Never Let Me Go

Oneshot #12

By: Sunlit Days

"Looks like we've finally found something the amazing James Potter can't do after all," teased Lily Evans, as her boyfriend tumbled to the smooth, glassy surface of the skating rink.

James scowled, but his eyes were sparkling. Lily twirled gracefully in a circle, red hair fanning out around her, then extended her gloved hand to help James up.

"I like Quidditch so much better," James mumbled under his breath.

"You can't be good at everything, you know," retorted Lily, still holding onto James's hand. She began to skate a little faster. The cold December air stained her cheeks cherry-blossom pink, and James found himself admiring how beautiful she was. Her lips were curved into a smile that lit up her whole face, and her hair danced around her shoulders. Lily glided across the ice with ease, and with a grace that James didn't know she possessed, as she was somewhat clumsy even on flat, non-slippery surfaces.

"Why are you so good at this?"

"My sister and I used to take lessons when we were younger," replied Lily.

"Well, it obviously didn't help your balance off the ice," muttered James, who had watched Lily trip over her own feet on multiple occasions. He smirked, imagining Lily's sister, Petunia, who he'd just had the misfortune of meeting a few days prior, ice skating.

Lily slowed down and smiled sweetly. "I could let you fall," she warned, trying and failing to sound threatening. "Then we'll see who's talking."

"But you wouldn't."

She let go of his hand and pushed him, but not with enough force to make him fall. James staggered and lost his balance anyway.

Lily raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that?" she giggled.

James held his hand out to her and pulled her down next to him and burst out laughing. Lily glared at him, but she was laughing, too. The sound of their laughter echoed through the chilly winter evening.

The reflection of the glittering city lights shimmered and gleamed on the ice, illuminating the delicate spirals that had been engraved on its surface by the blades of the ice skates. A light flurry of snow was just beginning to fall from the sky. Lily smiled at James, who was drawing closer and closer to her…

His lips grazed against hers, innocently, but full of passion. Lily pressed her lips harder to his, and the kiss deepened, becoming more fervent and heated. James's arm snaked around Lily's waist, drawing their bodies closer together. Neither of them noticed a figure wearing a red and gold scarf coming quickly at them until something heavy landed across their legs. They broke apart, startled.

"Hi, Prongs. Hi, Lily," said Sirius Black cheerfully, apparently unaware that he had just interrupted them, or maybe he just didn't care. He untangled himself from James. Lily's face flushed deep pink.

"What are you doing here?" demanded James.

"Nice to see you, too," muttered Sirius, looking crestfallen as he pondered the idea that someone could actually be unhappy to see him, and even more so when he realized that it was true. He brightened immediately, however when he saw two Muggle girls looking at him with interest and nudging each other.

"You do realize that you're snogging in the middle of an ice rink…"

Lily and James looked up and saw Remus Lupin looking at them with an expression somewhere between amusement and disapproval, an expression he frequently wore when he was round his friends. Lily blushed even more.

"There's hardly anyone here," James pointed out, scowling at his friend. He clearly didn't appreciate being interrupted any more than Lily did. "And it's not the middle; that's already taken." He pointed at a couple entwined in the middle of the rink.

"What are you doing here?" asked Lily, repeating James's question with a bit less hostility.

"Well, we've never been ice skating before…" began Sirius.

"And you had to pick tonight, when you knew we'd be here?" said James incredulously.

Sirius grinned sheepishly. James swatted him on the back of the head.

"Where's Peter?" inquired Lily, more to distract Sirius from hitting James back than anything else—she still hadn't quite warmed to Peter, despite the fact that he was one of James's best friends. He seemed sweet, but there was something about him that bothered her, something she couldn't quite put her finger on. But she knew that if Remus and Sirius were here, Peter had to be around somewhere.

Sirius indicated the side of the skating rink, where Peter was holding a steaming Styrofoam cup of hot chocolate. "He doesn't ice skate," he explained.

Lily tried to get rid of the bad metal image of Peter ice skating, then realized that her jeans were soaked through from sitting on the ice for so long. She stood up, grateful and somewhat surprised that she hadn't actually frozen to the ice. James was glaring at Sirius, who Remus quickly hauled to his feet.

"So you came to spy on us?" muttered Lily to Remus, laughing.

"He came to spy on you," Remus corrected her.

"Next time, at least try to be a little more subtle," said Lily, rolling her eyes and trying not to laugh as James attempted to stand up. Remus and Sirius didn't bother to hide their laughter. After a moment, Lily took pity on him and helped him up. "Falling on top of someone isn't exactly the best way to stay undercover."

"So we've finally found the one thing James can't do," said Sirius, ignoring her comment. "Congratulations, Lily."

Lily pretended to bow. James attempted to hit Sirius again, but lost his balance and almost toppled over onto a small boy who was skating past.

"Let's take a break," suggested Lily, as Sirius managed to steady James, and Remus apologized profusely to the terrified boy.

As they skated off the rink after Remus and Sirius, James grabbed Lily's hand. She turned around, smiling at him as they lingered behind their friends.

"Promise me you'll never let me go," James whispered, suddenly serious.

Lily wasn't sure if he was just referring to ice skating. "I promise," she murmured.

James put his arm around her and pulled her closer, lips brushing against hers.

And this time, no one interrupted them.