Disclaimer: I wish...
If you like this story, take a look at my one-shot Stars, which is set at the end of Lily and James' sixth year. I love writing Jily! (Can you tell?)
Well Done to J for getting the question right! It was...Bertram Audrey.
Enjoy xx
"-then Evans says Peter is better than me! Yes, really!" Sirius looks at Marlene who's sitting across from him at the house table for breakfast, who looks sickeningly sympathetic, apparently aghast.
"Shut up, Black! No one cares!" I snap, and he falls silent, looking offended. There's a minute of silence as everyone stares at me, and I stare down at my empty cereal bowl, scowling. When I've calmed down enough to talk without snapping, I take a deep breath and look Sirius directly in the eyes.
"I'm sorry Sirius. I've had a bad morning, and I took it out on you. It wasn't fair."
He looks surprised, but mutters under his breath. "It's okay Evans. Don't worry about it."
James nudges my leg under the table, and I turn to look at him; he bends down and whispers in my ear.
"Can we go outside for a minute?" I nod, and stand up, waiting until he's ready, and then we walk out of the Hall.
I'm a bit nervous.
I shouldn't have spoken to Sirius like that, I know, but I apologised. I haven't done anything wrong...have I?
James walks right at the door and I follow him, stopping as he halts and turns to face me, as I look worriedly up at him. He steps forward and pulls me into a warm hug, resting his chin on the top of my head. I hug him tightly, smiling and the lump in my throat starts to vanish as I rest my head on his shoulder and breathe in his familiar smell. We break apart slowly and he rests his hands on my waist. "Are you okay, Lils?"
I open my mouth to speak calmly, but I blurt out how I'm really feeling instead. "No!" He looks surprised and concerned.
"It's just... I can't get the image of you...you know, out of my head."
"I am irresistible..." He jokes weakly, smirking, but his smile fades as he sees my upset face.
"I know, Petal. Me too. I was worried about you in there. Sirius was being a prat, but it's usually me that you blow up with."
"I was just upset. I'm okay now." And I am, now that he's there, holding me. "I'm okay James. Are you?"
"As long as you are." I study his face, but he's not joking; as soon as I smile, he smiles too, and his face is earnest.
"Do you want to skip class today?"
"James! We're Head Boy and Girl, we can't just-"
"We can and we should. Look, I'm not going to be able to concentrate properly today, not after what happened this morning, and from what you're saying, you won't be able to either. I have Quidditch practice tomorrow morning, and we do have to start sorting stuff out for the Halloween feast, although you sorted out the stuff for the Hogsmeade trip. Plus, I don't sit near you in class anymore, not after what happened last year with the exploding toads, so I won't see you for most of the day. Please, Lily."
He pouts, and something inside of me melts.
"Fine, but-" I say in a firm voice, as he whoops childishly. "BUT we will do some work, Porcupine. I don't think I could stand your presence for the whole day." I flash him a quick grin, and he winks at me, reaching out and grabbing my hand.
"Let's go then, Petal."
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"What do we do if we're caught?"
James sighs. "We won't be."
"Yeah James, going to Hogsmeade at 10am on a Friday isn't suspicious at all."
"I promise, we won't get caught. I have the Cloak-"
"Which, according to you, has the bonus of us having to squeeze under a cloak made for one person."
He rolls his eyes. "Obviously. Wait...have I told you about the Map?"
"No? What map?"
"Well...hang on..."
He struggles with his pocket for a minute, then finally produces a piece of tatty, folded parchment. "Look, here."
Tapping it with his wand, James mutters something, and I smirk as I hear what it is.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good? That sounds like something Sirius would say...wow..."
I gasp as he hands me the parchment.
What I thought was parchment has no turned into "A map?"
"Yep." I gaze up at him, impressed, and he's got a proud look on his face. "The Marauders Map."
"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs...you guys made this?"
"We do listen in class sometimes."
"Please...more like Remus listens, and you guys copy." He adopts a hurt look and I poke him in the side, grinning.
"I do listen! I'm best in the class at Transfiguration!"
"I'm good at Potions and Charms, and I don't copy Remus' notes!"
"I made that! And that's awesome. So, I'm smart and awesome." He points at the parchment in my hand.
"Humble too."
I smile at the look on his face, and then pore over the Map to try and find the secret passages that James mentioned, when I spot two dots labelled "Lily Evans" and "James Potter".
"Are those...us?" I point at the dots on the map, and he nods, still grinning.
"Oh...look, there's McGonagall." I mumble as I notice a rapidly approaching dot.
James swears under his breath and hurries over to the wall. "Come here. Quickly!" I'm at his side in an instant and he throws the Cloak over us, crouching down and motioning for me to do the same.
He wraps his arms around me, and pulls me closer to him, so I'm practically sitting on top of him, head buried in his chest. Though I was cold a minute ago, I'm boiling now, and I'm pretty sure I'm in danger of heart failure.
I had no idea my hear could beat this fast.
McGonagall storms past, long green robes billowing out behind her, muttering something.
"Black needs discipline...exploding toads...it was hard enough last year...took forever for Potter to clean without magic though...teach him to blow up perfectly good toads..."
Breaking out into silent fits of laughter, James and I wait until McGonagall has passed, and then stand up, throwing the Cloak off, me still giggling. "Shush." James claps a hand over my mouth, smirking, and I lick his hand so he pulls back sharply.
"You shush."
He huffs and grabs my wrist, pulling me over to an ugly statue of a humped, one-eyed witch, and tapping it with his wand.
"Dissendium."
"Dissendium? What-"
I fall silent as a hole seems to appear out of nowhere at the base of the statue, and he gestures towards the hole.
"Ladies first." We both stay still for a minute and then I speak.
"So...are you going?"
He blinks at me, and then clocks in on the joke. "Ha ha. Go on Lils. You go first and I'll seal up the passage behind you."
I step into the darkness of the passage , wand stowed in my pocket, turning to face James.
He goes to walk in, but the door slams shut.
Then I'm alone.
In the pitch-black.
Trapped.
What do you carry around your whole life, in darkness and in light, yet it never gets smaller or lighter, bigger or heavier?
Good Luck on that riddle,
She-who-loves-fanfiction xx
