AN: I haven't given up on this story. I promise. Sorry about the delay and I hope the length of this chapter makes up for it a bit!
Travel.
Emmeline Vance and Lily Evans had been forced to go camping.
Lily's parents had had enough of the two teenagers lounging around the house complaining of the unseasonably hot British weather and had suggested (or rather demanded) a camping trip to the New Forest. In the Evans' defence, the girls had not required much persuasion as the idea had appealed immensely; a chance to get away from Petunia and her new boyfriend, get away from Lily's mother who enforced hourly applications of sun tan lotion and to possibly meet some people their own age in order to waste a few days. They had invited Alice Prewett but she had been busy trying to woo Frank Longbottom with trips to the beach in tempting swim wear.
So the two sixteen year olds had ventured off to the New Forest and had found a quaint muggle campsite where they could wile away a week.
"Do you reckon Alice has managed to persuade Frank to go skinny dipping yet?"
The question was so unexpected that Lily ended up spitting out the mouthful of elderflower cordial that she had gulped just mere seconds ago.
"What? That's an entirely inappropriate topic for young ladies, such as ourselves, to be discussing." Lily replied with a raised eyebrow and a smile that could only be described as a smirk.
"I'm just saying...sex on the beach isn't just a cocktail, Lily."
This, of course, sent the two girls into fits of giggles which were only interrupted by the sound of grunting. Glancing sideways at Emmeline, Lily nodded towards the bushes from where the noise seemed to be generating. In an unspoken agreement, the two girls slid from their chairs and crept towards the bush that divided their pitch from what sounded like a rather frustrated troll. Stifling more giggles, Lily peered through the foliage to witness someone wrestling with a tent and losing. The stranger's whole body was covered by the canvas which appeared to be draped on their head whilst they struggled with the complex system of poles and pegs which would give support to the entire structure.
With the amusement of a spectator, Lily bit her lip and tried to quell the bubble of laughter lodged in her throat as vague threats and curses could be heard. After watching the hapless struggle for a few minutes, the red head finally took some pity on the poor camper and stood upright. Emmeline hissed and tried to tug her back into the shrubbery but it was too late as Lily cleared her throat.
"Excuse me, do you need any help?"
The struggle from within the tent ceased the instant her concern was voiced and Lily looked at Emmeline with a comical expression of confusion which set the blonde off again. Her laughter died into a choke as her eyes widened in an expression of disbelief and horror. Lily looked up, wondering what had caused such a reaction in her friend.
There, standing with a tent around his shoulders like a cloak and holding what looked suspiciously like a set of instructions, stood James Potter.
Glasses and all.
Lily felt her jaw drop.
James looked embarrassed.
"Er...alright, Evans? A hand would be good if the offer still stands." He shrugged the tent from around his shoulders and ran a hand nervously through his hair.
"What...what are you doing here?" Lily demanded, shock colouring her tone.
"...struggling?" James looked awkwardly between the two female teenagers and attempted a smile that more closely resembled a grimace.
She balked at his completely nonchalant reaction. Lily's eyes narrowed as she realised, with sudden clarity that was not entirely uncharacteristic for her, that James was not surprised to see her. He was not stunned at the mere coincidence that they were both at the same campsite, at the same time, on adjacent pitches.
Her suspicions were confirmed when she noted the tips of his ears turning pink.
"How did you know we were here, Potter?" She made a mental leap and hoped she sounded thoroughly disgusted. "Have you been reading my owl post again?"
Her temper was quickly rearing its ugly head and James seemed to register the warning signs as he quickly rebuffed her stalker-ish notions.
"Now, now, Evans. It's not all about you, you know." His typical Potter smirk was plastered across his face as he took in Lily's rapidly flushing cheeks. "Besides, the Ministry threatened to suspend me from Hogwarts if I kept interfering with your post." His outward bravado had slipped somewhat during his confession.
Lily's temper was slowly rising but James was saved an untimely end by the appearance of Sirius Black. The dark haired boy came hurtling towards James, panting and puffing, clearly overlooking the presence of Lily still half hidden in the shrubbery.
"Prongs! Prongs I can't find the girls anywhere. Are you sure this is the right camp site? I will be royally pis-ow!" Sirius yelped as James, rather hastily, stamped on his foot to shut him up. "What was that for?" Sirius followed James' sharp nod and finally acknowledged Lily and Emmeline. "Oh."
There was a pause of awkward silence.
"Fancy seeing you two here! What a coincidence indeed. It's as if the stars had pre-determined it themselves. If this isn't just the greatest example of destiny I don't kno-"
"Shut up, Padfoot!" James glared at his friend and his over theatrical antics. "I knew I should have brought Moony."
"You wound me, Prongs." Sirius gasped dramatically.
The banter continued until Lily Evans snapped.
"Enough!" Both boys turned to look at her with alarm colouring their expressions. "I'm only going to ask this once; how did you know we were here?"
"Oh we just...heard on the grape vine that you might be holidaying in these parts." James looked sufficiently awkward and Lily knew he was being purposefully vague.
"Thought we'd come and spice things up a bit for you." Sirius added, winking at Emmeline who was untangling bracken from her hair. "Little, blonde sources were very insistent that we came to keep you ladies company."
James stamped on Sirius' foot again and shut his eyes with exasperation as the cogs turned in Lily's head.
"Little. Blonde. Sources?" The redhead ground out, her eyes practically glowing. "I'm going to kill Alice."
James and Sirius winced at the same time with almost identical expressions of guilt on their faces at being caught out. Lily wasn't considered the brightest witch of her year for nothing.
"Well...now that we're all here, what do you two say to a little exploring?" Sirius broke the uneasy silence with a nod of his head towards the trees lining the edge of the campsite.
"Sure!" Emmeline agreed before Lily could open her mouth to protest. When the redhead turned to look at her taller friend she noticed, almost instantly, the tell-tale blush creeping across her high cheekbones and the coy smile dancing around her lips.
"Traitor." Lily hissed at her friend. Emmeline rolled her eyes and gave an apologetic shrug but moved closer to Sirius nonetheless. The two began walking towards the line of trees chatting about summer and about how excited they were for their next year at Hogwarts.
"Come on, Evans; an hour in my company won't kill you." James gave her a tight lipped grin and turned to follow in the path of his fellow Gryffindors. Lily sighed.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that." She muttered as she jogged to catch up to her three classmates. They reached the edge of the campsite rather quickly and found, to Sirius' delight and Emmeline's dismay, a shoulder high fence with a crude sign reading 'KEEP OUT' in bold, black lettering. The girls stopped in their tracks assuming that their adventure had reached a rather anti-climactic conclusion.
Sirius wasn't going to let a fence stop him from exploring in the woods.
Both boys went right up to the fence and Sirius tested the strength of the wooden posts with a sturdy kick. The whole structure swayed rather ominously which brought a grin to the black haired youth's lips.
"Over here, Em. I'll give you a boost." He crouched and locked his hands together so that she could use him as a climbing frame. Far from looking aghast, Lily was horrified to note the excitement on her friend's face as she used Sirius' shoulders to hoist herself up.
"Guys, it says 'keep out'. I really don't think we should go in there. What if we get caught?" Lily bit her lip as she watched Emmeline scramble over the twisted fencing.
"Oh, come on, Evans!" Sirius rolled his eyes at her as he hopped the fence rather athletically, much to the consternation of Emmeline. "Where's your sense of adventure? Fun? Where's that Gryffindor courage?" He taunted her from beyond the barrier of the fence. Lily bristled and straightened her shoulder as she all but sneered at him.
"Some of us are considered morally upstanding citizens." Emmeline snorted from beside Sirius and further irritated Lily. "Some of us are good girls." The red head folded her arms across her chest and stuck her chin out defiantly at the pair beyond the fence. They shrugged and moved towards the line of trees to their left, intent on investigating what was so important that it needed the public to be fenced out. Or what was so dangerous that it needed to be fenced in.
James was leaning against the mangled fence studying her. His eyes were dark and he looked like he was trying to figure out a particularly difficult Rune translation.
"What?" Lily finally snapped with embarrassment for being considered the 'boring' one again and with annoyance at her friend who was very quick to disappear into the woods with Sirius.
"You know what they say about good girls, don't you?" He pushed himself off the fence to stand in front of her, closer than she was entirely comfortable with but far enough away to not be invading her personal space. Lily rolled her eyes at him and pre-empted an insult.
"Let me guess: they're boring? No, no...they always finish last?"
James gave her a strange look and a half smile that did funny things to her stomach.
"No. Good girls go to heaven."
Her eyes narrowed at him and she wondered what he was up to. There was a taunting light in his eyes and she wanted to steal the quirk of his lips but, as usual, she couldn't read him. She turned to go back to her tent, intent on reading a good book and waiting for a call from the police, but was stopped by the sound of his voice.
"But the bad girls? Evans, they go everywhere."
There was something about his voice, something about the way his eyes seemed to know the exact rhythm of her frantically beating heart and she found herself turning back around to face him. Slowly, he extended his hand to help her over the fence. With Gryffindor blood singing through her veins and James' smile imprinted in her memory she bit her lip and gingerly placed her hand in his.