any warning James pushed off from the ground and suddenly they were in the air. Lily couldn't help but let out a small shout of fear and buried her head into James' back. She felt rather than heard the rumble of his laugh and couldn't help but smile slightly. Ever so slowly she pulled her head away from his back, while keeping a tight hold on him and looked out at where they were.
"Merlin..." she murmered as she took in the sight. The castle loomed out of the dark, star studded sky, a few odd lights illuminating the windows but the majority only visible as a darker shade against the sky. Up in the sky you got a full understanding of how large the grounds of Hogwarts was. She could see smoke coming from the gamekeeper Hagrid's hut, she could see the shadows of the Forbidden forest stretching as far as she could see in the darkness. "This is amazing" she said, leaning closer to James so he could hear her.
James grinned and simply replied, "You ready for stage two?"
"What's stage tw-!" but Lily's question was cut off as James leant forward on the broom and they shot off at speed into the darkness. For a minute all Lily could do was hold on as if her life depended on it, but as she gained confidence in James' ability to fly she allowed herself to relax and enjoy the experience of the wind rushing through her hair, she leant away from him slightly, savouring the feeling and let out a delighted laugh. As if encouraged by this James put on a fresh burst of speed and Lily clung back on but not without letting out a whoop of joy.
They flew closer to the forest, James making the broom rise just over the trees. Without warning he let go of the broom with one hand and reached down to the leaves. He slowed down slightly and pulled something from the tree before circling them back around again towards where they'd come from.
He landed them gently and with ease and offered his hand to lily to help her dismount. Lily accepted it gratefully, aware of how the adrenaline was making her hands and legs shake. "My goodness I can see why you do that so much!" Lily said breathlessly, running a shaking hand through her hair realising as she did so that she was mimicking James' own signature move when wanting to look like he'd got off a broom recently. "That was amazing!" she proclaimed, spinning around in her excitement.
James simply laughed and shook his head incredulously at her. He had never seen this side of Lily and he had to admit he loved it. The whole ride had been surreal for him, having her holding onto him and feeling her sitting right behind him might've distracted him quite severely if he hadn't pulled himself together very quickly. "I take it you enjoyed yourself then?" he asked, swinging his leg over the broom and standing it up to his side. He was taken by surprise as Lily flung her arms around him.
"So much!" she said, "Thank you thank you thank you" she exclaimed holding him tight for a minute before realising what she was doing and let go rather sheepishly, "Sorry about that" she said bashfully, but was relieved when James just smiled.
"You are very welcome Lily" he said with his big goofy smile. "I'm glad I managed to break you out of your flying slump" He glanced at his watch, "We should be heading back"
Lily nodded, rather disappointed that her evening was over. The journey back up to Gryffindor Tower passed far quicker in reverse. Before she knew it, they were back inside the common room, almost as if nothing had happened. She glanced at her watch. It was almost half past one in the morning. She turned to James with a smile, "Thank you" she repeated, "For tonight, I had such an amazing time"
James smiled slightly, "Don't mention it, it was my pleasure" He reached into his pocket and pulled something out. "Here, I have something for you" He took her hand and placed it in her palm. It was an acorn.
Lily smiled, "A kiss" she said, "How thoughtful" Her hand closed around the gift. "I'm just sorry I couldn't give you anything in return"
James shrugged, "You don't need to give me anything else than that you enjoyed yourself, that's a gift in itself" he stepped a little closer to her. "You work too hard Lily" he said, "I just want to see you relax a little and have some fun" He smiled and stepped back again. "Goodnight Lily" he said with a small bow
"Goodnight James" Lily replied, bobbing a little curtsy with a laugh before turning towards the stairs to the girls dormitory.
"Oh Lily?" She turned around to see James at the steps to the boys dormitory. "I'd be grateful if you didn't tell anyone about the...er..." he waved the book he was now holding in his hand, "Sirius would have a field day if he found out" he said with a small laugh.
Lily smiled, "Don't worry Potter" she said, "Your secret is safe with me"