"Shh!" Lily whispered trying to suppress her own laughter. "Someone is going to hear you!"
James laughed and whispered back, "Who? All the people in the corridor?"
The corridor was undeniably empty.
"That still doesn't mean we can go shouting through the halls!" Lily protested. "We are supposed to be getting other people in trouble for doing that!"
"And what is the point of having special privileges unless we abuse them?" James retorted.
Lily for some reason decided not to fight back.
I wonder which secret room he is going to show me this time…
"And for tonight's entertainment," James said. "A magic trick."
What? "Because we never see any of those at Hogwarts…" Lily said curiously.
"Tonight, Miss Evans, I am going to run through a brick wall." James explained.
Lily eyed him curiously. "Pardon?"
"Feast your eyes upon this amazing stunt," James said, backing up, and running straight towards the wall next to Lily.
He went right through.
"James!" Lily screeched. How did he do that? Where did he go? Was it a spell or… "Where are you? Are you just using your invisibility cloak? Because I know you have-ah!"
James emerged from the wall right next to where Lily was standing. "How do you know about my invisibility cloak?"
"Merlin, James! You nearly gave me a heart attack! Where did you come from? How did you…?"
Sometimes James Potter is just too much for me. I really don't know if my heart can take it anymore…for more than one reason maybe? Shut up, shut up.
"Come on I'll show you," James said taking her hands in his and walking backwards into the wall, pulling her towards him.
For a moment Lily felt like the air was being sucked out of her lungs. But as soon as the feeling came it was gone and Lily was now in a completely new corridor.
"I'm still a little confused," Lily said, momentarily disoriented. "How did that happen?"
"Instead of a secret room," James explained. "I decided to show you a secret passage way,"
"How the bloody hell did you find out that if you ran head first at that wall it would bring you here?" Lily asked.
James tapped the side of his forehead. "That is for me to know and for you to wonder,"
Lily narrowed her eyes at him but smiled. She noticed him ruffling the back of his hair. Something he always did. It used to annoy her to no end but now she didn't seem to mind a bit. In fact, she noticed that recently the more nervous he got the more he would mess up his hair.
What was he nervous about?
James then stopped his grin and looked intensely at Lily. "Seriously though, how do you know about my invisibility cloak?"
Lily looked at him with a smug smile on her face. "That is for me to know," she said tapping the side of her forehead. "And for you to wonder."
When the bloody hell did I become the cocky one?
"I'm keeping an eye on you Evans," James said.
"Like you haven't already for the past six years Potter," Lily replied.
"Touché," James replied.
"So are we ignoring our duties or shall we go check out a few broom closets?" Lily asked.
"There's no one in that broom closet," was James' response.
"Oh really?" Lily asked. "And how do you know?"
James pointed again to his forehead. Lily rolled her eyes at him.
"If you don't believe me go ahead and check for yourself."
Lily did just that. She turned on her heels and headed for the closet door. She turned the doorknob and pulled the door open to find, as James anticipated, an empty closet.
She took a step inside just to make sure and stood there with an unsatisfied "Hmph!"
"What did I tell you?" James asked.
Lily spun back around, not having realized how close he was behind her.
"Well, um, I guess you're right," she sputtered.
She couldn't quite make out all of his features in the darkness but she knew he was much to close for comfort in that dark space. They stood there fore a minute and Lily started to become intoxicated by his smell so she pushed past him and out of the closet.
"Let's check another one?" she asked shyly.
"Sure," James answered in the same tone, closing the closet door.
They were about to check in the next hallway when they heard footsteps getting closer and closer.
Lily did not expect to see Sirius, Remus, and Peter running down the hallway: Sirius in his boxers holding a towel over his head, Remus chasing after him and the towel, and Peter lagging behind carrying what seemed to be Sirius' clothes. But when Lily thought about it, it actually wasn't that unexpected.
"Padfoot! Really! We can't be out here!" Remus yelled. "Oy! Prongs! I'm so sorry mate, I'll get him back as soon as I can!"
"Wait up!" Peter huffed chasing after them.
Lily turned her head towards James.
"I would send them to detention but my loyalties, I'm afraid, lie with them over anything else." James said. "You've got to be the one to do it,"
Lily sighed. "I think I might let them slide on this one," she said. "At least until Sirius gets some pants on."
The next day Lily was walking back from her class and on her way to meet Alice. She looked out the window she was passing and realized how nice of a day it was outside. It was starting to get a bit cooler out but everything looked crisp and alive.
When she found Alice she also found Frank. Lily quickly turned around and decided to give them their privacy. When she turned around she saw Sirius black swiftly pulling someone into the broom closet and closing the door behind him. She soon realized that that someone was Becca.
What is it with everyone today?
Lily sighed and decided to go outside and be part of this beautiful day. A lot of people seemed to have the same idea. Lily walked along the lake and admired everything about Hogwarts, sad that it was her last year there.
She passed by a patch of flowers and saw that there were a few lilies spread throughout, seemingly the last bloom for a while. She picked one and placed it in her hair.
"Hello there Lily,"
Lily turned around and saw Remus with a smile on his face; he was enjoying the outdoors as well.
"Hello Remus," Lily smiled. "It's lovely out today isn't it?"
Remus nodded. "It sure is," he said. "Listen Lily…I just wanted to apologize for yesterday…"
Lily laughed. "Really, it's fine-"
"It's just that Sirius refused to get into his clothes after he showered and thought streaking through the castle would be a good idea. We thankfully managed to get something on him before we-"
"Remus," Lily said. "Really. It's fine. I promise." She said laughing. "It was quite amusing to watch actually."
"I can imagine so…" Remus said.
"And normally I would get you lot in trouble but I just couldn't bring myself to do it," Lily said smiling.
Remus grinned back. "Well thank you for that," he said. "Oh! I have been meaning to ask you, have you finished the potions homework?"
How could I have forgotten?! "No, I haven't!" Lily exclaimed. "I better go do that right now!"
"Oh alright," Remus said. "Well if you would like to go over it later just let me know,"
"Thank you I will," Lily said, saying goodbye and heading back inside.
James really does have nice friends. I'm sure even Sirius must have some good qualities. And I suppose Peter must as well…
Lily walked back to her room and was just passing through the common room when she saw James come out of his room.
She smiled and said, "I completely forgot about my potions homework! I am going to work on it for a while but if you'd like I'll let you know when I am going to the great hall for dinner…"
Why is he looking at me like that?
"James?" she asked, this time it looked like he had just snapped.
"Damnit Lily!" James said walking up to her. "I can't take this anymore!"
Before Lily was able to process anything his lips were on hers. She sighed and let herself become intoxicated by the kiss that had been more than six years in the making. Every regret she ever had was swept away in the heat of the kiss and Lily felt like she was floating and falling all at the same time.
When James pulled away Lily looked up into his face seeing his eyes half closed and clouded with desire. She imagined hers looked the same way.
Lily simply answered him by saying, "I can't take it either," and reaching her arms around his neck, pulling his lips back down onto hers.
And with that, undeniable, utterly guilt free, and total surrender.
---------------------------------------------------
"Shh!" Lily whispered, still laughing. "Someone is going to hear you!"
James laughed and whispered back, "Who? All the people in the corridor?"
The corridor was undeniably empty.
"That still doesn't mean we can go shouting through the halls!" Lily protested. "We are supposed to be getting other people in trouble for doing that!"
"And what is the point of having special privileges unless we abuse them?" James retorted.
Wow. No fight back Evans? She usually fights me back on stuff like this but for some reason lately she hasn't been…
"And for tonight's entertainment," James continued, excited by Lily's lack of response. "A magic trick."
"Because we never see any of those at Hogwarts…" Lily said curiously.
"Tonight, Miss Evans, I am going to run through a brick wall." James explained.
Lily eyed him curiously. "Pardon?"
This is going to be good.
"Feast your eyes upon this amazing stunt," James said, backing up, and running straight towards the wall next to Lily.
Just as planned, he went right through.
"James!" He heard Lily screech from the other side of the wall. "Where are you? Are you just using your invisibility cloak? Because I know you have-ah!"
How does she know about that?! James quickly emerged from the wall right next to where Lily was standing. "How do you know about my invisibility cloak?"
"Merlin, James! You nearly gave me a heart attack! Where did you come from? How did you…?"
"Come on I'll show you," James said taking her hands in his and walking backwards into the wall, pulling her towards him.
"I'm still a little confused," Lily said, seeming a little disoriented. "How did that happen?"
"Instead of a secret room," James explained. "I decided to show you a secret passage way,"
"How the bloody hell did you find out that if you ran head first at that wall it would bring you here?" Lily asked.
Oh you have no idea.
James tapped the side of his forehead. "That is for me to know and for you to wonder,"
Lily narrowed her eyes at him but smiled. James' hand suddenly shot to the back of his hair and messed it up. For some reason he was getting more nervous around her. Ever since she started to treat him like a genuine friend he felt a jolt every time she smiled at him. Maybe there was actually meaning behind that smile now.
He then took his hand back down looked intensely at Lily. "Seriously though, how do you know about my invisibility cloak?"
Lily looked at him with a smug smile on her face. "That is for me to know," she said tapping the side of her forehead. "And for you to wonder."
When did you become the cocky one Evans?
"I'm keeping an eye on you Evans," James said.
"Like you haven't already for the past six years Potter," Lily replied.
Touché. "Touché," he replied aloud.
"So are we ignoring our duties or shall we go check out a few broom closets?" Lily asked. James so hoped that there was a deeper innuendo involved in that question.
"There's no one in that broom closet," was James' response.
"Oh really?" Lily asked. "And how do you know?"
Because I have the Marauders map in my pocket…
He then decided to, again, point at his forehead. Lily rolled her eyes at him.
"If you don't believe me go ahead and check for yourself."
Lily did just that. She turned on her heels and headed for the closet door.
James heard a disappointed. "Hmph!" and he walked up behind her.
"What did I tell you?" he asked.
Lily spun back around. I guess she didn't realize how close I was…
"Well, um, I guess you're right," she sputtered.
They stood there alone in the darkness for a moment all James wanted to do was close the distance between them. Lily however seemed to have a different idea and pushed past him and out of the closet.
"Let's check another one?" she asked shyly.
"Sure," James answered in the same tone, closing the closet door.
They were about to check in the next hallway when they heard footsteps getting closer and closer.
James was extremely amused to see his best friends running down the hallway: Sirius in his boxers holding a towel over his head, Remus chasing after him and the towel, and Peter lagging behind carrying what seemed to be Sirius' clothes. He could only imagine what Lily thought of all this.
"Padfoot! Really! We can't be out here!" Remus yelled. "Oy! Prongs! I'm so sorry mate, I'll get him back as soon as I can!"
"Wait up!" Peter huffed chasing after them.
James watched Lily turn around towards him.
Oh great. She is probably going to make me chase them too and get them all put in detention.
"I would send them to detention but my loyalties, I'm afraid, lie with them over anything else." he said. "You've got to be the one to do it,"
Lily sighed. "I think I might let them slide on this one," she said. "At least until Sirius gets some pants on."
James couldn't rid the grin on his face for the rest of the night.
It was the next day and James was sitting with the rest of the Marauders.
"Nice to see you with pants on," he said to Sirius.
"Shut your face and get on with the plans," Sirius said hitting James upside the head.
Remus intervened. He could, rightfully, tell by the look on James' face that Sirius was about to get pummeled. "Alright. Well as soon as they walk out of the room then the slippery spell should kick in," he started.
"And th-then the feathers?" Peter asked.
"Not quite my rodent friend," Sirius said. "First they will be lightly coated in, how shall I put it, goo."
"We are quite brilliant." James said. "So the goo, then the feathers, then we will have quite a couple of birds for teachers,"
The whole school was in a riot as they watch their teachers become coated in feathers and running around frantically.
The professors of course knew it was the Marauders who played the prank, but they had no evidence to get them in trouble.
James and his friends then of course reveled in glory.
"I think I might take a walk outside," Remus said.
"It seems like a pretty nice day out," Sirius agreed with an obnoxious nod.
"Well I think might fly a few laps around the quidditch pitch." James said.
"I'll join you mate," Sirius said. James saw Lily's friend Becca pass by and Sirius got a smug look on his face. "On second thought, I'll see you later,"
James headed up to his room to get his broom. When he walked in his room he saw the tail feathers of an owl flying out his window.
There was a letter lying on his bed and he picked it up. It was from his parents. It was just a friendly letter, asking him how he was doing and wishing him well. James felt guilty for not writing them since he had been back at school so he sat and responded to their letter.
After he was finished James still really wanted to spend some time outside but wasn't sure if he felt like going for a fly today.
Maybe I'll see if Moony is still out for a walk…
James headed out of his room and saw Lily walking in and towards her room.
She smiled at him and said, "I completely forgot about my potions homework! I am going to work on it for a while but if you'd like I'll let you know when I am going to the great hall for dinner…"
Is that a lily in her hair?
"James?"
And the last bit of dignity left inside James snapped.
"Damnit Lily!" James said walking up to her. "I can't take this anymore!"
Before James could convince himself otherwise he bent down and kissed her. Everything that had happened in the past six years, every mean word out of his mouth, every nice word out of his mouth, every look, every hint, every want, everything was all in culmination for this moment. The moment where Lily wouldn't pull back.
And she didn't; James did. He was no longer in complete control of his actions and he certainly did not expect Lily to react by saying, "I can't take it either,"
And she reached her arms around his neck, and pulled his lips back down onto hers.
And what was once worry and infatuation was now bliss.
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