A/N: Thanks to last week's reviewers: hoopsgirl, Lianne, Meeeee, kurofsky (hmm, good song choices—except the Biebs, sorry, I just can't do that ;) But I never considered "Hello" before, though now that you mention it….yes, I can definitely see that), WhereIsMyThumpThump, lilyandjames53 (Gryffindor tower….I'll consider it ;)), ottoismydog (Probably just going to end pretty much with them getting together, which I know some people will hate. But I DID warn you straight off with my very first author's note…..haha), jigsandreels, Elizabeth Lullaby, existence 555, , WobblyJelly, junebugbug96, Pandasrule7, swishflick, SeriouslySiriusBlack (haha, that song was amusing—as was the video clip), SucksRoyalHippogriff, jak23, Lucius Malloy (are you kidding? Of course I read all my reviews! I love them! And all of you!), livibug (hope you had a good V-day as well!), weasleytwins12, ZoneSystems, Miss larien, Abi, seriouslyblak, WaveRider53, EchoNightFall22, Jenn222 (I love chips and salsa!), viva gal, romiofinchel24, starlight564, movinggirl (no immediate plans for stories after this, but who knows?), Bittersweet x (Oh. My. God. You've never seen AVPM? This is a joke, right? You….you have to go watch it. Like, right now. In fact, I will withhold future chapters from you until you do (and after reading this one, trust me, you will NOT want that). Okay, so I can't ACTUALLY do that, but….haha, no, I don't mean to antagonize you. But seriously. It is SO GOOD! On a different note, your plans to off A.J. amuse me.), arelli-black, PoseidonsLittleGirl, IIManzaII, dopey4dobby, Evisawesome (This is going to sound weird, but I've never actually had writer's block. Not significantly, anyway. I mean, there have been times when I've been approaching the end of my detailed plans for stories and I'm like, shit, where am I going with this? As was the case with all the seventh year chapters for this story, for instance. But then I somehow come up with stuff. So, maybe taking a break is good? Or a nap—I only say that because my best ideas seem to come to me when I'm falling asleep ;) Sorry I can't be of more help—good luck!), exwindz, Emotionsonhold, hp lover 101, Tribot, Nour, RavenSoulSister, Cassie Cayne, Elless, theycallherkaush, Marinewife0908, merlincrazy, Marauder'sGirlCuzI'mUp2NoGood, Penflyer, xxjenlovexx, MisszMarauder, Hulio, Ace-reporter, GriffinRose, Dancethroughlife, and xLycheeRAiN!
WHEW that paragraph was long!
Several of you were curious about the songs on my Marauder's playlist, so I've listed some of them at the end. I have about fifty on there, but a third probably only make sense to me, and another third are kind of on there as a joke (which ALSO probably only makes sense to me), so I've tried to keep it limited to the more obvious ones!
I found it interesting that several of you mentioned this week how much you're hoping for an L/J kiss sometime soon, "A.J. be damned" and all that…..and that's all I'm going to say about it ;)
Previously, on Resolution: Lily and Mary sit with Remus and Peter at Gryffindor's Quidditch match of the season. They talk about Remus's and Peter's dismal flying skills, and Lily mentions that one of the things on James's "list" is teaching her to fly properly. Drama unfolds at the match after party with Lily forcing Remus to talk to his crush and James being an idiot as usual. Lily and James row about him being an irresponsible git and he accuses Lily of being a boring swot. She quickly learns that the true cause of everything is the fact that it's the anniversary of his father's death. Bonding ensues ;)
And now, as promised, on to the sabotage! (among other things, of course)
Chapter 30: Hold On
By the time James and I returned to the common room after rounds, it was empty (which initially surprised me, until I remembered that the party had started at about two o'clock, and was therefore quite reasonably over by ten). So it wasn't until the next morning at breakfast that I learned the other momentous news from the previous night.
"You're sure it was an actual girl, though?" James asked Sirius for the third time.
"Yep," he said with a grin.
"And neither of them were drunk?" Peter asked skeptically.
"Nope," Sirius replied. "Well, not that I could tell, but I was a little tipsy myself, so . . ."
"That's—I can't even—" James started.
"Me neither, Prongs," Sirius said.
"You're all being pricks," I said, frowning admonishingly at each of them in turn. "Just because you're sore that no girls would consent to snog you last night—"
"Only because I was rudely interrupted," James cut in.
"And maybe I was just exercising my free will not to snog," Sirius added with dignity.
Ignoring James's comment, I replied to Sirius, "Gone through all the desperate ones, then, have you?"
"I won't pretend to know what you're talking about, Evans."
I rolled my eyes. "Right, okay."
Mary sat down beside me just then. "Morning all," she greeted cheerily.
"Morning," James and Peter chorused.
"Hi, Mary," I said.
"Remus snogged a girl last night," Sirius informed her by way of greeting.
Mary raised her eyebrows. "Bully for him."
Sirius frowned. "Why does no one else consider this to be an earth-shattering occurrence?"
"Maybe because they haven't known him as long as we have," Peter suggested.
"That makes little to no sense, Wormtail," Sirius dismissed.
"Who was the girl?" Mary asked, but Sirius just shrugged unconcernedly. My best friend snorted and continued, "Well, so much for 'earth-shattering'—you didn't even bother to find out her name?"
"It's hardly the important detail," Sirius retorted, as though this should have been obvious. "She was quite fit," he added, almost as an afterthought.
"Which is the important detail, of course," I said sardonically.
Sirius grinned at me. "Right you are, Evans."
"Well, Lily knew who it was, didn't you?" James asked before I could tell Sirius off for being so superficial.
"Yes—at least, I think so. Remus told me earlier that night—and by that I mean I cleverly deduced and then forced it out of him—that he fancied Carin . . . something; you know, that Ravenclaw seventh year who—"
"She's in our Care of Magical Creatures class, I think," Peter interrupted thoughtfully.
"Yeah, that's right," I said.
"What I don't understand is how he could have failed to mention her to us," James said, sounding offended.
"Yes, shocking, isn't it?" I said dryly. "Because you'd all clearly have been completely supportive and never teased him about it at all."
"Well, of course we'd have teased him," Sirius insisted. "I mean, we always teased Prongs about—" James coughed pointedly, and Sirius seemed to suddenly decide against his original words—"girls," he finished.
I'd have bet my life he'd been about to say my name, but I decided to be the bigger person and let it go. Well, almost. I couldn't help muttering, "Subtle," just loud enough for James to hear, though he gave no sign that he had.
"So where is Remus, then?" Mary inquired.
"Probably hiding from this lot," I said.
"He can't stay away forever," Sirius said in a sing-song voice, grinning evilly.
OOOOOOOO
Which was true, of course—as he had every class with at least one of the other Marauders, Remus really couldn't avoid them much past breakfast. He did do a commendable job of trying, though. He didn't sit with them during our morning Transfiguration lesson, was mysteriously absent at lunch, and when Slughorn asked us to partner up in the afternoon's double potions lesson, Remus practically sprinted up to my table.
"Want to pair up, Lily?" he asked quickly, shooting Mary a pleading look at the same time.
"Sure," I said, taking pity on my friend and trying not to smile at the same time.
Mary obligingly moved to partner Peter, while Sirius and James loudly barraged Remus for being a poor sport.
He shook his head, muttering, "Gits," as he pulled out his potions book. Turning suddenly to me with a suspicious look, he added, "You're not going to take the mickey out too, are you?"
"Now, Remus, I can't believe you think I would stoop as low as those two," I said in an affronted tone.
"Good," he sighed in relief.
"Though, might I make one suggestion? They're only going on like this because you're letting it get to you so much."
Remus sighed again. "Yeah, I know. Still, I learned long ago to let them have their fun for a few solid days—it's much less likely to come up again unexpectedly later on, that way. They'll get bored soon enough, and move on."
I considered this for a moment. "That's actually rather brilliant of you," I said. "I always knew you were smartest Marauder."
Remus grinned, and we started compiling the ingredients for today's Forgetfulness Potion.
When we reached the point where it was supposed to simmer for half an hour, I turned to Remus and said, "So, I suppose I should say 'you're welcome.'"
He raised his eyebrows. "Is that so?"
"Of course it is!" I insisted, crossing my arms indignantly. "You wouldn't have even spoken to her last night if it wasn't for me."
"Well, don't we think highly of ourselves?"
"Oh come on, Remus, you were all ready to convince me you hadn't been staring at her for the—"
"I was not staring at her. And anyway, I think I deserve full credit for the actual snogging bit."
"Well, that's true," I allowed. "How exactly did that come about anyway?"
Remus reddened slightly and didn't answer.
I sighed. "You're no fun. This is why girls are much better to talk to for this type of stuff. Maybe I should become friends with Carin . . ."
"Absolutely not," Remus said warningly.
"I'm joking, Remus, honestly; do you always have to be so serious?"
He looked at me sharply. "You sound like James."
I wrinkled my nose. "I need to stop doing that. Well, anyway, are you two an 'item' now, then?"
Remus grinned. "Who, James and I?"
I made a frustrated noise in the back of my throat. "No—you know who I meant."
This time Remus just shrugged.
I rolled my eyes. "Boys," I grumbled. "Something to think about, maybe?" I suggested pointedly, though I smiled to let him know I was mostly teasing.
"I guess," he replied, not smiling back.
I frowned. "What?"
Remus looked at me for a moment, and I got the distinct impression he was trying to telepathically communicate something to me.
When he glanced away again, I said lightly, "I've always been rubbish at Divination, you know, so you're going to have to spell it out for me, Remus."
"I don't really know what to say," he muttered after a moment. "To Carin, I mean."
"It's rather simply, really," I assured him. "Something along the lines of 'Hey Carin, I really like you, and I think it'd be great if we were more than mates so that I can snog you anytime I like, instead of just when we're both drunk at a party' would probably work."
Remus glared at me. "We were not drunk," he protested.
"And I was trying to be funny—do I need to make the serious comment again?"
"No," he said. "Sorry. It's just . . . I don't know how to . . . I mean, what is she going to think about—you know."
Finally realizing what he was worried about, I wondered briefly why it'd taken me so long to cotton on. Merlin, I was a crap friend sometimes. "Oh," I said, trying to think of what to say. "Well, not that I have experience with this or anything," I said, and Remus cracked a smile at that, "but you wouldn't . . . you know, have to tell her right away."
Remus looked at me skeptically. "Right, that'd work," he said sarcastically. "And then what, I'd just spring it on her one day, and see if she runs screaming from the room?"
I winced. "First of all," I said firmly. "I don't think she'll run screaming from the room. And maybe that was bad advice, but you can't let this—your . . . er . . . thing, keep you from . . . you know, happiness." I winced again, this time at myself, and chanced a look at Remus, finding him grinning wryly at me. "Oh shut up, you know what I mean," I said impatiently. "You never thought it'd work out with James and the rest, did you?"
"No," Remus admitted, expression serious once more.
"And who knows? She might think it's sexy," I added as an afterthought, eliciting a surprised laugh from Remus.
"All right, you've made me feel better and all that—you don't have to go making things up."
"I'm not!" I insisted. "Seriously, some girls like all that . . . dark, mysterious stuff."
"Okay, sure. Anyway, thanks for the, er . . . advice," he said, still grinning.
"Are you mocking me?" I asked carefully.
"Absolutely not," Remus said, turning to stir our potion again.
OOOOOOOO
"I heard Remus finally snogged a girl," A.J. commented with a grin as we descended the stairs to the third floor the following Friday evening. It was—speaking of Remus—a full moon, which meant I was without my fellow Head Boy for rounds. I'd been with A.J. when eight o'clock had rolled around, and therefore had to make excuses for James. For some reason, the first thing I'd come up with was that he really had to finish some homework . . . yes, probably the most unbelievable excuse I could have thought up. But somehow, A.J. didn't question it, though I suspected this had something to do with my immediate follow-up invitation that he keep me company on rounds, which he accepted without hesitation.
"I think he'd resent the use of the word 'finally,'" I replied. "But yes, he has now crossed that particular milestone. Although, who knows? Maybe he's snogged hundreds of girls, only this is the first time anyone else ever found out about it."
A.J. snorted. "Remus doesn't exactly seem like the type to have a secret life."
I glanced at him, fighting a wry smile at the irony, though I must have failed at least partially, because—
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I'm not looking at you like . . . anything," I said innocently.
A.J. raised an eyebrow. "Right." But, as usual, he didn't pursue it further, and for some reason it annoyed me this time.
"He's more mysterious than you might think," I couldn't stop myself from retorting, and promptly slapped myself mentally. What the hell are you doing, Lily?
"I suppose you know him better than I do," A.J. consented, looking amused.
I sighed. "You're not one for arguing much, are you?"
My boyfriend frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, you never disagree with me. Or, hardly ever, that is. And you never question anything I say—"
"Because I trust you," A.J. cut in, sounding confused. "And you're always honest, so—"
"How d'you figure that? No, it doesn't matter," I said as A.J. opened his mouth to answer. "But you're wrong—I lie. I lie all the time. Well, okay, not all the time, because I'm horrible at it . . . anyway, the point is, everyone lies, so why would you think I'm some miraculous exception?"
"I . . . um . . . sorry, but do you want me to mistrust you all the time? And fight with you more? Because I think I could come up with a few choice words right now!"
We stared at each other for a moment, before I finally came to my senses and realized I was acting completely mad. "Sorry," I said. "I don't know where all that came from . . . I'm being absolutely ridiculous, I know . . . and of course I'm glad you trust me. Sorry," I repeated.
"It's . . . okay," A.J. said, though his voice was still a little clipped. We didn't speak much for nearly an hour, though it wasn't for lack of trying on my part. I just couldn't seem to think of the right words, but I knew I should say something after my uncharacteristic outburst. Not that outbursts in general from me were uncharacteristic, but in A.J.'s case . . . well, like I'd told him, I couldn't explain what had come over me. After a bit, I wondered why he didn't just go back to the common room; our tense silence wasn't exactly enjoyable. And nothing was preventing him from leaving, since he wasn't obligated to be on rounds with me.
Nor was he allowed, as we'd passed curfew, but I forgot about that until—
"Mr. McMillan," McGonagall's disapproving voice called out from below us as we passed the marble staircase into the Entrance Hall. She was crossing in the direction of the Great Hall, though what business she had in there at this hour, I had no idea.
"Er, yes Professor?" A.J. asked guiltily.
"What are you doing? Curfew began fifteen minutes ago; you should be in your dormitory."
"Well, I was just . . . Lily asked . . . that is, er—" he trailed off, flushing as our Head of House raised an eyebrow, looking unimpressed by his feeble attempt a an excuse. "I'll just . . . go, then. Sorry." He glanced briefly at me, then hurried away in the direction of Gryffindor Tower.
I braced myself for what I knew was coming next.
"Miss Evans, where is Mr. Potter?"
"He's . . . sick," I said lamely.
"Indeed?" McGonagall inquired, sounding unconvinced. "Well then, I assume that if I were to—"
But James chose that unfortunate moment to come bursting through the oak front doors. He skidded to a halt upon spotting McGonagall, and his expression was so obviously that of one 'caught in the act' that I nearly laughed.
McGonagall stared at him for a moment before adding dryly to me, "He looks perfectly healthy to me, Miss Evans."
"Er . . . yes," I said, shooting James an apologetic look over her shoulder. He just shrugged, grinning, and it was this expression that McGonagall caught when she glanced at him again.
"I'm glad you find this amusing, Mr. Potter," she said. "I'll see you in detention tomorrow afternoon, and you had better make sure this never happens again. And I don't want to catch you lying for him anymore, Miss Evans," she added, and with that, she continued along her intended path, disappearing into the Great Hall.
I sighed, descending the stairs at last to meet James at the bottom. "Sorry," I said. "I just . . . didn't really expect to have to come up with an excuse for you to the teachers, and then the first thing I blurted out was that you were sick, but that probably wouldn't have worked anyway, as I'm fairly sure McGonagall would've marched right up to the hospital wing to check if you were there—"
"It's all right, Lily," James interrupted, still grinning in amusement. "I don't mind, really—it's just detention."
"Yes, but . . . I mean, it's unfair that she'll think you skived off just because you were doing something stupid—well, I mean, I guess you were, to a point, but—hang on, aren't you back rather . . . early? And where are Sirius and Peter?"
"We forgot the Map in the knot of the tree where we normally hide it, and only remembered after we'd nearly reached the castle, so I offered to go back for it while they went on—unfortunately, with the cloak. As to being back early—and why we were distracted enough to forget the Map in the first place, actually—it wasn't a good night."
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
James sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Well, sometimes Remus is more . . . wolf-ish than others, and harder to control. We haven't worked out what causes it, but—" He shook his head. "It's just better not to risk it."
I nodded and was about to apologize again for the McGonagall incident when James added, "Well, since the jig's already up—" he jerked a thumb towards the Great Hall—"fancy a walk?" Without waiting for me to answer, he moved to the spare cloaks closet and tossed me one.
"Outside?" I asked as James moved towards the front doors again.
"'Course. I haven't quite gotten my fix yet," he said with a wink.
"Er, all right, then—as long as it's, you know, safe."
"You think I would have suggested it if it wasn't?"
And so we started off across the grounds, which were alternately lit by the full moon and thrown into complete darkness by the shifting clouds overhead. We were in the middle of an unseasonably warm snap, and I smiled in satisfaction at the lack of snow on the grass under my feet. However, as James and I simultaneously lit our wand tips, I couldn't help wondering if this was a stupid idea. I mean, if James thought it was safe, then it probably was, but still . . . I would never forget what had happened the last time I'd wandered around during a full moon.
Thinking about Remus and the other Marauders' monthly escapades, the question was out of my mouth before I realized it would make absolutely no sense to James. "Does it hurt?"
Predictably, he shot me a confused look. "Does what hurt?"
"Sorry—turning into . . . I mean, when you do the whole Animagus . . . thing?"
"No—well, I suppose it almost hurts, but only because you think it should . . . if that makes sense."
"Not particularly."
James grinned. "Well, since me as a stag is much bigger than me as a person, it sort of feels like my muscles and bones are being stretched and pulled—it's an incredibly strange sensation, actually, especially the first time. Wormtail says it feels like someone's trying to force him inside a matchbox," he added, almost as an afterthought.
I made a face. "You're right, that does sound painful."
"But it's not," James replied easily.
"You know, it's something of a miracle that you lot have never been caught coming back into the castle after a full moon before."
"I think possession of an invisibility cloak makes it somewhat less miraculous," James pointed out.
"Yes, but the cloak doesn't block out sound. And it can hardly hide all three of you effectively."
"True," James allowed. "Still, guess we've broken our record now, eh?"
Grimacing, I said, "Sorry." James just grinned again, and in the silence that followed, I found myself remembering my conversation with A.J. that night. "If it helps, I think I may be going insane."
With a crooked smile, James said, "I'm afraid you passed that point a long time ago, Flower."
Beyond shoving him lightly, I ignored his comment. "I just started a fight with A.J. about how we never fight."
James didn't respond at first, and when I looked at him it seemed like he was avoiding my gaze on purpose. It was too dark to make out his expression, but I thought he might have been frowning. Whether in frustration, confusion, or concentration, I couldn't say. Though none of those reactions would really make sense at the moment, anyway.
"Good thing we'll never have to worry about that," he commented finally, and when I glanced over at him again, I was surprised by the intensity in his hazel eyes.
As though by silent agreement, we both stopped walking. Apparently, my voice had forgotten how to function, because it was a moment before I could croak out a response. "Right," I managed eventually, tearing my gaze away from James and starting forward again. As I did, I discovered that our feet were taking us toward the Quidditch pitch. Or at least, it seemed to me like an accident. But when James stopped suddenly beside the stands and turned to me with a mischievous grin, I started to think he might have been leading us here all along.
"Ready?" he asked, any hint that something had passed between us a moment before gone.
I raised my eyebrows. "For what?"
But instead of answering, James moved closer to the stands, squinted along them and, apparently finding whatever he was looking for, tapped them with his wand. Immediately, golden orbs of light shot up at set intervals to hover over the pitch, flooding it with light.
"Who knew?" I said quietly.
"Some matches have been known to run past dark," James explained. "Now just wait there—I'll be right back."
"Why do I get the feeling I should run away instead?" I muttered, and James's laugh echoed out of the changing rooms as he disappeared into them.
He returned shortly carrying two broomsticks, tossing one to me as he neared. Not expecting this, I watched it stupidly as it thumped to the ground. James glanced down at the broom, then up at me, a smirk twisting his lips. "You were supposed to catch that," he informed me.
Glaring at him, I stooped to pick up the broom, suddenly realized James's motivation for bringing us out here. "I'm not doing it," I said abruptly.
"Catching the broom? Well, yes, I realized that."
My glare deepened. "No—flying. I'm not doing it," I repeated.
"Sure you are."
"Nope."
"Yes."
"Absolutely not, Potter."
"Absolutely yes, Evans." We stared at each other for a moment, James with a challenging glint in his eyes, me with a no-way-in-hell look in mine. "Come on, I've even given you Sirius's broom, so you won't have to use one of the disastrously terrible school ones," James wheedled.
"He'll kill you if he finds out."
"Only if you wreck it."
"Which is a distinct possibility."
James frowned at me. "I'm not moving until you get on that broom."
I sighed, resigned to my fate. "Fine." I swung one leg over the broom and gripped it tightly in my hands, nervousness making my stomach flutter uncomfortably.
"Excellent," James said, grinning again. "Now, you'll want to move your hands up on the broom a bit and spread them apart more." He walked over and arranged my hands in the correct position. "And you don't have to kick off that hard from the ground—the broom's already ready to go." I would have thought this a ridiculous thing to say if I couldn't feel the way the previously lifeless piece of wood was now humming under my hands, almost as if it did have a mind of its own . . .
"It's not going to . . . realize I'm not Sirius and throw me off, is it?" I asked before I could help it.
James rolled his eyes. "It's not a horse, Lily."
"That's not what I asked," I muttered, but James ignored me.
"Anyway, after you're up, it's all pretty simple, really. Just lean forward to go faster, pull back to slow down, and lean left or right to turn."
I sighed again. "I really hate you, you know."
"You always were a bad liar, Evans," James replied with a wink, before mounting his own broom.
Sighing in frustration, I tried again. "If I die doing this, I'll kill you," I said threateningly.
"Now, Lily, do you really think I'd let any harm befall you?"
"That depends," I grumbled.
"You're just stalling, Evans."
"All right, fine. Here I go." And before I could chicken out, I took a deep breath, leaned forward slightly, and tapped the ground with my feet.
The broom shot upward faster than I was expecting, and I leaned back instinctively. To my surprise, I slowed to a halt instantly, the broom moving up and down slightly as it hovered in midair. James had soon flown up beside me, and he was grinning in delight—though I wasn't sure if it was happiness at my successful take-off or simply because he loved flying.
"See, that wasn't so bad, right?" he asked.
And it really wasn't. We flew slowly around the pitch once, James keeping up a constant stream of suggestions, which, far from being patronizing as I might have expected, were incredibly helpful. By my second turn past the golden hoops near the changing rooms, I felt like I was actually starting to get the hang of it, and I discovered that it was actually rather fun.
I was a little nervous about getting back on the ground, but that went off without a hitch too. Well, I didn't fall over, at least. Climbing off the broom, I smiled triumphantly at James, who had landed beside me.
Laughing at my expression, he said, "Aren't you glad I forced you to do that?"
Oh damn, it was his idea, wasn't it? "Yes," I said reluctantly. "But now that you've fulfilled all three of your self-assigned obligations, whatever are you going to do with yourself?" I teased.
"Take you on a real broom ride, for starters," James said, and it was only then that I noticed he hadn't fully dismounted yet.
"Excuse me, but that was a 'real' broom ride," I said huffily.
"Oh no, I'm not undermining your, er . . . skills, Flower," James said with a smirk. "But that," he waved his hand vaguely to indicate the sky above us, "was not how I fly. Now stop wasting time and get on!" He tilted his head to indicate the broom behind him.
Knowing that he would (again) refuse to move until I complied with his request, I abandoned my—or rather, Sirius's—broom and swung up behind James. "So this is where you get me killed," I muttered, wrapping my arms around his waist.
"Au contraire, Flower—I am a bloody good flier."
Before I could reply, James kicked off from the ground and we zoomed into the air. Pulling us to a stop fifty feet above the ground, James glanced over his shoulder at me. "You'll want to hold on tighter than that."
"Why? What are y—" I started apprehensively, but I cut myself off with a shriek of surprise as James suddenly leaned almost flat against the broom, causing us to shoot forward towards the opposite end of the pitch. Just before reaching the golden hoops, James pulled the broom up so that we rose even higher, circling over the stands.
"Ready for some loop-the-loops?" James called back to me.
"No!" I yelled, but James paid me no heed, and the sky was soon swinging dizzily above me, the ground flashing past in a whirl of muted color as we looped over and over in midair. I clenched my legs tightly beneath the broom and gripped the front of James's robes in my fists, terrified that I was going to fall off any minute.
I was incredibly grateful when we came to a stop again, and I sucked in several deep breaths, slowly unlocking my limbs from their death grip around James and the broom.
"If you thought that was fun—" James began.
"I didn't," I interjected through clenched teeth.
"—this next bit is going to be brilliant," James finished, ignoring me again. "I love dives."
"Di—oh no. No, no, no, James Potter, don't you dare—"
He dared. My stomach dropped as we suddenly hurtled towards the ground, the rush of air forcing my scream back into my mouth. I buried my face in James's back, but he shouted over his shoulder to me, words nearly lost in the wind streaming past us, "No, you have to look!"
Forcing myself to peak over his shoulder, my stomach lurched again as I realized how close we were to the ground. And it continued to approach at an alarming rate. "James . . ." I started warningly. But he didn't slow down. "James . . . JAMES . . . POTTER!"
I hid my face again, bracing for the inevitable crash, but it never came. When I dared to look, I found that we were skimming over the grass, slowing rapidly and finally stopping near where we'd started.
For a minute I could only sit there, breathing quickly and trembling all over. I could feel that James's breathing had quickened as well, but when I finally managed to clamber off of his broom, I knew the similarities stopped there. While I was certain my expression was frozen in utter terror, he was grinning hugely, hazel eyes alight with excitement.
"You . . . I'm . . . going to . . . you . . ." I stuttered, trying to glare at him, but my eyes refused to narrow from their current popping-out-with-fear state.
"You're shaking like a leaf, Evans," James observed.
"You think?" I retorted flatly.
James laughed, and I turned angrily to walk back up to the castle. Or at least, I tried to. Apparently, my limbs hadn't quite caught up to the fact that I was safely on the ground again, and I nearly tripped after taking one step. But James was suddenly there, grabbing my arm to prevent me falling over.
"Maybe you want to take a second?" he suggested, sounding highly amused.
"I really, really hate you, James Potter," I fumed, though the effect was somewhat ruined by the way my teeth were chattering.
"I know," he replied pleasantly. "But that's—"
His words were cut off by a sudden clap of thunder, and the clouds that had been floating above us all night abruptly let loose with a torrential downpour. James and I sprinted for the changing rooms, James grabbing Sirius's discarded broom as he passed. We burst through the doors, but the shelter was hardly helpful at that point. Both of us were soaked, hair plastered to our heads and cloaks dripping heavily onto the floor. James shut the brooms in a closet, waving his wand to lock it.
"Well?" he asked as he turned to me, shoving his sodden hair out of his eyes.
"Well what?"
"D'you want to wait it out in here, or throw all caution to the wind and make a run for the castle?"
I smiled at his dramatic phrasing. "Either way, we're technically supposed to be done with rounds, so I guess anything we do right now is a risky move."
"Don't you just love that?"
"Not really," I answered, but I was still smiling.
James grinned and opened the door to the grounds. "After you, Flower."
I took one look at the pounding rain, steeled myself, and sprinted out the door. I heard it slam behind me, and James's squelching footsteps joined mine as the two of us ran full out for the dry and warmth of Hogwarts.
"Sorry for scaring you with the diving and such," James shouted to me over the rain.
"It's all right," I called back. "I'll make sure your death is quick and painless."
James's laughter was nearly swallowed by another burst of thunder.
We stumbled up the stone steps and into the Entrance Hall, both slipping a little on the flagstone floor. After he'd caught his breath, James straightened and said, "Well, that was fun. We should do it again some—" He stopped abruptly, eyes widening at something behind me.
Whirling around, I saw immediately what had caught his attention. Mrs. Norris was approaching us silently, lamp-like eyes fixed unwaveringly upon me.
"Shit," I muttered, turning back to James.
"Looks like we're off again," he said, grinning. And with that, he grabbed my hand and yanked me towards the marble staircase. As we whipped around a corner at the top of the stairs, I heard Filch's voice ring out below us, "Stop! STOP!"
Which only made us run faster, of course. I let James take the lead, pulling me through one tapestry, up a flight of stairs, and down a corridor, finally tugging me abruptly behind another tapestry, where we were forced to a stop by the solid wall of stone behind it.
"Are you s-sure we r-r-ran far enough?" I asked, my teeth now chattering from cold.
"Nope," James answered unconcernedly. "But he'll expect us to try and make it all the way back to Gryffindor Tower, so this actually works in our favor. Trust me," he added when I turned in the cramped space to raise an eyebrow at him.
Shaking my head, I turned back to the dusty tapestry in front of me, peeking at the thin line of corridor visible around it.
"You're teeth are really loud," James whispered to me after a moment.
I giggled. "Sor—" I started, but James clapped a hand over my mouth, and I realized why a moment later. Footsteps were approaching down the corridor, and I saw a black streak rush past just before Filch appeared briefly, trotting straight past our hiding spot and muttering to his cat, "We'll catch them soon, my pet."
When the sound of footsteps faded, I breathed a sigh of relief and James removed his hand from my mouth. "We really need to start setting a better example, as Head Boy and Girl," I joked, turning around. But anything else I might have said caught in my throat as I found James looking at me with the same intensity he had out on the grounds. I was suddenly aware that he was still holding my hand. My eyes flicked to his lips, which seemed unexpectedly close to mine. As I met his gaze again, I realized two things simultaneously:
James was going to kiss me. And I was going to let him.
A/N: Ahahaha, I'm so evil with the cliffhangers! Okay, but can you deny that that was fantastic sabotage? Yes, I rather thought so. Anyway, now you see the motivation for posting a day early….yes, I'm not above bribing you all not to hate me. Wait, who are we kidding? You're going to hate me for that ending no matter what, right? Oh, and I couldn't resist throwing in a little Remus/OC action, which wasn't really planned at all until I started writing this chapter, believe it or not. But you can't deny the man deserves some lovin' ;)
As well as the resolution (haha, resolution—get it? okay, that was lame…and have I already made that joke? I feel like I might have….which would be even lamer….) of the cliffhanger, you can also look forward next chapter to some (hopefully) exceptionally great Lily/Sirius bonding, as well as the triumphant return of drunk!Lily.
And, as promised, a sampling of my Marauder's playlist:
Just the Girl by The Click Five (James and Lily—several of you mentioned this one in your reviews, actually, and I have to say I agree!)
Up and Up by Relient K (James
Be My Escape, also Relient K (this is my Sirius in OotP song….really, it's uncanny how well it fits, IMO)
We Are Golden by Mika (Marauders in general, though the first verse kind of reminds me of James and the last of Lupin)
With A Little Help From My Friends by The Beatles (Marauders)
King Of Anything by Sara Bareilles (totally a Lily to James song)
Out There by Sister Hazel (Lupin(/Tonks))
Only The Good Die Young by Billy Joel (James to Lily)
As Lovers Go by Dashboard Confessional (James to Lily)
Ok, It's All Right With Me by Eric Hutchinson (James and/or Sirius)