A/N: Sorry for the extended delay. I have much of this story written and just need to edit and find time to post. Please enjoy!
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling and not to me. I own nothing.
Chapter 33 - 3.12 or "A Date in Hogsmeade"
The rain that had plagued Hogwarts throughout April was stubbornly resilient, and as May arrived with no sign of the dreariness abating, the restlessness of the students as a whole crescendoed. It followed, then, that the Hogsmeade visit at the beginning of May was met with both an eagerness to be free of the confines of the castle for the day and a resigned dread at the prospect of fighting against the wind and rain.
James, though, had a far different reason for approaching the Hogsmeade visit with something akin to sourness. Lily Evans – the very same Lily Evans who he had only just realized he liked and who now seemed to invade his mind constantly, constantly, constantly – would be going to Hogsmeade with none other than Andrew Adamsly, who James had been perfectly friendly with for three years but who, now, James considered to be the most unworthy bore this side of Professor Binns.
Sure, Adamsly was a nice enough bloke, and he was a passable Quidditch player, and he was a year older than Lily, but shouldn't Lily realize that his personality rivaled that of a flobberworm? James supposed it would only take one date for her to recognize Adamsly's uselessness, so he decided not to let the unwelcome development cause him too much discontent.
Still, though, on the morning of the Hogsmeade visit, he dragged Peter out of bed and down to breakfast far earlier than usual.
Just to keep an eye on things.
"Can we go to Zonko's straight away?" Peter asked through a mouthful of kippers. "Mundungus Fletcher said that Dr. Filibuster's released a new line of wet-start fireworks and I reckon Zonko's will be sold out by lunchtime."
James dragged his eyes away from where Andrew Adamsly had just passed Lily a flagon of orange juice and shook himself. "What? Oh, right, yeah, the fireworks, sure. Though you know Zonko will put some aside for us." Peter's words caught up to him and he frowned at his friend. "What are you doing talking to dodgy Slytherins like Mundungus Fletcher anyway? You know he threw the odds on Davey Gudgeon's Slytherin-Hufflepuff bet by buying points with twenty Galleons that turned out to be leprechaun gold?"
"Yeah," said Peter. "Sirius ranted about it for a good twenty minutes, didn't he?"
"What'd I rant about, now?"
Sirius and Remus had arrived. As there were only two days standing between them and the next full moon, the exhausted rings shadowing Remus's eyes were more prominent than usual. James had purposefully left the two of them in the dormitory that morning to give Remus the chance for a bit of a lie-in.
"Fletcher's leprechaun gold," James told him, moving his things aside so that Remus would have more room on the bench next to him.
"Should have hexed him. If only Peakes hadn't got to him first," Sirius said, sighing as if lamenting his missed chance. He began loading sausage onto his plate and squinted at James, suspicious. "What brought you down here so early, anyway?"
"Nothing," James said quickly, attempting to keep his gaze from traveling down the table toward a certain redhead.
"He woke me first thing this morning, said he was hungry," explained Peter.
"What?" James asked at the strange looks all three of his friends were now giving him. "I was!"
Further conversation regarding his odd behavior was prevented, however, when a great rustling from above alerted them to the arrival of the morning post. James's owl Ari, damp feathers sticking up in every which direction, skidded to an ungraceful landing on the table in front of them and upended a bowl of fruit.
James reached out to give the bird a quick pat on the head before untying the letter from its leg. "You've got to work on your touch-downs, mate."
"No great loss," commented Sirius idly, gesturing toward the scattered fruit.
Recognizing the handwriting on the outside of the envelope as his father's, James tore open the letter with interest. He had been waiting for a response from his parents on the status of their tickets for the World Cup that summer and was eager to see what his father had to say.
"James,
We know how important the World Cup is to you, and your mother and I will do everything in our power to ensure you are able to have a wonderful experience with your friends this summer. We've secured enough tickets for Sirius, Remus, and Peter as well, though the international Floo waivers have been harder to come by, particularly sourcing six for the same day and time. I've spoken to Herc Frenapple, who works in the Department of Magical Transportation and who may be able to assist us in our search. Once we know our travel schedule, your mother will be reaching out to the Blacks, Lupins, and Pettigrews to acquire their permission that your friends may travel with us.
There is one other hiccup in our planning that I wanted to make you aware of before it reaches the pages of the Daily Prophet. As you know, Royston Idlewind heads the ICWQC despite his drastic views on appropriate crowd behavior at matches. There have been rumors of late that Idlewind may attempt to ban all wands from the stadiums during the tournament. I'm warning you of this now, James, as having a hundred-thousand witches and wizards in one location is a security risk in itself, but having them wandless right now is quite possibly the most dangerous thing Idlewind could suggest.
If his ban is enacted and we are not permitted to carry our wands, your mother and I may decide that travel to Spain is too big of a risk to take. I want to prepare you and your friends for that possibility now, so perhaps your disappointment would not be so great if it comes to that. I can only hope that Idlewind regains his senses and that this entire discussion will be for naught.
Keep out of trouble, James, and write back from time to time. Nothing brightens our day more than a letter from you. Your mother, Flora, and Ant send their love.
Dad"
"That bloody, dung-for-brains wanker!" James's shout caused several nearby students to look over at him with alarm, and Ari swept off with a screech.
"Easy on your dad, there, mate," said Sirius, eyebrows raised.
James thrust the letter toward him and ground his teeth together. "Not him. Royston Sodding Idlewind."
"The Australian Chaser?"
"One and the same. He's head of the ICWQC now and is threatening to ban all spectators from bringing their wands to the World Cup."
"Why?" asked Peter
"Because he's a bloody, dung-for-brains wanker," repeated James. Then with a wave of his hand, "It doesn't matter why. What matters is that if he gets his way, my parents think it's too dangerous for us to go to Spain for the Final."
"You're joking."
"He's not." Sirius finished with the letter and passed it across the table to Remus. "There's no way people will allow it though. A wand ban? Now? Your dad's right – no one'd feel safe walking round without their wand on them. Ten Galleons says it doesn't actually happen."
"I don't think it much matters what people will allow," said James. "The ICWQC isn't a voting body. If that's what Idlewind decides, there's nothing anyone can do about it."
Sirius frowned, clearly contemplating the issue. "Well then people will figure out a way around it. Idlewind's a notorious idiot, isn't he?"
"Hasn't got two brain cells to rub together," James told him. "No one knows how he got his position in the ICWQC."
"So it shouldn't be hard to fool him," said Sirius.
This reasoning calmed James somewhat. He popped a piece of bacon in his mouth and considered it. "You reckon people will find a way to smuggle their wands in right under Idlewind's nose?"
"Or we can find a way to smuggle our wands in," offered Sirius, laughing. "If that'll appease your mum and dad."
"I doubt they'll be appeased if the six of us are the only ones in a stadium of one-hundred-thousand with wands," James pointed out. "It'd have to be a broader-scale plan than that."
"I – I'm not sure I'll be able to go," said Remus, now passing the letter off to Peter.
Peter, who had been frowning deeply throughout the entire conversation, did not look down at the letter. "But you've got to go! All of us have got to go together. I can't be stuck in my house all summer with my mum and the baby. We'll figure out a plan around this Idlewand – Idlewild – Idlewind thing so we can all go. We've got to!"
"It's not that," Remus replied. "It's only that my parents might not be keen on my traveling to Spain without them…"
"Rubbish." James waved him off. "It'll only be for a night or two, and my mum'll get it sorted with your mums, don't you worry. Sirius'll be there because his parents think I'm a Muggle-hating pureblood lunatic, and we'll all be together in the desert for a fantastic match, wands in hand, and Idlewind be damned."
"James has decreed it so," quipped Sirius, pounding a solemn fist on the table.
Talk of the forthcoming Cup continued throughout breakfast, and James had – for once – nearly forgotten about his preoccupation with Lily Evans until he stepped out of the horseless carriage in Hogsmeade later that morning and spotted her huddled up under an umbrella being carried by Andrew Adamsly.
"Oh I wish we had thought to bring an umbrella," moaned Peter, ducking his head against the spitting rain.
Sirius snorted as he stepped out of the carriage behind James. "You're a wizard, you twit." He raised his wand up next to his own ear and muttered, "Impervius." The flecks of water now bounced off of his hair and shoulders like tiny pebbles. James and Remus mimicked him, and though it took a few attempts, Peter was eventually able to cast the charm on himself as well.
"Well lads," said Sirius, clapping his hands and sending specks of water droplets upwards, "I'd say despite the fine weather, we make quick work of this visit. Where to first?"
"Zonko's!" answered Peter at once. "I was telling James, Dr. Filibuster's got a new line of –"
"Zonko's it is," Sirius cut in, starting his way up the street toward the joke shop.
James, though, had just watched as Adamsly held the door to Scrivenshaft's open for Lily and he was overcome with an immediate desire to follow them. "You go ahead. I'll meet you there in a bit."
His friends all swiveled around to look at him, Remus concerned, Peter confused, and Sirius suspicious. "What? Where are you going, then?"
James shifted uncomfortably. "I've need of a new quill."
"You're joking."
"I'm not," said James, suddenly defensive. "My nibs are all worn down. I do take notes from time to time, you know."
Peter wrung his hands together, and James noticed the dampness seeping into the shoulders of his robes. His Impervius Charm was already beginning to wear off. "But – the fireworks –"
"Here." James dug his hand into his pocket and then pushed a few golden Galleons at Peter. "Get me a box."
"I'll go with you," said Remus, moving toward James.
"What – no, you don't need to –"
"I need some parchment." In the grey light of day, Remus looked even paler than usual, and his shoulders sagged in a manner that clearly indicated his exhaustion. James realized Sirius's intention in making this visit to Hogsmeade a quick one, and he privately agreed that they would need to get back to the castle before long to allow Remus a chance to rest.
"Right," James told Sirius, not wanting to prolong the discussion. "We'll meet you at Zonko's soon enough."
There was a hint of a smirk on Sirius's face as if he somehow knew James's exact reasoning for wanting to go into Scrivenshaft's, but he simply shrugged his assent and pulled Peter off in the direction of the joke shop.
"You feeling all right, Moony?" James asked Remus as the two crossed the street toward Scrivenshaft's.
Remus raised his eyebrows and deftly avoided a large puddle in much the same way he avoided James's question. "I should be asking you that. A new quill? Really?"
"Yes, I'm feeling terribly ill," joked James, hoping to deflect suspicion with humor. "And the only healing potion's a shiny new quill, didn't you know?"
Remus raised his eyebrows but said nothing as he pulled open the door to the little shop. James was not entirely sure why he was so intent on hiding his feelings regarding Lily Evans from his friends, but he knew he was not ready to go shouting about it all quite yet. Verbalizing it would solidify it, would make it undeniable and real. He was not certain that was a good thing, particularly if Lily remained bafflingly interested in Adamsly.
Unlike the other establishments along the High Street, the quill shop was not bursting with Hogwarts students, and the quiet calmness was slightly off-putting, as if they had stepped into a library. A few students were scattered about the aisles, and the shopkeeper peered at James and Remus over the rims of thick round spectacles as the door tinkled shut behind them. Lily's vibrant hair was easily spottable in the far corner, where she and Adamsly stood talking near a display of multicolored ink pots.
Remus slid away toward the parchment aisle, and as casually as he could muster, James approached the pair in the corner. They were facing away from him and didn't notice his presence as he lingered behind a nearby shelf which displayed an assortment of absurdly enormous eagle feathers.
"– a bright color," Lily was saying. "It helps me when preparing for exams to go over my notes with something other than black."
James chanced a quick look around the shelf at the pair and noted, once he was able to get a good view of her, that Lily looked different, somehow. And he would know. Recently, he had spent more time than he was willing to admit staring at the back of her head in lessons, or admiring the curve of her neck while she worked in the common room in the evenings, or noticing the shape her lips took when she had a sip of pumpkin juice at dinner…
Today, though, he couldn't quite place his finger on what it was that was so striking about her. She was wearing her cloak over her school robes, and for a moment he felt a righteous satisfaction that she hadn't deemed it necessary to dress up her wardrobe for Adamsly in any way. Her hair was damp from the rain in a way that made the ends splay out in every direction and her face was clear and bright as her eyes browsed over the multi-colored ink pots. James watched as she plucked up a blue ink pot briefly before setting it back down, then a purple one followed, then orange.
Realizing he had been staring, he turned his gaze back to the oversized quills and refocused his attention on the pair's conversation.
"Not red," Adamsly was saying. "It'd make you feel like you'd been given bad marks on your notes."
"How about this nice green?"
"Do you want everyone to think you're a closet Slytherin?"
Lily stuck her tongue out at him but set the green ink back on the shelf anyway. "Can I tell you a secret?" she asked him, her eyes flickering from the ink to his face and back.
He chuckled. "Oh you are a closet Slytherin, I should have known…"
She swatted him lightly on the arm. "Truth is, I don't really care for writing with quills and ink pots. It seems…"
"…terribly inefficient?" Andrew finished for her.
"Yes!" She seemed both relieved and excited by his understanding. "Ink pens are so much easier."
"Agreed. And less likely to make a great mess with an errant elbow."
James snuck another glance at the pair. Lily was now gazing up at Adamsly in a way that made James's stomach drop.
"I feel like it makes me a bad witch for thinking that," she said, her cheeks coloring a bit. "Even though it seems like common sense…"
Andrew bridged the gap between them in order to take her hand and give it a squeeze. "You're not a bad witch. I'd just recommend keeping your ink pens at home. You can use them to write me this summer."
Lily's smile only widened. "Speaking of which, can we go to the Animal Emporium next? I don't want to wait any longer to pick out an owl."
"Sure, if that's what you want. Then I was thinking we could stop into Madam Puddifoot's for a cuppa…"
James rolled his eyes at this suggestion, but his eavesdropping was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder. Turning, he found Remus standing behind him, holding a handful of crisp rolls of parchment and giving him an amused look.
"Right," said James, before Remus could say anything at all. His hand lunged clumsily forward to grab several of the ridiculously large eagle feather quills off the shelf. "Right. These look good. Let's go."
Remus frowned down at the quills. "Aren't those a little, er…"
"What?" James also looked down at the ludicrous quills and then gathered them against his cloak defensively. "What's wrong with them?"
"They're a bit…large…"
That was an understatement, but James was so disoriented after being caught very obviously eavesdropping on Lily Evans' date that he had no option but to pretend they were what he had been looking for all along.
He pushed past Remus and navigated the aisles toward the front of the shop. "I've been meaning to find a new style. I like them."
The boys swiftly paid for their purchases. As they were exiting the shop, James chanced one more quick glance and was disheartened to see that Lily and Andrew were still talking quietly where he had left them, oblivious to the goings and comings of other patrons. It was this, perhaps, that underscored the latent thought that he ought to take more direct action. And while he was at a loss for what exactly that action should be, he knew without a doubt that he wanted to talk to Lily, needed just a minute or two alone with her to make her smile at him like she had smiled at Adamsly…
The rain slowed to an easy drizzle as he and Remus began the walk down the High Street toward Zonko's, but they had only gone a few steps when James noticed a spidery figure skulking across the road with his eyes locked on the Scrivenshaft's entrance.
"Snivellus," he said without thought and to no one in particular, but he had barely begun making his move toward where the Slytherin lurked when Remus pulled his arm back in the opposite direction.
"Let it alone, James," Remus told him, tugging him in the opposite direction.
James allowed himself to be pulled along, but continued to watch Snape as they began walking again. "You know he's standing there spying on Evans," he said bitterly. "Hoping to get Adamsly's leavings, I'm sure."
"Perhaps," Remus replied, uninterested. "But you going over there and starting a duel with Snape'll get your Hogsmeade permissions taken away for certain."
James did not have a good argument against this, and Snape disappeared from his periphery as they continued their trek. Students hurried from shop to shop, weaving in and out of the street, clearly not wanting to linger outside in the foul weather for too long. The pair passed the Three Broomsticks, which was already overflowing with patrons to the point of excess, and a quick glance in the window at the crushed mass of bodies pressing toward the bar made James grimace.
"I think we may have to forego a visit with Rosmerta today," he told Remus, gesturing toward the pub. "Unless we want to scare a few Hufflepuffs into giving up a table."
"That's all right." Remus shrugged and ducked his head against a gust of wind. "We can always eat lunch back up at the castle."
"Shame," said James. "Rosmerta always wears those robes on Hogsmeade Saturdays…you know the ones that make her—"
"Oi! Potter!"
James cut off and turned to find Fiona Beal, his Quidditch Captain, approaching him hurriedly. She seemed to have just exited Dervish and Banges.
"Look, I know we were supposed to have practice this evening but it's a wash with this weather. I'm cancelling practice for the weekend and we'll meet on Monday like planned—"
"That's rubbish," said James, annoyed. "This weather isn't going to scare us off, Beal, you know that."
Fiona just shrugged, clearly unconcerned. "Anyone can use the time for individual training if they want." At James's expression she sighed. "Don't give me that look, Potter. N.E.W.T.s are only a month away, I've got to study, and I doubt anyone else will be moaning about having a Saturday off, all right? I've told everyone now except the Beaters. Peakes is usually holed up in the Three Broomsticks but it'd take me an hour to find him in that crowd. If you see him or Adamsly let them know for me, eh?"
As perturbed as he was at his Captain's misaligned priorities, this gave James an idea. He raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm not doing your dirty work for you, Beal. If I see them, I'll let them know you have something to tell them yourself."
"Yeah, all right, that's fine," Fiona responded, already turning to make her way back up toward the castle. "I'll be in the library for the rest of the day if they want to find me."
"She needs to get her priorities sorted," James grumbled to Remus as the pair continued their walk toward Zonko's. "What kind of Captain would rather study for N.E.W.T.s than practice Quidditch?"
"Well," said Remus, a hint of mirth in his tone, "exams are only a month away, maybe this would be a good time for you to start preparing…"
James's snort of disgust quickly turned into a laugh as he noticed the joking grin on his friend's face. He gave Remus a light shove to the shoulder. "You know me so well, Moony."
It wasn't until they were outside of Zonko's and had peered through the windows at the crowd within that James decided on a flimsy strategy. "Look," he said, stopping before they could reach the door. "I'm going to pop into the Animal Emporium and get some treats for Ari."
Remus frowned at him. "Now? Can't we go there after Zonko's?"
"No need," said James, already walking backward down the pavement away from Remus. "I'll be back in a snap, all right? Make sure Peter's using my gold for the fireworks and not for something useless like Hiccup Sweets."
And with a wave and an admittedly flawed plan in mind, he turned down the side street that would take him toward Lily Evans.
It was difficult to tell if she was dreaming or not. Lily stood in the Hogsmeade Animal Emporium, chatting happily with the shopkeeper and holding hands with Andrew Adamsly. She supposed in a dream, the hem of her robes wouldn't be sodden, and the ends of her hair wouldn't be curled out unflatteringly due to the weather, and her fingers couldn't possibly be feeling quite so tingly if she were asleep.
"He's perfect," said Lily, smiling at both the shopkeeper and Andrew before turning her gaze back upon the small, grey speckled owl that had been summoned off its perch. The owl clicked its beak at her and then turned its head to peer curiously at the cage of puffskeins that sat on the counter next to him.
"He's a touch small for long journeys," the shopkeeper told them. "Can make it across the country in a few days, I'd reckon, but if you want an owl that can deliver messages abroad, you'd best go for something larger. We've got a much better selection at Eeylops in Diagon Alley, our sister shop you know…"
Lily shook her head and reached out a finger to stroke the bird, which turned its head to now look at her, clearly intrigued by the caress. "No, he's just the right size for me. I haven't got any need for a bigger owl."
"Wonderful. Well it's 30 Galleons for the bird and I can add on a pack of these new frog-flavored treats for only five Knuts if you're interested." Before Lily could answer, the shopkeeper turned toward Andrew. "What about you, young man? What can I get for you today?"
"Oh, nothing for me, thanks. Just here for moral support." At this, he gave Lily's hand a squeeze that made the tingling sensation spread all the way up into her shoulder.
"You're the reason I'm here in the first place, remember," Lily told him as she fished in her pocket for the proper amount of gold to hand over. "I wouldn't have ever been able to get this owl if you hadn't taught me how to play Arcana."
She handed the gold to the shopkeeper and when she turned back, Andrew took both of her hands in his own and faced her straight on, his smile radiant.
"Best decision I've made in some time," he said. "Offering to teach you how to play Arcana, I mean."
She was tempted, ridiculously, to raise up on her toes and kiss him, right there in the Animal Emporium with the shopkeeper only a step away and a cage full of puffskeins purring up at them…
"Am I interrupting something?" came a loud and rather unwelcome voice from her right, and Lily jumped back at once to find none other than James Potter watching them with a strange smile on his face.
"Potter," said Lily, pulling her hands from Andrew's in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"Came to buy some owl treats, but then saw you two over here being all cozy." He still had that strange smile on his face as he turned to Andrew. "Ran into Beal and she said she needs to speak to you at once, Adamsly."
Andrew frowned. "Really? What about?"
"She said that she wanted to be the one to tell you," said James, a picture of nonchalance. "Said she was trying to find you straight away and that if I saw you, she'd be in the Three Broomsticks looking for you."
"Can't it wait?" Andrew asked, now looking annoyed.
James shrugged. "Didn't seem like it, mate."
"It's all right," Lily told Andrew. "I'm almost finished here and then we can go over to the Three Broomsticks together."
"Gonna be a few minutes, Doll," said the shopkeeper without even looking up from her till. "We'll need to get your papers together for you to take over to the post office. The Ministry isn't keen on unregistered owls delivering mail."
"Oh," said Lily, who hadn't been aware of this particular process. "Well I can always come back later and –"
"Don't worry about it," Andrew told her. "I'll run into the Three Broomsticks right quick and'll be back before your papers are signed."
It wasn't exactly what she'd hoped for, but Lily supposed a few minutes away from him wouldn't exactly ruin the day.
"All right," she said. "I'll come your way if I finish first."
Andrew winked at her, and reached over to give her hand another quick squeeze before finding his way out of the shop and into the dreary day. Lily watched him for a moment through the window as he ducked his head against the wind, but a familiar figure across the street caught her eye. She could have sworn she spotted Severus standing there watching her, but the next instant a group of laughing Hufflepuffs walked by and when they passed, Severus was gone.
Lily shook herself, deciding she had imagined his presence, then turned back to where her new owl was still sitting on the counter and gave his feathers another gentle stroke, trying to ignore James Potter's continued presence behind her.
"So are you going to name him after Adamsly?" James asked her, moving forward to lean his forearms against the counter. He was now standing unnecessarily close to her, and Lily wondered why until she noticed him poking his index finger through the cage to give a sleeping puffskein a prod.
"My owl? Why would I do that?"
James glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, but then refocused his attention on the puffskein. "Well he does whatever's he asked, doesn't he, just like a good little pet?"
Lily rolled her eyes and stepped away from him, offering her arm out to the small, speckled bird, which hopped onto it agreeably. "Don't be a prat, Potter."
At this, James turned again toward her and now used his finger to give a playful tap to the owl's head, which hooted happily. "What do you think, Little Bit? Think you'd make a good Andrew?"
"I'm not naming this owl Andrew, Potter!" Lily snapped, stepping again out of his reach.
James held up his palms in pacification. "All right, keep your hair on. What have you named it, then?"
To be honest, Lily had given the matter no thought. She was saved having to answer him, however, by the shopkeeper waving an official-looking piece of parchment at her.
"You'll need to fill this out, Doll," said the witch, handing her a quill and laying the parchment on the counter for her. "And I'll just run to the back to grab those treats you asked for."
Lily did not have it in her to tell the woman she had not asked for any treats, and moved to fill out the offered parchment. Her owl relocated to her shoulder when she moved, and she was just thinking that his weight against her was oddly reassuring when James made a clicking noise with his mouth and the bird immediately fluttered to his shoulder instead.
"What are you doing?" Lily asked him, only slightly dismayed that her owl had abandoned her for James Potter.
"Just making my acquaintance with Miss here," James said, rubbing the owl's beak in an surprisingly gentle way.
"He's a boy owl, Potter," said Lily, now turning back to the form and writing her name on the specified line.
"Nah, I think Miss would be a great name for this bird." Even by the tone of his voice, Lily could tell he was smirking at her. "After all, if you hadn't been dealt the Miss on four separate hands, Evans, you never would have beat me in the Arcana tournament, and you wouldn't be spending your winnings on this handsome devil."
Lily ignored him and tried to focus on her form. Will the owl be used for business post, personal, or both? She scrawled personal on the sheet before turning back to him.
"I'm not naming my male owl Miss, you cretin, now give him back."
James leaned in conspiratorially toward the owl on his shoulder, and said, as if he was telling it a secret, "She's not always this rude, Miss, don't be worried."
She fought not to growl in frustration when the owl nipped him affectionately on the ear. Instead, she offered her arm once again as a perch. "Come here, little guy."
The owl hopped from James's shoulder to her arm, and Lily gave James a smug look before once again turning back to the form. She had only just started detailing his identifiable markings when James whispered, "Psst, Miss!" and the bird returned at once to his shoulder.
This time, Lily could not suppress the growl of aggravation that came from her throat. When she turned again, James was grinning at her as if he had won some unspoken battle that she wasn't even aware she was participating in. "I think he likes his new name."
"Well he's just going to have to come to terms with a different one." She held out her arm once more. "Come on back, then." The bird did as it was told and Lily stroked its feathers fondly. "Try it again, Potter, and I'll put birdseed in your hair and let him peck through to your brain."
James laughed and kept his gaze on her as she finished adding all the applicable information to the parchment. By the time the shopkeeper returned and looked over the completed form while handing over the unrequested treats, Lily was thoroughly ready to get out of the shop and to find Andrew again.
"You'll just need to drop it at the post office before they close and you'll be all sorted," said the shopkeeper kindly, passing the parchment back to Lily with a satisfactory nod. "Congratulations on your new owl, and don't be a stranger now!" She turned and frowned at James, who was still lingering. "Were you going to buy something, young man, or were you just planning to stand there like a loitering lobalug?"
James glanced at the shopkeeper as if he had entirely forgotten her presence and his own purpose for being in the shop in the first place. Without even looking at the packaging, he grabbed the first packet of owl treats he saw and tossed a silver Sickle on the counter.
"Keep the change," he told her, not bothering to pause before following Lily back out into the street.
The rain had started again in the time she had been in the shop, so she opened her umbrella, the little owl swaying on her shoulder with the motion. Lily used her free hand to steady him and give him a quick pet before saying lowly, "Go on to the castle now, all right? You can stay in the Owlery and I'll come visit you when I get back." She looked briefly at James, who was watching her closely, before adding, "And don't worry, I'll find you a better name than 'Miss' by then."
The little owl gave a low hoot before taking flight toward Hogwarts. Lily watched him disappear into a rain cloud and then, without so much as another glance at James, began making her way toward the post office. She supposed she could drop off her form before then tracking Andrew down in the Three Broomsticks.
The only problem was that James Potter seemed to be following her.
"Can I help you with something, Potter?" Lily asked him as they passed Gladrags Wizardwear and James fell into stride with her.
James shrugged lazily. "Probably. But it seems we're just walking in the same direction, Evans."
She tried to slow her pace so that he might walk ahead of her, but he did not take the hint. Instead, he reached up and flicked the side of her umbrella causing little droplets of rainwater to fly upwards off of it.
"You know, an Impervius Charm'll keep you drier than an umbrella will."
"Is that so?" Lily asked, uninterested in engaging in a prolonged conversation. The post office was just ahead and after that, she intended to find Andrew again as soon as she possibly could.
"It's not too difficult to cast either. Technically fourth-year magic, but you're not too terrible at Charms Evans, so you could probably learn it quick enough."
Lily did not answer, but pulled open the door to the post office with a bit more force than was entirely necessary. She lingered inside after handing her form off to the clerk, hoping that Potter might have disappeared by the time she reemerged into the street, but her hopes were dashed. He seemed to have been waiting for her.
She began walking once again and was about to again ask him what he wanted from her when he continued talking as if there had been no interruption at all.
"…I can do it for you, if you want, though it seems like something your date would have helped you with instead of having you carry around an umbrella all day, seems like the chivalrous thing to do, doesn't it? Though maybe he has trouble with Charms, I wouldn't know—"
"For your information," Lily said, finally succumbing to her irritation and stopping to glare at him, "I am perfectly capable of casting an Impervius Charm, and so is Andrew. I happen to like using an umbrella."
James put his hands in his pocket and rocked back on his heels. "Why?"
"I find them…cozy."
"Cozy? Umbrellas?"
"I like having to huddle up to stay dry. What's it to you, anyway?"
James, though, seemed to have been distracted by something behind her. His eyes darkened for just a moment before the trademark smirk was back on his face. Ignoring her previous question entirely, he said, "Looks like your shadow's decided to come out of hiding, Evans. Must be your unlucky day."
She knew by the look on his face more than his words who, exactly, must have been behind her, and she tried to ignore the frustrated squirm of her stomach when she turned to find Severus approaching the pair, his jaw tight and his eyes flashing.
"Sev!" said Lily in greeting.
"Sniv!" James echoed. His wand was out now, spinning between his fingers, but Lily could tell he was readying for a fight. "Rotten to see you as always. Evans here can't chat. Hadn't you heard? She's on a date."
Severus reached them now and grabbed hold of Lily's wrist to pull her bodily away from James. "What's he doing here?"
She forced a smile at him, hoping he might not be able to detect her impatience with the entire situation. As fond as she was of Severus, at the moment she was not particularly interested in appeasing him. She thought longingly of the quiet morning she had started with Andrew and tried to quash her own dissatisfaction with the turn of events leading to their current separation.
Lily pried her wrist out of his grasp. "Your guess is as good as mine."
"What we were doing," James said over her, "was having a perfectly nice conversation until your unwelcome arrival, Snivellus."
Lily noticed Severus's wand grasped in its owner's hand and she put an assuaging palm across his forearm. "Don't," she warned. "He's not worth it. We were just walking in the same direction is all."
Severus scowled and looked around. "Where's – what's his name? – Adam?"
The entrance to the Three Broomsticks was only a block away, and Lily glanced at it longingly, but there was a large group of students outside the door waiting to go in and she could not see Andrew anywhere. "Andrew," she corrected. "And he had to go look for someone for a moment. I was on my way to meet back up with him."
"That's her way of telling you to get lost, Snivelly," said James.
"Take your own advice, Potter," Lily snapped. "Come on Sev, you can walk to the Three Broomsticks with me—"
"I'm not going in there," said Severus, pulling her wrist again, this time trying to get her to cross the street with him. "It's chock full of imbeciles. Come to the bookshop with me. They've got the newest issue of Practical Potioneer…"
The rain had started coming down in earnest now, and Lily held her umbrella more tightly to her as she again extricated herself from Severus's grip. "I can't. I told you, I'm off to find Andrew."
Severus scowled. "Clearly he's ditched you, Lily—"
"What an awful thing to say. He hasn't ditched me. "
"—and you know the library doesn't get the new copies of the journals until they're out of date anyway—"
"I can't go to the bookshop with you, Severus."
"You'd rather spend your time walking round with him instead?"
"Clearly she would," James cut in. "So bugger off, Snivellus, will you?"
Severus was practically snarling as he focused his eyes on James and said, "Why are you here anyway, Potter? No one here has got any use for you."
"Evans has got plenty of use for me, didn't you know, Snivellus? Asks me for favors, see—"
"Oh for Merlin's sake!" Panicking with James's insinuation, Lily whipped out her wand and alternated pointing it at each of the boys, both who looked rather surprised by her outburst. "If either of you says another word I'll disarm you both and then use a Permanent Sticking Charm to glue you together and make you suffer through the other's presence for all of blasted eternity, got it?"
James's shock seemed to dissipate first, and he watched her wand with a twinkle of amusement in his eye. Lily fought back the rising urge to hex him for what he had said. She had believed the whole ordeal regarding Severus's ruined potion was behind them; in the weeks since she had so inadvisably employed James to sneak into the Slytherin dormitories to destroy it, he had not once mentioned her plan or his role in it. Perhaps she had been a fool to think he would not use his knowledge as a tactic in his unceasing rivalry with Severus. His pestering of her today had undoubtedly been just another way for him to infuriate her best friend.
Severus, clearly taken aback by her shouting, recovered less pleasantly than James, and now looked toward her with obvious offense at having been reprimanded.
Neither of them had an opportunity to respond though before Lily felt a gentle tap on her shoulder and a confused voice from behind her said, "Er, Lily? There you are. Is everything all right here?"
She turned to find Andrew standing in the rain a step away, watching the three of them with something like perplexed curiosity on his face.
"Andrew. Hi." She felt herself redden. How much had he heard? "Er, yes, everything's great. Were you, er, able to find Fiona?"
"Nope." He ducked under Lily's umbrella before turning to James. "Ran into Walker though, Potter, and he told me about practice being cancelled. Strange that Beal wouldn't have just asked you to pass along the message."
The rain was now pinging so forcefully off of James's spectacles that Lily couldn't read the expression on his face when he said, "Don't ask me how her mind works, or why she'd feel the need to cancel in the first place…"
"I don't mind," said Andrew, now turning back toward Lily and grinning. "Allows us to spend more time in the village today. Shall we go to Madam Puddifoot's, Lily?"
Lily, though, was now looking toward Severus with a sinking feeling in her stomach. Leaving him and James alone together right then was not an option. Not only might they start throwing hexes at one another, she could not now go off with Andrew and leave James the opportunity to potentially reveal her secrets and ruin the most important friendship in her life.
"Actually," she told Andrew, her voice sounding much higher than normal, "I need to run look into a journal article with Severus here. I'm sorry."
Andrew looked between Lily and Severus, frowning. "Oh. Okay then."
A completely different kind of panic rose up in her throat at the expression on his face. She tried at once to ease his fears. "No, it's just…he's my friend. And he needs to…show me something."
He didn't look particularly comforted by this bit of information. All the same, the bitterness had retreated from his tone. "I understand. And, hey, I disappeared on you for a few minutes, I can't be cross if you need to do the same. How about I get us a table at Puddifoot's and you can meet me there whenever you're able?"
Lily couldn't help the relieved breath that was expelled from her mouth at his agreeableness. He was so very different from the two boys who currently stood watching them, and at the moment she could not have been more grateful for it. Again, and against all reason, she felt the urge to rise onto her toes and kiss him.
"It sounds perfect," she told him honestly. "I'll be there soon."
And leaving him exposed to the rain, she stepped away from Andrew and proceeded to pull Severus off toward the bookshop. She did not slow or speak until they had ducked into the dusty little shop off of one of the side streets, and when she looked out the window behind them, James Potter was – blessedly – nowhere to be seen.
A puff of bright yellow smoke engulfed their table and a shrill, cheerful yelling echoed around the dingy pub that had, by the looks of it, not seen any such liveliness in quite some time.
"Put that thing away Peter, before you get us chucked out of here," hissed James before the smoke had even cleared. The other patrons of the Hog's Head – a group of grumpy-looking goblins and a pale wizard who had previously been sleeping against the bar – turned to look at the group of boys with irritation. James just waved at them and raised his bottle of butterbeer in salute.
Sirius was looking around the pub with curiosity. "Not sure if that'd be a shame or not." His eyes fixed on the bearded barkeep, who at the sound had rushed in from a back room with a meat cleaver raised and now stood watching the four boys with narrowed eyes. "The place has got character going for it, if nothing else."
Peter had placed the offending noise-maker on the table and had reddened with the attention it had attracted. "Sorry. I didn't know what would happen!" He seemed to be searching for something to change the subject. "Why did we come in here, anyway?"
It took every fiber of James's being to resist looking out the dingy window, where the front of Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop could easily be seen across the street. Lily and Adamsly had been sitting cozily at a round table in the window for going on a half-hour. "Because the Three Broomsticks was too crowded, and I fancied a drink, and we're Marauders are we not? It is our sacred duty to explore uncharted territory."
"And we've got to determine if that bloke'll sell us Firewhisky," added Sirius, nodding toward the barkeep who had just stashed the meat cleaver in his breast pocket. "We've made acquaintances with enough of the shopkeepers in Hogsmeade to get us by, but it's never a bad idea to meet some more."
"We've had a bottle of Firewhisky in the dormitory since Christmas," Remus pointed out. "And we haven't touched it. Why would we need more?"
"Half a bottle," corrected Sirius. "And we're waiting for an appropriate occasion to drink it, and then it'll be gone, and we've got to have a new source, haven't we?"
Peter perked up. "Can we drink it tonight?"
"Not likely," muttered Remus, pale as ever.
"I said an appropriate occasion," Sirius said. "Not a rubbishy evening in May."
Only half-listening to the conversation, James chanced another glance out the window and was discouraged to see the pair of Gryffindors now holding hands across the small tea table. To distract himself from the sight, he turned his attention to the rainbow-striped cylinder that lay innocently in front of Peter.
"Why'd you buy that thing, anyway?" he asked, nodding at the object.
Peter picked the object up with some trepidation, as if worried it might start yelling again. "Mr. Zonko said it'd be all the rage at the World Cup! And it was reduced to clear – only four Knuts."
James stared at his friend for a moment, wondering how he could possibly be so thick. "It was reduced to clear because those things went out of style years ago, Peter."
"What is it?" Remus asked, inspecting the object warily from across the table. When Peter tried to hand it to him, he shook his head to decline the offer.
James took another sip of his drink, happy to have a conversation to distract him from the scene at Madam Puddifoot's. "It's a Dissimulator. Makes noises and flashes colors of your team when you're a spectator at a Quidditch match. They're for kids though. You know, before they actually have a wand they can use to create noises and such."
"B-but," said Peter, looking crestfallen, "Mr. Zonko said everyone'd have them at the Cup this year –"
Sirius snorted. "Maybe everyone in the under-eight crowd…"
"Why didn't you tell me that before I bought it?" Peter asked Sirius.
"You seemed excited. Who was I to spit in your pumpkin juice?"
"I thought it was neat," Peter mumbled, placing the object back down and then nudging it toward the middle of the table as if to distance himself from it. "And I thought if that Idlewind wizard wasn't going to let any spectators bring their wands, it might be fun to have…"
James was about to turn his gaze back toward the window, but something about this statement caught his attention. Without quite knowing why, he plucked up the Dissimulator and began examining it gingerly. It was a thin tube, a few inches longer than a standard wand, with a small hole at one end which he supposed emitted the smoke and noises. As a child, his grandfather had bought him Dissimulators every time they'd venture to a Wimbourne Wasps match together, and before he would inevitably lose or break the toy he would enjoy waving it and pretending that he had a wand just like his grandfather's. He was lost for a moment in this brief nostalgia before the initial elements of something that could be a grand idea entered his head.
"…heard what James said," Sirius was saying. "If the wand ban passes, we're not going to be at the Cup at all."
"Wait a tick. What if –" James reached into his pocket to extract his own wand and held it up adjacent to the Dissimulator. The other three watched him in anticipation for a moment, waiting for him to expand on this thought.
"Er, what if what?"
James looked toward Sirius, expecting him to understand, but his best friend simply stared back at him with a raised eyebrow. "You think you could fit a real wand inside one of these?"
Sirius frowned and took the offered Dissimulator from James, examining it skeptically. "Perhaps. It'd depend on what's inside it, wouldn't it? Why? For the Cup?"
What had been only a passing spark of an idea was now starting to form more fully, and James felt a surge of excitement as he replied, "Sure. I mean, if the wand ban's enacted, we could hide our wands in Dissimulators and smuggle them into the match…"
Sirius mulled this over. "It's not the worst idea you'e ever had…"
Remus, now more interested in the object in question, took it from Sirius and gingerly inspected it. He tapped it with the crest of his fingernail and listened to the sound it made. "It sounds hollow enough," he told his friends. "Only we might have to manipulate the end, here, to make it more accessible."
"Do you think your parents would allow it?" asked Peter. "I mean, if we had our wands hidden in these, would they take us to Spain for the Final?"
"Probably not," said James, his excitement now tempering somewhat. "Like I said before, if we're the only ones in the stadium with wands, I don't think that'd be much comfort to them."
"Well, what if everyone's got a Dissimulator, then?" asked Sirius, the familiar look of mischief taking shape on his face. "What if Dissimulators suddenly come back into fashion prior to the tournament?"
James knew Sirius well enough to know when he was hatching a plan, and this was exactly what James needed for his own mental plotting to shift into high gear. He grinned at his friend. "What did you have in mind?"
"Well, trends start at Hogwarts, yeah? So to start, we buy out Zonko's supply, give 'em out to students. Let Zonko know he'll need to up his manufacturing and do it quick. Once we figure out how to adjust the model to allow for a wand, we spread the word."
"A few hundred Hogwarts students using these things isn't going to make much of a difference in a stadium of a hundred-thousand," Remus pointed out.
"Right," Sirius nodded, taking a swift swig of his butterbeer. "But if everyone at Hogwarts lets their family and friends know what's going on, that's most of the magical population of Britain in a week or two, tops."
"And the rest of the magical world?" James pointed out. "It's not as if the Cup's only a British event."
"Well that's where we've got to hope that once Idlewind's ban goes through, the uproar will be international. Everyone'll be looking for a way to smuggle their wand in."
James considered this. "It'll need to work fast. And people'll need to start bringing the Dissimulators to the early rounds of the tournament, not just the Finals, or it'll arouse too much suspicion. The problem is, no Hogwarts students are going to be at any of those matches, since school's still in until the end of June."
"So who do we know who'll be at the early-round matches?"
"The Bones brothers." This aspect of the plan had come to James fully-formed. "They always attend the early-round matches. And they know everybody."
"Do you think they'd agree to help?" asked Remus.
James nodded, certain Stuart and Edgar would be agreeable. "All they've got to do is try out the Dissimulators early on, and start the grassroots movement. If they work at the matches and people are confident they can bring their wands in, it'll spread like Fiendfyre."
"It's brilliant!" chirped Peter, who had followed the conversation between his three friends as if watching a tennis match. "We should go tell Mr. Zonko straight away!"
James shook his head, pondering the best course of action. His eyes trailed back out the window to where Lily and Andrew were still sitting, but for once, his focus had been diverted by the excitement of their idea. "Not with all the students swarming his shop. We'll sneak back down tomorrow to buy up his Dissimulators and have a chat with him. In the meantime, I'll write to Stu."
The group of goblins nearby were now passing a large pipe between them and expelling smoke that smelled like rotten eggs. Remus, who James could tell was attempting to conceal the signs of his exhaustion, began aggressively coughing.
"Well Moony," said James once the coughing subsided, "think it's about time we get back up to the castle, eh?"
Remus took a sip of his drink, his eyes watering as another cloud of smoke wafted over them. "Perhaps," he assented. "Though James, I think you're betting too much on an unproven detail."
"What's that?" James asked as they all stood up to take their leave.
"That we're cleverer than Royston Idlewind."
James just laughed, throwing one final glance at the window of the tea shop before starting his trek back up the street with his friends. "I'd take that bet any day of the week, Moony. Any day at all."
Severus had not seemed pleased when they finished in the bookshop and Lily had left him to meet Andrew at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop, but Lily had promised him that they could spend all day Sunday studying by the lake together. Between this commitment and her explanation that the "favor" James had referred to was that Lily had asked his opinion on owl treats, Severus had at least seemed somewhat mollified.
As the day progressed, however, and despite the lovely distraction of Andrew's presence, Lily became more and more aggravated by James's glib remark. She had taken a leap of faith when she had asked for his help, had trusted him to carry out her plan, and – perhaps most foolishly of all – had believed that he would forget about the entire endeavor just as she wished to do herself. Instead, it seemed he would now find need to remind her of her lapse in judgment whenever he felt so inclined. Whether it was simply his goal to irritate her for the fun of it, or if his broader aim was to eventually tell Severus what they had done, she did not much care. It could not go beyond what had transpired that morning, and Lily would have to find some way to ensure it didn't.
"Lily? Earth to Lily?"
Shaking herself, Lily turned her attention back to Andrew, who had been gesturing toward a park bench down the lane but who now stood looking at her with a bit of concern.
"Sorry! Yes, that looks like a lovely spot."
"Are you sure? You seem a bit…preoccupied. Would you prefer I take you back up to the castle?"
It was true that her attention had wandered away from her date that afternoon. Despite having a nice time with Andrew, she had been distracted by thoughts of Severus and her rising anger toward James and had not, perhaps, been quite as mentally engaged as she would have been otherwise. Now, though, she smiled at the young wizard before her and shook her head.
"Not at all," she said. "The rain's just now stopped and we have a little time left. Let's sit for a bit."
He grinned and took her hand as they approached the iron bench that was tucked away from the street by blooming pink and white bushes. The bench was wet from the recent weather, but Andrew vanished the droplets of water before they sat down.
"I didn't think we learned Vanishing until fifth year," said Lily, impressed.
For some reason, this seemed to embarrass Andrew, and he grinned awkwardly and shrugged. "Just a useful one to know, so I started practicing early. Now, shall we sample the chocolate?"
As they sat, he reached into his pocket for the large bar of Honeydukes chocolate they had just purchased together in the sweetshop.
"I thought you'd never ask," Lily answered.
"So," he began as he broke off a piece for each of them, "today we've discovered that you prefer ink pens to quills and umbrellas to Impervius Charms. Are you going to reveal to me that you actually prefer Muggle sweets to Honeydukes sweets?"
His tone was playful and she smiled at him. "Chocolate is chocolate," she told him, taking a bite of the chocolate bar as if to prove a point. "I'm not picky in that regard."
He, too, took a bite, nodding sagely. "Well that's a relief. I may have cried if you had disparaged Honeydukes."
"I'll admit though that I don't much care for Bertie Botts. The first time I tried them I got an ash-flavored bean, shortly followed by a vomit-flavored bean. So if you're wondering, that was also the last time I tried them."
"Ah well," laughed Andrew, "the Wizarding World sure likes to keep us on our toes with those. Worst I ever got was a wood-flavored one, though my mate Sturgis once got tar."
"Whoever comes up with the flavors sure has a laugh, don't they?"
"I'd assume it's old Bertie, but if not, it seems a fun job to be tasked with."
"More fun than eating them, at least. Sev once got a snow-flavored one. I mean, what's the point?"
Andrew nodded and raised a bite of chocolate toward his lips before seemingly thinking better of it and lowering it back to his lap. He was watching her closely, his expression melting from one of lighthearted amusement to something more thoughtful. For a second, Lily thought perhaps he might kiss her, truly kiss her. She had been daydreaming of such a moment for weeks, and she thought perhaps she could summon her courage and make the move herself if he wouldn't…
"Lily, may I ask you something?"
She had been leaning toward him ever-so-slightly, but now straightened, jarred by his abrupt change in tone. "Of course."
"Are you and Severus Snape – I mean to say, are you truly just friends?"
"Oh!" She was not sure what she had expected, but it was certainly not this. He looked so earnest sitting there next to her, with residual rain drops on his shoulders and a newfound hesitance in his brown eyes. Of course, Lily knew that people joked about her relationship with Severus – even Adin had been telling her for years she thought Sev fancied her – but Lily had never doubted that their bond was one of nothing more than friendship. What she felt toward Severus was how she supposed she would feel about a brother, and she knew his feelings to be reciprocal. Perhaps an overprotective brother, sure, but nothing romantic.
It was both thrilling and terrifying to reach over and take Andrew's hand as she answered. "Yes, we're friends, and that's all we've ever been."
He exhaled in relief, but the doubt didn't seem to leave his expression, and he asked, "Does he know that?"
"Of course. He's one of my best friends. We knew each other from home, from Cokeworth, even before Hogwarts."
Andrew nodded and finished the bit of chocolate he had been holding, as if looking for something to distract him. "All right," he said after he had swallowed. "It's only – well, he seems rather attached."
If he hadn't said it with such gentle affection, she may have become defensive. As it was, though, she shrugged. "We both are attached. We're friends, like I said, and it hasn't always been easy for him to make friends."
This brought out a wry smile. "I can understand that, I guess."
They fell into silence. Looking for something to do, she pulled her hand back and began rewrapping what remained of her chocolate, supremely conscious of the fact that he was still looking at her. She looked up and grinned somewhat awkwardly. "What?" she asked him, feeling her cheeks redden.
Andrew shrugged and looked away, as if he had been caught doing something embarrassing. When he looked back, he also had pink dotting his cheeks. "He's lucky, is all." He paused before adding, "I've had fun with you today. I hope…maybe we can do this again?"
Lily wasn't sure why she didn't answer him. All she knew was that at that moment, she gathered her nerve and leaned forward to kiss him fully. There was nothing she needed to think of right then, not Severus or James Potter or anyone else, and she thought only of his mouth moving against hers and the joyous jumping of her heart.
After leaving the village, the Gryffindor boys had returned to the castle and eaten a lazy lunch in the Great Hall before spending what remained of the afternoon in their dormitory. While Remus had fallen asleep at some point reading his History of Magic textbook, Sirius and Peter played a rather one-sided game of chess until Sirius decided his time could be better spent rereading one of his Muggle magazines. James, meanwhile, had scrawled a long letter to Stuart Bones, describing the details of the Dissimulator idea that had originated in the Hog's Head, as well as the role he hoped Stuart would play in it. Once the letter was signed and sealed, though, James's thoughts turned unsurprisingly back to Lily Evans.
"Do you think she's snogging Adamsly right now?"
Sirius, who had been sitting on the floor across from James, looked up at the question. "What?"
"Evans. Do you think she and Adamsly are in some dreary corner of Hogsmeade snogging right now?"
"Er, I don't know." Sirius seemed to contemplate the question, then shrugged. "Nor do I care."
James had of course been talking to Sirius. But as he often did even when not addressed directly, Peter chimed in from where he was lounging on his own bed. "Why do you want to know?"
James frowned at the image in his head of Lily and Andrew embracing in the streets of the village. He wished he had not said anything. "Just seems like someone should watch out for her is all."
This made Sirius laugh. "I know you fancy the pants off her, but Evans can well take care of herself, mate."
"I don't fancy Evans."
"Right. You're just curious about her snogging schedule."
James said nothing to this. There was a pause and then Sirius said with a hint of devilishness, "Maybe they're shagging."
"You're mental!" said James, at the same moment Peter spluttered out, "What?"
Sirius glanced toward Remus's bed to make sure their rejoinders hadn't awoken him before he shrugged with mischievous innocence. "Just saying, if you're going to be concerned about what they're doing, aim higher."
"They are not shagging!" James retorted, now thoroughly regretting the conversation.
"That alleyway behind Honeydukes is pretty private…"
Peter was now sitting up, his expression curious and fretful. "People don't shag in Hogsmeade," he said, lowering his voice to a whisper at the word "shag."
Sirius seemed perfectly pleased by the reactions of his friends. "Why not?" He grinned at Peter. "And what would you know about it anyway?"
"I know lots!" said Peter, his chest puffing out defensively. "I hear things. Plus, there isn't anywhere to lie down in Hogsmeade."
"Who said you've got to be lying down to shag?"
"Of course you've got to be lying down," Peter stated as if this was the most obvious thing in the world.
"No you haven't. There's plenty of other ways to do it."
"You should listen to him, Peter," James said dryly. "He's the expert. He's had his hand in Gin Leigh's top three times, after all."
"And once in her knickers, don't forget! Where are you going?" Sirius asked James, who had pulled himself off the floor, the letter to Stuart grasped in his hand.
James waved the letter. "Owlery. There's no time to waste if Stu's going to help us pull this off."
"Want me to come with you?"
James, who was trying to get the words 'Evans' and 'shagging' from bouncing around together in his brain, wanted a few minutes of solitude. "I'm all right," he said, opening the door to take his exit. "I'll be back in time for dinner."
As always, Ari was happy to see his owner when James appeared in the airy tower ten minutes later, and the brown owl flew down from a high rafter to nibble at James's fingers. In no particular hurry to return to his dormitory and his friends' lurid discussions, James sank down to sit against the Owlery wall and stroked Ari's feathers mindlessly. He was not usually one to separate from his friends to gather his thoughts. When distressed, James did not isolate himself in his schoolwork like Remus, or disappear to brood like Sirius; instead, he generally found the distraction of laughter or mischief or flying to be the best cure for disgruntlement. And yet just then, the refuge of the Owlery was wholly inviting. It was quiet other than the occasional hoot or ruffle of wings from above, and he was able to more easily sort through the confusion that had been plaguing him.
Sure, Lily Evans was pretty. And she was smart, and witty, and wasn't afraid to stand up to him or to anyone else, for that matter. But, bafflingly, she was friends with Snape, which was grounds for institutionalization as far as James was concerned. Of course the more pressing issue was that she did not seem to like James at all, and this was not something he was particularly accustomed to. He had never had to try to get someone to like him, not boys or girls or parents or teachers, or perhaps he had just never before cared to try, and he was not entirely sure how to go about it. Clearly, she had trusted him enough to ask him to sneak into the Slytherin dormitories to destroy a potion for her, but it seemed her regard for him ended there. James had hoped he could remind her of those positive moments they had shared when he had mentioned the favor earlier that day, but she had clearly not been pleased.
He was completely and hopelessly befuddled by the girl.
Looking around the Owlery, he spotted the small grey owl that Lily had purchased that morning, and when he called to it, the bird flew down to him at once.
"Hullo, Miss," James said, pausing mid-pet of Ari to give the small owl a scratch on the head. Ari hooted lowly in displeasure and clicked his beak at the newcomer. "How's the castle treating you?"
The owl responded by gently pecking at the pocket of James's robes and then looking up at the boy as though expecting something.
"Er," said James, confused. "Is there something you want, Miss?"
Again, the owl bent and pecked. Frowning, James shifted and reached into his pocket to discover the packet of owl treats he had purchased that morning and had completely forgotten about.
Laughing slightly, James tore open the packaging and held out a treat for each of the two birds, who ate them happily. "Well, you sure aren't shy about what you want, Miss. I reckon you'll fit in nicely with Evans."
The treat seemed to placate Ari, but he now clicked his beak at the letter that sat in James's lap, as if to remind him of his own dutiful importance. James gave both birds another treat before tying the letter to Ari's proffered leg.
"Take it to Stuart, then," he told the bird as he stood to allow him easier access to the open window. "And make sure to not leave without a response from him, even if it takes him a day or two, all right?"
With a hoot of response, Ari spread his wings and took flight into the dreary sky. James watched him until he disappeared into the clouds, thinking of the World Cup and what Stuart's reaction to James's suggestion would be. Stu was never much a stickler for the rules, and James supposed he'd be a willing co-conspirator. The Bones brothers always attended as many of the early round matches as time would allow, but James was fairly certain they would not stand for attending if they were not permitted to bring their wands, especially considering what they had been through in December.
He pet Lily's grey owl mindlessly as he watched the sky, his thoughts turning to dinner after a while and what the house elves might be serving. He wondered if Evans and Adamsly would be sitting together, or if perhaps she had had enough of the boy that day, perhaps had decided she wasn't interested in him after all…
"Oh you have got to be joking."
The little owl gave a startled screech at the suddenness of the voice from the doorway. James looked up and, for a moment, thought he might be hallucinating her, so coincidental was her appearance with his wandering thoughts. But then she strode across the dropping-strewn floor and stood in front of him with her arms crossed and he thought he had never seen anything more beautiful in his life.
"Evans!" he said cheerfully, flipping another owl treat to the bird that still sat on the window ledge next to him. "Lovely surprise. Miss and I were getting to know each other."
The previous disbelieving expression on her face turned instantly to something closer to anger. "What are you doing here, Potter? And how many times do I have to tell you, his name Is. Not. Miss."
Her frustration seemed disproportionate to the extent of his crimes. After all, he was only teasing her. "I came to send off a letter, since you asked. And have you got another name for him picked out? Only he seems to have taken a liking to the one I provided him…"
"It's none of your business what I decide to name him—"
"Ah, so you haven't decided, then."
"All you need to know is that he will not be called 'Miss.'" Lily looked around, somewhat suspicious. "And if you're sending off a letter, where is it?"
James gestured toward the open window. "Sent it already. Ari left about ten minutes ago."
"Humph," said Lily, somewhat disbelieving. "I'm starting to feel as if you're following me."
She was a perceptive one, James noted. Though while not too far off the mark overall, his presence here was entirely coincidental. Sure, he had heard her mention that she would be visiting the Owlery later that day, but how was he supposed to have known it would be right then?
"And why would I do that?" he joked. "Your welcoming and friendly demeanor?"
Her mouth twisted as if she were biting her tongue quite literally. Then she turned her attention to the owl that still sat next to James's resting elbow. With a click of her tongue and a wave of her hand, the bird flew to her and perched on her shoulder. Then she turned back to James, and raised her chin as if she were preparing herself for something.
"Since you're here, then, you can answer something for me."
"How I got to be so effortlessly clever and charming?" He knew it would rile her, but he couldn't help it. Teasing her came too naturally to him. "While I know you're curious, Evans, I don't fancy getting into my entire life story at the mo—"
"Don't be an idiot, Potter," she interrupted. "What I want to know, is what the bloody hell you were thinking this morning?"
"Hmm," he said, leaning his back against the stone wall in what he hoped was a casual manner. "What I was thinking in regard to what, exactly?"
"In regard to that whole charade today. What with your bothering me at the Emporium and then taunting me, talking – in front of Severus, mind you – about doing me favors—"
She was angry, that was obvious, but there was something else hiding in her frustration, something that he had never seen before. Disappointment. He frowned, as confused by her as he had ever been. "I did do you a favor, or don't you remember?"
"Yes, I do remember. And I was not expecting you to hold it over my head for all of time, Potter, or to use it as some sort of veiled threat every time you're around Severus—"
"It wasn't a threat, Evans, calm down, I was just having a laugh—"
"Well it wasn't funny!" The little grey owl flew from her shoulder, apparently aggrieved by her tone. Lily took a breath as though to steady herself and then continued. "I thought that in helping me a few weeks ago, you were showing me some deeply hidden decency, Potter, but apparently your agreeing to do me a favor was all about getting one more thing on me, wasn't it?"
"Of course not—"
"All you were doing was discovering one more way to pick at me and to rile Severus and to be generally a bigger pain in the arse than you already are, is that it?"
"Wh— No!" He did not particularly enjoy feeling like a child that had just been reprimanded by his mother. Aside from that not being the impression he was going for, he didn't believe it was particularly justified at the moment. "It wasn't like that Evans, but if I'm that big of a pain in your arse maybe you should ask someone else for help next time."
"Well I most certainly will, because it was obviously a mistake to trust you to shut your mouth and not make one thing all about you, Potter!"
"I didn't make it all about me, Evans!" There was a bit of panic rising up in James at the idea that this is what she truly thought of him, and it was fueling his anger. "All I did was mention you had asked me a favor, I didn't say—"
"So what?" Lily cut in, eyebrows raised. "What is it you want, then? To blackmail me? I asked a favor from you once so now you want me to, what, do your Potions homework for you?"
"Don't be ridiculous," James snapped. "And I'm not the one with a history of blackmailing, so who's the Quaffle calling the Bludger red, eh? Or don't you remember blackmailing us last year when we asked you to help us find knotgrass, or blackmailing us with the Jed Cuffe posters and that bleeding password?"
Based on her shocked expression, she had clearly not been anticipating this response. "Of course I—"
But James wasn't yet done. Even in his own growing anger, it was important, perhaps crucial, that she understand this. "I helped you because you said there was Dark magic going on, Evans, and that's more important to me than pranks or getting detention or a date in Hogsmeade. I thought it was to you too, though maybe I misjudged you."
"Of course it is." She stepped backwards as though offended by this statement. "Don't turn this around on me. And if it's that important to you, Potter, then why would you bring it up so flippantly like that in Hogsmeade this morning?"
Because she made his brain turn to mush, James thought. Instead, he said, "Because maybe you needed reminding that I'm not the pestering fool you make me out to be." Her face softened somewhat and this, more than anything, propelled James to say, only somewhat harshly, "I won't bring it up again, Evans. You have my word."
For the first time, she seemed somewhat flustered. She crossed her arms over her chest and glanced around for her owl, which was watching them from a low perch, before looking again at James. "Good," she said. "Fine. That's all I ask."
He was torn by the sudden desire to be away from her and the common inclination to get as near to her as possible. "I'll leave you with Miss here, then. Wouldn't want you to think I'm following you or any such rubbish." Stepping around her, he walked toward the door before throwing her a diffusing grin. "I'll warn you from experience, though, owls tend to latch onto the first name they're given. I had wanted to name my owl 'Ludo' but my dad insisted on 'Aristotle' and that's all he'll answer to now."
He was halfway down the tower stairs when he heard her call, "We'll see about that Potter. I've no doubt my owl's not as thickheaded as yours."
By the time James made his way back to Gryffindor Tower, he had replayed their conversation in his head enough to realize one thing: he was simply not the sort of wizard to make a fool of himself over anyone. He did not need to try to get someone to like him, and the idea that he might was patently absurd. He was a Potter, after all. And so, it was with something akin to relief that James determined that he had no recourse but to squash any fanciful inclinations he may or may not have had under a blanket of self-preservation and insolent pride. Why should he swan around like a prat after a witch dim enough to be interested in Andrew Adamsly, after all? There were plenty of better avenues that deserved his attention, not least of which were the aggravatingly difficult Animagi spells that he had been practicing since February.
He was perfectly content with this decision to not fancy Lily Evans right up until he began climbing the stairs back to his dormitory, and he remembered the way her cheeks had flared red when she had been shouting at him, and the way her hands had gestured wildly, and the way she had twisted her mouth when he had rebuked her…
Well, so much for that plan, James thought, thumping his forehead against the wall with a resigned sigh.