Before We Go
Oh my God I just really really really loved writing this. Like guys, for real, it took me maybe 3 months of writing and taking a break and writing and taking a break, etc. I got the idea after watching a movie called Before We Go with Chris Evans(hubba hubba) and kind of went from there. I liked the idea of one day and a mission so this is what I came up with. I didn't want to do chapters because I feel like they're a bit constricting and for this story I wanted it to seem like a rush of a million things at once, but I did have to split it into 3 parts because of the long length. I hope you guys love it as much as I do! And please comment if you want a oneshot story about Sirius and Rachel! I want to wrote one, but I also want a reason! Btw thanks JK Rowling for harry potter because without you this would be impossible!
Part 1:
"Bugger!" Lily Evans yells as she kicks her foot against the stone wall. She winces in pain as she reaches down to grab her foot. Son of a bitch! She thinks.
The young redhead looks around to check to see if anyone had seen her outburst. Looks like it's clear. She had just hopped off her train from Ireland. She spent her summer holiday with her grandmum and away from her family.
Lily leaned up against the wall of Kings Cross Station and takes a deep breath.
Fuck. I just spent my whole bloody holiday with an elderly woman and did not get one thing from my list done.
Lily had made a list on her train ride home from Hogwarts two months before. She had planned on doing everything she had never ever accomplished before starting her seventh year. I mean she was 17 and still had never been in a bar before.
She tucked her list into her pocket and began walking towards the exit. She was to catch a ride from a cab to get home. As she made her way through the thick crowds of busy people trying to get to their platforms, she runs straight smack into a firm figure.
"Fuck!" She yells as she steadies herself back.
"Oi! Sorry there, love! My bad." The deep voice apologizes.
"Ugh, perfect!" Lily sighs as she reaches down to shove her belongings back in her suitcase. Somehow everything had spilled out when she hit the man.
He reaches down and begins helping her get her things back in order when he says, "These are quite nice." And she looks up to see a handsome smirk and her bright red, lacy panties dangling from his finger.
"Give me those!" She screams as she snatches them from his grip.
"Interesting choice of knickers. I do prefer black, though." The man says smartly.
"Well good thing because they're not for your preference!" She zips up her bag and stands to meet his gaze.
"Now that you've basically assaulted me and ransacked my bag, would you mind moving out of my way?" She asked very shortly.
"Well, I don't seem to hear you apologizing to me yet, so no." He responds. He's about six feet tall, wide shoulders and a lean body. His glasses are thick rimmed and settle in front of his light hazel eyes.
"Apologize to you? For what, may I ask?" Lily responds quickly.
"For charging into me! You were basically running through here!" He outbursts while chuckling, gesturing to the station around them.
"I'm on a short schedule! I'm leaving for school tomorrow and I haven't even been home for one second this summer!" She cries. She is sick of the antics and wants to go home to be miserable.
"School? How old are you?" He asks her, scoffing.
"Seventeen. How old are you?" She quips back.
"Twenty. And how do you know I'm not on a short schedule! I'm off to training tomorrow morning, missy!"
"Don't 'missy' me! I'm not a child! I'm an adult, you ass!" Lily answers quite offended.
"Seventeen isn't an adult in England!" The man responds smartly.
Shit. Bloody muggle.
"Right, I meant almost adult." She responds exasperated.
"Unless," he says slowly with a sly smile, "what does the word 'diagonally' mean to you?" He asked emphasizing the pause between "diagon" and "ally."
She pushes him into a small alcove and presses him against the wall.
"What are you playing at?! Asking random strangers about 'diagonally'? Are you trying to get magic exposed?" She asks yelling at him.
"Calm down, I figured you were a witch. School tomorrow? Seventeen? Please you're trying to expose wizards."
"Whatever. Even though it was so damn brilliant meeting you, I am off." She turns in her heel and starts to walk out.
"Wait!" The man yells as she whips around to give him a dirty stare.
"You dropped this." He said as he held out a piece of paper.
My list!
"Give that to me!" She screams as she reaches out to grab it. But Lily is too slow as the man whips around to read it.
"Lily's To Do List." He says. He turns to look at her, "What is this?"
"Nothing!" She reaches out again but he raises his hand in the air.
"Just give it to me! Aren't you tired of antagonizing me?" She yells as she jumps trying to reach her list.
"So this is why you're so eager to get home. You've got quite a bit to do before school starts tomorrow." He says examining the paper a bit further.
"Like you care! Just give it to me! You can see I have loads to do!" She yells at him.
He reads, "Never gotten into a fight," he looks her up and down, her cheeks flushed red and her chest heaving, "I don't quite believe that one."
"Well I don't really give a damn what you believe. Honestly, do you get off on bugging young girls?" Lily was at the end of her patience. The two of them were still in close quarters inside the alcove.
"No, but I am a bit bored. How about this, I get to help you accomplish everything on this list and I'll give it back to you." He proposed.
"I'm sorry but the list isn't really worth that much to me. But thanks." She turned to leave when she heard a mumble from the man.
"What was that?" She asked as she whipped around to face him. In his hand were her bright red knickers.
"If I get to help you finish the list, you can have these back."
She ran up to him and screeched, "Put those away before someone sees!" She huffed and said, "Fine. But only because I want those back." The bloke smiled at her. He pocketed her panties and put out his hand.
"Well, first let's get to know one another. James Potter."
"Lily Evans." James get a good look at her rounded face, freckles, large green eyes, and a pointed nose. Pretty. He thinks.
"What am I to do with my suitcase?" Lily asked, annoyed.
"Oh, right." James mumbled something under his breath and the trunk shrunk into the size of a house key. He handed it over and Lily stuck it in the pocket of her tight jeans.
"Well item one says you've never been in a bar. You're of age so that won't be problem." He puts out his arm and they apparate out of the station.
Pop!
They land in the middle of the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley.
"I've never been in here before! Never had a reason to come in, I usually just pass through." Lily shouts at James over all of the noise.
He laughs and guides her to the bar, "Well, Tom's a good friend of mine, he'll take care of you." They both sit on the high bar stools, well Lily hops up, and James says, "Two firewhiskeys please."
"Is that your favorite?" Lily asks as she turns towards James.
"Nope, hate the stuff. Both are for you." He sends her a wink and puts a glass in her hand. "Bottoms up!"
Lily's eyes widen as she realizes that if he can't take the shot, how the hell is she supposed to? She gives him a frightened look and he tells her, "It's fine! I promise! I just prefer muggle liquor."
She nods and downs the shot. It burns like a firework racing down her throat. She coughs and James pounds her back.
"Only one more to go!" He shouts smiling proudly at her.
"Are you kidding? These are great! One more round, please!" She takes the next shot and shoots it down, licking her lips.
"Why don't you like it?" Lily asks. The atmosphere around them is full of chatting, loud magical folk. Some witches and wizards, working house elves, goblins, and even what looks like a small troll.
"It just isn't what I fancy. Muggle alcohol burns, but in a different way. They serve some at the pub I usually go to in London." He replies sipping on an alcoholic butterbeer.
"Oh, I've never had muggle alcohol before, except on a trip to France once where I had some champagne." She replied as she grabbed her last shot and finished it off.
"Why did you make this list?" James asked, changing the subject quickly. Lily was a bit caught off guard at the sudden question.
"I guess I felt like I hadnt accomplished anything cool since I became of age. I wanted some stories to bring aback to my friends and I didn't want to just be an inexperienced loser, I guess." She replied meekly.
"Well I barely know you and you don't seem like the quiet nerdy type to me. I mean, you practically got into a fight with a guy you merely bumped into and no geek I know owns racy knickers." He chuckled and added, "Plus you swear like a sailor." Lily blushed and felt self conscious all of the sudden.
"I'm a prefect at Hogwarts and I'm expecting a Head Girl letter when I get home. I don't know, I feel so much more different at school, like I'm trying to be a goody-goody, but not knowingly." She knew she didn't make sense.
James smiled at her. "Head Girl. Wow, I would love to see you giving it out to a pair of horny Slytherins out of bed past curfew."
"I've seen my fair share of hookups in the broom closets. No Slytherins though, they usually just bully people or smoke in the courtyard." She looked up at James, "What house were you in?"
"Gryffindor, home of the damn best lot of people in the world. What are you, Ravenclaw? You've got some wit to you." He guessed. When he talked about Gryffindor he shot straight up and puffed out his chest, so proud of his house.
"I'm actually a Gryffindor, too. We can be smart assess just as much as Ravenclaws," she said.
"Yes we can. Back in my day," James started but Lily's eyes wandered to the entrance of the bar when she saw Piper Whitlock walk in.
"Oh Merlin, hide me!" Lily screeched as she ducked behind James' wide figure.
"What? Why?" He turned to look for what was causing Lily's outburst.
"That's Piper Whitlock, Hogwarts Bitch. She hates me and she's coming this way, fuck." Lily straightened up and met Piper's eye.
"Why isn't Smelly Lily!" The blonde shouted, stressing Lily's name as 'Lelly' so her rhyme made sense. "What a surprise seeing you in public! I thought you would never see sunlight again after what happened at the end of term." She leaned in to whisper in Lily's ear, "Still smell like wet dog?" Pipers breath was hot and smelled like sour candies.
James looked at Piper quizzically as if wondering what she meant by that. Her outfit showed that Piper was an easy slag.
"Actually, a slow first year could figure out a counter charm to whatever spell you pulled out of your ass, and I didn't have a problem either. How's your summer job going? Streets still full of slimy men waiting to bed you for, oh what was it again, a knut?" Lily countered back to the mean girl. James' eyebrows raised at Lily's comeback.
"No actually, after your mother abandoned you two years ago, she took my spot." Piper said with a vicious smile. James' mouth dropped.
"Fuck you." Lily said darkly. She stood up to face the girl.
"Ouch! Still a wee bit fiery? They do say that leprechauns get riled up easy when talking about their deadbeat mothers."
BOOM!
Lily straight on popped Piper in the face as hard as a pro wrester.
"Woah! Okay that's enough of that! Nice hook though, Lily." He grabbed her arm and apparated them to the street.
"What was that?!" Lily yelled as she looked looked around and realized they were no longer in the Leaky Cauldron.
"Unless you wanted Tom to call the Ministry, we had to get out of there!" James shouted.
"I wanted to get another hit in, stupid cow." Lily said under her breath.
"That was badass by the way. She deserved it." He said smiling as if remembering the punch.
"Well, it felt good for a second then I remembered how she was probably going to ruin my life next term. Which starts tomorrow. Awesome." Lily cradled her hand.
"Hey that's two items knocked off your list though! Go to a bar and get into a fight." James said cheerily as he pulled out a pen to cross them off. "Were 2/17ths done."
"Can I pick one?" Lily asked as she peered over James' shoulder to get a look at the list.
"Sure, it's your list." He replied handing it over then right before it reached Lily's hand, he snatched it back. "You're trying to steal it back!" He yelled.
"No I am not! Plus you still have my knickers, you dolt." She replied grabbing the paper. Her emerald eyes scanned the page before smiling. "This one." She pointed to the list.
"Cutting your hair? Isn't that a bit tame?" James asked smirking. Lily's hair was waist length with thick waves rolling through it.
"I've never, ever cut my hair short before. It's been at least below my chest since I was in primary school. My dad never let me cut it, he loves it long." She said twirling a piece of her red hair between her fingers.
"You're lucky then, I know the perfect hairdresser." James put out his arm for Lily to grab and then they popped out of the street.
"Where are we?" Lily asked as the pair appeared in a long hallway.
"This is my flat complex. The hairdresser you need, lives here, with me." Lily's eyes widened. "Your bloody roommate? I am not about to let just any old tosser with a pair of scissors touch my hair!" She yelped. Her hands instinctively hung onto her hair as if to protect her strands.
"Trust me, this bloke does not joke about hair." James pulled out a key and opened the door. Inside was a large flat with a full wooden kitchen and a messy living room. The walls were covered with newspaper clippings, muggle and magical.
"Padfoot!" James shouted out inside the apartment. He closed the door behind Lily and shouted for him once again.
Padfoot? What kind of name is that? Lily thought.
A man around James' age came through one of the doors and his eyes widened when he saw Lily.
"I told you not to bring anymore birds home without a damn call, Prongs! Fuck!" He turned on his heel and headed back to his room and came out a moment later in a tight grey tshirt that brought out his eyes and black jeans.
"Hello love, the names Sirius Black." He bowed down to kiss Lily's hand softly. James swatted Lily's hand away and yelled, "Cut the crap, Padfoot. This is Lily and she needs a haircut. I thought I could trust you not to be weird!"
"A haircut? Not a problem! I have a way with manes." Sirius said as he flipped his shoulder length, choppy hair. It's glossy appearance reflected off the lights in a glowing fashion.
"So your trained to cut hair? Listen I'm not going to wing this, I want a good, professional haircut." Lily told Sirius sternly.
"Are you kidding?" He turned to James, "Is she blind? Does she not see the gloriousness of my hair?" He looked at Lily and took her hands, "Sweetheart I am going to give you a haircut so good, you will be shouting my name by the end of the night."
"Enough! I swear to Merlin, Padfoot, if you don't shut the hell up we're out of here." Jame yelled, his eyes flashing with anger.
"Please just don't fuck it up, okay?" Lily asked. She was sat down in their kitchen chair and her hair magically washed and damp.
"So what length are you going for, love?" Sirius asked as he combed through her long mane.
"I'm thinking mid throat, something sassy and fun. But please not too short in the back, I still want to put it in a ponytail, even if it is a nub." Lily replied.
"I can do that. Any layers?" He asked as scissors appeared in his hand and he began chopping.
"Not too many, enough for texture."
"Okay, just give me a bit and you will be a whole new Lily."
"One, two, three!" Lily's hand shoved up as she took the hand mirror to see her new haircut. She was already in love with it. The nice blunt ends and sassy swish it made when she shook her head made her smile giddily. She jumped up to hug Sirius. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She yelled as she kissed his cheek.
James hopped up from the couch and took a look at Lily's new hair.
How could she look better than before? He thought.
"Thanks for the favor, Sirius, but we're off." In a millisecond he was up next to Lily, slightly blocking her from Sirius.
"Where are you going now?" Sirius asked as he magically cleaned up her chopped hair strands around the floor.
"We're going to lunch. Chinese food." James sent a quick wink to Lily. One of the items on her list was to try Asian cuisine.
"Fun! If you want you could grab me a fortune cookie. I need some guidance on this whole Gwen thing." Sirius looked at Lily and added, "My kind of sort of not really girlfriend." She nodded.
"Thank you again for the haircut, I'll call you up when I need a trim, next time!" Lily hollered as they made their way to the door.
"So what Chinese place?" She asked.
"Only the best." James said as she took his arm.
"Panda Express? Are you joking? Is this even authentic?" Lily asked as she shot James a dirty look.
"Yes! Of course it is! You'll love it all the same." They walked up, ordered and then sat down to eat.
"So why have you never had Chinese before?" James asked as he opened up his chopsticks.
"I really don't know, to be honest. Family just never was a fan, I guess." She took a bite of her rice.
"So what item on the list can we do that's quick, something while we're eating." Lily asked as James pulled out the paper.
"Hmmm, never stolen anything?" James asked.
"No, I don't want to take anything from here. Next one." Lily replied.
"Ooh! Use magic!" James said excitedly.
Lily responded in awe, "Seriously? We're in a muggle restaurant! Not only would I be breaking wizarding law number one, but also why would I waste my first adult charm on a simple accio for a salt packet?!"
"Come on, just do it." James said lazily. She shot him a stare and concentrated. A single salt packet came racing towards her and landed on her lap. She looked around to check if anyone saw.
"Okay, check! Did magic outside of school." Lily said, happy to have another item off the list. James smiled, slightly amazing at her nonverbal spell casting.
She's a unique one, that's for sure. He thought as he watched her finish her food.
"So you said you age training tomorrow, what for?" Lily asked as she re-gripped her chopsticks.
James swallowed, "Auror training. First year is in Norway, then Bulgaria and then Whales. I don't know why those places specifically, but I'm defiantly interested to find out."
"Auror? That's a bit frightening. Have you always wanted to that?" She questioned.
"Well, for a bit I wanted to be a professional chaser for a quidditch team, but after seeing all the traveling and time spent practicing, it didn't seem worth it."
"Isn't that the same as being an Auror?" Lily thought about Auror training before, but this last year at school would make up her mind about backing a ministry worker, an
Auror or a healer.
"Similar, but still different. Authors dedicate three years to strict training, but then you get to choose your home office and only travel for short spurts of time. Quidditch is every single year and traveling around the world until you retire," he answered. Lily didn't know what to think. For just meeting someone she felt awfully close to James. It was like they had known each other for years.
"Aren't you scared of fighting dark magic? Especially with all the fighting already beginning?" Lily asked softly, remembering some of the warnings she got from an old friend last year.
James smiled at her, "That only fueled my fire to join."
