Flying

"Wake up!" I sang as I skipped into the Marauders' room.

"Oh my Merlin! Lily, can't you knock?" Sirius screamed in horror as he got under the covers. I stopped in my tracks.

"The door was open." I pointed out, jerking my thumb at the open door.

"Well, we like to change with the door open since we don't expect to be ambushed by Little Red Riding Hood!" Sirius exclaimed. I put my hands on my hips.

"I am not Little Red Riding Hood!" I protested.

"You just came skipping into the room. You have red hair!" He shot back.

"How do you know about Little Red Riding Hood, anyway?" I asked suspiciously. Sirius does not read on will. And he was pureblood, he wouldn't know about it.

"Mum would throw a fit if she caught me reading muggle fairytales." He smirked evilly.

"Probably the only book he ever picked up." Peter muttered from his bed. Sirius threw a pillow at him.

"Get out. I have to put on my clothes." Sirius told me with an accusing glare.

"You're wearing clothes, you daft imbecile!" Remus mumbled from under his covers. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh yeah!" Sirius said, jumping out of his bed. Idiot. "I'm going to the bathroom. Please do try to restrain yourself and not do anything with James at this time of the day." He told me as he walked in the bathroom.

"We have more decency with that!" I yelled as he closed the door. The room was silent, except for the sound of the tap running in the bathroom. The other three were still lying down and I knew Peter and Remus were awake, and probably trying to go back to sleep. I cautiously walked over to James' bed and sat down in an area he wasn't sprawled all over. I shook him a little. "James, wake up." I whispered. He didn't even move. He just kept breathing, his bare chest moving up and down slowly, and his mouth slightly ajar. I resisted the urge to touch his chest and lowered myself closer to his ear. "James! James, wake up." I whispered. He still didn't move. I sighed. Well this would do, too. I moved my lips to his jaw line and trailed kisses to his mouth. I pressed my lips to his and broke away when he started moving his, too. His eyes fluttered open.

"I honestly would not mind waking up in the morning if you did that everyday." He told me with a goofy smile.

"Happy Birthday!" I whispered, and gave him another quick kiss.

"Oh yeah! I forgot!" He laughed quietly. "Thanks." He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me on to his chest.

"Guys, way too early for this!" Remus said tiredly as he got up and covered his eyes. James grinned.

"It's never too early for Lily!" James smiled and kissed me again and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Guys! Merlin's pants, my EYES!" Sirius screamed. I scrambled off of James and pulled him up, doing my best to avoid looking at his upper body. Sirius was covering his eyes and Remus was red. I felt my neck and ears turn red. Sirius moved a finger from his eyes. Once he saw us apart from each other, he moved his hands completely from his face. "Way to be a ginger, Lily." He smirked, obviously referring to my reddening neck and ears. I glared at him.

"Prongs, an owl just came for you…" Peter said, pointing at the window. He turned it over in his hands. "I think it's from your parents." He said softly, handing the letter to him. Sirius, Peter, and Remus exchanged glances and made a silent agreement to leave.

James finally told them about his parents' Dragon Pox the day after he told me. James was dealing with it all very oddly. Sometimes, he'd be fine and happy and like he usually was. Sometimes, he'd be absolutely convinced they were going to…pass. Whenever he voiced these thoughts to me, he always explained it as a "sixth sense" about it. Then, there were those times that he just burst into tears randomly. Like if he was silent and doing nothing for too long. This was always the scariest because he looked so hopeless, and scared, and like a little kid again. A scared little kid who was deathly afraid of losing his parents, and that scared me. And then sometimes, he'd be blissful and somehow okay with it all. He'd say that it's okay even if his parents do die, because that's how people should die, with their significant other, apparently.

"Lily…" He whispered, voice quivering. "I…I don't want to open it." He confessed in a small voice. I took his hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze.

"It's okay, just open it, it's only a letter, and it's your birthday. You're their only son, James. How do you think they'd feel if they didn't wish their only son a Happy Birthday on his most important one? How would you feel if you wouldn't be able to do that?" I reminded him. He nodded numbly. He traced over the letters of his name on the front of the letter and then flipped it around to the back. He undid the seal and carefully pulled out the letter. It was fairly short and didn't take him too much time to read through it. When he was done, he looked in the envelope again. He stuck his hand in and pulled out a gold watch. He looked at it and fingered the glass for a while before putting it on. "They said Happy Birthday, and that they hated how my birthday was in the middle of the year, so they wouldn't be able to give me the watch in person. They said they're doing fine, keeping each other company, and Misty visits them often. Oh, and they say hi." He said with a smile and a light in his eyes that showed me he was genuinely happy.

"That's great!" He pulled me in for a hug, but I was blushing fiercely. I got up from the bed, went to his closet, and threw him a shirt to wear. He caught it and looked at me with an amused expression. "I'm a teenage girl; I have uncontrollable hormones, too!" I defended. He shook his head and laughed.

"I'm going to go take a shower." He announced, rising to his feet. I nodded slowly, and waited for him to go into the bathroom, so I could run back to my room and get his present. He winked at me and then shut the bathroom door.

I immediately rose to my feet and raced out of the room, down the boys' stairs, and then up the girls'. I walked as quickly as I could to my room and completely breathless, I stopped in front of my open trunk. Right on top was the present I was going to give him; I had it wrapped up at least a week beforehand.

I looked outside and instantly felt a lot happier; it was bright outside, and looked warm, for the first time since about December. I preferred the cold over the heat, but being cold for too long could easily get anyone depressed. It explained the Slytherins' behavior. They lived in the freezing cold dungeons from September to June!

My breathing returned to normal, so I left the room, descended the girls' staircase, went up the boys' and went back up to James' room. Only when I put the gift down on his bed, once again breathless, I realized: I probably could've just summoned it.

I waited in his room for at least fifteen minutes before he actually came out. And when he did, I was torn between making him stay and making him go back in the bathroom. He was shirtless again. I sighed in defeat. He was definitely trying to torture me.

"James, must you walk around shirtless?" I complained, meeting his eyes. He grinned and gave me a sly grin. He took a huge step towards me and wrapped his strong arms around my torso and pressed my back against his chest.

"So, you'd have a problem if I do this?" He asked, kissing my neck and rubbing my stomach. He trailed slow kisses from my neck up and I let out a small moan when he hit a particularly sensitive spot. We heard a small, but high-pitched terrorized squeal coming from the doorway. James turned us around, keeping me in the same position. Peter was at the door, his hands over his eyes, and he was shaking and hyperventilating. I felt myself blush. "Uh…Wormtail, are you okay?" James asked, holding back laughter. He withdrew his arms from me. Peter slowly removed his hands from his eyes and color started rising to his cheeks.

"I…uh…j-just n-needed…s-something. But if-if you're…busy…the-then I c-can come b-back later?" He stuttered. I bit my lip to keep from laughing. He looked so nervous, as though McGonagall was giving him one of her signature glares. When we didn't respond, he scurried into the room, quickly rummaged through his trunk, and left without giving us another glance. The second we heard his footsteps quickly descending the stairs, we burst out into laughter.

"Oh Merlin, did you see his face?" James laughed.

"I know, and then when he was talking?" I said, clutching my stomach, and breathing heavily.

"He looked like McGonagall was glaring at him!" James said, trying to catch his breath again. Suddenly, he just stopped and stared at me. He took me into his arms once more. "I love you, Lily." He whispered into my ear and pressed his lips delicately to my forehead.

"I love you, too, but please put on a shirt!" I begged him. He laughed and turned around to look through his closet. I took this opportunity to pick up his gift that was on his bed. I walked over to him. He was sitting on the windowsill, just staring out the window. When I moved closer I realized his window was facing the same direction as mine, towards the Quidditch Pitch.

"It's the reason we fought for this room," he began, "Because it was in perfect view of the Quidditch Pitch. It was back in first year. To get this room, we individually had to get rid of each member whose bed we wanted. They weren't friends, just outcasts. Moony put slugs all over the bed, closet, and drawer that are now his, Padfoot convinced the kid that was originally there that the room was inhabited by ghosts. He some how found out that the kid was afraid of all the ghosts, so he got Peeves to go there every night and whisper things in the kid's ear. Wormtail came every night and started making squealing noises underneath the Cloak, so that kid got freaked out and left. Mine, though, mine was definitely the best. I scarred that kid for life, definitely. I sent him fake notes, whispered things into his ear…saying that his time was coming, that the wrakspurts would get him, like they got his other roommates." James smiled contently at the memory.

"What's a wrakspurt?" I asked skeptically, sitting down next to him. He shook his head.

"I have no idea. He was always a loony kid. Name was Lovewell or something…might've been Lovegood? No, I think it was Lovewell…" He said, not taking his eyes off the Quidditch Pitch. He was obviously longing to be out there. I put the wrapped present on his lap. He looked up and gave me a questioning look. Comprehension dawned on his face. "Lily, you didn't have to…" He muttered. I shook my head.

"No, I didn't," I agreed. "But I wanted to, quoted by you." I reminded him. "Now open it!" He smiled and carefully undid my wrapping. He opened it all the way and his mouth formed an "O". It was a personalized Broom Cleaning Kit. Pretty much everything had his name engraved on it in an elegant, gold script.

"Thanks, Lily." He smiled, and hugged me tightly. "I really do love it." He put it on his bedside table.

"It's not much, but I thought you'd like it." I told him truthfully, looking back at it. He was silent for a while.

"I want to see you fly. Today. We're going to the Quidditch Pitch today. And today, you will fly." He told me with a new light in his eyes. I crinkled my nose. My initial reaction was a stern "No." but it was his birthday. And it did sound interesting. I took a breath and I nodded. He gave me a goofy looking smile, and pulled me on to his lap. "I can't wait." He whispered into my ear.

"Come on, Lily. Just get on it." James coaxed me. I looked at the broom I was holding and crinkled my nose.

"But it flies." I reminded him. He raised an eyebrow.

"No, really?" He asked sarcastically. I rolled my eyes. "Do you remember how to get on it?" He asked me. I nodded.

"I did pay attention back in first year…well, most of the time."

"Because the rest of the time, you were staring at me!" He smiled triumphantly.

"No, but tell me what I'm supposed to do. I don't remember, it's been five years." I reminded him.

"Okay." He nodded, "Now just get on!"

"Fine…" I huffed and swung my leg over to one side of the broom.

"Good," he smiled. "Now kick off." I took a deep breath. I closed me eyes and pushed off the ground with my feet. I felt myself rise higher and my feet were lifted off the ground. I opened my eyes.

"I'm flying! I mean…hovering!" I corrected myself. I still wasn't moving. James grinned.

"Yes, you are…but you're barely off the ground. Go higher." He encouraged me. I was going to ask how, but my broom raised itself as the thought formed in my head.

"Whoa! How'd that happen?" I asked, shocked.

"Did you want to go higher?" He asked me. I nodded.

"Then that's how it happened. You were pulling up the broomstick already, and you were thinking to yourself to go higher!" He exclaimed. That was actually pretty cool. Higher. I thought to myself as I pulled the broomstick up a little. I started rising up, farther and farther away from James. When I was at a good height, I told myself to stop, and I stopped! This was actually fun! James got on his broom and quickly joined me in the air. "You're doing great!" He complimented. "Now I'll teach you how actually move forward." He told me. "Put your hands towards the front of the broomstick. And lean forward, just a little." He instructed. I did as I was told and the broom slowly started moving forward.

"James, James, I'm moving!" I told him excitedly. He laughed.

"Yeah, you are! And you're doing great so far!" He smiled, as he flew slowly besides me. "Now lean forward just a little more and push a little on your broomstick." I did as he said, and I found myself moving forward faster.

"Wow, this is fun!" I laughed as I went faster, then slowed down a little, then went faster again.

"Glad you think so." He smiled wide at me. "Now, we're going to turn. Are you ready?" He asked me. I nodded enthusiastically. "It's like going forward, but instead of just leaning forward, hold the broom tighter, and lean in the direction you want to go in." He instructed. I tilted my head in slight confusion. "You want me to show you?" He asked. I nodded. "Okay, so I'm tightening my grip around the broom," I saw his veins pop out a little as his hands tightened around the broom, "Now I'm going to lean," He leaned a little to the left and he started to turn!

"Whoa." I whispered to myself.

"Now you do it!" He told me eagerly. I nodded and took another breath. I was going to have to be calm to do this.

I mentally hit myself for not reading anything on Quidditch. It was purely because I didn't want James to think we had anything in common, but there was no way I could deny how much I enjoyed watching it. But actually flying was nothing in comparison. It was great, this feeling of pure freedom. And I thought James was insane for liking this!

I took another breath. I tightened my grip on the broom, and leaned slightly to the right, bringing the broomstick with me. And it turned!

"I just turned, James, did you see that? Did you see that?" I asked excitedly. I felt like a little kid again, I got that same feeling I got when I just learned how to ride my bike, without the training wheels. He laughed.

"Yes, I did, good job. Now try going the other way." I leaned to the right and turned my broomstick a little more this time. I actually turned faster!

"Did you see that? I turned faster!" I told him, excitedly. He gave me an amused expression.

"Yes, you did. Now why don't we go a few laps around the Pitch? It's empty." he offered. I nodded.

"Let's do it!" He laughed and started to rise higher and I followed him.

I didn't really talk much as he flew next to me. I was mostly concentrating on what I just learned. By the last lap we did, I was flying, and turning without really thinking. It was an amazing feeling, and I wouldn't have ever imagined it was this fun!

"Do you know how to get down?" He asked me, with a hint of excitement in his voice. I had a feeling I was supposed to just point the broom downward, but whenever James did that in his Quidditch matches, he went down really fast, like in a dive. And I definitely did not want that. I pushed down on my broom a little, putting more weight on my hands. The broom, miraculously, went down! I pushed down harder and I started descending faster. As I got closer to the ground, I slowly stopped putting pressure on the broomstick. It descended slower, and soon, my feet were back on the ground. I was just going to ask James if I did it right, but I noticed, he wasn't near me. I looked up and he was still there. Suddenly, he started moving quickly towards me, doing one of his infamous dives. I moved a little out of the way, since he was heading towards me. In no time, he landed neatly next to me, broom in hand.

"Will you ever teach me how to do that?" I asked excitedly. His eyes went wide.

"You know, when I brought you out here, I had the feeling you'd never get back on a broom again." He told me with a smile. His eyes were all lit up, and looked like he usually does after he plays Quidditch. His hair was all ruffled up from the wind, and his face was a little red. "You look like I do after I play Quidditch!" He smiled, touching my red face. I felt my hair a little and realized it was all messy from the wind and flying, too.

"We should probably get back to the castle." I suggested.

"Yeah…" He replied, still smiling at me. We started walking hand-in-hand back to the castle. "I'm really happy you like Quidditch. I mean, this is great!" He said animatedly.

"I didn't think I'd like it so much, either! It's so much more fun than I thought it'd be!" I agreed.

"And I've been saying that for years!" He laughed. "You never believed me!" We heard the loud ringing of the clock. "It's dinnertime. Shall we go eat?" He asked, pointing towards the entrance of the Great Hall. I nodded.

"And really, I want to learn how to do that dive thing! It's crazy! And it's so cool!" I begged.

"I didn't think I'd ever see the day you, of all people, would ask me to teach you Quidditch. And by the way," He told me, as he led me towards where Marlene, Sirius Remus, and Peter were sitting, "The way I learned how to do it was because of the Wronski Feint. It's my modified version of it." He explained.

"Oh, is that thing you used to do sometimes where you pretended to see the Snitch and then dove down to go get it? And then pulled up your broom just before you hit the ground? The other Seeker completely crashed? I saw you do that loads of times last year! And then sometimes you'd actually see the Snitch, and the other Seeker would never really know if you saw the Snitch or not that time! It was pretty good tactic." I admitted.

"Thanks." He said, as we sat down.

"Hi, guys." Remus smiled.

"Hi, guys." Sirius said, eying us suspiciously. "Judging by your weird, happy, and rather airy look in your eyes, and messed up hair, and red faces, I'd say you did it." He said with a knowing look in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, did what?" I asked, hoping he wasn't talking about what I think he was talking about.

"You know…it. You're both technically old enough now…" Sirius snickered.

"PADFOOT!" James screamed, his face turning redder. I kicked Sirius underneath the table.

"OW!" He yelled out, and clutched his leg. "What was that for?"

"FOR BEING A DAFT IMBECILE!" James and I screamed together. Remus snickered.

"Aw, are we making that my name from now on? Really?" Sirius asked with a dejected sigh.

"Yes. And we weren't doing that. We flew." James corrected him with a glare. Sirius gave him a sheepish grin in return.

"James finally convinced you to fly? And judging by your happiness, it went well?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow. I nodded.

"Iw went wew?" Peter asked, with his mouth full. Remus gave him a pointed look. "It went well?" He repeated in awe.

"Wow, Lily, I didn't think that was possible for you!" Marlene joked, finally speaking up.

"Yeah, we didn't either." James agreed, taking a sip out of his pumpkin juice.

"It was really fun! Like the whole moving and flying thing and it was so cool!" I explained animatedly. Sirius' eyes went wide. Marlene just laughed. She looked towards James.

"What did you do to her?" She jokingly asked.

"Nothing, really. She just realized, like many others, that Flying is great!" James smirked triumphantly.

"Oh, Lily, I forgot to introduce you, this is Alex McKinnon." Marlene told me, gesturing the kid next to her, the one she was previously talking to. I nodded a 'hello'. I never talked to him, but I knew who he was, since he was a fellow Gryffindor.

"Hey, Evans." He smiled.

"He asked me out today, and you know that I developed a bit of a crush for him lately." She whispered.

It's true; she talked non-stop about him for the last week. She kept going on about his 'Big brown eyes' and his 'short, messy brown hair' and his 'tan skin and strong arms'. I, however, didn't have much to say to this. Lately, I found no guys attractive, except for James, and I figured it was because I was just falling for James that much more. It was a bit startling when I found out.

"So I said yes, and we spent most of the day together, and we got to know each other a bit more. He's really nice and sweet!" She finished.

"So are you guys going to do that anytime soon?" Sirius asked, sniggering a little. James turned red again and hurled a spoon at him.

A/N: Okay so first off: I changed Marlene's last name when I first said it, back in Chapter 16, so I could make her start dating this Alex kid I put in. He won't be mentioned too often. It's a little AU and I wasn't sure about it at first when Ks21178 gave me the idea (THANKS, BTW!) but then I thought it over, and I figured it be easier to write about times when Marlene isn't there, since I planned this story as a Lily and Maruaders one.

2nd: THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! I really appreciate it!

3rd: My timeskips are going to get larger. Next Chapter will the Easter holidays, and the one after will skip right to the summer.

I'll be back next friday!

Love,

SAM :)