A/N: It seems that I'm making a lot of apologies while writing this story… Personal events and huge workload over the last couple of months have meant that I haven't had time for writing, nor have I been in the mood to do so anyway. In an attempt to forget about all that, however, I'm going to press on with this story and hope to have it finished by the end of the Christmas break. Thank you to all who have read, reviewed, and kept their patience with my infrequent updates, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
The following Thursday evening found me attempting to track down the last few of my possessions to return to my trunk before travelling back to London on the Hogwarts Express the following day. Emmeline and Alice, who had already finished packing, were sitting on the ends of their beds, watching me impatiently.
"Hurry up, Lils, there's only half an hour till the feast!" said Alice, checking her watch.
"Yep, I'm just coming," I replied, crawling towards her to look under her bed. "Just as soon as I've found… aha!" I pulled out a book from underneath the four-poster, directed my wand at it to remove the dust, and then lobbed it across the room into my trunk. With another wave of my wand, the lid of my trunk slammed shut, and I sprang to my feet. "Let's go!"
"About bloody time," grumbled Emmeline as we left the dormitory.
In our first year, Emmeline and Alice had found me sitting next to my trunk on the last day of term looking extremely depressed. I would miss Hogwarts over the summer holidays, and I knew it. To cheer me up, they had taken me for a final walk around the grounds before going to the end-of-term feast. Now, it had become a tradition for us. It had been fulfilled every year since.
Five minutes later, we walked out of the Entrance Hall and into the grounds. It was still quite light, as it was the middle of June and only a few minutes past six o'clock, and we could see a long way down the lawns to the lake, Hagrid's hut, and the Forbidden Forest. I sighed, and Emmeline and Alice both looked at me.
"It's been an eventful year," I said.
"You can say that again," sniggered Alice. "It's been an eventful last few weeks, come to that." I couldn't help agreeing. So much had changed over the past month or so that it felt almost like a whole year in itself.
We walked slowly down the lawns, talking animatedly and remembering the various happenings of the past school year. We went and visited Hagrid, who greeted us jovially and offered us some of his infamous rock cakes. Making the excuse that it would spoil our appetite for the feast we left his hut and walked around the perimeter of the forest, finally coming to rest at the edge of the lake. We lay down on the grass, looking up into the sky, and continuing our reminiscing of the past year.
Somewhat inevitably, talk eventually turned to the changes in James Potter's behaviour over the last few weeks. I endured my friends' gentle ribbing for a few minutes in an amused, albeit dignified, fashion, before finally saying, "Look, I admit it, okay? He's been a really nice guy lately."
"Better than the Giant Squid?" interrupted Emmeline, and both she and Alice fought to contain their laughter.
"Erm… what?" I said, confused.
"I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the Giant Squid!" imitated Alice, and I remembered what they were referring to. I grinned myself.
"Yes, I'd say he is now preferable to the Giant Squid," I admitted. Knowing that the other two would get the wrong impression, I added hastily, "But I don't fancy him!"
Soon it was time to head back inside for the feast. We slowly got to our feet, just as we heard another group of people heading across the grounds. As I stood up, I heard one of them calling across the grounds, "Hey, Lily!"
I turned, but lost my balance and fell over. The next thing I knew, I was rolling down the banks of the lake; then, all of a sudden, I was in the water. Despite the relative warmth of the air, the water was cold, and it was surprisingly dark underneath the surface. After several seconds of confusion I finally managed to pull my head above the water, and looked towards the bank. Alice and Emmeline were standing there, looking shocked, and next to them stood James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter. I barely had time to register this, however, when I felt a long, slimy tentacle wrap around my neck and begin to pull me under the water again. I screamed, and consequently inhaled a large amount of water, as my head fell beneath the surface once more.
I heard the sounds of Emmeline and Alice screaming and the boys yelling, strangely muffled by the water pressing down on me. I was still being pulled by the tentacle around my neck and I couldn't breathe. I flailed and struggled, but it retained a vice-like grip around my windpipe, forever pulling me through the water.
Suddenly I heard a splash above me, and a jet of sparks hit the tentacle around my neck. It released me at once and a second later I felt someone take hold of my hand and pull me towards the surface. Our heads broke the water at the same time and I gasped for air, hearing the person next to me breathing heavily too. I looked around, and saw James, the black hair that usually stuck up everywhere plastered to the side of his face, and a look of near panic on his face. He pulled me towards the bank and we climbed slowly onto firm ground, coughing and spluttering.
"Lily! LILY! Are you alright?" yelled Alice, crouching down and extending a hand to help pull me up the bank.
"I… yeah… fine," I panted, looking around. James was a few feet away, scrambling around on the floor looking for something. I realised that he wasn't wearing his glasses; he must have dropped them before he entered the water. I glanced down and noticed them lying next to me. I picked them up and handed them to him. He muttered a word of thanks, and we both got to our feet.
"Are you alright?" said Remus to both of us, pulling out his wand and waving it towards us. I felt my hair dry instantly, my clothes become warm and comfortable again, and the water disappeared from my face and hands.
"Yes," I replied, having finally caught my breath. I looked round at James and said, slightly sheepishly, "Thank you, James."
He looked up at me, and gave a small smile. "You sure you're OK?"
I smiled back. "Fine, thanks."
We stood in silence for a few moments, holding each other's gaze for a little longer than was necessary. We suddenly both realised that the others were still there and looked away hurriedly, both turning slightly red. I could feel Alice and Emmeline sharing a look behind me.
After a short silence, Remus said, "We'd better head back inside – the feast…" We all agreed, and the group began to walk slowly back to the castle, the Marauders leading the way, followed by Emmeline, Alice and me.
"I think he's jealous," whispered Emmeline.
"Jealous? Who are you talking about?" I asked, puzzled.
"The squid, of course!" said Emmeline, with the hint of a smile. "I mean, you've always preferred him to James, but maybe he heard us talking…"
I gave a small chuckle, and looked ahead at the Marauders ahead of us. They didn't seem to be talking much, but as Remus looked across to address Sirius, I saw a smile on his face. Then James looked round at me, caught my eye, and gave me a smile and a small wink. As he turned back towards the castle, I felt a strange lurching feeling in my stomach.