"ARGH!"

A flock of birds evacuated the nearby treetops at the sound of the infuriated scream. The flapping of their wings echoed in the castle's big stone walls, vibrating along the pathways. The crystallised water of the Lake glistered under the dim sunlight, reflecting into a certain raven-haired's spectacles as he looked up, surprised.

"Bloody..." Lily spat, gritting her teeth right away to keep the words in. She held her injured hand close to her chest, crimson streaks starting to form quickly. The burning caused her eyes to become moist and she blinked angrily, a small tear sliding down her lid. This day just couldn't get worse!

First, she was bullied by some damned beast and coerced into taking refuge in a tree. Then, she was unlucky enough to be greeted by the epitome of uselessness itself. A second bully, if one thought about it, and possibly much worse since he possessed the gift of speech.

"Are you alright, Evans?" just then, James Potter made use of said gift, frowning slightly as if actually concerned for her well-being (and, at the same time, for her sanity).

Her knees gave in awkwardly and she found herself in a sitting position once more, cradling her poor fingers gently. Hopefully, he would leave her alone if she pretended she was too wounded to make sense of his words.

"I can see your knickers, you know..."

Her cheeks instantly flushed from both anger and embarrassment. In a swift movement, her good hand had tucked the traitorous skirt under her legs, and her head turned to the most interesting scenery to the far left: the sun moving towards the west, creating a strong yellow and orange glow across the sky, casting shadows all around. A nice place to be. Where Potter was nowhere to be found. She could even pretend he didn't exist if she focused hard enough: the hard wood under her, the leaves blowing gently with the breeze, the sound of...

"Evaaans..."

She whipped her head violently enough for her hair to slap her face.

"SHUT THE HELL UP, POTTER, OR I SWEAR TO MERLIN I WILL THROW A TWIG AT YOUR JUGULAR!"

Her emerald eyes were so furiously prominent one would assume they would pop out any second just to get into James Potter's throat and choke him. And they very well could, if they held their owner's will. He, on the other hand, stared at her with equally engorged sockets, his eyebrows close to his hairline, only for a very different motive: fear. Pure and absolute fear.

"I was just going to tell you I could heal your hand," he said in a small voice, holding his wand up.

Lily's chest was heaving under her shirt from the outburst, and that made James' attention switch to it, briefly. His gaze kept darting between her face and the latter, his brain seeming close to melting point for it could not decide in which one to focus. Upon realising this dilemma herself, Lily's cheeks and neck turned a deep crimson and she crossed her arms over her chest, turning away from the pervert. James himself blushed a little at the thoughts roaming through his mind, making his body feel abnormally hot under his cloak. So he did the only thing he could think of at the time: take it off.

Lily's ears captured the rustling sounds that came from underneath her but paid no mind to them. After all, what went on with Potter was none of her concern; hopefully, he was having a seizure of some sort from exposure to too much of his own idiocy. She had heard of such cases happening in St. Mungu's. She hoped it was lethal.

But Lily didn't have much more time for these musings, for suddenly she felt something colliding with her face rather painfully, almost throwing her off the tree in the process. Her reflexes kicked in and she held on for dear life, with whatever it was that had hit her falling onto her lap. Had she been in control of her common sense at the time and Lily would have thrown the foreign object off of her immediately; but she wasn't, so instead she looked at it more closely while rubbing her sore nose. It seemed like a bundle of dark fabric.

She looked at James quizzically.

"It's my cloak," he said, as though it were obvious, "Put it on."

Now that Lily thought about it, where was her cloak? She must have lost it in the midst of the chaotic chase.

"You must have lost yours," James offered, ever so helpfully.

Lily sent him a glare.

"I do not need your cloak, thank you very much," the redhead snapped.

But she made no movement to send it back down. It remained in her lap, warming her legs and reminding her of how cold the afternoon had gotten as the sun began to descend in the horizon. The chilly breeze blew past her, causing the hairs in the back of her neck to stand up.

With a flourish, James used his wand to heal her wound. Lily made no comment about it, although she was grateful the pain was gone. Her anger, too, had subsided. But she was still cold.

"I do not need it," she repeated a little louder, as if to convince herself. Damned be Merlin, his cloak was so soft and warm!

"Are you sure?" James asked, furrowing his brow slightly. Women were so complicated sometimes.

She didn't give him a response; didn't look at him. But she did grab the fabric bundle and carefully began to unfold it.

James Potter smelled of musk and cedar. And maybe grass.

Lily knew this because she had his cloak wrapped around herself for over an hour now. Not just wrapped – she was literally cocooned, from head to toe, in it. And so she was forced to experience his scent. All over. It was the most awful experience of her life – much worse than having an extra lesson of History of Magic or being kissed by a Dementor (she supposed) – but she had to endure it for the sake of staying warm.

"Potter, are you cold?" she had asked, her voice muffled by the fabric covering her mouth. It was two minutes after he had offered it to her that she began to wonder about this fact: she was cold in just her uniform, so he must have been as well.

"Nah, I'm fine," he had said dismissively from his place in the grass. And he had seemed fine – he had even loosened his tie and shirt collar a bit, which suggested he was hot. Lily couldn't possibly imagine why, as the temperature had dropped several degrees and there was no sunshine anymore. The sky had turned red and purple and a few stars could already be glimpsed above their heads. The nightly creatures were starting to make appearances here and there and soon all the castle windows would be alight in the darkness.

Then again, it was James Potter she was talking about. He was barmy. He'd completely lost his gobstones. He didn't seem to care. And if he didn't care, Lily didn't either. Why should she? She was too nice a person!, her inner self told her sternly. He didn't deserve any of her concern or sympathy; he had been pestering her for hours! And because of him, and his stupid canine companion, she was stuck in a tree! It was getting dark and cold and she was getting hungry! She had so much work to do still! She had no time to be playing these silly games!

So she was more than allowed to indulge in her warmth and be selfish for that brief period of time. Potter could very well suffer, for all she cared (and she didn't). He was to blame for this predicament. And that notion alone enabled her to stand James Potter's charity along with his stench lingering under her nose.

Lily could very well have fallen asleep, had she not needed to stay awake in order to not fall to the ground. And of course she did not trust Potter to take vigil. If the dog decided to grow a little taller or limbs capable of climbing trees, how was she to defend herself? Potter would definitely be useless. And she could not afford to die today. N.E.W.T.s were just around the corner!

"Are you warm enough, Evans?" he asked.

"Yes," was her curt response. Because despite loathing the boy, she had to admit that he had contributed to her current comfort. And she hated to admit that.

"Good," James smiled, obviously pleased with himself.

Lily tried to ignore him, producing a snobbish scoff instead.

A few moments passed before his voice was heard again, and Lily barely contained the urge to throw her promised twig at his neck.

"You know, Evans," he started, and already she was rolling her eyes in annoyance. Nothing good could ever come of that, "Now that you've mentioned it, it is starting to get a tad chilly down here. Perhaps I could climb over to where you are... We could very well keep each other warm."

When she did not respond (she couldn't, for her whole self seemed ready to convulse with disgust), James continued, "It's a win-win situation, really. We have one cloak. But we have two people..."

"Oh sod it," Lily interrupted, annoyed to no end, "If it is so cold then go snuggle with the dog."

Immediately, Snuffles, who had seemed to have been asleep during the entire exchange, picked up his head and let out what sounded like an indignant whimper. James himself gave her a look of complete and utter horror, as though she had just suggested he would go snuggle with the Giant Squid at the bottom of the Lake.

"That... would be odd," he spluttered, exchanging a look with Snuffles. The dog snarled at him, his black fur shooting up as though warning him not to come any closer, "Oh, don't flatter yourself."

Snuffles snorted and got up, circling the tree trunk and settling down on the other side. He was clearly offended with such insinuations.

Lily tried to ignore the signals her brain was sending her, urging her to flee from the scene before she went bonkers. Her self-preservation was working fine, thankfully, but the rest of her body did not seem capable of complying. She blamed it on James Potter's scent, as it was clearly affecting her better judgement. He ought to have been rolling in a field of belladonnas because her consciousness was clearly not at its best.

James accepted the fact that she wasn't going to snuggle under the cloak with him and had therefore moved (rather reluctantly) to sit against the tree trunk. Lily couldn't quite tell whether he was asleep or not, as she could only see the top of his (huge) head. She supposed he was, or somewhat close to being, otherwise he wouldn't have been as quiet.

James Potter was never quiet.

Maybe he is dead!, Lily thought, her spirit alight with joy. She shook the macabre musing as soon as it manifested itself, though; what good would Potter be dead? She had to escape from that tree. And she wasn't an awful enough person to desire anyone's death. Although if she were, Potter would definitely figure at the top of her list.

It was only then that she processed that Snuffles was no longer in the way. The canine had been absent from her mind, possibly as a form of self-preservation, ever since he had left her field of vision, and she had not bothered to wonder where he'd gone. Again, she blamed her daftness on her tired brain and James's cloak. But the important thing was she was back to her sharp self and had registered that piece of information. And more importantly: she was going to use it to her advantage.

First, she had to figure out the exact location of the beast. Upon a brief inspection of the vicinity, starting with the bottom of the tree trunk and immediate surroundings and ending on the farther pieces of land, she finally spotted it: it had gone as far as the lake shore and was at the present time swilling water down.

Lily's senses instantly awakened at the sight. She turned around and barely allowed her mind to form a plan. She could feel her eyes engorging at the possibilities, her pulse beating frantically against her throat and ears. She was getting off that tree soon!

She got up up as cautiously as possible, remembering to be wary of places the cloak could get caught into and to mind where she placed her feet. The wood wasn't especially slippery but she had had scares in the past (although more a product of her clumsiness than anything else) and preferred not to repeat the prowess. So she proceeded very gingerly as she steadied herself, pressing each hand on one of the branches closer to her, and looking down to make sure the coast was clear.

James was still in the same spot, in the same exact position, not a sound escaping his being. It was so like him to be silent and unmoving when she required him to be the exact opposite, and vice-versa.

The boy would be the start of her greying hair!

"Potter," she hissed, and as he did not look up at once, she tried again a little more forcefully, "Potter!"

"Yes, sweetheart?" James all but yawned, his head jerking up slightly as if having been stirred from his almost sleep. Lily wasn't easily deterred, and because this was an urgent matter, she ignored the affectionate name-calling and continued:

"Help me down," she whispered, stealing a glance behind her shoulder to make sure Snuffles was still entertained by the water. And indeed, the large dog was still a few meters away from them, this time on his back, moving from side to side to scratch it on the hard soil. Lily didn't know how much more time they had, so she returned her attention to James and thrust a hand in front of his face, "Now!"

James had twisted his body so that he was looking up at her, and seemed a little confused at the gesture. He didn't even seem to understand what she wanted from him. He kept on staring for a few seconds, dazed, before the redhead completely lost her head with impatience and decided to take the reigns.

Grabbing the hem of the cloak with one hand and using her other one to hold onto the tree, Lily gulped her cowardice down, preparing for the very literal leap of faith. If she had to fall on James Potter in the process, so be it!

"Evans!" James scrambled to his feet in an instant, regarding her a little pale, "What are you doing?"

"Shhh!" she urged him, sneaking a furtive glance at Snuffles again. He was lying down on one side, his back turned on them, probably tired from all the moving around. Oh Merlin, how lucky she was! He had not heard a thing, "Keep your voice down and help me out of this tree."

"But," he lowered his voice after she glared at him like a madwoman, "Snuffles..."

"He's over there," Lily muttered in a rush, tilting her head in the dog's direction, "Now stop fussing and let me down!"

Despite his intentions, James's arms shot up mechanically at her request, "Evans, I don't think you should..."

"Quiet, Potter," Lily spat, already too concentrated on her efforts to listen to a single word of protest. Steady...

"But Snuffles..."

"Hush!"

Her hand found his; she didn't notice the way their fingers intertwined.

"He seems really angry from where I'm standing," the raven-haired uttered, his voice carrying out a tinge of panic.

"Potter..."

She already had one foot forward and ready to jump.

"SNUFFLES SEEMS REALLY, REALLY ANGRY..."

"What are you shouting for-"

James interrupted her by grabbing the closest brunch to him and holstering himself towards her. And because Lily was trying to descend at the same time, they almost collided with one another. She let out a squeak, losing her balance and falling backwards in a fumble of fabric and red hair. She would have fallen out of that tree, had he not been grabbing her hand.

During this plight, Lily had not been able to take notice of the shaking ground beneath her nor had she heard the loud barking taking place on the grass. In that moment, Snuffles charged against the trunk with such might, both her and James wobbled to the side and fell against a large ramification - or rather, James's back did as Lily was practically thrown into his chest.

"Bloody hell..."

Snuffles scratched at the wood like a ravenous dog, spewing saliva in multiple directions, his breath almost reaching them as he tried a series of small leaps. But due to his sturdy frame and weight, he could not go past a couple inches, which Lily was immensely grateful for.

The redhead pushed herself off her nemesis, lifting her head and throwing her hair out of her face in rage. Her cheeks were flushed from anger and frustration and her lips pursed in a fine line, currently stark white.

"That was just grand, Potter!" she accused, hitting him with her hands balled up into fists, "Now - we're - BOTH - stuck - in - this - tree!"

"I'm sorry!" James attempted to defend himself against the blows, "I'm sorry, I panicked!"

Lily let out a groan of exasperation and let go of him. She simply had no more energy left in her, especially when he was so ridiculously hopeless. Snuffles was growling beneath them, his blue eyes staring intently at the couple without an ounce of pity in them. Although perhaps they held a certain glint of mischief to the more attentive eye.

"Now don't fret, love," James said in an uplifting tone, shoving his hand into his belt and exhuming a long piece of wood, "We still have my..."

He was suddenly jolted forward, causing his fingers to loose their grip on the wand. It descended quite swiftly, its fall seeming to happen in slow motion before the wizards' eyes. And before any of them could react, it landed straight inside Snuffles's awaiting mouth.

He closed it immediately, a ghost of a smile creeping up his doggy features as he placed both paws back on the ground.

Lily was completely agape when James dared to look at her.

"Bollocks."

A/N: It's finally here, the second chapter! I can't tell you how relieved and proud I am for getting this out for you, after so many difficulties, writer's block, lack of time... I did promise I would continue this story and I do honour my promises! I thank all of you for your patience and for sticking with me. You are all wonderful and make me want to write so much more. But all in due time. I worked on this chapter for too many months before I was satisfied with it. I hope you are too. As always, your suggestions and criticism (if constructive) are very welcome. Until next time!