1. Bennett Theater by Amelia Bedelia
2. Good Luck by Amelia Bedelia
3. Claustrophobia by Amelia Bedelia
4. James' Accident by Amelia Bedelia
5. Somewhere by Amelia Bedelia
6. An Overactive Imagination by Amelia Bedelia
7. The Belmanns by Amelia Bedelia
8. Dance Lessons by Amelia Bedelia
9. An Unexpected Invitation by Amelia Bedelia
10. The Ministry Ball by Amelia Bedelia
11. Act 1, Scene 5 by Amelia Bedelia
12. The Confession by Amelia Bedelia
13. The Curtain Call by Amelia Bedelia
14. Epilogue by Amelia Bedelia
Chapter One: Bennett Theater
“Dad!”
Mr. Potter lowered his wand and turned around slowly. With a sigh of annoyance escaping his lips, he raised his eyebrows at his son. “What is it, James?”
The bouncing boy circled the new desk they had just levitated into Mr. Potter’s study. He jumped into the chair behind his desk and spun around in it several times before realizing he had not asked his question. In his excitement, he ran to his father. He grabbed his wand arm and hung onto it. “How far is Sirius’ house from here?”
The large, red vase that Mr. Potter had just levitated out of the large, brown box dropped to the floor with a smash. With an audible gasp, James quickly jumped off of his father’s arm, realizing he had been the reason his father’s wand connection with the vase had been broken.
Mr. Potter held a hand up to his eyes and covered them as he tried to calm himself. He shook his head and dropped it onto his chest in a defeated manner. No wonder he had been losing so much hair recently. And he could have sworn he saw a gray spot yesterday…
Mr. Potter moved backward and sat wearily on the corner of his desk and said, “James, you can’t walk to Sirius’ house anymore.” Mr. Potter sighed and gestured weakly to the fireplace outside of the room. “The Floo Powder is sitting on the mantle,” Mr. Potter calmly told him, trying his best not to shout. “But make sure you invite Sirius to our house, this time,” Mr. Potter reminded his son. And in a softer voice, he muttered, “I don't want an 'accident' like there was the last time you went to the Black's house...”
James pushed his glasses up his nose and ran from the room. Waiting for at least a minute until Mr. Potter was sure that James had left the room, he bent over the vase that James had accidentally broken. He lifted his wand and whispered, “Reparo,” and it repaired itself, looking brand new. As he levitated the red vase again, he frowned, searching for a spot to put it.
“Right here, dear.”
Mr. Potter spun. His wife stood in the doorframe with her hip jutting out to the side and a deep look of concentration etched across her face. Her glasses were pulled down to the bridge of her nose as she looked over them.
She tugged at her long, black hair as she thought, pointing to the spot she had suggested for the vase to be placed. Mr. Potter found the location that his wife had pointed out: a small table near the corner of the room. He flicked his wand and the vase moved to the location, gently sitting it down on the surface. With a smile, he leaned over it and magically filled it with a large bouquet of assorted flowers. Mrs. Potter bent over the flowers and smelled them.
“Does that work?” Mr. Potter asked his wife, taking her hand. He pulled her further into the room and wrapped an arm comfortably around her waist so they were standing beside each other, hip to hip.
“As long as you remember to change the flowers before they die,” Mrs. Potter smartly reprimanded her husband. She turned to look at him straight on with her hands on his shoulders. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked into your office to serve tea when you have a visitor from the Ministry, and I find all of the flowers hanging over the edge of the vase, dead.”
Mr. Potter hugged his wife with a laugh. “I’ll try to remember that next time, then.”
“It doesn’t work.”
The two parents looked at each other in confusion. But after realizing that neither of them had said anything, they inwardly groaned. Slowly, as if they were bracing themselves, Mr. and Mrs. Potter turned to the door and found James holding a wooden box upside down in the air.
Mrs. Potter let out a small sigh and let her head fall onto her husband’s chest.
“James,” Mr. Potter spoke calmly, “what did you do with all of the Floo Powder that was in that box?”
James scratched his head. He looked up and immediately cringed at the sight of his parents hugging each other. “Ew “ dad! That’s disgusting!”
Mr. Potter’s face was slowly heating up in anger. His wife sighed and moved away from him after taking off her glasses and massaging her temple.
Mr. Potter moved slowly towards his son. “Where's Sirius?” He pointed to the wooden box in James’ hands and put both hands on his waist. “What happened?”
“It didn’t work,” James said again. “I threw the powder in the fire, but nothing happened.”
It finally occurred to Mr. Potter what was wrong. They had just moved into the house; their Floo Network had not yet been activated.
He groaned and started to walk to the back of the room, pulling at his hair. Mrs. Potter, who had also figured out the problem, brought her hands up to her face and shook her head, trying not to let her husband see her smile of amusement.
“So I threw another handful in,” James continued explaining, “and it still didn’t work.” He frowned as he looked into the box as if the Floo Powder had been defective. “So then I threw another - ”
“James,” his father cut him off, seconds from losing any patience he had left, “did you throw all of our Floo Powder into the fire?”
“Well “ yeah, I did,” James shrugged. He looked up at his dad with wide, innocent, hazel eyes and held the box up to him. “I think we need more.”
Mrs. Potter readjusted her glasses quickly, swooped in before her husband could, and took the empty box from James’ small fingers. “I’ll refill that “ don’t get so upset; he’s only eleven,” she reminded her husband. “And he doesn’t know.”
“Doesn’t know what?” James quickly asked as his eyes darted back and forth between his parents. He was not one to be left out on secrets, and found it highly insulting that his parents chose not to inform him of something. The moment his mother apparated from the room, James’ large eyes focused on his father. “What didn’t you tell me?”
“James,” Mr. Potter said as he pulled up his chair behind his desk to sit in front of his son, “our Floo Network doesn’t work because your mother and I chose to move into a Muggle home. A Muggle neighborhood,” he added on.
His son’s jaw dropped. “Nuh uh,” he said in his high voice. And then suddenly, as if their family had been shunned, shouted, “Dad “ we’re pureblooded wizards!”
“That doesn’t mean we can’t live with Muggles!” his father explained quickly as if he were making an excuse. He took his son by the hand. “We all share the same world “ we don’t have to leave them completely out of our lives! Besides,” his father added, poking his son in the center of his chest, “I think it’d be good for you to get comfortable with both worlds. That’s something I wish I had been able to do when I was just a boy,” he reminisced.
James made a face. “No way,” he said in a very childlike manner, “I don’t wanna hang around a bunch of Muggles just because you fancy them!” He tried to get his hand free from his father’s grip but froze with a panicked look in his eyes. “Wait “ can I still fly my broom in the backyard?”
Mr. Potter’s apologetic face said it all.
“I can’t?” James shouted. He looked like he was on the verge of tears. Flying his broom was the one thing he did every day and felt he couldn’t live without. “But dad - ”
“Look, James, we’re all going to have to make some sacrifices, here,” Mr. Potter said.
“What sacrifice are you making?” James asked sourly. “You would gladly live with Muggles “ what about me?”
“I’m sorry if it’s not perfect, but you’ll have to learn how to cope with Muggles sooner or later; I would prefer it sooner,” Mr. Potter said with a note of finality. “I was sheltered from the Muggle life all through Hogwarts, and was in for a big surprise when I fell into the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry as an Auror, James. I have to deal with Muggles almost everyday! Even after taking Muggle Studies at Hogwarts, it was still a shock. Trust me,” Mr. Potter patted his son on the shoulder sympathetically. “It’s the best thing for us all.”
“Dad,” James tried to argue one final time, “there’s gonna be nothing to do around here!” He crossed his arms and began to pout like he did every other time that he was upset. “That’s not fair!”
“Give it a chance!” Mr. Potter raised his voice, beginning to grow upset that James was not open to change. “Here,” he finally said, patting the sides of his robes. He stuffed his hand into his right pocket and pulled out a key. Grinning, he stood and threw an arm over James’ shoulder and walked him out of his study. The pair walked into a kitchen full of empty boxes.
“Honey!” Mr. Potter shouted through the empty house. “James and I are going for a drive!”
James looked at his father with unmasked horror. He discreetly moved toward the kitchen table and circled it so that he was on the opposite side as his father. “You’re joking, right?”
Mr. Potter looked at James with a smile. “No, I’m not joking.” Pulling out his wand, Mr. Potter shot a spell at his son and himself that quickly changed their wizard robes into Muggle outfits.
James stared at the clothes he was wearing. A pair of jeans hung loose on his hips and covered his brand new sneakers. A large t-shirt enveloped his small torso, giving the appearance that James looked smaller than he was. With horror, James pulled at the front of his t-shirt to find it stretched out to arm length without any resistance. “These clothes don’t even fit, Dad…”
Mr. Potter ignored him and took a deep breath and shouted again. “Honey?”
Mrs. Potter apparated in front of her husband holding their wooden box filled with brand new Floo Powder. She raised an eyebrow at both Muggle outfits, particularly James’ outfit, unable to hide her smile. “Where are you going?” she asked, tossing her hair over her shoulder. She eyed James with curiosity when she noticed that he was too afraid to let go of their kitchen table.
“We’re going out for a drive,” Mr. Potter said with a bounce in a step. He kissed his wife on the cheek and pushed James toward the front door. “Bye!”
“Have fun,” Mrs. Potter said with a smirk.
“Mum,” James called to his mother, trying to return to the kitchen, “you can’t be serious “ you’re letting him drive?” James reached out to dig his nails into their walls as his father easily dragged him out of the door by grabbing a hold onto the back of James’ large shirt. “He could kill me, Mum!”
Mrs. Potter laughed to herself and waved as her two boys left the house.
“Oh, would you stop overreacting!”
Mr. Potter leaned over to the seat beside him and merrily ruffled James’ messy, black hair.
“Keep your eyes on the road!” James shouted at the top of his lungs. Sweat poured down his pale face. He closed his eyes and clutched the arms of the chair he was sitting in. His knuckles turned white.
Mr. Potter came to a slow, easy stop off to the side of the road. He put the car in park and sat back in the comfy, leather seat. James did not move for several minutes. When he realized they were parked for good, James finally opened his eyes and Mr. Potter was grinning down at him.
“This,” he said, patting the dashboard of the car, “is a Muggle item. Within a few years, your mother and I intend on teaching you how to drive as well.” He smiled and unbuckled his seat belt before opening his door. “I only wish my parents would have let me learn to drive a car when I was younger; it comes to your advantage every now and then.”
James shook his head at his father and scrambled out of the car as quickly as he could. He pulled up his pants, furious with his father for not only giving him clothes that didn’t fit, but for also making him leave the house wearing the clothes. James started to mutter softly under his breath, wishing his father heard every word that he said. “I think your parents were smart not to let you go anywhere near Muggle objects…”
Mr. Potter ran from his side of the car over to his son, standing on a sidewalk in front of multiple buildings. He crouched down to James’ level and lowered his voice; the fear in his eyes made it clear that Mr. Potter had, in fact, heard his son’s offhand comment. “James, you can’t say Muggle here “ these are Muggles. You don’t want them getting suspicious, do you?”
James rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. He felt his pants start to slide off of his waist and reached back down to hold them up. “I’m just saying that I think non-wizard things should be left to the non-wizard!” James exclaimed, not caring who overheard him. “There’s a reason we lived in an all wizard neighborhood “ so we didn’t have to do anything you’re making me do right now!”
Mr. Potter didn’t try to quiet his son. “James,” he explained calmly, leaning up against their brand new, silver car, “we didn’t even drive five blocks.” Mr. Potter gestured to the empty road they had just been driving on. “I didn’t even have anything to hit! Think about it as flying on your broom,” Mr. Potter offered. He started to walk toward the nearest building with James following grumpily in his shadow. “It’s the same principle.”
James shrugged and continued to sulk, but, upon hearing his father’s latest words, couldn’t help feeling excited at the fact that he, too, would soon learn how to drive a car.
But he would never admit that, of course.
James looked up at the building he and his father were about to enter. It was a very old, two-story building made entirely of brick. The windows were all open, letting the cool, summer breeze blow freely through the building.
As they approached the double doors made of splintering wood, James noticed that there was a large sign hanging above them.
He froze.
“‘Bennett Theater’? Why are we here?”
Mr. Potter turned the handle and held the door open for his son to walk through. With a noticeable attitude, James stormed through the doors and into the old building, stopping at his father’s side.
“I read about it in the Muggle newspaper “ it’s a great theater for kids your age,” Mr. Potter said in a soft voice as they entered a large auditorium. “I thought that “ you know; you have energy enough that you would be a great performer in these plays.” He grinned up at the stage full of kids, all sitting on the ground and reading through a script. “I’m positive you’ll find plenty of friends here, son.”
James scanned the dusty, old room. He squinted up at the front of the room, and noticed that all of the kids gathered together on the grand, wooden stage were either his age or older. Large, billowy, red curtains framed the corners of the stage and hid the broken down set behind the kids. Rows upon rows of empty, red seats were scattered across the auditorium for the audience to sit in.
With a great huff, James plopped into the red seat furthest from the stage and closest to the exit. The cushion below him fell through the bottom of the chair and hit the floor with a loud “ and noticeable “ thud. James, too, fell through the open hole created by the four connecting sides of metal framing on the base of the chair.
The people on the stage went quiet, distracted by the odd sound in the audience. The only noise that was heard was Mr. Potter’s booming laughter at his son’s antics as he struggled to get out of the very old chair.
“It’s not funny, dad,” James hissed at him, turning very red. He kept his head hidden behind his hands, afraid of who would find him in his awkward position.
A loud voice shouted, “Five minutes, kids “ be prepared to start reading act two when I get back!”
“Oh, man…” James groaned, trying to wiggle out of the chair. Someone was coming. “Dad “ help me!”
Mr. Potter laughed, slapping his son on the back. “Come on, James, it’s funny!” he boomed in his loud voice. “Laugh a little, would you?”
James did not laugh. Instead, his eyes grew darker and his face got redder by the second.
His father moved to his son’s side and grabbed his hands to pull him out of the chair. He tried one last attempt to cheer James up. “Will you at least crack a smile?”
James did nothing.
Mr. Potter sighed and heaved him out of the chair.
James put a hand to his sore back, rubbing it. He was almost positive that the chair he had been stuck in had left a red mark in the middle of his back, possibly even a bruise.
Once James straightened out his glasses on his nose and pulled his falling pants back up to his waist, he heard a girlish giggle ring in his ears. With a slight cock of his head, James turned toward the aisle to see a short, red-haired girl with a hand covering her mouth.
James couldn’t help but think the girl was pretty “ anyone would have agreed, of course.
But no one laughed at James Potter.
“I see you’ve, uh… made yourself comfortable.” A very tall man approached the circle with a great smile, standing beside the red-headed girl. He wore a shirt with a vest pulled over it and long pants. Wispy, blonde hair just barely covered the man’s scalp. James held back a chuckle at the receding hairline.
This man looked most definitely like a Muggle.
James’ dad laughed and bent over to pick up the red cushion from the chair; it looked like it was in bad condition. He set it on top of the chair again, trying to see if it looked normal. After realizing that the cushion's bent position would not easily be fixed, Mr. Potter gave up and shook his head, unable to stifle his laugh. “We’ll pay for any repairs,” he assured the tall man.
“It’ll be no problem,” the man beamed. “We can fix it.”
The girl beside him could not take her eyes off of James. The same was true of James; however, his reasons for watching this girl were not the same as hers. He had been trying to stare her down for several minutes in order to scare this little girl, not because he thought she was interesting. She either didn’t seem to notice James’ less than friendly glares or chose not to acknowledge them.
“This is James,” his father announced to the small group. “We just moved into the neighborhood and we were hoping he might be able to help with the play “ make some friends,” he added, winking at the little red-haired girl.
The girl blushed and turned back to stare openly at James.
James rolled his eyes.
“Well, nice to meet you, James. My name is Roger Evans; I’m the director of the play.” The man bent over to look at James at eye level. “I assume you’re between the ages of eleven and eighteen?”
James nodded. “I’m eleven.”
“Fantastic,” Mr. Evans grinned. “Would you care to be an extra?” the man asked James. “Roles for the lead parts were already cast last week, unfortunately, but we can always use an extra!” he said exuberantly.
“I, uh… Well, do I have to act?” James asked lamely. “I think I’d rather just help backstage, if that’s alright,” James muttered, resigning to the fact that his father would never let James live it down if he didn’t at least try to join the play somehow…
Mr. Evans looked surprised from James’ request, but quickly recovered, grinning once again. “Well, I’m sure we could put you to work in many different areas “ what about designing the set?” he asked. “Our main set designer just graduated last year, and we’ve been in need of some more designers. Does that interest you?”
James scratched behind his ear, pondering the option. It wouldn’t hurt anything; it could only help, really. In fact, moving heavy items around the set might act as a new weight lifting option and help him in the athletic department. He was planning on trying out for the Quidditch team at Hogwarts next year, of course…
“I’ll do it,” James nodded affirmatively, cracking a smile for the first time. He wouldn’t like it, listening to all of those Romeo and Juliet wannabes practicing their lines for the play, but it had the opportunity of working to his advantage.
“Now that that’s settled,” Mr. Evans said happily, “I’d like you to meet my daughter: Lily.” Mr. Evans gestured to the red-haired girl beside him. “Lily, could you take James to the back and show him around the stage a bit? Introduce him to the other set designers he’ll being working with this summer.”
The curls of Lily’s hair bounced up and down as she nodded excitedly. She reached over between the two fathers and took James’ hand. She laced her fingers through his and pulled him enthusiastically down the aisle where multiple people were milling around the stage, whispering about the new cast member about to join them.
“I’m so excited to have someone else join the cast!” she grinned, unwilling to release James’ left hand when he tried to pull it from her grip. However, James did not dare remove his right hand to pull his left one free, because his right hand was still holding up his baggy pants.
Lily touched his arm with her other hand as she spoke. “Oh, I just love the summer play “ I used to always watch it when I was younger. But now I’m old enough “ now I can be in it! Of course, I’m just an extra this year… My dad likes to cast the older kids as the leads in the play because they won’t be able to come back next year. Of course,” she laughed and threw her hair over her shoulder, as if she had told a joke.
Listen to this stupid Muggle girl, James mused. She can't stop talking “ what have I gotten myself into?
Before Lily had even taken a breath, James casually stuck his foot out in front of hers. As if in slow motion, James saw his evil deed happen before his eyes. Lily stumbled and fell face first into the carpeted aisle for all onstage to see.
“Oh, wow,” James said in mock concern, hiding his cocky smile. He looked over his shoulder in a casual glance as he walked past the girl, unwilling to slow down and check to see if Lily was hurt. “You know, you should really watch where you’re going next time…”
Couldn’t have been easier, James thought smartly to himself. What an easy target…
One minute, James was striding easily towards the stage, smirking at every person he passed, and the next thing he knew, James, too, was laying on his stomach, flat on the floor. His glasses fell from his face at the impact and landed a foot ahead of him. Slowly, he sat up, spitting out the dust that had been kicked up from the carpet and forced into his mouth, and pulled on his glasses.
What the…?
James got to his feet, but immediately wished that he hadn’t. The moment he stood up, he found that his pants had been pulled down around his ankles.
They had been pulled from his hands. That was what had tripped him.
James quickly bent over and pulled his pants back up, hiding his checkered boxers. Furious, he spun on his heels.
Lily Evans was smiling back at him with a wave of her fingers.
Standing ten feet away.
Impossible. James was doing some very quick thinking, trying not to show the girl that she had surprised him. There’s no way she could have done that “ not without “
James shook his head, allowing himself to come to the conclusion that Lily was most definitely not a Muggle. He returned her wave with a smirk of his own.
I’ll see you at Hogwarts, Lily Evans.
Chapter Two: Good Luck
“James Potter, get on the train this instant!”
James stifled his laughter as the beautiful, red haired prefect shouted in his face.
“Relax, Lily,” James told her calmly. He took her hand and pulled her toward him, grinning with pleasure. “The train won’t leave without us.”
Before he had a chance to put an arm around her waist, Lily wrenched her hand out of James’ reach and stared directly at James without blinking. She breathed in deeply, clearly trying to control her anger. Then, in a low voice, Lily hissed, “You “ are “ a “ pig.”
James ignored the comment and started to throw his school books into his trunk one by one, purposefully missing his trunk each time he threw. His books were sent flying across the room, sliding underneath beds, and inches from falling out of the high window, causing Lily to stay and yell at James longer than she had planned.
With a swish of her wand, Lily caught one of the books in midair and levitated it to James’ trunk, dropping it in. She waved her wand several more times and all of his other personal belongings zoomed into his school trunk.
James crossed his arms with a fake frown on his face. “You ruin my fun, Lily.”
Lily did not waste her time listening to James’ chatter. She walked over to the trunk and closed the lid with a great amount of force.
“Will you take it now?” Lily asked impatiently with a hand on her hip. She checked her watch. “The Hogwarts Express won’t wait forever, you realize.”
James held a finger in the air as if coming up with a brilliant idea. “Ah, but for James Potter “ it will.”
Lily growled dangerously at the boy to get moving. James deliberately walked slowly out of sight with his trunk following him, thudding down the steps to the Gryffindor common room. But just when Lily thought that she had seen the last of James, he poked his head back into the dormitory one final time.
“Have I ever told you how beautiful you look when you’re angry?”
“Train!” Lily shouted, brandishing her wand towards the door, trying to think of a rather nasty jinx. “Now!”
James laughed silently to himself as he exited the Gryffindor tower for the last time that year. Sixth year exams were finished, the summer sun was shining “ in his eyes, James was having one of the best days of his life.
That was, of course, assuming that Lily Evans would not argue with him any longer.
He enjoyed it at first. He really did. James would provoke Lily into throwing an insult back at him; it was all in good fun! But their constant bickering had become almost a bit of a hassle to continue. Besides, she had grown up. Lily was no longer the giggling girl James had met from Bennett Theater; she was a young woman, now. He no longer held a grudge against the girl he used to hate, but it was clear that Lily still did and chose to continue fighting against James whenever she had a spare minute. It wasn’t his fault that he couldn’t resist the temptation to fight back!
Every summer since James moved into Lily’s neighborhood, James and Lily had both been involved in helping out with the summer play at Bennett Theater; Lily would act, and James would design the set. Neither would really see the other at all during the summer play, but it killed Lily knowing that James had intruded on her territory and refused to leave.
James didn’t mind. In fact, he had slowly grown to anticipate all of Lily’s lines in the play whenever they showed up in the script. Whether he was pounding away on a board backstage or painting a new background, he would always be aware of her lines. As his friend, Sirius, many times reminded him, he’d grown a soft spot for Lily Evans and didn’t even know it.
After spending summer after summer at Bennett Theater, James slowly found himself opening up to the plays more than he had ever thought that he would. The first year he worked on the set, James constantly looked for set pieces to carry or objects to repair so that he could increase his strength for Quidditch. Over time, he realized there really wasn’t as much muscular work involved as there was putting care and detail into each design he made. And each year, Mr. Evans would congratulate James on a job well done, and remind him to return the following summer.
And each summer, James would return without hesitation. But it was never without a fight from Lily.
At the end of every term “ a day just like today “ James would always remind Lily of their “date” that summer.
“It’s not a date,” Lily would say to him under her breath so no onlookers could hear her, “unless it’s a date with fifty other people as well.”
“Well if you really wanted to go out on a date,” James would say in a much louder voice with a smirk plastered on his face, “all you had to do was ask me, Lily. You know I would have said yes in a heartbeat, darling.”
“I do not want to go on a date with you! And don’t call me darling…”
It was the same every year. Always predictable.
James found himself standing in the doorway onto the Hogwarts Express. With a great shove, James pushed his trunk onto the train and climbed in after it. He turned around to say his final goodbye to Hogwarts for the summer and found Lily running toward his train car, worried that it would leave without her.
Lily hopped into the first stairwell she found, surprised to find James blocking her path with a very smug grin.
“Excuse me, James,” Lily spoke with a straight tone. She pointedly looked past him and bit her tongue to hold back any rude comments she didn’t want to regret later on.
“Oh “ why certainly, my dear,” James smiled lazily. He shifted strategically back and forth from his left foot to his right, unwilling to let Lily slip past him that easily. He stuffed his hands casually into his pockets and moved slightly closer to Lily, decreasing the space between them with a smirk.
Lily wouldn’t stand for James’ games. “Don’t call me dear,” Lily hissed automatically, shoving past James. She walked in the opposite direction as fast as she could.
James rolled his eyes at the girl and fell back against the nearest wall. He sighed with a small smile playing at his lips, but did not stay for long. James quickly picked up his trunk and followed her down the train to her compartment, unable to let her leave so easily. “You know,” he called loud enough so the entire train car could hear his voice within each compartment, “I can’t wait for our date this summer, Lily!”
“It’s not a date!”
*
“James, you’ve got ten minutes!”
James scrambled around his room to find everything he needed. He quickly threw on his glasses and clothes. He paused to check his backpack.
Sketchpad… check. Pencils… check. Script… shit.
James dropped onto all fours and began to scour the room for the script he seemed to have misplaced. He pushed his broom into the corner of the room; he threw all of his clothes into a wicker basket; he stacked all of his school books into a pile at the foot of his bed.
“I see you’ve actually cleaned your room for once.”
James looked up from the floor to find his mother smiling sweetly down at him. She was leaning casually on the door frame and holding something in her hand.
“You left it on the table this morning,” Mrs. Potter reminded James, holding out his script to him. “You were reading it during breakfast.”
“Right,” James mumbled, pouncing back onto his feet and swiping his script from his mother’s fingers. He shoved it into his backpack and zipped it up. “Thanks.”
“You better get going,” Mrs. Potter said, louder this time. She pointed to a large, grandfather clock in the hallway that read five minutes until eleven. “You don’t have much time.”
James gave an easygoing shrug. “I don’t care if I’m late,” he muttered, breezing past his mother. “It doesn’t matter to me,” he said with an air of haughtiness.
Mrs. Potter, however, noticed his uneasy smile and shifty eyes checking multiple clocks around the house. She nodded knowingly to her son. “Of course, James.”
The pair descended the steps to the front hall.
“When are you planning on being back home?” Mrs. Potter asked curiously. She entered their kitchen and began sorting through her business papers sitting on their kitchen table. After finding an important notice for the staff at St. Mungo’s, she picked up the letter and read over it multiple times.
James pulled on his sneakers and tied them as fast as he could. “Well, it’s the first day, so they’re only reading through the script…” James thought about it. “They’ll probably be done be three o’clock, maybe.” He shrugged. “I might stay a few hours later if I start to work on the set, you know…”
Mrs. Potter smirked at her son, tearing her eyes away from the letter in her hand. “So, I’ll keep your dinner warm?”
“Could you?” James flashed her a smile. He picked up his backpack and threw it over his shoulder and started to walk towards their garage door. James reached up to the key hanger above to grab his father’s car key, but found it was missing. He froze for an instant, puzzled at why the key wasn’t where it should have been. And then it clicked.
“Mum,” James called over his shoulder with the sound of dread coating his voice, “did Dad take the car to work again?”
Mrs. Potter nodded, muttering, “Mm-hmm.” She looked up from another letter addressed to her from St. Mungo’s. “He was up early enough to have time to drive to the Ministry this morning instead of apparating like normal “ did you want the car?”
James tugged on his hair in frustration, pulling at the roots. “Yes,” he said exasperatedly, “I wanted it! Come on,” he said quickly, walking into the kitchen and slamming his fists on the table in front of his mother, causing the tall pile of papers in the middle of the table to shake; many of the letters slid off of the top of the stack and floated to the floor. “I’m seventeen, Mum! I’m old enough to do magic outside of school, but Dad won’t let me drive a Muggle car that he made me learn how to drive in the first place!” James was seconds from crossing his arms over his chest and jutting out his bottom lip in a pout, just like a small child would in his situation. “He’s been driving for years “ I just got my license last week! Why can’t he let me try it for once?”
“Why don’t you apparate, James?” Mrs. Potter asked, turning back to the pile of papers in front of her. She absentmindedly waved her wand during their conversation, lifting the fallen letters from the floor to gracefully slide them back onto the table. She smiled as if she was hiding a secret and said, “Besides, I thought you simply hated driving, James…”
“Well - ” James struggled to find a good defense to his mother’s question, “ “ driving’s the fastest way to get to Bennett Theater,” he argued stubbornly. He was unwilling to admit that his father’s Muggle car had actually grown on him. Silently, James swore at his father and his obsession of Muggle objects. “I can’t exactly apparate into a Muggle building, Mum,” James explained with a wave of his wand like it was obvious. “Now I have to walk!” He put both hands in his hair and pulled at two large clumps of his hair. After pulling his hands away, his hair stuck up on end, far messier than it normally was. “I’m going to be late…”
Mrs. Potter silently crossed her legs and stared in amusement at her furious son over the rims of her dark glasses. She leaned back in her chair, hiding a laugh. “I thought you didn’t care if you were late…”
James took a deep breath and looked away from his mother. “Well “ I don’t. Of course,” he lied through his teeth. He sauntered to the front door as casually as he could manage. “I guess I’ll just “ take my time “ enjoy the scenery,” James muttered to himself, walking out of the front door with a goodbye to his mother.
Mrs. Potter stood once the door slammed closed behind James and walked towards it. She held out her forefinger and gently pulled back a silky window covering with a long fingernail. She peeked out of the window with a knowing smile.
James was running at top speed down the street.
*
Lily checked her watch again. It was past eleven o’clock. Her lips curled into a secretive smile. James was late. Maybe he can’t work here this summer, Lily wistfully sighed. Her thoughts grew cold. I’ve only had a few weeks to be free of Potter, and now in the middle of June, I have to see his arrogant face again “ a girl can only take so much!
Lily sat down on the stage beneath her and put her hands behind her to prop herself up. She crossed her ankles and wistfully looked around at the building that she had always spent her summers in.
For a one-hundred year old building, it really wasn’t in that bad of a condition. Sure, the heat during the summers tended to get a bit overbearing without any air-conditioning, but it really didn’t look that bad. Over the years, they had replaced the dust filled curtains surrounding the stage with brand new, fire red ones that brought more attention to the actors present onstage. The walls in the audience had been cleared of chipping, dark paint, and refurbished with ordinary white paint. Each of the seats in the audience “ including the one that James had fallen through seven years ago “ had been repaired to handle the more active kids that parents dragged to the theater. Even the wooden stage had been replaced so that the audience didn’t hear as many distracting creaks from rotting wood beneath their feet in the middle of a show.
“I wonder if James is coming back this year,” a short, blonde girl pondered aloud. The tight ringlets in her hair bounced around as she turned to her friend, looking completely horrified. “I hope he hasn’t graduated yet, Jess!”
The brunette, who went by the name of Jess, answered her friend’s question. “Rosie “ relax. He’ll be back,” Jess calmly stated. She blew a bubble with her gum and sat down on the stage directly behind Lily. Her voice got softer and loftier as she continued speaking of James. “I asked him at the end of the play last year “ he said he had one more summer left at Bennett Theater before graduating.”
Rosie’s jaw dropped and her eyes grew in size. “You “ talked to him?” The blonde girl squealed in excitement. Her breathing quickened. Lily thought the girl’s eyes were about to pop out. “No way “ James hardly ever talks to anyone but Mr. Evans!”
Lily had had enough. She spun her head around, making her auburn curls smack her flaming cheeks. “He’s just a boy,” Lily spat at the love struck girls. “It’s not like you’ve never seen one before!”
Jess tossed her dark hair over her shoulders like Lily had, but much more gracefully. She narrowed her eyes with a sly smile at Lily as if in a challenge and popped another bubble, this time in Lily’s face. “You’re just jealous,” she said in a soft, innocent-sounding voice, “that James Potter doesn’t talk to someone his own age,” she pointed accusingly to Lily, “and talks to a girl two years younger than you.” She glanced in triumph towards Rosie and then back to Lily.
“I am not jealous,” Lily immediately protested to the girl she hardly knew, unwilling to let a fifteen-year-old get the last word. “James and I go to the same school, and a day doesn’t go by without him trying to speak to me.” Lily smirked at the girls. “I’m the one who doesn’t talk to James.”
Rosie made a face, shocked to hear someone insult James. She opened her mouth to retaliate, but stopped when she noticed Jess standing and rolling her eyes at Lily with a soft, but noticeable, “Sure…”
The short, blonde girl followed her friend’s shadow as they joined a group of four other girls huddled together at the opposite end of the stage. Lily quickly looked down at her feet as soon as she felt six pairs of eyes start to watch her every move.
“Alright,” Mr. Evans clapped his hands to grab everyone’s attention, “time to start our read through of the script!” Mr. Evans shouted to the large group scattered throughout the large room. Lily could not have been anymore grateful for his interruption at that moment. “Come on,” her father continued, “we haven’t got all day!”
James burst through the doors leading from the street and ran down the slope towards the large group of kids, skidding to a halt just before he hit the stage.
Lily narrowed her eyes at the boy as she was silently reminded of who was actually responsible for fixing up the theater in the prior years; who had suggested the ideas to her father; who had, even, helped the hired workers to renew the look of the theater out of his own free will.
Lily pursed her lips together and glared at James as she heard the group of girls all giggle at James’ untimely entrance.
James doubled over to rest his hands on his knees and breathed heavily. He looked up at Mr. Evans with a beet red face and wiped sweat off of his forehead. “Am I “ ” James gasped for breath “ “ late?”
Mr. Evans beamed with great pleasure at James. “Right on time,” he said proudly to the boy who had never missed “ or been late to “ a play rehearsal. “We were just about to start.”
James grinned back at the tall, lanky man and slapped him heartily on the back. During the past summers, Mr. Evans had grown into someone James respected just as much as his own father. And, of course, it helped that his daughter “ Lily “ attended a wizarding school with him, so James never felt like he was hiding anything from Mr. Evans.
“Ah, now,” Mr. Evans spoke to the large group, “we are going to be learning a play that I, myself, have been working on for a number of years, now. And, finally, it’s finished!”
The group, James included, clapped their hands excitedly on Mr. Evans achievement. The man grinned and blushed as deeply as possible. Out of a nervous habit, he ran a hand through his graying hair and over a small bald spot forming in the middle of his scalp.
“If any of you have read it yet,” he spoke to the group, “it’s been designed as more of a fairy tale where a young princess and a thief fall in love.” Mr. Evans looked at the group with his eyes sparkling with excitement. “The thief kidnaps the princess for ransom money, but after spending time together, the pair fall in love.” Mr. Evans started to make big hand gestures to the group as he described the play. “The thief refuses to take ransom money when he realizes his feelings for her, and releases the princess.”
Mr. Evans moved around the theater, throwing in several animated arm movements to make his point. “The thief is caught by the castle guards and the princess finds out. She then persuades her parents to trust the thief, and they all live happily ever after!” he beamed, pronouncing the last few words as if that was how every story should end.
James nodded, taking notes on the sketchpad he had brought with him. Fairy tale…
“Now, there are the two main characters that the story focuses on: the thief, Eddie, and the love of his life, Lady Adelaide.”
Again, James scribbled more notes, thinking intently. He had just started writing ideas about the background of the stage that he envisioned when Mr. Evans spoke again.
“Eddie, the thief, will be played by Peter Garamond,” Mr. Evans spoke. There was a polite smattering of applause for the actor as Mr. Evans gestured to a tall, gangly looking boy. Peter waved with a flick of his hand, looking almost bored. He then stared at his feet as the applause died out, letting his hair fall down and cloud his vision.
James scoffed at Peter’s new appearance that had not been there the summer before. He checked his own hair and was proud to see that his “ however messy it may be “ didn’t pass his eyes.
Mr. Evans smiled before continuing. “And the role of the princess will be played by Lily Evans.”
James nodded, approving Mr. Evans’ choice as the rest of the room applauded Lily with even less enthusiasm than they had used for Peter. Multiple girls threw looks of disdain at Lily and rolled their eyes. Lily just blushed and looked down at her hands, but James knew that it wasn’t out of pride or excitement; she was nervous.
James understood. Lily “ the daughter of the director “ had been picked as the lead role in her final play. Of course, a handful of other girls had attempted to earn the same spot, but all lost to Daddy’s little girl.
James knew that because of Mr. Evans’ decision, Lily had plenty of expectations to live up to. She not only had to fulfill the normal standards that any director would require of a lead character, but she also had to act as if she were virtually flawless so that she could prove to the rest of the cast that she had earned the lead role and wasn’t a shoe in.
And for the most part, James sympathized with her.
Mr. Evans listed off the rest of the main characters with just as much enthusiasm as he had said the first two characters.
People clapped.
James took notes.
The read-through of the script began with each of the actors speaking their lines.
James closed his eyes. He listened to the rhythm in the actors’ voices as they read their lines and memorized it. In his mind, he could see the characters moving around the stage as if they were performing the play now. Behind the actors on the stage, James could clearly picture every piece of the set. The calm backdrop showed a gentle blue and white sky swarming around an image of a small castle in the far distance. Large trees portrayed the scenes when the thief hid the princess in the forest, waiting for ransom money. James imagined the large ceremony the king and queen would hold after announcing that their daughter, Adelaide, would marry Eddie; a grand chandelier hung from the ceiling; large, white pillars gave the audience the feeling that they were inside of the castle with the princess; a royal staircase would be stationed at the center of the stage for everyone to see Princess Adelaide as she made her first entrance as the wife of Eddie, the thief…
James couldn’t wait for the cast to finish reading their lines.
Before act two had even started, James was already behind stage laying out props for the play.
*
Lily had kept her eye on James all afternoon. Many times, she had almost missed her line because she wasn’t paying attention.
What is he doing? She couldn’t help but wonder. Closing his eyes like that…
Lily knew what he had to be thinking of: the set. Of course. For some reason, seven years ago when James had first created the set design for his first play, he had somehow developed a passion for the theater ever since. Before his fourth year at Hogwarts, Lily’s father made James the youngest head set designer that Bennett Theater had ever seen. He never admitted how much he enjoyed working on the summer play to anyone “ but Lily and James both knew that he did. He never purposefully brought up his summer plans at Hogwarts “ but everyone knew what they were. He never spoke much to his friends about it “ but they knew he loved what he did. Whenever someone asked about his summer, James would simply reply that he was working. But “ Lily could feel herself already getting upset at the mere idea “ he let the whole school know, of course, that James was with Lily during the summer; he never let the opportunity to make Lily feel uncomfortable ever pass him by.
And as much as Lily really hated the fact that James was constantly at the theater to help with the play even though he never admitted to it, he really wasn’t that bad of a set designer. At least, none of his designs ever broke. And some of them were pretty cool…
But did he really have to look like he was in some sort of a creepy trance whenever he was thinking? It was borderline disturbing.
By the time they had finished reading through the script, James was already figuring out how much wood he needed to buy at the lumber yard that night to start working on the stage the next day.
Lily stood up and stretched. Her leg had fallen asleep after sitting and reading lines for several hours. She leaned against the stage and began to wiggle her toes, attempting to regain circulation in her foot.
She looked up just in time to see Peter Garamond walk past. Lily gently hit his arm to get his attention.
“Hey,” Lily stopped him, putting her foot back on the ground. “Congratulations on getting the lead role,” she said, smiling at him. “I’m really excited.”
“Yeah,” Peter said, forcing a fake smile on his face. “Yeah “ you too,” he agreed, staring over Lily’s shoulder when he spoke to her.
“I think this is going to be one of the best plays,” she said, trying to continue their downward spiraling conversation.
Peter shifted awkwardly back and forth on his feet. “Yeah,” he agreed, now looking over his own shoulder. “Yeah, it should be fun, I guess. You know, me playing a thief and all.”
“You’ll have a great character to play,” Lily nodded excitedly. “I bet all of the girls will fall in love with you this summer.”
He smiled slightly as if he already knew this and didn’t need Lily to tell him that twice. He looked up at Lily for a moment, and then grinned.
“Peter!” a high voice shouted from behind Lily. Lily didn’t have to turn around to know that a girl was about to join their conversation.
“Jess Marzoli,” Peter beamed, excited to talk to someone he knew. “I’ve hardly seen you “ how have you been?”
“Wonderful,” the brunette Lily recognized from earlier gushed, constantly touching Peter’s arm with her long fingernails. She glanced out of the corner of her eye at Lily. She seductively leaned in to whisper in Peter’s ear but spoke loud enough so Lily could hear every word. “Why are you talking to her?”
Peter’s eyes flicked back and forth between Lily and Jess. He managed to whisper back, “She’s congratulating me on my part.” His voice was louder than Jess’; he didn’t see a problem with Lily overhearing.
Jess looked scathingly at Lily once more and then turned her back on her so that she was facing Peter straight on. And without bothering to lower her voice in the slightest, she said, “I hope you didn’t congratulate her back.”
Lily pursed her lips and balled her fingers into a fist. She was turning red very quickly, and beginning to lose control of her emotions “ an unfortunate personality trait that came with her Irish heritage.
“Why not?” Peter asked, lowering his voice for this question. He sounded as if he really didn’t know what Jess was talking about.
“She didn’t have to work to get her part,” Jess said as if it were completely obvious. “Her dad is the one directing the play, and he gave the female lead to his own daughter!”
Lily took in several deep breaths. One more time, Marzoli, she thought, narrowing her eyes at the thin girl. I can take you “ just give me one more reason and I will…
“Mr. Evans is a fair man,” Peter shrugged, crossing his arms. “I’m sure Lily will do fine.”
Jess looked over her shoulder at Lily in disgust. She was about to say something, but chose not to. Instead, she allowed a subtle smile to form. And with a blink of her dark, cat-like eyes, Jess ushered Peter away without another word.
Lily could not hold in her breath any longer. She sighed heavily and looked across the room in the opposite direction of Jess and Peter. Jess was taking control of everyone in the cast, telling them all what to think. And she was two years younger than Lily! If Jess kept this up long enough, Lily would have no one to talk to!
It’s not like you ever really spoke to anyone at all before Jess tried to turn them against you. It really isn’t very difficult for her to do…
Lily hastily brushed aside her thoughts.
She picked up her script and scanned the room to find her father and James huddled together on the stage. They were standing over a table. Curious, Lily walked to the stair entrance on the left side of the stage and walked toward her father.
James was gesturing at the multiple drawings lying out on the square table at the center of the stage that he had made earlier in the rehearsal, and was describing things with large hand gestures.
“ “ these huge trees “ right here.” James pointed to multiple spots around the stage. “We can put them on whenever the audience sees the princess and the thief in the forest. Throw in a mix of dark lights, and it’ll feel like you’re actually in a forest.” James stroked his chin, looking as if he were deep in thought. “Although with all of these set pieces we need to make, I’m going to need as much help as I can get.” He turned to Mr. Evans. “Are there any new cast members joining my crew?”
His crew. Lily was very tempted to laugh aloud upon hearing this. James was now calling the other set designers his crew. Sure, James was the head set designer, but his crew?
“A boy,” Mr. Evans informed him, opening a binder. He laid it open on the table and flipped through several pages until he reached one in particular with a list of several names. “You still have the other five set designers from last year working with you,” Mr. Evans said. “And “ this boy.” Mr. Evans pointed to a name on the sheet in his notebook after he finally found it. “Jimmy Dunne, age eleven “ he just moved to the neighborhood from Ireland this summer.” Mr. Evans looked up from Jimmy’s name on the paper and back towards James’ interested look. “He’s starting tomorrow.”
James nodded at the name. He looked back at his set designs. “He’ll work with me,” James said with a nod. “I’ll take him under my wing and show him the ropes. Like an apprentice.”
Mr. Evans grinned.
“That’s all I’ve planned out in terms of the set, though,” James finished, looking up at the director. “Maybe Jimmy and I will work on the prison that Eddie stays in after he’s captured by the castle guards.” James suddenly got an excited look on his face as he started to imagine a scene from Mr. Evans’ play. “Wouldn’t it be exciting if Adelaide ran out of the castle to save Eddie from the castle guards?” James’ eyes widened as the idea slowly formed in his mind. He didn’t try very hard to control his enthusiasm. “Adelaide and Eddie could have a sword fight to keep the guards back!” James picked up a plank of wood lying across the square table and began stabbing it into the air and waving it around as if it were an actual sword. He hopped around the stage a few more times before lowering it to the floor and leaning on it with a wistful sigh. “That would be amazing.”
Lily rolled her eyes. Her father would never go for anything as stupid as that. A princess “ fighting off her own guards? Why would a princess even know how to use a sword in the first place? Was James crazy?
“James,” Mr. Evans started speaking with an excited tone, “would you be willing to be the choreographer for a few scenes?” Mr. Evans pointed to his daughter over his shoulder and continued speaking. “Lily has told me about a few of the pranks you seem to be known for at school, and I, for one, believe they take more planning and concentration than most people believe they do.”
Lily felt her jaw drop in surprise. Her own father had taken the bad words Lily had said about James and twisted them to make James sound like some sort of a genius for misbehaving!
Mr. Evans leaned closer to James to speak in a whisper. “Not many people know that I, too, used to pull a few pranks every now and then.”
Lily was sure her eyes must have doubled in size at that very moment. She didn’t even know that her father had pulled pranks at school!
James’ eyes shone with excitement. “Unbelievable,” he said in awe. Then he, too, lowered his voice, checking for unwanted eavesdroppers. “How did you pull pranks without magic?”
Mr. Evans laughed and slapped James on the back. “Some other time, son. I just need to know if you’ll be willing to organize some events on the stage; that sword fight sounds like a great idea.” He raised an eyebrow. “Are you up to the challenge?”
“Absolutely,” James gasped in utter disbelief. “So “ I get to plan a sword fight?”
“And,” Mr. Evans added, “I was also thinking about a possible ball held for the princess and the new prince at the end of the play.” He crossed his arms over his chest, deep in thought. “There could be a final dance to represent the wedding. Although, it would have to be a formal - ”
“My parents have a ton of formal parties,” James cut in quickly, bouncing on the balls of his feet. He was unable to hold back his excitement. “Just tell me which dance you want; I can do it!”
Mr. Evans was happily taken aback. “Well, then,” he said, “we’ll plan out the details tomorrow.” He laughed jovially and wrapped an arm around James’ shoulder as James laughed at the old man’s excitement. “Brilliant, my boy,” he said loudly. “I absolutely love it. You never cease to astound me, James!”
James felt his cheeks burn. “Thanks, Mr. Evans.”
“Roger,” he reminded James politely. “Call me Roger!”
“Well, Roger,” Lily quickly stepped into the conversation before the situation could get any worse than it looked, “isn’t it time we go home now?”
Mr. Evans turned to his left and saw his daughter with her arms folded comfortably across her chest. He smiled and took her under his other arm and brought Lily and James together so that their faces were less than a foot away from each other. “Ah, my star, here she is.”
James grinned obnoxiously at Lily with one of the most devilish smiles that he could muster once Mr. Evans looked away from him and at his daughter. She forced a polite smile, unable to make a face at her enemy while her father was watching.
“Don’t you think he’s doing a spectacular job?” Mr. Evans asked Lily, very proud of James. He pointed to the many black and white pencil designs that James had drawn within the past few hours.
Lily nodded, approving of the pictures. “Oh, sure, they’re great,” she said in all honesty. But she didn’t dare look up at James, because she knew that the minute she did, he would be smirking at her; he knew that she was telling the truth and that his drawings really were good, but it would kill her to let him know that.
“Anything that you want added to the set, Lily, dear?” James asked in as sweet of a voice that he could manage.
Mr. Evans beamed at the two teenagers, fully believing that they were the best of friends.
“Oh, no, I’m quite alright.” Lily lowered her eyes so that she could send James a deadly glare without her father seeing. “But if any of the sets goes missing, or “ oh, I don’t know “ break by chance, I’ll be sure to mention something to you,” she threatened James with the nicest voice possible.
Mr. Evans patted them both on the back. “You two finish chatting; I’ll wait for you in the car, Lily!”
Before Lily could quickly follow in her father’s footsteps so that she didn’t have to “finish chatting” with James, she was held back by an arm dropped around her shoulder. James’ voice spoke very loudly in her ear. “We won’t keep you waiting too long, Mr. Evans!”
Mr. Evans laughed joyously and waved at the pair before exiting the building through the double doors with his script tucked beneath his arm.
Bennett Theater had cleared out. The only people left were a red-faced Lily and a snickering James.
The moment the theater doors closed behind Mr. Evans, James heard a very low and steady growl by his side.
James hastily removed his arm from Lily, almost frightened of what she would have done if he did not back away.
Lily hurriedly moved several steps away from James. She hugged her script close to her chest, as if it could protect her from anything that James was about to do. “What’s with that stunt you just pulled, Potter?” she asked in an accusing voice.
James sighed as he realized that the worst case scenario of Lily’s reaction was about to become a reality. “Look,” he said, “in all seriousness “ our past put behind us “ ” James extended his hand to shake Lily’s “ “ good luck on the play.”
Lily didn’t move. She didn’t breathe. When the words that James spoke registered in her brain, she didn’t shake James’ hand as a polite gesture. She looked from his outstretched hand to his “ almost “ sincere face and asked a single question.
“Why?”
James was puzzled. He slowly pulled back his own hand as he realized that talking rationally to Lily was not going to be as easy as he had imagined it would be. “Why what?”
Lily was speaking very fast now that she felt she had the upper hand in the conversation. “Why are you wishing me good luck? You never have before “ why now?”
James sucked in a breath and stuffed his hands into his pockets. He looked down at his feet as he searched for an answer. “Well, you know,” he started lamely. His eyes suddenly flickered back up to Lily’s face and he smiled gently. “Your first lead role in a play and all. I just “ good luck,” he finished, shrugging pathetically.
Lily shook her head steadily. She didn’t accept the answer that James gave her. She squinted her eyes at James and again asked, “Why?”
This time, James looked nervously over his shoulder to check for any spies. He peered into the dark audience to see if anyone was watching. He sighed and finally looked back at Lily, seeing no other way to get out of this mess without giving her the truth. And then, as if telling a secret, James stepped closer to Lily and lowered his voice to almost a whisper. “It’s difficult to have your dad be the director and play a lead role in his play at the same time; it’s hard to prove to everyone that you got the lead role without any outside influences, if you know what I mean.”
Lily said nothing. James took a deep breath and continued.
“Other people might think that they had more talent than you and believe that the only reason that you were even cast as the lead role was because your dad was the one choosing the roles,” James said quickly as he ran out of breath at the end of his sentence. “I mean “ I’ve heard people talking,” he said as if he couldn’t help but overhear rude comments about Lily and had absolutely nothing to do with them. He took another breath. “And I just wanted you to know that after seeing you act over the years, I think you’ll do just fine.” He shrugged. “So “ good luck.”
The entire theater was silent. Even when James had stayed late to work on the set, the constant pounding of nails on wood created noise so James never felt awkward standing alone in the theater.
But right now, James felt more than awkward.
No one said anything. For a moment, Lily debated whether or not she should just leave without a word. And for a split second, she had started for the door “ but then stopped. She was facing the exit with her script still pressed to her chest. Lily took several calming breaths before slowly turning in a circle to face James.
“How do you know,” Lily started in a surprisingly calm voice, “that I was even thinking about that?”
James opened his mouth as if to answer the question, but Lily cut him off before he had the chance.
“Because I wasn’t,” she said in a stronger voice. James took one step away from Lily’s piercing green eyes as he sensed a crescendo in the volume of her voice. “What made you think I was even remotely worried about “ ” Lily swallowed “ “ about what other people think about me?”
James didn’t even try to answer this time, because Lily was on a roll. He knew not to say anything now.
“Because I’m not, James, alright? I’m not. I can handle everything just fine without your little ‘good luck.’ I already know that I can act without you informing me of your brilliant observation that you just realized seven years later, James!” Lily clenched her fists around her script and began stepping closer to James, raising her voice with each step. He did not blanch. “You don’t know everything, James Potter,” Lily was shouting at the top of her lungs, poking a finger into his chest with every word, “even if you like to think that you do!”
Lily stormed away, but she wasn’t finished. Her body shaking with fury, she reached the edge of the wooden stage just before the steps and spun around to face James once more.
“And even if I was nervous,” she said in a very low hiss, “I don’t need your help.”
James stood motionless as Lily ran from the theater without another word.
With a heavy sigh, James quickly tried to forget their conversation “ as he had tried to do with every other conversation that he attempted to have with Lily “ and started to work on the set.
The Curtain Call
Chapter Three: Claustrophobia
“No, Lily,” James corrected her, “you have to duck and then swing.”
Lily clenched her fist around the plastic sword in her hand and took a deep breath, trying very hard not to scream back at James; it wasn’t easy taking orders from him.
“Sorry,” she muttered dryly with no signs of remorse whatsoever. She sluggishly returned to her starting position at the top of the stage, furthest from James. Once in her spot, Lily turned and glanced down to find James leaning casually up against the stage with a smug smile on his face. To the right of him, she saw her father, watching James in admiration; he was turning into Mr. Evans’ own little apprentice.
Lily crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, very tempted at that moment to throw her fake sword at the pair of them.
“Alright, come on,” James hurried the younger boys playing soldiers to run off stage. “Let’s do that scene again.” He clapped his hands loudly.
Everyone but Lily and Peter cleared the stage.
James nodded to the pair of them, taking a step back. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Lily composed herself and stepped back into character.
She pulled open a door built to look like a prison. The door swung open and Peter crawled out, throwing his arms around Lily.
“Adelaide,” he called Lily by her character’s name, “you shouldn’t have tried to free me “ think of what your parents will think! A princess “ saving a thief!”
Lily shook her head, quickly glancing down at her script. “That doesn’t matter to me “ I love you!”
Peter seemed to appear happy. Before he could say anything else, shouts from offstage rang through the theater and several thirteen-year-old boys dressed as castle guards ran onstage, brandishing their weapons.
Peter looked around the stage and found two swords hidden behind a set piece and picked them up. He handed one sword to Lily and kept the other for his own protection.
The fight began. Lily ducked and then swung and proceeded to fight the guards off until she and Peter were standing back to back, surrounded by knights.
One of the younger boys playing a guard shouted. “Princess, move away from the thief!”
Lily was about to open her mouth to respond to the dialogue, but James cut her off with a wave of his hand.
“Good,” he nodded. “But it needs “ well, it…” James trailed off, mumbling to himself. He held his fist to his mouth and began pacing back and forth on the carpeted floor directly in front of the stage.
Lily moved from her spot to watch James more closely. She relaxed her battle stance and lazily swung the fake sword onto her shoulder, appearing very bored. It had been one month since they started, and James was already drilling a stupid sword fight routine into everyone’s heads! They had just gotten comfortable moving around onstage during dialogue “ now James had to go and add an action sequence!
James did not appear to see Lily’s annoyed glare drilling holes into the back of his head. He merely held his hands out in front of him as if he were holding a sword. He stepped to the right and swung horizontally. He moved to the left and swung, again, horizontally. Slightly irritated, Lily recognized his movements as her character’s choreography.
With the look of intense concentration on his face, James brought his hands above his head as if he were about to swing down hard on his opponent’s sword, but instantly stopped in the middle of the swing with a loud clap of his hands.
“I got it,” he proudly boasted, stepped forward toward the bottom of the stage.
“And?” Lily interjected, putting an impatient hand on her hip. “What is it?”
“You need to act like there’s more weight on your sword,” James stated, looking directly in Lily’s direction. “I couldn’t put my finger on just what looked so strange, but I’ve got it now. More weight.”
“More weight,” Lily repeated dryly with a raised eyebrow, making his idea sound ridiculous.
“Yeah,” James nodded, either missing Lily’s lack of interest or choosing to ignore it. “You’re playing a princess, Lily “ most women in those times could barely lift a sword as easily as you were just now.”
“So, basically, you want me to act weak?” she asked with a sting in her voice. She didn’t care if her father overheard her; James was stereotyping women!
All of the actors standing on the stage were silent for a moment, waiting for James’ response, unsure of how James would react to this accusation. Slowly, James looked down at his feet, clearly trying to control his temper. It would be very easy for him to shout back at Lily when she was nothing but rude to him during rehearsals, but James always managed to hold back.
Finally, in an extremely calm whisper, James looked back up and asked, “Lily, do you realize how heavy an actual medieval sword is?” He paused, waiting to see if she would answer. When Lily did nothing but glare back fiercely, James tilted his head a fraction of an inch to the side and continued. “Do you even realize,” he started to raise his voice so the entire room could hear, “how much work it took for an actual knight to use a sword?” He stepped closer to the stage and locked his gaze on Lily. “Have you seen a picture of a typical knight during the middle ages?”
Lily did not answer. She tried to quickly think of a clever comeback, but all she could focus on was how upset she was that James was trying to correct her in front of the entire cast.
Unable to hold her glare steady much longer under the pressure of James’ gaze, Lily made a show of rolling her eyes so that she could safely look in the opposite direction without appearing to have backed down from the look he was giving her.
With a shadow of a smirk tugging at his lips, James planted the palms of his hands on the stage and gracefully jumped up, landing on his feet. He stepped forward with both hands on his waist. He glanced quickly at everyone, turning his question on the entire group instead of pinpointing it on Lily. “Has anyone seen a picture of a knight in the middle ages?”
No one said a word. Everyone silently stared down at their feet.
“These guys,” James spoke in an easy tone, pointing to the actors playing the knights onstage, “were enormous. I’m talking “ easily six feet tall.” Lily glanced up just in time to see James holding up one arm and flexing his bicep. She let out another eye roll at the show he was putting on for the group. Sure, his position as the Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team had certainly helped him build some very nice muscles, but he didn’t have to show off every chance he had…
James gestured at his arm, pointedly ignoring Lily’s eye roll. “Imagine every one of these knights like they were on steroids.”
The room laughed at James’ comment. Lily, along with several others, sent questioning looks at Mr. Evans to see whether or not he thought that James had crossed the line with his comment. As Mr. Evans laughed with the rest of the group, Lily realized, much to her dismay, that her father approved of James’ method of teaching.
James stepped up to Lily before she had a chance to register that he had; she had been too busy watching her father’s reaction.
“They could have snapped these plastic things in two,” James explained as he took Lily’s fake sword without asking, “with one hand.”
The group of young boys seemed to be very interested, now. Feet started shuffling past Lily to get a closer look at James’ demonstration.
“Now, if this had been a real sword,” James spoke with a hint of excitement in his voice, holding the prop in front of him, “you would really need to put some effort behind the swing.” James pulled the sword back and swung. The group stood still, in awe of James’ ability to make the sword look thirty pounds heavier than it was.
The boys playing the knights in the play started picking up their own swords and acting like the plastic toys weighed more than they actually did. They exaggerated their movements, hitting each other with their swords and grimacing at the impact.
“Good,” James grinned, hopping off of the stage to admire his handiwork. He stepped back to stand beside Mr. Evans and crossed his arms, smiling. “Yes “ everyone watch Brent and Johnny, over here, they’re doing a great job.”
The thirteen-year-olds blushed in surprise as they realized that James knew their names and quickly resumed their battle, now that they knew that James was watching them. They swung and hit their swords together in midair.
James nodded, very proud of the work that he had accomplished. He turned to Mr. Evans and spoke in a softer voice as the group continued to attack one another. “Anything else you need them to do before you let them out of rehearsal?”
Mr. Evans smiled and shook his head as he thumped James hard on the back. James felt his glasses nearly slide off the end of his nose. “I think I’m finished with them, James.”
James pushed his glasses back up over the bridge of his nose and took in a deep breath before shouting, “We’re done for today, everyone can go home!” He turned to pick up his own script, but stopped midway to shout out a reminder to the group. “And don’t forget what I told you today “ we’ll review the fight scene first thing on Monday!”
Lily did not stick around to listen to James. In fact, she was the first to leave the stage, disgusted. She threw her sword down, hearing it make a very loud and very satisfying smack as it fell to the floor. She didn’t worry about picking it up; if no one else picked it up, James would. He would do anything for those stupid props of his.
Lily stormed through the back of the theater, slamming the door against the wall behind it as she barged through. She was sure that she had even run into several younger cast members during her rampage, but she was too upset to even care.
She entered a small room backstage where many people’s belongings were kept during the practice. Both large and small bags were tossed carelessly across worn down tables or broken chairs. Occasionally, Lily would find a small purse hanging off of an old set prop or a jacket that had fallen onto the floor, but she walked straight past it towards a different location.
Taking several steps across the room, Lily approached a large table in the corner and ducked down beneath it. Just behind it, she had stored her own small, green bag that she carried with her everywhere with her. Despite the fading color and the frayed edges on the corners of the fabric, threatening to unravel, Lily toted the bag wherever she traveled.
She dropped her extra pencil into the bottom of the bag and tucked away her script. During the break today, Lily had even brought her own book. She quickly hid that in her bag, too, before James could find it and make fun of her for reading a Muggle romance novel.
Lily made sure everything was tucked safely inside her bag. She lifted the strap over her head and was about to stand when she heard a familiar voice say her name.
“Did you see Evans today?”
Lily froze behind the table. For a split second, she had assumed that the speaker had to be James because the voice had called Lily by her last name, but she soon deciphered the voice not to be that of a male, but a female.
It’s Jess, Lily finally realized in horror. Her stomach flipped nervously while her throat constricted, making it hard for Lily to breathe normally. What did I do to her now? Lily panicked, playing nervously with the frayed corners of her green bag. She swallowed and took in a gasping breath. I didn’t even see her today! How could I have done anything to her when I never saw her?
“What happened?” a second voice asked, sounding very interested.
“Just now,” Jess replied. Their footsteps moved across the room to pick up their own items. Other footsteps entered the room behind theirs, making it harder for Lily to hear. “That last scene.”
Another conversation started up on the opposite end of the room that did not belong to Jess’ voice. Lily leaned closer toward the girls, straining her ears as much as she could to listen for Jess.
“They’ve been working on that sword scene for days,” Jess drawled, not bothering to lower her voice whatsoever. If anything, Lily could have sworn Jess was speaking louder than before so that everyone “ including the others in a separate conversation on the other side of the room “ could hear her clearly. “Everyone but Lily has that scene down!”
It’s not my fault I can’t stand working with Potter! Lily silently tried to redeem herself. I’d have done better if he wasn’t the one directing it!
“I just knew Mr. Evans made a bad choice putting her in the lead role.” Lily imagined Jess trying to appear upset, but her voice had a gleeful lilt to it, revealing her true feelings.
Lily heard a bag snap close as Jess’ voice got softer. She was walking away. “Anyone could have done better in her role…”
Jess left the room.
Lily did not budge from her spot, hidden from sight, as she let Jess’ words sink in. Several other members of the play came and went, grabbing their belongings, but none of them spotted Lily beneath the table in the corner.
Anyone could have done better in her role.
The words echoed in Lily’s mind. They weren’t true, and she knew it! Lily had earned her role “ she had been an extra for just as many years as everyone else in the cast!
But if she knew Jess was lying “ why did she feel like it was the truth?
Lily sternly shook her head and looked down into her lap, causing her hair to fall out from behind her ears and cover her face. You’re being stupid, Lily reprimanded herself, holding a hand to her eyes. She didn’t let any tears fall. Don’t listen to Jess. She’s just jealous.
Lily sat in the corner of the room for several more minutes before lifting her head. And to her astonishment, she realized that the entire room had been cleared of all possessions. She was the last to leave.
Lily stood, attempting to shake off her bad thoughts. She was about to exit through the door to join her father, but paused. She felt the weight of the script in her bag. Slowly, Lily pulled it out and stared at the plain cover, biting her lip as she did so.
He’s right, she told herself, unable to believe that she was actually thinking it. Potter was right.
It’s not easy being the director’s daughter.
Lily flipped through the book, carefully analyzing each scene. Did she really know it as well as she thought that she did?
I could do better… Lily mused, flipping pages. She snapped the book shut and closed her eyes, imagining the start of the play. Silently, she recited her words from the very beginning, scrunching up her nose in concentration. But by the time she had reached the second page in the script, Lily had already forgotten a line.
I can’t be average, Lily pressured herself as she thumbed through the first pages of her script, trying to find the words that she had missed. I need to be ahead of the game “ I can’t let them believe that I got in without any effort.
Lily hastily shut her script and stuffed it back into her green bag. She spun on her feet and left the room, running to find her father.
“There, you are,” Mr. Evans beamed at Lily once she had walked back onto the stage. She descended the steps off to the side of the stage in order to stand next to her father. “I was wondering whether you had left without me!”
Lily smiled weakly, wringing her hands together. “Actually “ I thought I might just stay here and work on a few things “ that is, if you don’t mind.” She held a hand behind her back and tugged nervously at her long red hair pulled back into a pony tail. “I can walk home later.”
Mr. Evans grinned, looking very proud. “Practicing already, are we?” He chuckled and kissed his daughter’s cheek. “You have fun “ but don’t overwork yourself all in one night, alright, honey?” Mr. Evans patted Lily on the back and started to walk towards the exit. He shouted over his shoulder, “Your mother and I will have dinner ready for you when you get home.”
Lily nodded and waved to her father as he left the theater.
But as the door closed, she dropped her hand and sighed.
Lily pulled out her script, dropped her bag at the base of the steps, and climbed onto the stage. It seemed oddly vacant when none of the other cast members were present.
“Alright,” she swallowed, flipping through her script. She found a spot at the end of the first act; it was the part of the show where she, not only, started to fall in love with the thief, but also where she had the most difficulties with her lines.
Lily glanced quickly over the page and then snapped it shut. She closed her eyes and started to speak to an invisible actor.
“Why did you kidnap me?” she spoke to the empty theater. “Was it all for the ransom money?” She put on an accusing face as if she were yelling at another person that was not present onstage. “Didn’t I have some sort of attraction to you “ or am I just a bargaining chip?”
“I’m beginning to regret it, now.”
Lily could have sworn she had just jumped several feet in the air. In a split second, her eyes had opened, darting around the room. She had most definitely heard a voice other than her own. I thought everyone already left! Lily remembered the empty room behind the stage; she thought all of the belongings had been taken home! Who would be here so “
Lily caught a glimpse of a dirty rag, hanging from someone’s hands. The person threw the rag casually over their shoulder and stepped into the bright light; she could, now, clearly see the intruder.
James Potter walked to the center of the stage. His pants and shirt were covered in a layer of sawdust. He must have stayed late to work on the set, and Lily hadn’t heard him.
She was shocked. She knew that she should be upset that James had barged in on her like that, but, for some reason, she wasn’t. Lily blamed it on the fact that he had taken her by surprise, and she didn’t have enough time to react.
Before James gave her anymore time to organize her thoughts, he nodded to her, as if telling her to continue her lines.
And, with just the slightest bit of hesitancy, she did.
“What do you regret?” she asked him, frowning slightly. Her throat seemed to go dry and she had a hard time swallowing. I can’t believe I’m running lines with James Potter, of all people. He’s not even in the play!
James took in a heavy breath and released it slowly as if he were actually struggling with his words. Suddenly, he lashed out at her with fierce, hazel eyes. “What do you think I regret?” James stepped towards her. He took the script from her fingers and threw it down onto the stage. It slid several feet, stopping just before the edge.
Lily made a motion to retrieve her script, but James stepped coolly in front of her and slowly picked up her hands.
She swallowed.
“Listen “ I “ I didn’t kidnap you because you were a princess. In fact “ I had no idea who you were.” James let his head drop onto his chest in a defeated manner. “I picked you because I thought “ I thought you were beautiful.”
Lily was impressed. He really knew his words! She dropped his hands and moved to the opposite side of the stage, playing out her character’s role. “Why would a low-level thief, such as yourself, even care whether or not he kidnapped someone “ er…” Lily felt her face go up in flames. I can’t forget my lines “ not in front of him!
James raised his head, glancing at Lily out of the corner of his eye. He watched as she stopped speaking, trying to find the correct words. Finally, in a soft breath, he whispered her line. “‘As long as they got money out of it.’”
“I was getting there!” Lily shouted back at James, frustrated with herself for forgetting her lines. She crossed her arms over her chest for a moment, waiting for James to respond. Instead, when he said nothing, Lily made up her mind and moved swiftly to the front of the stage, snatching her script off the floor and walking briskly towards the exit.
“Hey,” James called softly to her. He reached out for her hand, but missed and caught her wrist instead. “I can help, Lily.”
Lily wrenched her arm free from his grip, narrowing her eyes at him. “Help with what, Potter? Do you want to insult me some more?”
James shook his head, desperately wishing he could avoid an argument. “Lily, I was never trying to insult you “ and I’m not now.”
Lily blocked out his explanation with a silent shake of her head. She was too focused on trying to get away from him that she hadn’t heard anything he had said.
Once she was off of the stage, Lily took off in the opposite direction with the fastest walk that she could muster. She didn’t slow her momentum, even when she stooped to the ground to scoop up her ratty, green bag.
But James was faster.
He leapt off of the stage, landing solidly on both feet, and started running towards Lily. Once he saw her start to turn towards a second exit, James expertly slipped in front of her and cut her off, blocking her path with a determined look. She struggled to push past him, but James put both hands on her shoulders and held her firmly in place, unwilling to let her walk away from him.
“Stop, Lily!” James struggled to hold her in one spot; he could tell she was not going to back down that easily. After several minutes of resistance, James finally shouted. “I’m sick and tired of us always arguing!”
Lily stopped fighting. He had caught her off guard.
James carefully studied her confused look, wishing he could read her mind. Believing it safe to back away, James slowly released his grip on Lily’s shoulders and nervously scratched the back of his head, trying to say what he had been meaning to say for quite some time.
“Look,” he tried to soothe her by speaking in a deep, calm voice, “I know this play better than anyone here.” James waited for any sort of reaction, but Lily’s face was emotionless. “Maybe not as much as your dad,” James added under his breath as a side note, speaking for the pair of them, “but I work on the set all day. I hear more than you think I do, Lily.”
James swallowed before continuing in a softer voice. “Trust me,” he pleaded. “I can help you learn your lines.”
Lily swallowed, momentarily wary. It wasn’t long, however, before her senses kicked back in. She straightened her back and cleared her throat, attempting to act as dignified as possible. James bravely stood in his spot, anxiously awaiting Lily’s response.
“If I was desperate enough,” Lily heard herself speak, as if it were someone else’s voice and not her own, “I could easily find someone else to help me learn my lines.” Her stomach was doing cartwheels; her heart rate was much faster than normal; she was starting to grow light-headed once her had knees locked beneath her. But Lily jutted out her chin as she spoke in an attempt to appear stronger and more confident than she actually felt.
James looked stunned. He squinted at Lily, as if unable to believe what she had said. His eyes darted back and forth, analyzing every inch of her face. And when he finally realized that she had meant what she said, he let out a loud yell of frustration and walked back to the stage. “God, Lily,” James threw his arms into the air. “Here we go again!”
Lily frowned. She felt her eyes slowly follow James as he stepped onstage, trying to process what had just happened.
Instantly, her nerves and confusion turned to anger.
He can’t do that! Lily protested in disbelief, taking in deep breaths to steady her emotions. He can’t just shout at me and then walk away thinking he’s off the hook! Lily’s feet started to move involuntarily in his direction.
“And what is that supposed to mean?” she hissed, following James’ shadow up the stairs and onto the stage.
James abruptly spun on his heel, nearly causing Lily to run into him. She stopped just before colliding into his chest. Instead, she chose to take one step back down the staircase, but didn’t let the fact that he was now at least a foot “ or more “ taller intimidate her.
“This is the second - ” he held up two fingers to make a point “ “ time that I’ve offered to help you. And both times, you’ve turned me down because you’re too damn stubborn to let go of the past!” James opened his mouth to say more “ but nothing came out.
When he stopped speaking, Lily put a hand on her waist and raised an eyebrow at James, acting very irritated. “What?”
James slowly closed his eyes and shook his head. With a frustrated sigh, he calmly climbed up the rest of the steps and dropped to his knees beside one of the red curtains that normally covered the stage. He hastily started throwing his own belongings together into a bag of his own, but paused just before throwing in a pile of sketches. He felt his hand ball into a fist, accidentally crushing the papers. James started pointing them in an accusatory manner towards Lily.
“Why won’t you ever let anything go? You know,” he added in a sarcastic voice, looking up at Lily with a questioning glare, “move on instead of dwelling on the past.”
Lily held a finger up to her lips with an exaggerated expression, as if she was thinking intently about the question and displayed a look of mock concern. “Oh, gee, I don’t know “ maybe it was all of those stupid pranks that you played on me at school, Potter!” She felt her heart race. “It’s not like its just one event that I can forget, is it? There’s too many to count!”
James shook his head, unable to believe what he was hearing. He stuffed the sketches into his backpack, and zipped it closed. “You must have forgotten about all of the reciprocated pranks, then, Lily,” he growled back at her. James rolled his eyes and brushed past Lily, throwing his bag over his shoulder. “I’ve forgotten about the pranks!” he shouted back at her, keeping his gaze focused on the exit. “I’ve been willing to put our past aside for over a month, now “ what about you?”
With these last words, James spun around on Lily unexpectedly, as if knowing that she was trying to chase him around the room again. And, sure enough, she had been following him back down the stairs, but instead of standing one step below James, she was now one step above him. But, interestingly enough, this time she seemed to be looking him directly in the eyes, his face now inches from hers; she felt far too close for comfort.
While still attempting to keep an air of superiority, Lily indiscreetly shuffled as far back on her step as possible before answering. “Well “ maybe your pranks hurt me more than mine hurt you!” she stabbed at a ridiculous answer, poking him in the chest for emphasis.
James raised an eyebrow at her response. Slowly, as if he were trying to draw out Lily’s discomfort level, James stepped up beside her onto the same stair “ several inches taller than Lily, now that they were both standing on level ground “ and much closer than she would have ever imagined they would be. Lily struggled to maintain eye contact when she felt so small next to his large form. He took a second step forward, forcing Lily to lean back. He was inches from touching her.
“Maybe the pranks did hurt you,” James continued their conversation in a louder voice, “but you can’t say that your pranks weren’t as bad as mine.” James started to yell. “Besides “ that still wouldn’t change the fact that you have never forgiven me when I let the past slide!” He looked like he was seconds from shaking her. “People change “ I’m not who I was seven years ago. You need to understand that!” He took in a deep breath and was about to continue shouting at her “ Lily could sense the anger building up inside of him “
But he backed off without another word.
Lily knew their conversation was not finished. The tension in the air had not been resolved. He still had more to say to her.
And for some strange reason, Lily felt like she needed to hear it.
James silently shook his head, as if answering Lily’s unspoken question. He turned and ran down the steps and walked quickly towards the exit.
Lily climbed back up the stairs and moved to the center of the stage, her eyes following his every move.
“Potter!” Lily shouted at the top of her lungs. He didn’t stop. She took in a second, deep breath. “What were you about to say?”
James halted just before he hit the doors. His hands were poised at the door handle, ready to shove it open, but Lily had held him back. His head dropped onto his chest, exhausted. He didn’t want to do it “ it would only make things worse.
“Nothing,” James finally called out with a general wave of his arm, resigning to keep it to himself. He pushed the door open. “I’m not fighting you anymore.”
“James.”
It was the first time she had called him by his first name. There was no menace in her voice; she was not accusing him of anything; she only wanted his opinion.
“Tell me.”
James released the door leading to the streets and it slammed closed behind him, breaking the silence.
Blinking several times at his feet, he crossed his arms over his chest. Slowly, his eyes rose and met with Lily’s.
“You really want to know?”
Lily did not answer. She could only nod.
James sighed, summoning all of the energy he could in order to prepare himself for the battle about to ensue. He dropped his hands to his side and stepped back into her line of sight.
“Alright,” he agreed, scuffing his feet against the floor as he walked, “then tell me “ who would read lines for you?”
Lily frowned, very confused. She felt her knees shake involuntarily at James’ strange question. Feeling it was wiser not to fall, she chose, instead, to sit on the edge of the stage with her legs dangling off of the side. “What does - ”
“You told me,” James cut in, his pulse rising as he retraced his steps, back towards the stage, “that you could find anyone else to help you with your lines “ right?” By the time he finished his sentence, he had reached Lily.
James dropped his bag and stepped close enough to be less than a foot from Lily’s face. He narrowed his eyes at her “ but not in the cruel manner. He looked genuinely interested.
“Who?”
“Who, what?” Lily quickly retorted, frowning. She had not been expecting an interrogation when she asked for his opinion.
James knew that she was only trying to stall for time; he also knew that it wouldn’t work. He merely repeated his question.
“Who would read lines for you, Lily?”
Lily blinked several times and averted her gaze from James’. She tried looking above his head and at the bare walls, but consistently felt her eyes fall into her lap where her hands were clenched together, cutting off the blood flow to her fingers. “Well, Anna and Chelsea,” Lily heard herself speak, adding forced laughter to the end of her answer. “Of course. They’re my best friends.”
James shook his head with a small chuckle. He dropped both of his hands onto the edge of the stage, on opposite sides of Lily, and leaned in closer. Lily felt a jolt of energy shoot through her as James’ thumb accidentally brushed against her thigh. She was powerless; she was sitting on the stage, but James still seemed to be just as tall as her standing on the floor. As her heart thudded faster in her chest and her face heated up, Lily wondered if she was beginning to develop claustrophobia.
James’ voice broke through her thoughts. “I’m talking about within the cast, Lily. Not at Hogwarts.”
Lily moved her legs closer together, and shifted her shoulders, very uncomfortable with the situation at hand. “Well, my dad - ”
“No,” James cut her off for the second time that night. “He doesn’t count.” James moved closer. Their noses were nearly touching as he uttered his final words.
“Someone in the cast.”
Lily felt her head fall. She was staring at her hands again, but she felt much worse than before. He was absolutely right, and they both knew it; she had no friends other than those she had made at Hogwarts.
Lily had always tried so hard to be a perfect actress, that she had never bothered befriending anyone her age; she never thought that it would ever improve her acting skills, so she never worried about whether or not people liked her. Even James had waltzed in out of the blue and been able to get to know the cast better than she ever had.
But the moment she looked up to respond, she realized with a pang that he had already left.
He had apparated home.
Lily breathed out a sigh of relief. Her claustrophobia had subsided for the moment; she could finally breathe again.
She didn’t move for several minutes, letting the events sink in.
“I asked for it,” Lily muttered to herself, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. “I can’t blame him for that…”
With a heavy sigh, Lily tried to clear her head. She lifted her gaze from her lap, but something in front of her caught her eye.
It was James’ bag.
Lily felt her stomach seize up.
Her anxiety was far from over.
*
Lily held up a sheet of paper that she had taken from one of her father’s many notebooks he had stored in his office at the theater. It was an informational sheet with a list of the cast members and their contact information.
She squinted at the small penmanship at the bottom of the page that listed James Potter’s address. Her heart thudded against her ribcage when she realized what she was about to do.
Taking one last deep breath, Lily readjusted her stance, trying to keep James’ bag, as well as her own, to stay comfortably on her shoulder. She clutched her own green bag for security with one shaking hand, and knocked timidly on his door with the other.
But, to Lily’s surprise, it wasn’t James that answered the door. It was a beautiful woman with a pleasant smile.
“Hello,” her voice rang with happiness.
“Uh “ hi,” Lily felt her own voice croak, sounding downright ugly in comparison to this woman’s voice. “Is James “ is he here?” Lily started to glance back down at the sheet in her hand, wondering if she had come to the right address. I knew that three looked like an eight. And that four is definitely a nine…
The woman scrunched up her nose in thought. “I’m not sure,” she shrugged.
“Oh,” Lily sighed, immensely relieved. She started to roll James’ heavy bag off of her shoulder. “Since he isn’t, could you just give - ”
“But,” the woman interrupted Lily with a quick glance behind her toward the back of the house, “if he is, he’s most likely in the backyard.”
Lily nodded, feeling her stomach drop. Reluctantly, she pulled his bag back onto her shoulder and she backed down from the door mat with a small wave. “Thank you.”
“No problem, dear.”
Lily trudged around to the side of the house as she heard the front door close. Part of her had almost been wishing that this wasn’t the right house; anything, at that moment, would have seemed easier than delivering a lost artifact to someone that had just called her bluff.
Soon, she felt her mind reel, absorbing several pieces of information all at once. She’s gorgeous! Is she James’ mum? She seemed really nice. However, Lily immediately put a stop to her wandering thoughts as soon as she started to debate whether or not James would inherit the woman’s everlasting beauty.
A hill blocked Lily’s vision from the back of the Potter’s house. She climbed up and over the hill and felt her jaw drop.
Down the stretch of grass was an open area just behind the house that she had been expecting to find James; however, he was not there. She hesitantly looked further in the distance and found a small creek, running into the Potter’s yard, and out in the opposite direction. Several rather large trees surrounded the creek and seemed to continue for miles.
James had to be somewhere within the mass of trees.
She didn’t wait any longer. Eventually, she would have to say something to him, and she would just assume it be sooner rather than later.
Lily followed the water into the thick mass of trees, unsure of where it would end. She wasn’t even sure if she was still on the Potters’ property any longer. For all she knew, Lily was trespassing on someone else’s land.
It wasn’t until Lily stumbled over a left shoe “ and was inches from rolling into the creek “ that she even knew she was close.
Lily lifted her gaze. She had followed the creek upstream and was now looking at a large, shallow pool of water: the source of the creek. Trees circled the bank of the small pond, giving it a secluded look, and branches hung over the rippling water, blocking out the strong beams of light from the sun.
She stepped carefully onto the rocks and dirt that bordered the pond, noticing a pair of socks and a right shoe beside her that were thrown onto the grass. Slowly, Lily glanced up, swallowing her pride.
James stood directly in the middle of the pond with his pants rolled up to his knees. He was currently ankle deep in the pool of water, skipping rocks across the surface.
“James!”
Startled, the dark-haired boy turned his head, surprised to hear a voice other than his own.
James reached up to run his hand through his hair “ a nervous habit of his. He hadn’t been expecting Lily to follow him to his own home. Especially after he had just verbally attacked her back at the theater…
He clutched onto the rocks that he was holding, making small indentations in the palm of his hand, and braced himself for the argument they were about to have “ yet another conversation James would be more than willing to forget about.
Lily set down his backpack next to his right shoe. “You left your bag at the theater.”
James showed no sign of hearing anything that she had just said. He raised an arm to his side and threw a rock, watching it skip across the top of the water.
Lily bit her bottom lip, far more nervous than she had ever been in her life. Carefully, she stepped onto a smooth stone. “Can you come out of the water, please?” Lily asked in the kindest voice she could muster. She swayed back and forth, unable to steady her feet on the slippery slope beneath her. “I want “ I need to say something.”
He didn’t move, afraid that Lily might physically assault him. Or worse, throw some sort of an advanced spell at him that he couldn’t break until someone else found him stranded in the middle of his large backyard. But by that time, it could be too late.
James felt for his wand through his pocket “ just in case.
“Look, I’m sorry,” James apologized with a heavy sigh. Things would just get worse if he didn’t do something about it now. “I got carried away back there, and I shouldn’t have.” He threw a rock and it bounced several times before sinking into the water. “I was out of line.”
“You’re “ no,” Lily felt her own voice crack, as if she hadn’t used it in several days. “You shouldn’t be apologizing for anything.”
James looked down at the rippling water. He was very confused. Since when did Lily tell him not to apologize for something he did?
“Could you just “ come out for a minute?” Lily asked. She squinted as a small patch of bright light from the setting sun forced itself in between the branches of the hovering trees and hit the surface of the pond, bouncing the light back into her eyes. She blindly walked around the bank to avoid the sun until she reached a tree, large enough that she would not be able to fit her hands around the trunk if she tried. She put her weight up against the trunk to steady herself. “I want to say something.”
James did not move.
“Alright,” Lily started to speak loudly in response to his unwillingness to leave the water. Still leaning against the tree, Lily stepped onto a mound of dirt bordering the small pond, debating whether or not she should walk into the water to speak to James face to face, or shout at him from several yards away. “I know you’re upset with me, so… I’ll make this as short and painless as possible.” Lily braced the tree trunk behind her for support.
“I’m sorry.”
James’ ears perked. He had forgotten entirely about whether or not he had his wand to protect him any longer.
Lily was apologizing to him.
Lily was apologizing to him.
In the seven years of knowing her, she had never done this to him before.
Ever.
He tilted his head and looked into Lily’s eyes, waiting for her to continue.
“You’re right,” Lily finally admitted. “About everything.”
James turned so that his whole body was facing Lily now. He dropped the rocks he had been holding and put both hands in his pockets, listening to what Lily had to say.
“You were right about how much I’m afraid that I won’t live up to other people’s standards because I’m the director’s daughter.” Lily kicked a rock into the water, unable to make eye contact with James. She was much too embarrassed. “And about how stubborn I am that I can’t forget the past.” Lily laughed sadly. She blinked furiously as tears clouded her vision. “And you’re right about how I “ I don’t have any friends in the play.” She shrugged and scratched carelessly at the back of her head, hoping James wouldn’t realize she was as upset as she felt. She fought to keep her gaze focused on the ground and as far away from James as possible. “So “ I’m sorry. And, I guess it’s a little late, you know, but, uh…” Lily’s voice trailed off as soon as she saw a pair of feet step onto the dry land and felt two hands grab her arms.
“I can help,” James spoke kindly, cutting off Lily’s lengthy apology.
Lily blinked several more times before she was sure that her tears had vanished. She fell back against the trunk of the tree, grateful that it was there to hold her upright. She looked up into James’ eyes and couldn’t help but smile. She had found a new friend.
“On one condition,” James quickly interrupted the moment. He dropped his hands from Lily’s arms and crossed them over his chest, as if analyzing Lily. He moved backward, back into the cold water, with a sly smile.
Lily didn’t move. She didn’t blink. She didn’t breathe.
Anything, Lily found herself silently responding.
“Our past,” James said, “is all put behind us.”
Lily nodded immediately. “Alright.”
“All of the pranks,” James reminded her. “The bad arguments. Everything.”
Lily nodded again. “Of course.”
“From here on,” James pointed to the ground to make a point, “this is all a brand new start. This is where it begins. Right now.”
Lily smiled. “Absolutely.”
James surveyed the girl before him. After looking her up and down multiple times, he finally cracked a smile. “Alright, then. It’s settled.” He held out a hand to Lily as if he were being formally introduced to her. With a grateful smile spreading across her lips, Lily took his hand and firmly shook it. It was a new beginning.
They laughed at the awkward situation that they had been plunged into. Neither of them were used to being around the other without arguing. It would take some time to grow on them.
“I’ll see you on Monday, then,” James spoke loudly, breaking the gentle hush that had fallen around them. “We’ll run lines.”
Lily backed away from James and his friendly, hazel eyes. She ran into the tree trunk and smiled nervously. After maneuvering to the side, she backed out properly. “Right,” Lily agreed. “After play practice?”
“Until then,” James replied, hiding his laugh. He slowly moved his bare feet backwards, back into the water with a smile.
Lily gripped at her green bag, tugging at the loose threads sticking out at odd angles. She protectively pulled it in front of her and started to fiddle with the strap of the bag. “Bye,” she waved. Lily walked backwards over James’ other shoe “ his right one “ and stumbled. She quickly caught herself and blushed, exiting hurriedly from the forested area so as not to make an even bigger fool of herself.
James scooped up another pile of stones and began chucking them across the water, smiling to himself.
This was the first conversation with Lily that he actually wanted to remember.
The Curtain Call
Chapter Four: James’ Accident
“Alright, let’s see that sword fight, again!”
Young boys eagerly scrambled around backstage to find their swords. Each one of them stood stock-still just behind the curtains, ready to run onto the stage at their entrance.
Peter stepped behind a fake gate, looking as if he were imprisoned. Lily put her hand on the gate, ready to push it open. She looked out at James. “Do you want us to go now?”
James nodded. “Yeah “ go.”
Lily instantly transformed into Princess Adelaide. She pushed the gate open and hugged Peter.
Peter recited his lines, quickly glancing down at his script. “Adelaide, you shouldn’t have tried to free me “ think of what your parents will think! A princess “ saving a thief!”
Lily shook her head, refusing to use the script in her hand. “That doesn’t matter to me “ I love you!”
Peter started to go in for another hug, but was stopped when something off to the side of the stage caught his eye. He gasped in, acting surprised as several boys stepped onstage, waving their swords high into the air.
Lily and Peter jumped apart and grabbed the two nearest swords. They started swinging them around in the air, clanging with the other swords until the guards had encircled them.
James waved his arms in the air to stop them, very straight faced. “Alright,” he called to the group with a bit of hesitation, “yeah “ that’s good…”
Mr. Evans shot James a glance out of the corner of his eye, worried. “What is it?” he asked in a deep voice, careful so that none of the other kids would hear.
James just shook his head and held up a hand, silently telling Mr. Evans not to worry.
“I’m done!” James shouted, stepping forward to address the group. And then to Lily, after most of the stage had cleared, whispered, “Hey “ come here.”
Lily knelt down at the bottom of the stage, closest to James. “Yeah?” she asked, trying very hard not to make a face at him. Sure, she was supposed to put their past behind them, but that didn’t mean she could do it all in one night!
James drummed his fingers on the stage, frowning. “You really need to just “ make the sword look real, Lily.”
She heaved a deep sigh, struggling to keep her face neutral. “I tried making the sword feel like it had weight and everything,” Lily quickly defended herself. “I really did.”
James held up a hand to stop her in the middle of her statement as he nodded. “I understand,” he said in a soft voice, “but “ it isn’t real yet.” He ran one hand through his hair and gently massaged the back of his neck as he thought. “Alright “ do you remember what you said on Friday?”
They were both quiet. A lot had been said on Friday. “About what?” Lily inquired.
“When you, uh “ accused me of trying to make you look weak,” James supplied, hoping that Lily wouldn’t get upset at him. After all, it was their first day without any arguments; they were walking on eggshells.
“Yeah, I remember,” Lily said, trying very hard to bite her tongue and not let any insults roll instinctively off of her tongue. “What about it?”
“Well,” James shrugged helplessly, “you’re right. I want you to be weak.”
Lily nodded slowly, raising her eyebrows, slightly surprised.
“C’mon, Lily,” James quickly intervened before Lily had enough time to get upset with him, “you’re playing a princess, not a warrior!” He struggled to find the right words. A small slip of the tongue could make their newfound alliance go up in smoke. “If you looked up a day in the life of a princess, I highly doubt anything exciting would even show up.” James hoped that Lily was not angry with him. “You just need to look like you’re having a harder time than these other guys.”
“Right, so “ weak,” Lily summed it up with a tilt of her head and a wrinkle of her nose. “Got it.”
“You got it?” James repeated in surprise, backing away. He double checked to make sure he had not imagined Lily’s smile of affirmation and then nodded, glad that she hadn’t lashed out at him in any way. “Good!”
Lily moved back onto the stage and put away her sword, ready to begin the next scene. She started to feel more at ease when her father moved up from the shadows to take James’ spot as the director.
She knew that she shouldn’t be so tense when James was helping out with some scenes, but it was so unnatural! At least with her father in charge, she felt that she had a better grip on things.
But Lily couldn’t stop the fear from running through her mind. She was practicing her lines with James after the rehearsal finished! If she was uncomfortable with him in a large group setting, what would it be like when there were only two of them? Alone?
Lily cleared her head of these thoughts and waited for her father to start the second half of the rehearsal, momentarily putting aside the future.
“Way to go, Evans,” a particularly nasty voice hissed from behind Lily. “I almost feel sorry for you.”
Lily turned her head so quickly that she felt her neck crack the second Jess Marzoli came into view. She ignored the cramp in her neck, refusing to let Jess see her pain. “Why do you feel sorry for me?” Lily asked curiously. She knew that she shouldn’t respond to Jess’ taunts, but felt as if she had no choice.
Jess shrugged, wearing a conniving smile. She slipped her hands into the pockets of her jeans and stepped forward, leering at Lily. “Well, James feels sorry for you, too.”
Lily frowned. This girl hadn’t been talking to James, had she? She wouldn’t know anything that James was thinking “ she was just using this as bait. That was it. All she was trying to do was get Lily to bite, and then Lily would just get pulled along like Jess wanted “
“Why does James feel sorry for me?” Lily almost cursed herself for speaking at that moment. You should’ve just walked away! Lily thought desperately, wishing she could take back her words.
Lily had fallen into Jess’ trap, and they both knew it. She could see the triumphant glint in Jess’ dark eyes.
“Well,” she started with a casual shrug, “you’ve been having quite a few problems with your role lately.” Jess blinked, cocking her head to the side with a smile. “Right?”
“Well, uh…” Lily thought through all of the mistakes she had made during the practices and tried to find excuses. She soon realized what she was doing and stopped; Lily confidently held her head high and shook it defiantly. “No,” she said firmly. “No, I haven’t had - ”
“Everyone sees your mistakes,” Jess overrode Lily’s voice by increasing the volume of hers. “And you’re corrected almost everyday in front of the entire cast.”
Wait a minute! Lily thought furiously. I may be corrected occasionally “ but Peter makes loads more mistakes than I do! Why doesn’t he get any grief for it?
“It’s embarrassing, isn’t it?” Jess asked, putting on a mock sympathetic look. She pulled her hands out of her pockets and crossed them over her chest when Lily sent back an inquisitive look. “I saw James talk to you after everyone else left.” She started to circle Lily as if she were a lion, eyeing her prey. “He must have felt so bad about how awful you were doing; he couldn’t stand making a fool out of you in front of everyone again.” Jess stopped as she made a complete circle around Lily, facing her straight on. She smiled, trying to look innocent. “James is just so kindhearted that he couldn’t bear to humiliate you any longer.”
Lily’s hands clenched into fists at her side. Had Jess said this same comment about James to her a few days ago, Lily would have responded with an insult about James; Lily now knew who deserved the insult.
She opened her mouth after forming a weak retort, but their argument was cut short by another voice.
“Hey, Marzoli!”
The two girls looked offstage to find James walking out from behind a red curtain.
Jess glanced quickly at Lily, delighted to show off the fact that James wanted to speak with her, and not with Lily. Her hand rose automatically to her long hair and she started to twist it seductively between her fingers with a flirtatious grin. “Yes, James?”
James slid a hammer into his belt buckle and held up a dress with his other hand. “We just got your new costume,” James shouted loudly, his voice traveling across the room. “Do you want to try it on? You know,” he added, and Lily could have sworn she saw the flicker of a grin cross his face, “the costume designers got it in a different size and wanted to check and make sure it fit this time.”
Jess’ face immediately flamed. She glared accusingly at Lily as if she had planned this.
“This isn’t over,” Jess hissed, narrowing her eyes.
“I’m sure it isn’t,” Lily muttered to herself as Jess stomped off past James, nearly ripping the new costume from his hands. Her heels clicked angrily on the wooden floor as she exited backstage.
Lily held a tired hand up to her face. How much longer could she take this torment from Jess? James couldn’t always appear out of the blue every time Jess started to ridicule Lily. It wasn’t as if James knew that she had been giving Lily a hard time or anything…
Lily’s last idea stuck with her. She slowly dropped her hand from her face and felt her eyes search the stage for James. He was still standing where he had been earlier, watching Lily. Their eyes connected for just a moment, and James held up his hand and flicked his wrist just a little to the side, creating a discreet waving motion. He winked and walked away.
Lily could not hide the smile that played at her lips.
*
“I’m going home, James,” a voice interrupted his thoughts. James looked up to find one of his set designers standing over him, wiping the sweat from his face with a dirty rag. “It’s too bloody hot “ I don’t see how you can stay in this heat.”
James smiled sympathetically up at the fourteen-year-old boy. “The heat hardly bothers me anymore,” he shrugged casually. “I’ve worked here for so many years, I rarely notice it.”
The fourteen-year-old shook his head, almost looking down on James in pity. “Well, you may be crazy enough to stay, but I’m throwing in the towel.” He made a show of throwing down the rag that he was holding onto the floor. “Everyone else on the set crew has already left, and I’m going to have to agree with them today.”
James nodded, returning to work on his prop. And then, as if remembering something, he turned back to the boy. “Are all of the set pieces you have on schedule?” he asked before letting him leave. “Are you behind on anything, or should I start working on those?”
“Nope,” the kid grinned, starting to back out the door. “I’m ahead of schedule, James “ no need to worry,” he smiled and exited the room.
James turned back to his set piece, but was, once again, interrupted before he could start working on it. A second voice at the door caught his attention.
“Hey, James,” another boy, smaller this time, spoke up, speaking very fast, “can I help?”
James looked up. He grinned at the short, curly-haired boy. “Hey, Jimmy,” he said in a friendly voice.
The eleven-year-old grinned back, revealing his toothy smile. “So?” he asked. “Can I help?”
James stood up and carefully stepped around the many objects lying on the floor. He dropped a lazy arm over his shoulders and beamed, loving the boy’s strong work ethic. In fact, the boy loved working at the theater so much that James wondered if he could be a replica of himself. Not only did the kid love constructing the set, like James, but he had also grown to love the theater almost as much as James did.
“Jimmy,” James started, walking with the boy towards the door, “don’t you think you’re a little exhausted from working in this heat?” He gestured to the t-shirt that he was wearing, pointing out the multiple sweat marks making the shirt stick to his chest. “Everyone else went home already, Jim. Take a break!”
“My name is Jimmy Dunne,” the boy spoke firmly in his Irish accent. “Not Jim “ I told you not to call me Jim!”
“I was only playing,” James laughed, slapping a hand on Jimmy’s back. “Just a fun nickname from one friend to another.”
Jimmy raised an eyebrow at James. James might have had six years on the boy, but it was clear that, even though he was much younger and much more likely to be pushed around by older kids, he would not allow any friend to give him a nickname that he despised.
“Alright, Jimmy,” James finally said with a sigh. “How about you go home a little early today? The set’s almost finished, anyway; you can work on it tomorrow.”
“But I can help,” Jimmy nodded enthusiastically, already forgetting entirely about the nickname mishap. “Really,” he said, wiping the sweat from his brow, “I’ll be fine.”
James laughed at the boy’s willingness to work during the hottest day of the season. “Jimmy, one of these days you’re going to have a heat stroke if you’re not careful.”
Jimmy crossed his arms and looked up at James with an amused smile. “I’m going to get a heat stroke? How about you? You’re the one who’s spending every rehearsal and more working in this weather!”
James thought about this comment. Jimmy had him cornered.
“Eh,” James finally shrugged. “I’m the head set designer,” he finally said, unable to come up with a better argument. “Besides, I’ve got a meeting with someone after the rehearsal, so I might as well stay here.”
Jimmy’s eyes lit up. He had only been working on the set for one month, but he had been around long enough to know that James didn’t normally plan meetings with anyone after rehearsals; he used the time to work on the set “ not to waste time talking to someone else.
“Who?” Jimmy asked eagerly.
James frowned. “Who what?” he asked.
“Who are you meeting with?” Jimmy elaborated on his question.
James pulled his arm away from Jimmy’s shoulders and looked into the boy’s curious eyes. “What does it matter?”
“Unless you’re meeting with Mr. Evans…” Jimmy thought aloud. He started to scratch behind his ear. “That sort of meeting would be normal.”
James shook his head, hiding his smile. “Why do you care, Jimmy?”
Jimmy’s dark eyes, hidden beneath the mop of curly hair atop his head, suddenly doubled in size. “You’re meeting a girl.”
James’ ears turned pink the moment Jimmy had guessed correctly. He chose not to respond.
“I knew it,” Jimmy beamed, rubbing his hands together as if he were thinking up some sort of a scheme. He would not rest until he had figured out the puzzle.
“Goodbye, Jimmy,” James quickly cut him off with a smile. Before Jimmy had a chance to reply, James picked up the boy’s bag and threw it directly at his chest, pushing him out the door.
“Alright,” Jimmy called back, swinging his bag over his shoulders, “you might have won this time, but I’ll find out what you’re doing soon enough!” The boy turned away and attempted to make very loud stomping noises, trying to appear upset, when, in reality, he was merely playing around.
James grinned, waving to the boy as he left.
He turned back to the prop on the floor that he had been working on and knelt beside it once more, wiping the sweat off of his face with the bottom of his old t-shirt.
I understand that we want to keep the authenticity of the old theater, James agreed, but couldn’t we put in some sort of a fan in this place?
He couldn’t take it any longer. It was the middle of July! Did Mr. Evans honestly think that people wouldn’t faint under the extreme heat?
James checked his surroundings. He was in one of the rooms just offstage, specially reserved for James’ crew of set designers to safely store their set pieces. Everyone else in the cast seemed to be either relaxing in the audience, watching the rehearsal, or on the stage; no one would come in search of his assistance anytime soon.
With a swift motion, James pulled off his t-shirt.
Instantly, a wave of relief fell over him. His temperature dropped nearly ten degrees in those few, glorious seconds.
Finally feeling comfortable, James sat beside the set and dipped the end of a paintbrush into a small, tin can of paint. He pulled it out to reveal a dark green color, clinging to the end of the brush.
James leaned over one of the many large trees that he had built entirely out of wood several weeks earlier. He imagined the final product in his mind and then began to paint the top part of the tree, the leaves, with the color he just pulled out on his brush. With gentle strokes, back and forth, the set came to life.
Before long, James was already off in his own little world: painting the sets and listening to the actors, as he used to do. He never had enough time anymore to just listen to the actors while he worked on the set; but, James realized, he had, also, never been in charge of working with the actors on certain scenes, nor had he ever had to stay behind to help someone with their lines. Without the extra time after rehearsals, James was beginning to wonder if he had to stay even longer than he normally did to finish the set on time.
James fell out of his daydream as he heard Lily’s voice float to his ears from the stage. “What do you regret?”
It’s the scene we did on Friday! James realized. He momentarily stopped painting the top of the tree and just held the brush so that he could hear Lily better.
James swallowed as the line that Lily hadn’t remembered on Friday appeared.
“Why would a low-level thief, such as yourself, even care whether or not he kidnapped someone “ as long as they got money out of it?”
James let out his breath in relief. He hadn’t even realized that he had been holding it. But once Lily got past the line, he seemed “
“Oh, no,” James moaned, looking down at his tree with dismay. While he had been listening to Lily speak, he had accidentally let the green paint from his brush drip all over the trunk of the tree.
Damn.
James looked over his right shoulder and then over his left. No one was watching him. None of them were even close…
Slipping a hand discreetly into his right pocket, James managed to grab his wand without anyone noticing anything suspicious.
Torgeo, James focused on the words of the spell without speaking them aloud, pointing his wand at the spilled paint. A small flash of light lit up the room, but no noise disrupted the actors on the stage.
He ran his hand over the spot where there had just been a green splotch of paint. In its place was a clean surface. With a smile as the charm took its effect, James quickly moved his wand to another spot of drying, green paint and repeated the spell in his mind.
James smirked to himself once he had finished cleaning up the spills. You couldn’t even tell that he had messed up!
He carefully checked over his shoulders once more “ just to be safe. And with a grin, he turned back around to hide his wand when a pair of shoes entered his line of sight.
James froze, afraid to look. But before he had a chance to raise his eyes, he heard the familiar sound of someone clearing their throat.
Just Lily, he sighed. He looked up and, sure enough, Lily was staring right back down at him, clearly finished with play practice for the day.
“What was that?” Lily asked him with a smile tugging at her lips. She noticed, feeling slightly embarrassed now, that James’ t-shirt was balled up in the corner of the room. She played off her discomfort and continued her conversation as if nothing had happened. “You’ve just come of age to use magic outside of Hogwarts, and, already, you’re using it in a Muggle establishment?”
James let out a strained chuckle, unsure of how Lily would react. He remembered his previous conversation with Lily about the swords. He had thought that he had been on thin ice when telling her what to do; now she caught him using magic in a Muggle building. James didn’t even want to think about what Lily would have done if it had been anyone other than Lily standing in front of him.
“Don’t scare me like that,” James muttered, quickly stuffing his wand into his pocket. He glanced down at his shirtless chest and began to grow very uncomfortable with the situation.
Lily dropped her tattered green bag on the ground next to James and kneeled beside him. “So that’s how the famous James Potter does such a nice job with the set.” She couldn’t hide her smile any longer. “I’ll make sure to tell my dad about that.”
James rolled his eyes at her. “Oh, please, Lily. Give me more credit than that,” he said, dipping his paint brush into the green paint again. He brushed it over the top of the tree. “One time deal,” he said, focusing on the strokes of the brush. “Besides,” he lowered his eyes with a mischievous smile that he hoped Lily would laugh at, “I hardly ever make any mistakes.”
And Lily laughed.
James heard the lid of another can of paint pop open. He looked to his left to find Lily on her hands and knees, dipping her own paintbrush into a can of brown paint for the trunk of the tree.
“Lily “ you don’t have to help,” James said to her. “Really, I can do it myself.”
“I’m alright,” Lily smiled at James. She started to paint, looking thoroughly content with the process. Still stubborn, James couldn’t help but smile.
“You’re helping me with my lines,” Lily told him with a shrug. “It’s the least I can do.”
James paused. He stared at Lily openly until he realized that she could easily turn and catch him watching her at any given moment.
“So,” Lily tried to make conversation to fill the awkward silence, “why did you mess up this time?”
“Hmm?” James asked, genuinely surprised by her question. “Mess up “ oh, the tree,” he muttered, embarrassed.
Lily nodded with a laugh. “You said you never mess up “ what happened?”
“Well, for your information,” James smirked, picking up his paintbrush and holding his free hand beneath it so it wouldn’t drip this time, “I was listening to you.”
“Why?” Lily asked without looking up. She continued working.
“I was trying to see if you remembered the line that you missed on Friday,” James said carefully, gauging her reaction to his talk about Friday. She didn’t do anything. “And then I let the brush drip over the wrong part of the tree.”
“But I got the line,” Lily boasted proudly. She moved her head to the side to analyze her work from another angle while watching James at the same time. “And you were back here, worried that I would mess it up.”
James allowed a smile to cover his lips. “Yeah “ I was worried.”
The air tensed around them. Lily quickly broke the mood.
“How cute,” she giggled in a girlish tone, pinching James’ cheek like she was his aunt.
James rolled his eyes at Lily and pulled away with a laugh before readjusting his glasses. He stood up and wiped the paint from his hand off on his already dirty pants. “Come on,” he said in a louder, more confident voice. “You wanted to help me “ then help me carry this onstage.”
Lily moved to grab the trunk of the tree, careful to avoid the spots that she had just painted. James grabbed onto the leaves.
“On three,” James said. “One, two - ”
The tree was off of the ground before three and cradled in their arms.
“Alright, we’re going to back out this way,” James said, jerking his head over his left shoulder, towards the double door exit. “I’ll go out first.”
Lily nodded and began to follow James’ pace, but they hadn’t even walked two steps before one of the open cans of paint interfered.
“James, watch - ”
Before Lily could finish her sentence, James stepped on the top of the green can of paint. His foot lodged itself securely inside the can and he lost his footing. As if in slow motion, Lily watched as James’ legs went flying out from underneath him and he fell to the floor. His arms immediately pulled out from beneath the tree to catch himself before he hit the ground, leaving the rough, unsanded edges of the set piece to deliver deep scratches down the front of James’ bare chest.
“Shit!” James swore as loud as he could, closing his eyes and gently lowering himself so that he was lying flat on his back. He shoved the large tree off of him, transferring the pain he felt into anger. With a soft groan, James rolled onto his side, trying to hold back his tears and hide his pained look from Lily.
“Oh, god “ James, are you alright?” Lily quickly dropped her end of the tree on the ground with a loud thud and ran to James’ side.
James moaned in pain for a moment longer. And slowly, he looked away from the door and lay on his back once more. James carefully pulled his arm away from his stomach and Lily gasped.
His entire chest was covered with blood; Lily could not see where the cut started and where it ended.
Lily immediately sprinted to the doorway of the set room and closed the two, large doors.
“Lily “ what are you doing?” James asked from the floor, feeling very lightheaded at the moment.
“I’m making sure that no one can get in,” she answered quietly, locking the door.
“Wow,” James muttered, trying to sit his head up and watch Lily run around the room, covering the windows, “do I really look that bad?”
Lily turned back to James after she finished blocking out all of the outside light from getting in. She saw James try to lift himself onto his elbows and quickly ran back to his side, forcing him back down.
“No “ lie down, James,” Lily instructed him, falling to her knees. She checked the room again and pulled out her wand.
“Whoa-ho,” James laughed, “Lily the rebel!”
“James,” Lily shot him a warning look as she pointed her wand at James’ chest, “I don’t believe you’re in a position right now to be making comments.”
James quickly stopped laughing. Lily smiled to herself, loving the power that she had instantly gained.
“Alright, now brace yourself,” Lily said softly. She held her wand to James’ stomach and whispered, “Aguamenti.”
Water shot through the tip of her wand and rinsed away the drying blood from James’ injury, making it far easier for Lily to find the source of the bleeding.
“That’s cold!” James said in a high, squeaky voice. He tried to squirm away, but Lily’s free hand was pressed down on his shoulder, holding him still. “Lily, you’re getting my clothes wet “ and the set!”
James immediately tried to sit up and make a break for it, but Lily was faster. She held up her hand to push him down and accidentally pressed her hand over his wound in the process. James gasped and reluctantly fell back to the ground under Lily’s instructions.
“Sorry about that,” Lily muttered, honestly feeling bad that she had, for once, inflicted pain upon James without meaning to. “But don’t worry “ we’ll use magic to clean it up, James.” Lily spoke calmly and professionally, stopping the running water.
After the last of the water fell away, dripping off of the side of James’ chest like a small waterfall, Lily’s eyes opened wide at the sight of the long gash running from his right shoulder to the left side of his waist. It certainly wasn’t deadly, but it wasn’t going to be painless, either.
“You’ve got yourself a pretty bad cut,” Lily said softly, analyzing the depth of the wound. She shook her head, biting her lip. “Well, it doesn’t look pretty, but it’ll leave one hell of a scar.”
James grinned and put his hands behind his head, very happy with this statement. Lily handed James a mirror so that he could see how bad his cut actually looked as opposed to how it felt. Lily then stood and moved to the corner of the room to grab James shirt.
“Imagine the stories I can tell with this thing,” James said loudly so Lily could hear him on the other end of the room. “I could say I fought a dragon… Hey!” James called even louder than before, trying to get Lily’s full attention. “I could tell everyone that I went back in time and one of those huge knights I told you guys about sliced me open and I made it back to the future just in time to get life-saving surgery!”
“Or,” Lily took her handheld mirror back and snapped it closed between her two fingers, “you could tell everyone that you stepped in a can of paint.”
“That does not leave this room,” James narrowed his eyes playfully at Lily.
“Right “ got it,” Lily teased him with a laugh. She delicately removed the many splinters from his chest and then pressed James’ shirt to his open wound to stop the bleeding.
James winced.
“Sorry,” Lily muttered, biting her lip as she tried to press the wound a bit lighter than before.
“Oh, no, it’s fine,” James toughened up with a deep breath, acting as if he wasn’t hurt at all. “I’ve had worse. Nothing Madame Pomfrey couldn’t fix.”
Lily stopped and looked at James, eyeing him with curiosity. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not Madame Pomfrey.”
“Well, you sure act like her,” James said casually. “Being a worrywart and all…”
His voice trailed off and Lily frowned. What was James trying to say? That she was an annoyance like their school’s nurse? Lily swallowed. She thought that they had been getting along rather well, considering… But what had she done to make him criticize her? It was his idea to get along in the first place…
“That’s a compliment, by the way,” James added under his voice, staring up at the ceiling.
Lily smiled, wondering when James had learned how to read minds.
“I was actually thinking about going into Healing,” Lily muttered into the thick silence, unsure where her stab at conversation would lead them. “You know, after Hogwarts and all…” She lifted James’ shirt and was glad to see that the bleeding had ceased for the moment. “I haven’t exactly learned anything about Healing that anyone else at Hogwarts wouldn’t know,” she shrugged offhandedly, “but I enjoy helping people.”
James nodded as best as he could on the ground. He tried to sit up again, but Lily put a hand to his forehead and pushed him back onto the floor. He smirked at her persistence. “I’m going to be an Auror,” he boasted proudly, acting as if he would not accept any other future. “Like my dad.”
Lily had seen many articles on James’ father in the Daily Prophet; he was one of the best dark wizard catchers the ministry had today. He would probably be the best that the Ministry would ever have.
She conjured a bandage out of the air, preparing to put it across James’ chest. “You’ve got some hard training ahead of you,” Lily informed him, wondering if he already knew this fact or not. “And it’s probably not going to be as much fun as you may think it would be.”
James put his hand beneath his head again and sighed, shaking his head. “I’m not all fun and games,” he said in a softer voice, not sure if he wanted Lily to hear him or not. “I mean “ I hate to bring up the past,” James mumbled rather quickly, “but if you ignore all of the pranks that I pulled, I do have some of the highest grades in my classes,” James said. He looked away from the ceiling and sent Lily a wry smile. “Right behind yours, of course.”
Lily smirked. “And I suppose that all of the duels you’ve had with Snape at Hogwarts might have helped you prepare to fight a real Death Eater in the future.”
James laughed. He felt Lily secure the bandage in place on his chest. The moment she moved away with an apprehensive smile, James sat up and began poking at the bandage like a curious child. It didn’t fall off, nor did it hurt to touch it.
“I don’t think you’ll be such a bad Healer yourself, Miss Evans,” James commented. He held a hand out to Lily and pulled himself back onto his feet.
The pair walked around the room, cleaning up the mess that they had created. James dried off his clothes “ and cleaned off the green paint that had dried on his shoe “ with a few simple spells. He carefully pulled his t-shirt back over his head with very little movement, while Lily cast a spell to dry the floor and all of the props, making them appear brand new.
“Thanks,” James said after Lily picked up her green bag. He paused as Lily started to head for the door. “Wait “ I thought you wanted to practice your lines,” James called, confused.
Lily shook her head sadly. “You’re not healthy enough to be moving around on the stage,” she advised him as if he did not already know it. She smiled, tempted to laugh at the mere thought of James trying to move at any speed faster that a slug. “Have you seen yourself walk recently?”
James couldn’t help but crack a feeble smile. When he had walked across the room to pick up his script just now, the only way he could get there was by leaning on every other stationary object in the room for support. He was going to be in pain for the next few days, and he knew it, as much as he hated to admit it. “Alright “ tomorrow, then. And I’m going to help,” James said quickly before Lily could protest.
“Fine,” she agreed, crossing her arms. “But right now, you really need to go back home and rest.” She put a defiant hand on her waist, showing that she was serious. “I mean, you did lose quite a bit of blood. If you’re not careful, there’s a strong chance that you could faint, especially in this heat.”
“Yes, Mother,” James said in a joking tone. He flashed a smile to show her that he was kidding around.
The pair silently picked up their wands and apparated home.
*
“James, what happened to you?”
“Nothing,” James waved his mother off, not really caring to explain his stupid mistake. He tried to walk quickly up the stairs leading to his room, but his mother easily cut him off, using her full health to her advantage.
“Something did happen,” she said in a worried voice. She frowned and put an arm on his shoulder, trying to figure out what was causing him to move so slowly. Then a look of fury spread across her face. “Did you get into a fight with a Muggle boy? Did he punch you?”
James couldn’t help but laugh, but cringed when he did. He held a hand to his stomach, feeling the bandage through his t-shirt. “I just “ fell and dropped a piece of the set. That’s all.” James made to push past his mother and walk upstairs once again, but she did not let him. Mrs. Potter ushered James over to their couch and made him lie down on his back, just like Lily had.
“Mum, I’m fine,” James tried to convince her in an exhausted voice. He scrambled to stand up, but after his mother unintentionally hit his stomach and he started to become lightheaded from attempting to fight back, James groaned and fell defenseless on the couch.
“What did you drop?” Mrs. Potter asked him in a worried voice. “How much did it weigh? Where did you hurt yourself?”
“Someone already healed me, Mum,” James interjected between questions. His mother stopped moving. “I’m alright!”
Mrs. Potter looked hesitant. “James, I’m a Healer “ can I at least look at it?”
James rolled his eyes and lifted his shirt so that his mother could analyze the work.
“That must be a bad cut to use up so much of a bandage,” she said quietly. “But I guess it looks… fine,” she admitted, almost sounding disappointed. “Are you sure you don’t want me to just check and make sure everything’s alright?”
“Mum, I trust her,” James shouted exasperatedly. “She seemed to know what she was doing “ but if I start getting some strange sort of an infection or something tomorrow, I’ll come to you first “ how about that? Are you alright with that?”
Mrs. Potter pulled James’ shirt back down to cover his stomach again and narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her son. “You trust “ her?”
James shouted in frustration and threw his head back into the cushions of the couch. “Look, she’s training to become a Healer “ like you,” he said in an attempt to get his mother off of his back.
Mrs. Potter crossed her arms over her chest and lowered her gaze so that she was looking over the rims of her glasses. “Are you trying to replace me, James?”
“Replace you?” James made a very confused face at his mother. “Mum, I don’t have time to play games “ Lily told me I had to get rest.”
“Lily?” Mrs. Potter tilted her head at an angle. “That was the girl that was here the other night looking for you, wasn’t it?” she realized, now much more curious. “The one you, supposedly, didn’t get along with?”
James shrugged and tried to get back on his feet without inflicting any pain to his chest. “We’re fine now,” he said with a dismissive wave of his hand, shuffling across the floor to the stairs. Once he got a strong hold on the banister to help him up, James turned to face his mother again. “And what’s with all of the questions?”
“Well, nothing,” Mrs. Potter sighed dramatically. She moved away from the couch with a suspicious smile. “I just thought I’d ask a few simple questions about this girl you’re trying to replace your dear old mother with.”
James froze before his foot hit the first stair. He paled. “Like “ a girlfriend? No, Mum, ew,” James quickly shook his head, denying every thought that had crossed through his mother’s mind. “Lily’s just “ no,” James nearly shuddered, sounding as if he were a first year again and all girls had cooties. He then cracked a joke to ease the awkward situation he had been put in. “You’re loosing your mind faster than I would have thought for a person your age.”
“Whoa, now,” Mrs. Potter laughed, “see if I’ll bring your dinner up to your room now.” She rested a lazy arm at the base of the banister and propped her head up with the palm of her hand. She heard James moan with each step as he inched up the flight of stairs. “I’m going to make you walk back downstairs for your dinner,” she teased, walking away.
James sighed and shook his head.
*
Before Lily had arrived home, an owl was tapping it’s beak on the window of Lily’s room.
“Mum!” Lily shouted downstairs. “Why didn’t you let the owl in “ our neighbors could have seen it!”
Lily’s mother walked calmly to the door of Lily’s bedroom with a tired look. “No need to yell,” she sighed with one hand on her waist and the other holding a laundry basket full of wet clothes beneath her arms. “He must have just shown up,” Mrs. Evans said, referring to the owl now perched on the windowsill, eagerly holding out his leg to Lily. “I’ve been outside nearly all day; it couldn’t have been very long that he was waiting.”
Lily took the letter from the owl and smiled. “The owl is a she, Mum,” Lily answered, realizing it was a letter from her friend’s owl.
“Whatever it is,” her mother rolled her eyes, unable to keep any of the owls straight. She then softly tapped the wood frame around Lily’s door in parting. “I’ll be two rooms down if you need me.”
Lily nodded to her mother and quickly ran to her bed, jumping on it. She bounced up and down a few times before the springs in her mattress stopped moving and she opened the letter.
Lily,
No word on if I’ll be able to visit you or not this summer. Chelsie’s trying to convince her parents, too. They keep saying we’re never around enough anymore “ that summer’s supposed to be family time. Where on earth did they get that concept? But I’ll talk to them more about that.
I really want to see the play! I’ve only seen a few in the past, but you were hardly onstage for those, anyway. I can’t wait to see you in the lead role “ how exciting! (Chelsie and I are using that as one of our excuses to visit.) And I know its hard working with James on some of those scenes that you told me about. (When you last wrote me a letter, you were furious about something with swords, but I didn’t really understand what you were going on about… But I’m sure it’s frustrating!)
Just try not to kill James, alright? I wouldn’t mind getting the Quidditch Cup in our last year at Hogwarts.
With love,
Anna
Lily pulled out a sheet of her own parchment paper to respond. After sitting with the quill in her mouth for several minutes, she couldn’t think of anything to write. With a frown, Lily forced herself to jot a small message to her friend.
Anna,
Keep trying to persuade your parents “ I really want you both to be here for the play!
As for James “ he’s still a major prat. But I’ll try not to completely rip him to shreds.
Lily
Biting her lip with uncertainty, Lily finished writing the lie that she had created about James. She hurriedly tied the letter to the owl’s leg and released her before she could change her mind.
The Curtain Call
Chapter Five: Somewhere
Why did I do that?
Lily pressed a hand to her forehead, wishing she could retrieve her letter from the owl. But by now, the owl was already several yards away, flying into the sun. Why didn’t I just tell Anna the truth “ James and I are friends, now. I mean “ we get along, at least. It’s not like we hate each other anymore. I think.
No, Lily reasoned with herself. All I’m doing is sparing Anna from the details. She probably wouldn’t even care whether or not James and I were getting along.
Lily nodded to herself. Really “ what’s the use in spending time, explaining this weird sort of friendship, when James and I won’t ever talk to each other again after this play?
Lily was becoming rather comfortable with the idea as she thought about it longer and longer; it seemed perfectly normal, now. When we get back to Hogwarts, I’m not going to need him to help me learn any part in a play. He’ll just ignore me when we no longer have anything in common. So why bother wasting my time explaining something that won’t have an effect on my future?
Right?
*
The following day, James arrived at Bennett Theater five minutes before they were about to start their daily practice. He shuffled painfully to the front of the auditorium and collapsed in one of the red, cushioned chairs in the first row, holding his stomach. It didn’t hurt when he was sitting, but when he moved, he hurt like hell.
It wasn’t long after James fell into one of the theater chairs that Lily peeked out from behind a red curtain and waved shyly at James. He quickly stood as Lily approached him, trying to appear as if he had only had a paper cut. James waved back with a strained smile and an inaudible groan.
“How are you doing?” Lily asked in a worried voice, jumping down from the stage.
“Oh, you know,” James shrugged, swaying back and forth in his spot. He crossed his arms over his chest in an attempt to look relaxed, but instead accidentally pressed down on the bandage covering his wound and grimaced.
“Sit,” Lily instructed him. She sat in the chair beside him, concerned for his health. “Are you really doing alright? Why didn’t you stay home?”
“Are you kidding?” James raised an eyebrow as if she had said the craziest thing. He scoffed and looked away from Lily’s worried eyes, toward the stage. “And miss play practice?”
Lily slowly leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs. James heard the movement in Lily’s chair and turned to look at her with suspicion. She was chewing on her bottom lip, looking as if she was trying very hard to hold something back.
“What?” James finally asked.
“You have nothing to do here!” Lily held up her hand and began to list things off in a very loud voice. “You can’t work on the set at all “ you’d only injure yourself worse than before. You can’t even yell at me for swinging the sword the wrong way, because you can’t demonstrate how to do it correctly. And you can’t teach anyone how to waltz!”
James closed his eyes and groaned, letting his head roll backwards. He removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes wearily as if he had lost a great amount of sleep the night before. “Shit “ I forgot about that. Where’s your dad “ I need to talk to “ ”
“I already did,” Lily told him in a softer, much calmer voice. “I told him that you wouldn’t be able to teach the cast the final dance for at least another week.” Lily narrowed her eyes. “Possibly two weeks if you keep leaving the house!” Lily scolded him.
“I’m not going home,” James protested, ignoring Lily’s guidance. “Besides,” he said, “it’s just a small scratch “ I’ve had plenty worse. I usually bounce back from these sorts of injuries pretty quick.” He lowered his voice, just loud enough for Lily to hear, but kept his gaze straight ahead on the stage. “Just in time for Friday, too.”
Lily frowned at James who was smiling smugly. She searched her mind for an explanation. Friday? she thought. What’s happening on Friday?
Unable to come up with her own response, Lily finally turned to James. “What’s on Friday?”
“I, James Potter,” James said much more enthusiastically than his limp suggested he would have been feeling, “am taking you, Lily Evans “ ” James frowned as he searched for the right word “ “ somewhere.”
Lily laughed at his response. “Somewhere,” she repeated, arching an eyebrow. “It’s a surprise?”
“Bingo!” James grinned, shooting a finger into the air. “Just stay late on Friday “ you’ll see,” he smirked as Lily crossed her arms over her chest when James wouldn’t tell her where they were going.
“Fine,” Lily agreed. “I’ll go to “ somewhere on Friday, as long as you promise me one thing.”
“And what’s that?” James asked, watching the cast walk onto the stage and wait for Mr. Evans to start the rehearsal.
“You have to go home and get some rest.”
James took in a deep breath and scratched the back of his head. He started to wonder if Lily would still accompany him even if he chose not to hold up his end of the bargain. Just as he was about to respond, Mr. Evans walked up to the pair.
“James!” he said with a frown. “I heard about your accident “ are you feeling alright? Anything I can get for you? Lily “ what are you doing down here? I hope she didn’t bother you, James.” Mr. Evans nearly shoved Lily away from James, as if she would injure him further if she spoke to him any longer. “Get up onstage with the others, we’re about to start!”
With an innocent little shrug, James waved good-bye to Lily without leaving his chair or the play practice. Lily smiled as she walked away and childishly stuck out her tongue at James.
James did the same.
“So that’s your secret.”
James nearly jumped a foot into the air, startled by the loud voice in his ear. Landing sideways in his seat, he groaned as he felt his stomach start to throb painfully. He slowly twisted his head to the side and glared at the voice coming from the row behind him.
“Jimmy,” James growled. He tried to stand to chase the boy, but was, yet again, stopped by the blinding pain.
“What did you do at that meeting of yours last night?” Jimmy raised a very curious eyebrow, noticing the pained look on James’ face.
James glanced back at the stage where Mr. Evans had told the cast to start the play from the very beginning, asking for quiet offstage. He made a motion, holding his finger to his lips, to signal for Jimmy to keep his voice down.
“Nothing happened,” James quickly told the boy before he could make any false accusations. “I just dropped that stupid tree when I was trying to haul it onstage yesterday.”
“Oh,” Jimmy nodded. He put both of his hands on the back of the seat next to James. Jimmy jumped gracefully over the chair and landed neatly on top of the red cushion with a smile, proud of his stunt. “Lily didn’t try to help you carry it out before your meeting with her?”
“No, she did, I just - ”
James froze. He felt a smile reach his lips. He looked over at Jimmy. “How did you know I was meeting Lily?”
Jimmy grinned as James’ words confirmed his suspicions. “James,” he said in a mature attitude, “one does not need to assist with the play for long to catch small details.”
James raised an eyebrow, amused. “You were spying, weren’t you?”
“Only long enough to see who showed up, I swear!” Jimmy hastily tried to defend his actions.
James laughed at the boy’s nervous expression. For a moment, he had seen a flicker of Sirius’ mischievous look pass through Jimmy’s stormy eyes.
“Doesn’t matter,” James shrugged, patting the boy on the back. “I told Lily that I would help her with her lines, and we were supposed to run them last night.”
Jimmy nodded, staring up at the stage. Several of the actors swiftly moved around it, waving their arms in big gestures. “That was noble of you,” Jimmy said, attempting to act proper. He leaned over and said in a softer voice, “You know, to step up to the plate when she couldn’t find anyone else to help her.”
James frowned. “Actually,” he muttered, “I was the one who offered to help.”
“You offered?” Jimmy’s ears had perked up, highly interested. “Lily “ she didn’t ask for help. You offered.”
“Uh “ yeah, that’s about right,” James agreed.
“But I thought that everyone “ hated her,” Jimmy stuttered, thoroughly confused. He looked up at Lily performing her lines and then back at James’ unreadable face. “Even you!”
“I don’t know about everyone,” James sighed, “but I don’t. She’s nice when you get to know her, I guess.”
“But her dad just let her have the lead role!” Jimmy nearly shouted. “Why wouldn’t you be upset about that?”
James wasted no time cutting Jimmy off with a furious glare. He turned to face the curly-haired kid in his seat, ignoring the thudding pain pulsing throughout his entire body.
“Lily’s a good actress,” James told the boy firmly, eyes flashing. “Just because everyone refuses to see her talent because she is the director’s daughter doesn’t give them any reason to hate her.”
Jimmy leaned as far in the opposite direction of James’ piercing eyes as he could, very frightened. He had never gotten into an argument with James, nor had he ever seen James act the way that he did. “Whoa “ I’m sorry,” Jimmy whispered, sorry to have ever gotten on James’ bad side. “I didn’t realize that what I said would “ I only heard what people were - ”
“Well, don’t believe it,” James said as if in a final decision.
“Alright,” Jimmy immediately agreed, wishing he had never brought up the conversation in the first place.
The pair sat in silence through a full scene before Jimmy spoke again.
“I didn’t realize how much it upset you,” he said softly. “Honestly,” he spoke more confidently this time, “I didn’t think that you liked her.”
James leaned back in his chair and took in a deep breath. He let it slowly leave his body, unsure how to answer this question. “I didn’t “ at one point,” James informed his friend. “Lily and I “ we go to the same school.” He noticed Jimmy’s mouth open to ask a question, but James quickly cut him off, knowing where the boy’s mind was leading him. “It’s a boarding school, several miles away “ you’ve never heard of it.”
Jimmy accepted the answer without any debate.
“We started off on the wrong foot in our first year together,” James explained in a calm, much more relaxed tone, which Jimmy was grateful to hear. “But now,” he simply summed up the past week, “we’re on good terms with each other.”
“Oh.” Jimmy tried to figure out what had caused the change in their relationship, but could think of nothing. Unless…
“Oh,” Jimmy repeated himself, smirking. “I get it.”
“You get “ what?” James asked, confused. “I didn’t realize there was anything to get.”
“Fine,” Jimmy muttered. He crossed his arms and kicked one leg up onto his knee. “Keep your little secret, if it makes you feel happy.”
Any sign of amusement had disappeared entirely from James’ face. He was starting to get upset with all of the guessing games. “Secret?” he echoed, frustrated.
“You know,” Jimmy tilted his head to the side to look at James. “You,” he said, raising his eyebrows suggestively, “and Lily.” He turned back to the actors onstage, smiling smugly. “No need to say it aloud, James,” Jimmy informed him, as if assuring him everything was alright. “I know.”
James started to understand what Jimmy was finally thinking and rolled his eyes, fighting back the urge to laugh. He pulled back an arm and slugged his short friend in the shoulder, now grinning at the hilarity of the situation. “Don’t you have a set you have to be working on?” James asked him. “Considering I’m injured, you should be working twice as hard to make up for my absence.”
Jimmy stood up from the comfortable, red chair with a cool smile. “Alright, I understand,” Jimmy played around, acting as if he had been deeply hurt when James changed the subject. “You don’t want to admit your feelings in the open, yet. I completely understand. That is a big step,” Jimmy nodded solemnly. His dancing eyes quickly gave away his hidden laughter.
“Oh, shut up,” James muttered. “Just finish that bloody tree…”
Jimmy laughed and strolled away.
*
Lily picked up her green bag and rifled through the contents, double checking that she had packed away all of her belongings. Once she was satisfied that everything was in its place, Lily left the room backstage to find James with her script in her hand.
Most of the theater had cleared out. Her dad hung behind for several minutes, but Lily informed him that she would return home later.
“Ah, getting in some more hours,” Mr. Evans commented, smiling proudly at his daughter. “I’m glad you want to work harder.”
“Yep,” Lily agreed with a small smile as her father wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. With a kiss on her forehead, he departed from the theater.
“You’re staying late?”
Lily did not need to turn around to know who had just spoken to her.
“What is it, Jess?” Lily sighed. She didn’t want to argue with anyone right now. Already, she was nervous about spending time with James after the rehearsal “ she didn’t need to worry even more!
“I just overheard you telling your father that you would be working on your lines,” Jess smirked over at her friend, Rosie. “How cute,” she taunted Lily while giggling all the while. “You’re honestly trying to look good for our final performance to make people think you can actually act.”
Lily felt her face go up in flames. She could have sworn she had felt the smoke of a pepper-up potion coming out of her ears.
“I’m a good actress,” Lily tried arguing back. “You’re just jealous.”
Jess raised both of her eyebrows with an amused smile. “Jealous?” she repeated, looking as if she were forcing herself not to laugh at this horrible comeback. “Of you?” This time, Jess did not hold back her laugh. Throwing her head back, she and Rosie cackled the entire way out of the theater.
“Don’t let them get to you.”
Lily spun, frowning as James hobbled onto the stage.
“Easy for you to say,” Lily muttered, “when she’s not attacking you.” Lily scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. She started to sense an old feeling of annoyance towards James beginning to bubble up inside of her, as if this situation was his fault somehow. “Jess thinks you’re a god.”
James rolled his eyes, finally reaching Lily in the middle of the stage. “She doesn’t matter,” James told her. “At least “ right now, she doesn’t.”
Lily reluctantly nodded, staring down at the script in her hand. “Yeah “ alright,” she shrugged.
Just as Lily started thumbing through the book to find a spot to start, James pulled the script from her hands and threw it offstage, allowing it to land somewhere in the darkness with a loud thud.
“What was that for?” Lily gasped. “That book you most likely just ruined has all of my stage directions!” Lily made a loud noise of irritation when James shrugged innocently, and started marching off the stage with several loud stomps.
I knew this was a bad idea, Lily scolded herself for ever thinking these rehearsals could have worked. I should never have gone along with this idea in the first place…
Before Lily even had a chance to leave the stage, James had reached out and snatched her wrist with one of his arms, holding her back.
“You don’t need the script, Lily,” James told her calmly, looking directly into her eyes. He needed to gain her trust again. “You already know it.”
“I don’t,” Lily countered stubbornly. “Otherwise you wouldn’t be helping me right now, would you?”
James ignored her negative tone; he simply moved to his character’s starting spot with a straight face. “Just start from the beginning.”
Lily sighed audibly. She stomped childishly across the stage and started to recite her lines.
“Lily “ stop.”
James had interrupted her less than a minute after she had started.
“Did I do something wrong already?” Lily complained with a hand on her waist. The more she dwelled on the thought of future rehearsals with James like this one, the more she hated the idea of them.
“Lily “ just stop!”
James was no longer in his starting spot. He was now standing directly in front of her with a look of both anger and sadness.
Lily’s hardened image faded away and James spoke up.
“I don’t know what’s really bothering you,” he said in a whisper, “but you’ve got to put it aside, Lily.” James shrugged. “Your attitude right now is what you want it to be and I can’t change what you’re feeling. There is absolutely nothing I can do for you if you’re going to act like this.”
James shook his head, disappointed. “I want to help you “ I really do,” he told her, positioning his hand over his stomach as he backed away, “but if you don’t want me to, then I don’t have to; it’s up to you.”
Lily frowned, now feeling embarrassed by her previous actions. He’s trying to help me, and I thank him by acting childish about the whole thing?
“I want you to help,” Lily mumbled, quickly avoiding James’ gaze; she looked anywhere but into his intimidating eyes. “I’m sorry “ can we start again?”
James’ expression relaxed. He smiled and nodded.
*
“I thought I told you not to work on the set this week.”
James looked up from his kneeling position on the ground and raised both eyebrows. “Lily,” he sighed exasperatedly, “I’m painting. Not picking up a bloody tree.”
Lily smiled and sat beside James on the floor covered in sawdust.
For several minutes, James did nothing but brush paint back and forth across the wooden prop. Eventually, he noticed that Lily was not helping, nor was she speaking.
He stopped his movement and slowly pulled his gaze up and was surprised to find that she had been staring intently at him the whole time. Once their eyes locked, Lily spoke in an anxious sounding voice.
“So?”
James dipped his brush into the paint can again. “So… what?”
Lily held her hands up in the air, looking as if she had made her intentions entirely clear. “Are we going or not?”
James did not answer. He tilted his head to face Lily.
“You said,” Lily protested immediately, wondering if she had made up their previous conversation, “that you were going to take me somewhere today after play practice.”
Slowly, James cleaned off his paint brush and checked his watch with a straight face. The time read three o’clock. “So it would seem,” he muttered, squinting at his watch with an intent look. “So it would seem…”
Lily finally stood. She crossed her arms and shifted all of her weight onto one leg so that her hip jutted out to the side. She didn’t look happy. “You promised we would go somewhere on Friday “ that’s today!” Lily shouted exasperated. “I didn’t make this up, did I?”
James stood beside her and quickly wiped his hands off on his pants. And with a simple shrug, James muttered, “Alright,” and smiled.
“Alright?” Lily looked confused as James started to walk away without her. She bit her lip and started to scratch her head. “Wait a minute.” She held a hand in the air to stop him. “Why the sudden change?”
“I was just checking that you actually wanted to go,” James explained as if it were completely normal. After pushing several props to the side and closing a tool box, James turned around to face Lily. “You don’t even know where we’re going,” he said with a smile growing on his lips, “but I needed to know that you want to go before we actually leave, or you won’t appreciate it.”
“Well, course I want to go “ but what does that have to do with “ ”
“All I’m saying is “ you can’t shun an idea before you get the chance to experience it.” James leaned forward, smirking. “You need to be willing to experience it on your own terms.”
Lily nodded.
“Jimmy!” James shouted toward the other end of the room. The small boy quickly put down the tools that he was working with and appeared instantly at James’ side.
“What is it?” Jimmy asked in his Irish accent. He glanced towards Lily, rapidly eyeing the silent girl, but returned immediately to James’ gaze and noticed, with a great deal of surprise, that James had packed his things away. “Are you leaving?”
“Lily and I are taking off early,” he informed the boy. And with a quick look at Lily, he remembered what he had not done. “Oh “ Lily, this is Jimmy Dunne.” As Jimmy bowed his head towards Lily in a sign of greeting, James slung an arm around the boy’s shoulder with a lazy smile. “Jim, here, is one of our new set designers this year.”
“Jimmy, not Jim,” the dark-haired boy hissed. Lily couldn’t hide her amused expression when the small, thin boy balled his hand into a fist and hit James square in the chest, but not nearly hard enough to create bruises of any sort.
“Hello, Jimmy,” Lily responded politely between soft giggles. She instantly grew fond of the boy that looked the mirror image of James himself. “Have you liked working on the set so far this summer?”
“Have I liked it?” Jimmy asked much louder than either of them had been expecting. His eyes darted back and forth between James and Lily as if this were a joke. Realizing that it wasn’t, he stammered, “I “ I love it! What’s not to like?”
Lily grinned. She looked at James’ proud face, allowing her gaze to linger just a bit longer than normal, and then returned to her conversation with Jimmy. “I take it you’re going to be the next head set designer someday?”
“Course,” Jimmy answered simply, looking as if he would accept the position the following year if Mr. Evans offered it to him.
“Wait until I leave, would you?” James thudded his friend on the back with a half smile. He then stepped away, gingerly touching Lily’s arm to point her in the direction of the doors. “Remember to lock up when you’re finished, alright, Jimmy?”
Jimmy assured James several times that he had things under control before very nearly shoving James out of the door and locking it behind them.
It wasn’t long after the pair had been kicked out of the back room until Lily eagerly returned to their previous conversation.
“Why won’t you just tell me where we’re going before we leave?”
James sighed, tempted to ask if Lily ever gave up, but already knew the answer to that question. “Two reasons,” he explained, ready with an answer. “First, you might back out if you knew where we were going.”
This reason itself made Lily doubt where it was James was planning on taking her.
They now walked through the aisles of the theater and toward the doors that led to the street. “And second,” he smiled, holding the door open for Lily, “it completely ruins the element of surprise.”
Lily rolled her eyes at James and stepped outside; they might not have been arguing any longer, but James still acted like he was in control every step of the way.
Lily stepped into the humid, summer heat, immediately blinded by the powerful rays of the sun. She held a hand over her eyes to shade herself. James followed behind her and stood on the sidewalk, basking in the sun for a moment before gesturing for Lily to follow him down the block.
“Why would I back out?” Lily asked, walking faster to catch up with James. “Are you worried that I won’t enjoy it? Or you know I won’t like it “ and you want me to go anyway!” Lily’s face gave off the impression that she had just solved the biggest problem in the world. “That’s why you’re keeping this whole thing a secret “ isn’t it?”
He only shrugged. “I guess I don’t want to take a chance with your stubborn attitude.”
Lily stopped walking, slightly offended by this comment. But when James did not stop for her, and Lily started to realize that, maybe, he had a good point, she silently continued to follow him.
The pair walked in silence for several minutes until they reached a street that was filled with people. The stores lining the street were practically built right on top of the other, standing side by side. Occasionally an alleyway would be placed between shops, but they were hard to find.
“You’re taking me to a store?” Lily asked him curiously. She frantically searched through her green bag. “James, I didn’t bring any money!”
James smiled and shook his head. “I’m not taking you to a store,” he replied. “But either way “ I’m buying.”
Lily’s eyebrows shot up. “I don’t think so,” she quickly interjected, digging at the bottom of her bag. She pulled up a Sickle and two Knuts. “We’re splitting, half and half.”
James pulled out his Muggle money and energetically shook it around in front of Lily with a grin. “Unfortunately, you don’t have any money today.”
Instead of protesting like she normally would have, Lily froze when she saw James waving around the Muggle money. “We’re not going to a wizard shop?”
Again, James shook his head with a smile. As an old, beat up building on the far end of the street came into view, James revealed their destination. “We are going to one of my favorite museums, Lily.”
Lily nodded slowly as their destination was finally revealed, wondering why he would take her to a museum of all places.
“Other summers after I finished working on the set early,” James said, “I would always come to these stores to look at what they had. Obviously,” he added as a side note, “since I didn’t live in a Muggle neighborhood until I started going to Hogwarts.” At the sign of Lily’s nod, James continued with his story. “I found a museum on one of those visits, and since then, I’ve come back at least two or three times every summer.”
So he chose to learn about something without the teachers shoving it down his throat. Lily smiled in appreciation. I’m impressed.
James shot a nervous glance at Lily’s smile and his expression, previously alight with excitement, started to fade. “Go ahead, laugh it up,” he muttered in a defeated tone.
“No “ I’m not laughing,” Lily said in all seriousness. “I think it’s “ nice that you like to learn stuff on your own.” She had been seconds from saying cute. He would have never let her live that one down.
“Well, then,” he said, another smile quickly reappearing on his lips, “I hope you like the museum as much as I do…”
James stopped in a shady area beneath a tree and gestured at the building in front of them. He gave Lily a chance to take in its appearance. It certainly didn’t stand out from any of the other shops around it. And it didn’t even look inviting from a customer’s perspective.
Lily shrugged at the broken-down wreck of a building and followed James into the museum.
“Medieval history,” James beamed at Lily. His eyes glowed with excitement in the dimly lit room.
Lily frowned slightly, hiding her doubtful thoughts from James. She noticed a hallway shaped like a tunnel in the back of the room. It had two, fake torches “ clearly lit by flashlights “ at the entrance to the tunnel. Maybe if James likes it, Lily began to move towards the tunnel in the wall, I might like it, too…
“Ay!”
Lily spun when she heard a voice from behind her. A small man crawled onto a stepstool behind the counter with a frown. He held a hand to his black mustache and frowned grumpily. “You can’t just go wandering in there “ you need to pay first!”
“Oh,” Lily panicked, feeling her throat go dry. “I didn’t mean to “ I was only - ”
James hurriedly came up behind Lily, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Hey, Bernie!” he said joyfully. “How are you?”
The short man was taken aback by the response. Seconds later, however, he recognized James’ trademark smile and messy hair and beamed. “James Potter!” he laughed. He stepped down from his stool and moved hastily around the counter to give James a proper greeting, as if he were an old friend.
Lily was surprised as the man “ Bernie, she had learned “ ran up to James and hugged him, barely reaching James’ shoulders.
“What have you been up to?” Bernie asked conversationally, crossing his arms over his large stomach with a grin.
“The usual,” James said. “School “ and the play, of course.”
“I was worried for awhile when I didn’t see you earlier this summer,” Bernie said. He now moved his hands to his waist and turned to Lily with a crooked smile. “And I see you’ve brought a friend with you, eh?” he laughed in a high-pitched cackle and nudged James in the stomach.
James smiled with a shake of his head at Lily and introduced her to Bernie. “This is Lily “ she’s the lead in the play.”
Bernie stepped forward and shook her hand. The man did not stay there for long; he immediately pulled his hand away from Lily’s and turned back to James. “So, what’s the play?” He leaned closer and lowered his voice. “Is it worth the money?”
Lily was surprised that this man would say that in front of Lily “ an actress in the play! Of course! Lily imagined herself saying back to the short man. All of my father’s plays are worth the money!
“Every cent,” James answered back, sounding one-hundred percent true to his word. “It focuses on a princess and a thief during the middle ages,” he answered, playing on Bernie’s passion of history. “And I planned a sword fight at the end, too,” James told him excitedly.
“No kidding,” Bernie grunted with a hint of a smile. Lily could tell that this man was already persuaded into attending the play, but trying very hard not to show his enthusiasm in front of the teenagers. “Sword fight? And, I’m assuming,” he pointed at Lily, “that you’ll be playing the lovely princess?”
“Uh “ yeah, that’s me,” Lily responded with a blush.
“Then I’ll do what I can to be there,” Bernie grinned. “Just drop by with the times of the play sometime later this month, alright?”
“Will do,” James smiled. He then handed Bernie the money he had shown Lily earlier. “We’re going to walk through for a while,” James pointed to the tunnel in the wall behind Bernie.
“Ah, your money’s no good here, James, you know that.” Bernie shook his head at the cash and refused to accept it.
James shrugged as if it were Bernie’s loss. He then stepped up to the counter that Bernie was, once again, standing behind, and leaned on it. “You still close at five?”
“Same time as always,” Bernie nodded, glancing at the sign in his window. However, once Bernie’s head turned, James casually dropped his money onto the counter just beside the cash register: a spot that the money may not be seen upon first glance, but was easily found during further investigation.
“Great, thanks!” James smiled contentedly. He quickly took Lily’s hand and pulled her hurriedly through the tunnel and into a large room that broke off into a jumble of small paths, each leading to a different exhibit.
Once they were out of earshot, James gave a small sigh of relief and released Lily’s hand. With the same hand, he ran his fingers nervously through his hair.
Lily turned to James with a smile. Just to be safe, however, she whispered, “I saw that.”
James didn’t have to ask what she was talking about. He just smiled. “The museum isn’t exactly a popular place,” he shrugged. “I usually come by and try to pay him every time, but he never takes the money. So, I just leave it somewhere, making him think that he dropped it accidentally and forgot to put it away.”
Lily smiled. She had never seen this side of James, and realized that she liked it much more than the James she knew at school. “That was nice,” she simply stated.
James stumbled over his words, trying to think of the best response. But when none came, he said the first thing that came to mind. “Hey, look “ there’s the start of the tour.”
Lily smirked.
James pulled Lily into a deserted room and started to talk about every object he saw, including pictures of houses all the way to outfits of the Middle Ages. Occasionally, Lily found herself asking James questions about certain items as if he were a tour guide at the museum. And at more than one point during her visit to the museum, Lily began to wonder if she could learn more from James than she ever would from Professor Binns.
She was completely immersed in everything that James was showing her. He had asked her a few times whether she was bored and wanted to leave, but Lily always responded truthfully, telling James she wanted to see more in the building.
But nearly two hours later, Lily was, much to James’ surprise, rather disappointed because she knew they would run out of exhibits to see. He had just led her down one of the furthermost paths: the last exhibit.
Upon entering the circular room, Lily gasped without realizing it. She was standing inside a dimly lit room with nothing but spotlights on the objects covering the walls.
“This,” James started, gesturing around at his surroundings, “would be the weapons room.”
Lily stumbled blindly forward, taking in every type of sword and armor that covered the walls. She noticed small plaques beneath each item, describing their history, but Lily knew that she would get far more information from James.
James pointed to a large sword hanging on the wall, beckoning Lily to walk over and join him. “This is where I got my inspiration for the props in the play.”
Lily shook her head at the sword incredulously. “Oh my “ James, that’s the sword you built! It’s an exact replica!”
James grinned proudly and reached out to touch it. Lily quickly put a hand to his wrist to stop him, horrified. “Wait - you may have been here twenty times,” she said in an urgent whisper, “but the sign still says ‘Don’t Touch’.”
With a sigh, James turned to face Lily. His eyes glinted mischievously. “We’re magical,” he whispered. “If anything happens to the sword, we could easily repair it in a split second “ you seem to forget that detail. Besides,” he added, “I do this all of the time.”
“Excuse me,” Lily mumbled with a hint of a smile, wishing no one in the other rooms could hear them, “but I was brought up to follow the rules.”
James turned to Lily and held out his hand. He took hers and shook it like he was introducing himself for the first time. “Hello, Miss Rules, we must not have met. I’m James “ the Marauder.”
Lily rolled her eyes, almost embarrassed that she had actually forgotten “ temporarily “ that James was a Marauder; after spending the past week with a completely different James, Lily was slowly beginning to forget what the James at Hogwarts would normally act like.
And she almost wished he wouldn’t change back.
Lily looked to her left and right to make sure she saw no one before allowing James to touch the sword.
“Alright, fine,” Lily said in a hiss, “but make it quick.”
James had already reached up and pulled the sword off of the wall and held it in his hands wistfully. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” James asked her, entranced by the sword. He slowly ran a finger down the blade of the sword.
“James “ just put it back before someone walks past!”
“Not until you hold it,” James said to her, holding the hilt of the sword out towards Lily.
Lily quickly shook her head, ignoring the red curls that hit the side of her face. “It’s one thing for you to get in trouble “ I don’t want to be caught with it in my hands!”
“I’m not putting it back,” James simply replied, leaning casually against a railing, “until you hold it.”
Lily looked over her shoulder multiple times before finally saying, “Alright, hand it over.”
“Don’t drop it,” James warned her.
“I’m not going to “ ” Lily stopped what she had been saying mid-sentence as she held the sword in her hands. For a moment, she had the horrible feeling that she was actually about to drop it, but quickly caught it, impressed by its weight.
“Thirty-five pounds,” James informed her, walking to Lily’s side. “It’s a pipe back blade. Nearly five feet long.” James shook his head with a smile as if recalling past memories of the sword. “These swords could go straight through armor.”
“Wow.” Lily realized that she was no longer just holding the sword. Her mind was instantly transported back through hundreds of years. She began moving around with the sword, carefully slicing the air. Just as she started to get used to it, James smirked.
“What is it?” Lily asked with a frown, cradling the sword once again. She started to blush.
“That,” James pointed toward Lily and the sword, “is what you should think of every time you pick up your prop at Bennett Theater.”
The reason James brought her here finally dawned on her. “You just wanted me to hold this sword,” she said with a smile, “didn’t you?”
“One of the reasons,” he shrugged.
“What other reason was there?” Lily asked curiously. She reluctantly gave up the sword when James started prying it from her fingers.
“Mostly,” James answered, hanging the sword back up on the wall in the exact spot he had found it, “I thought you would enjoy coming here much more than Sirius would have,” he smirked. “I just wanted company.”
Lily felt her face heat up and immediately blamed it on the summer weather. “Well, I’m glad you brought me. I had fun.”
“Hey,” James cut in with a raised eyebrow, “who said we were done?” He tugged her deeper into the room, showing her another display. “I wanted to show you one last thing.”
He pointed to another sword. “This,” he smiled, staring at it affectionately, “is a Claymore sword.”
Lily nodded, listening to every word James had to say.
“It’s four and a half feet in length from the hilt to the point.” He pointed to the handle. “The grip is a spiral handle, made entirely of redwood.” James slowly lifted the thin sword off of the wall and held it out, flat in his hand, for Lily to see. He pointed to the bar separating the handle from the blade. “And this, right here, is solid gold.”
Lily nodded and leaned closer to the sword. She noticed many small carvings on the blade of the sword. “It’s “ beautiful,” she whispered.
“It’s my favorite thing here,” James explained with a smile. “The first time I visited, I didn’t really think the museum was all that spectacular “ until I saw this sword.” James bowed his head. “I just wish,” he continued, turning the sword in his hand as he tried to take in as many details as he could, “that I could have seen this sword in action back in its day.” He smiled. “And “ I think that’s what made me actually curious about the Middle Ages. Something about it made me just “ stop and think. And, as a kid,” he looked up at Lily, “I really just needed to slow down for a minute.” James swallowed, frowning a bit. He was having trouble finding the right words. “You know?”
Lily was in awe. She had never, in a thousand years, thought James would have a passion for anything other than Quidditch! Sure, he loved working on the set at Bennett Theater, but this was something more than that. She was finally seeing a new side to the famous James Potter, and she didn’t mind. Not one bit…
Lily was about to respond to his comment when she heard voices behind them.
“Quick “ put it back!”
James hurriedly replaced the sword in its original location, but not without accidentally knocking it into the armor beside it with a loud clang.
Both knew that the sword and the armor would not be damaged by such a small hit, but they also knew that the noise it made was loud enough for people to try and find out what had caused it.
“Come on “ out the back,” James said in a hurried whisper. He grabbed Lily’s hand and pulled her further into the room until they reached a door that Lily had not seen before. A large sign above the door cheerily read, “Come Back Soon!”
“Hey “ get back here!” An employee at the museum had appeared in the room and was starting to chase them towards the exit.
Without a look back, James pushed Lily through the exit and they fell into a small alley leading to the street. Lily had already started to sprint towards the street, but stopped short at the touch of something on her wrist. She spun just in time to find James, slamming the door closed. In a matter of seconds, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close, pressing her up against his chest.
Lily closed her eyes as hard as she could. For a split second, she was very confused, trying to figure out why James wouldn’t let her run away from the museum “ didn’t he know they would get in trouble if they were caught?
Before she had time to panic, however, Lily opened her eyes to find that she and James were perfectly safe in another location. Lily slowly looked around and saw that she was still surrounded by stores “ but there were no Muggles around any longer. She also noticed, rather quickly, that her hand had fallen onto James’ shoulder and her fingernails were digging into his skin.
“Uh “ Lily?” James cringed. “That’s my bad arm.”
“Oh “ right,” Lily muttered as she remembered the wound reaching from his shoulder to his waist. She immediately drew back her hand from his shoulder and moved more than a comfortable distance away, causing James’ hand around her waist to drop off.
Lily glanced around at her surroundings once more, getting a better look. “So “ why did you apparate into Diagon Alley?”
James wrung his hands together, almost like he had been caught red-handed. “I, uh “ I forgot to ask you earlier,” he stammered. Finally, James confessed. “Sirius asked me this week if I would be able to meet up with him sometime today,” James said quickly. “And I said yes.” James quickly continued before Lily could say anything. “But he’s really not that bad once you get to know him “ and he can act normal most of the time, too!”
Lily laughed.
“Really, he won’t bite “ er “ not usually, at least,” he said with a smile. “But would it be alright if we were able to just… I don’t know, sit and talk with him for awhile?” James shrugged. “I mean “ you can apparate home if you want to, I guess… but I’m sure Sirius would love the extra company.”
“I don’t mind staying,” Lily smiled, almost looking forward to their meeting. “But why are you so worried that I would say no?”
“Well,” James anxiously ran a hand through his hair, “I just assumed that you hated him as much as you hated me.”
Lily was taken aback by these words. She almost found herself cringing as he said it, because it had been true only a week ago. Unsure of how to respond, Lily finally muttered, “Don’t worry “ it’ll be fun,” in a soft voice.
“Great,” James beamed. He started walking down the road towards Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream shop.
“So,” Lily tried to ease the tension in the air that had not been there five minutes earlier, “why is this the only time you can see Sirius?”
James scratched his head and shrugged. “You know, I’m not really sure. Something about his uncle is all he told me.”
Lily nodded, accepting the answer. However, before she could continue the conversation, she spotted Sirius lounging in a chair just outside of Florean Fortescue’s, grinning at the pair.
“Hey, Prongs!” Sirius shouted, standing up. “Lily!” He ran over and threw an arm around Lily and James, embracing both of them in a great bear hug. “What have you two been up to? This play of yours is running smoothly, I assume. And did you end up going to that museum you talked about in your last letter?”
“Whoa, mate,” James laughed, “slow it down. Let’s try one question at a time, shall we?”
The group of three ordered their ice cream “ James paid for Lily’s bill despite her protests that she had enough to pay for half of her order “ and sat at the table Sirius had reserved earlier.
“So?” Sirius asked. “How was the museum?”
“Same as every other time,” James answered with a smile.
“Ah…” Sirius nodded solemnly, holding a spoon filled with ice cream to his lips as if he were deeply intrigued by James’ comment. “Boring?”
James laughed and playfully slugged his friend on the shoulder. Sirius returned the gesture and James cringed.
“Oh, please,” Sirius rolled his eyes. “I didn’t even hit you that hard.”
“No “ it’s not you,” James said. He shot a glance at Lily and then back at Sirius. “You see, the other day I ran into a, uh “ a dragon.” James shook his head as if remembering the accident. “Just barely got away, I tell you. But I got this scar right here,” James drew a line across his chest. “It’s been weeks since I’ve even been able to walk.”
Sirius stopped moving with a scoop of ice cream half way to his mouth and raised an eyebrow. Finally, he put the bite into his mouth and dropped the spoon into the empty bowl. He swallowed. “James, if you really want to try telling some sort of a heroic story, you might want to try it on your fan club rather than on your own best friend.”
Lily started to laugh at Sirius’ words. She had known all along that James’ stories about his scar would never hold up. “He slipped and fell,” Lily explained, telling Sirius what had really happened. “He dropped a large set piece. Last Monday.”
“Ah, now that story makes a lot more sense “ thank you, Lily.”
James smiled as they started to tease him about his knack for getting into accidents. It wasn’t until they started calculating how many times he had been sent to the Hospital Wing during his years at Hogwarts that James finally spoke up and changed the topic of conversation.
“Lily was wondering,” he started, “what exactly are you doing with your uncle, Sirius?”
At first, Lily started to blush, embarrassed that James had brought up her question to Sirius; what if it was a touchy subject for him? She didn’t want to get blamed for upsetting Sirius “ it wasn’t her idea to ask Sirius about his personal life!
But her thoughts calmed themselves once she noticed Sirius didn’t look in the least bit troubled by this question.
Sirius sat up in his chair with a discreet nod of his head. “Well,” he looked at Lily, “it all started back when I was a wee lad, barely a day “ ”
“Can we get the abbreviated version?” James smirked.
Sirius made a show of rolling his eyes at James. “Fine,” he grumbled. Putting on a serious face, he turned back to Lily. “Last summer I got into an argument with my family about our, uh “ our background,” Sirius muttered. He held a hand out toward Lily, waiting for her nod of understanding.
She did. Nearly everyone at school had heard about Sirius’ “background.” He was a descendant of Salazar Slytherin, one of the longest living pureblood family, and a well-known dark arts family. As a child, Sirius had been rebellious and disagreed with his family’s practice of dark magic and was sorted into the Gryffindor House at Hogwarts instead of Slytherin. Instantly, his family turned on Sirius and favored their younger son, Regulus, over Sirius.
“We must’ve fought for a week straight after I returned from school.” Sirius shook his head, recalling the memory. “Finally, I just lost it and ended up running off. And, you know, I just stayed at James’ house for the summer,” Sirius continued.
The Curtain Call
Chapter Six: An Overactive Imagination
The following Friday, two weeks before the final performance, James had finished the majority of the set midway through the rehearsal. After moving every prop “ without any accidents “ onto the stage, James joined Mr. Evans in the front row of the theater.
“How’s it going?” James asked as he plopped into a red chair beside Mr. Evans, greeting Lily’s father like a friend instead of an adult.
Lily and Peter were holding hands onstage, speaking their dialogue with enthusiasm.
“Eh…” Mr. Evans shrugged, drumming his fingers on his notebook. He leaned over in his chair and rested his head on his hand. After Lily and Peter finished the scene, Mr. Evans snapped his notebook closed and dropped it onto the ground. “Alright “ I want you both to go back and do that bit one more time, but Peter “ you really need to feel the emotion this time. Alright?”
“Yeah,” Peter muttered, scratching his head. He returned back to his original spot next to Lily and grumbled about redoing the scene again.
“And “ begin.”
“I can’t keep you here any longer,” Peter said in a loud voice so that the entire room could hear him. “You mean too much to me, Adelaide.”
Lily shook her head. “I don’t understand, Eddie. Why are you letting me walk away? Don’t you want your ransom money?”
“Because I love you!” he shouted in Lily’s face. “I love you, Adelaide!”
Peter stepped away from Lily and looked out into the audience. He stammered through his next few lines, trying to remember the words he didn’t seem to have fully memorized. “Ever since I laid eyes on you, I haven’t been able to take them away.” His brow furrowed together for a moment before recalling his next words. “And these past few weeks have been like heaven “ but I can’t stand to see your family suffer without you any longer.” Peter returned to Lily and picked up her hands. “Do you understand now? I got attached, and if I wait any longer for ransom money, I’ll never be able to let you go. I love you!” he shouted again and then kissed Lily.
James shuddered at Peter’s “emotional” acting.
Mr. Evans groaned into his hands. He threw James an exhausted look, appearing very disappointed that after weeks and weeks of practice, Peter still did not have an understanding of the scene.
“Hey “ James.”
James tore his eyes away from the stage to find Jimmy, kneeling on one knee beside him, trying to whisper soft enough not to distract Mr. Evans. The boy started to run a hand covered in dried blue paint through his curly hair, biting his lower lip.
“What is it?” James asked sharply, sounding slightly irritated at the interruption. He had been focusing entirely on the performance and had been startled by the intrusion.
“One of the sets,” Jimmy said in his soft, Irish accent. He started to stand and point in the opposite direction of the room. “I don’t think it - ”
“Can it wait a bit?” James asked very impatiently. “I was trying to watch this for just a minute.”
Jimmy started to open his mouth to respond, but Mr. Evans’ loud voice cut him off. Instead, he just stood beside James and watched the scene before him with his arms crossed over his chest, waiting until James was ready to speak again.
“Peter,” Mr. Evans called, loud enough for the actor to hear him clearly. He slowly stood up and approached the stage. “Princess Adelaide is your true love,” Mr. Evans explained to him. “She’s “ your love.” He scratched his head, unable to put it simpler. “She has transformed your character into a new man “ a better man.”
Peter slowly nodded. “Ok,” he shrugged.
Mr. Evans held up both hands in question. “Do you understand what I’m trying to get at here?” he asked, wishing that he had finally gotten through to the boy.
Peter started to nod again in response, and then slowly shook his head.
“Imagine,” a new voice piped up from the dark audience, “you win the lottery.”
Lily squinted into the darkness and was surprised to find James, now standing just behind her father. Jimmy stood in the background, jaw dropped and speechless to find James speaking like a director would. “Imagine what you could do with the amount of money you win in a lottery.”
Peter’s lips curled into a smile.
“A girl comes along - ” James pointed to Lily “ - and she’s being held hostage.” James looked back at Peter and gestured back and forth between him and Lily. “You have to give up every cent of your lottery money to get this girl back.” James continued moving closer to the stage, very slowly. He was now standing just beside Mr. Evans.
“And you know what?” James whispered. “You do it.”
Peter’s jaw dropped and his eyebrows shot up into his forehead. “Why?” he asked, mystified at the idea of anyone ever wanting to give up so much money.
“Because you love her,” James pointed a finger at Lily, “more than any amount of money in the world!”
Peter shook his head. “But why would you want to give up that much money?” he nearly shouted, sounding like he was about to laugh. “What an absurd idea…”
“Look,” James threw his hands up into the air, “it may not have been exactly that way in this play, but it’s along the same lines, isn’t it?” James finally approached the stage and leaned up against it, speaking directly to Peter. “Your character hardly has any items of value “ he’s only a thief! Yet he’s willing to let a princess walk free because he loves her more than any amount of money she would be worth.” James backed up with a casual shrug, speaking just as loudly as before. “You’re head over heels for this girl and you would do anything for her.” James suddenly lowered his voice to a whisper, causing everyone to lean in to hear him.
“Show it.”
Lily felt her own jaw drop, feeling like she was unable to hold it up after the shock she had just received. James’ words had her floored; never had she dreamed she would live to see the day that James turned into a romantic. No wonder all of those girls at school adored him…
“A-alright,” Mr. Evans spoke suddenly, clearing his throat. The actors onstage “ and offstage “ broke out of their trance, shaking themselves awake again. Mr. Evans turned away from James and looked at Lily and Peter onstage with a smile. “Let’s try it again, shall we?”
Peter and Lily returned to their original spots onstage and started the scene over.
“Great speech, by the way,” Mr. Evans complemented James, beaming. “I think we were all moved.”
James smiled and looked up at the characters onstage.
Within seconds, however, James was shaking his head in disapproval and muttering, “No, that’s not it…”
“Was that better?” Peter called out into the audience at the end of his scene. He stuck his hands into his pockets and started to slouch, looking bored.
Mr. Evans nodded slightly with a forced smile. “It improved,” he finally said.
It had improved, James agreed with that statement. But this was the moment of the play when the audience was supposed to be swept up in the story “ unable to think of anything but the story!
James turned around and, sure enough, two rows of teenage girls, that had nothing to do but wait for their scene, were patiently sitting behind Mr. Evans in the red chairs. While watching the latest romantic scene between the princess and the thief, James hadn’t heard a single one of them sigh or lean over to whisper and giggle to their friends when the actors onstage had kissed.
And that was not what should have happened.
Jimmy started drumming his hands on his legs, nervously. Finally, he stepped towards James and tried to get his attention once more. “James “ I really think you need to - ”
James calmly held a hand up to Jimmy, stopping him midsentence. James was too busy trying to think, weighing options in his mind. He swallowed and opened his mouth very slowly. For a moment, Jimmy thought that James was about to answer him, but instead, he turned to his other side.
“Uh “ Mr. Evans?”
The weary man ran a hand through his thin hair and turned to James. “Yes?”
“May I?” James pointed up at the stage.
“Well, I “ uh, yes, I suppose…” Mr. Evans stammered, unsure of what James’ plan was.
The room watched in a curious silence as James walked directly to the stairs leading to the stage, skipping two at a time.
James walked to the center of the stage and was instantly blinded by the lights from above. He impulsively held a hand up to shield the beams, but was soon comfortable and brought his arm down.
He turned to look at Peter. All James had to do was nod, and Peter knew that he had to leave the stage and wait in the audience. And, without any complaint, Peter did as he was told.
The two rows of girls in the red chairs started to whisper frantically as they realized that James was replacing Peter in the scene. None of the actors in the play “ with the exception of Lily “ had ever seen James act before, and were extremely curious to see what he could do. As extra cast members behind the curtains heard the buzz in the audience, they, too, appeared quickly to see what was happening, creating an even larger audience than before.
James turned to Lily and stepped toward her.
“What are you doing?” Lily whispered frantically to James. Her face burned, but not from the heat of the lights shining brilliantly on her already warm face. She could have sworn her heart was about to burst from her chest it was thudding so rapidly. What James was doing was not normal. He couldn’t possibly be doing what she thought he was about to do…
“Peter isn’t doing it right,” he whispered back to her, maintaining a gentle calmness to his voice that Lily had not mastered. “He needs to see an example.”
Lily swallowed.
“Look, don’t worry,” James took her hands in his and calmed her. “Just pretend we’re practicing like we do every day after rehearsal.” He bent his knees slightly and cocked his head to the side, trying to look closer into Lily’s eyes. He noticed a troubled look flit across her face. “Are you alright?”
Lily nodded hesitantly, swallowing. She couldn’t explain her nerves. It wasn’t as if she wasn’t comfortable acting with James. After all, she had been running lines with him after every rehearsal for two weeks, now, and they had been getting along as if they had been friends for years. They were no longer stepping on egg shells around each other. They could have a serious conversation one minute and then poke fun at each other the next, but they always managed to remain comfortable around each other.
But now…
“I guess I’m just not used to having an audience.”
“You’ve had one the whole time,” James told her calmly, “you just never knew they were there.”
Lily nodded again and looked out at her father, waiting for a command to begin. But it was James who took control.
“Alright,” he spoke in a louder voice so the entire room could hear, “I’ll start.”
James turned to Lily and squeezed her hands. The room grew quiet and James stepped closer to Lily. “Ready?” he whispered.
It’s been two weeks “ I almost have everything memorized! So why am I so nervous about doing this one scene?
Lily made a strangled noise, hoping James took that answer as a yes.
He began.
“I can’t keep you here any longer,” he recited in a firm, but gentle voice. No one in the audience made a movement. James paused and opened his mouth like he was about to say something. Finally, he dropped Lily’s hands and stepped backwards. He held a hand up to his hair and shook his head, looking as if he had been defeated. “You mean too much to me, Adelaide.”
Lily stepped forward towards James. “I don’t understand, Eddie,” she stammered, acting thoroughly confused. She picked up her hand and gently touched James on the shoulder, but he recoiled from her touch and moved further away, trying to distance himself. “Why are you letting me walk away?” Lily’s voice rose with every word. “Don’t you want your ransom money?”
“Because I love you!” James shouted, sounding as if he had been harboring this secret for years, and it was finally coming out into the open. He slowly turned back towards Lily, anxious to see her reaction.
His voice had reverberated off of the walls, sending chills down everyone’s spine, including Lily’s. He took one step toward her, his eyes sparkling radiantly in the stage lights. “I love you, Adelaide,” he spoke much more gently. And then, as if he was confused, James spun away from her watery eyes and walked towards the edge of the stage, looking out into the audience. His hands were held at his sides, but they were clenched into fists as if he were in way over his head. “Ever since I laid eyes on you,” he whispered, looking down at the floor, “I haven’t been able to take them away.”
James turned back to Lily; she was still standing in the center of the stage, speechless and unmoving. Her legs started to tremble beneath her and her short breaths caught in her chest.
“And these past few weeks have been like heaven,” James whispered urgently, as if it were the last thing he would ever say to her, “but I can’t stand to see your family suffer without you any longer.” He ran back to Lily and scooped up her hands, lacing his fingers through hers. “Do you understand now?” he cried desperately, the evidence of tears coating his voice. “I got attached and if “ if I wait any longer for ransom money, I’ll never be able to let you go.” He pulled his hands away and threaded one through her auburn hair, cascading past her shoulders and down to the middle of her back, while the other gently cradled her cheek. Lily gasped at the touch of his pleasantly warm fingers; it had not been what she was expecting.
James took one step in, towards Lily, and pressed his head up against her forehead. He smiled discreetly as if he were sharing a private secret with her.
“I love you.”
Lily’s eyes closed. She moved closer.
“And then,” James spoke loudly, abruptly pulling his hands from Lily’s face and stepping several paces away to face the audience, “you kiss her.”
The crowd of people gathered in front of the stage started to clap enthusiastically, every single one of them on their feet.
Lily’s eyes quickly fluttered open in surprise and reality caught up with her. She had never seen a more beautiful performance, even during their private rehearsals. Her legs had gone weak and her body felt like it was about to collapse from the intense emotion that she was now feeling; she felt the strong urge to let herself sit for a moment and catch her breath, but fought against it.
In fact, Lily had been so moved by James’ performance, she had almost believed that he was talking about her personally “ that he actually loved her.
Almost.
James smiled, a little embarrassed by the attention that he was receiving. The original crowd had easily doubled since he had started the scene.
“Hey, great job,” James turned back to Lily. He gave her a nudge on the arm and spoke in a quiet tone. “I thought that was by far the best that you’ve done,” he smiled kindly. “It looks like that practice has really paid off.” He grinned.
“Yeah “ yeah, you too,” Lily nodded with a smile, trying to steady her pulse. “You weren’t too bad yourself.” She quickly turned towards the back of the stage where she knew James could see nothing but her back and dropped the smile. She closed her eyes, trying her best to refocus her thoughts.
“That “ was “ amazing!” Peter shouted to James once he ran onstage. He slapped James several times on the back with a great amount of enthusiasm. “Why haven’t you ever tried out for the play before? You would’ve been fantastic!”
“I wasn’t interested,” James shrugged. He slowly backed away from the crowd forming on the stage. He hadn’t done this to get attention “ he had only wanted to show Peter an example!
“It was breathtaking,” Jess cut into the conversation. She slipped in front of Peter, now standing directly in front of James. She smiled seductively, batting her eyelashes. “I was moved,” Jess whispered, leaning close to his ear and trying to snag James’ hand amongst the confusion onstage.
“Well “ thanks,” James said loudly, pushing away from Jess. He pulled his hand back and tried pushing through the crowd towards the exit, while explaining, “I don’t normally like to act “ my place is backstage.”
“Nah!” Peter shouted, finding his way next to James once more. “You deserve to be front and center in the spotlight!”
James shook his head rapidly, made a beeline toward the front of the stage, and leaped off, landing upright on his feet. He escaped the crowd for only a moment, nearly barreling down Mr. Evans in his rush to avoid the group. He wished he could hide himself behind the tall, thin man.
“Alright, alright,” Mr. Evans waved his hands, sensing James’ discomfort with the brewing situation. “Let’s just keep moving, shall we? Peter, we are going to come back to this scene later, so be ready “ remember James’ example.”
James was grateful that Mr. Evans had been able to stop the large mob from hunting him down. He wouldn’t have escaped any other way. But before James could leave, the man stopped him.
“You know,” Mr. Evans leaned over after the actors had resumed their scenes, “that really was one hell of a performance you had up there.”
James’ eyes darted back to Mr. Evans. The man just swore. Never in his life had he heard Lily’s father swear! Of course, all he had said was “hell” “ but that was major for Mr. Evans!
He took this as a compliment.
“Well “ thank you, sir,” James smiled.
Mr. Evans sat down in his chair with a smirk on his face. “You could be a great director someday.”
James grinned.
*
“Well, that, certainly, was unexpected…”
James punched Jimmy in the shoulder, rolling his eyes. They were making their way to the back of the stage, headed towards the prop room. “I was just trying to show Peter what to do,” James whispered, keeping his voice down while others onstage continued rehearsing the show.
“That’s right,” Jimmy muttered, smiling to no one in particular. “The fact that it was Lily Evans you were with made no difference in the situation, I’m sure.”
“Well,” James stammered, his ears going pink, “she and I have been practicing every night after each rehearsal,” he explained. “It was certainly much easier to just show Peter what to do rather than trying to get it through his thick skull “ trust me.”
Jimmy’s voice switched from a whisper to his normal voice once they were out of earshot. His eyes danced with amusement. “Do I detect a hint of jealousy towards Peter?”
“Oh, come off it…”
Jimmy did not hide his laugh.
The boy stepped into the brightly lit, set room, heading towards their primary reason for wandering around backstage in the first place.
“So, what is it “ what’s so important that you just had to talk to me?” James asked, trying, rather unsuccessfully, to hide his irritation from being bothered earlier.
“It’s the backdrop,” Jimmy said in a softer, much more fearful voice than before, as if everything had come flooding back to him. He put aside his jokes and grew serious. “I “ I think we have to start over.”
James could have sworn his eyes were about to pop out. The entire crew had been working collectively on the backdrop of the play for nearly a month, now, trying to add as much detail to it as possible. James knew that he could have easily used magic to fix anything that had happened to the backdrop, but not without raising a great suspicion after Jimmy “ a Muggle “ had already seen the damage done to it.
“What happened to it?” James spoke in a surprisingly calm voice, silently weighing his odds at using a successful memory charm on Jimmy.
“I was just working on it, see?” Jimmy started in a small voice, holding his hands out with a shrug as they entered the room. James, again, noticed the boy’s blue hands that he had seen “ and had ignored “ earlier. Now, however, James was starting to worry that Jimmy’s hands had something to do with the accident that had just occurred.
“I was painting up there,” Jimmy pointed to the top of the ladder, set up in the corner of the room. The tarp was hanging just beside it, nearly complete. “I went to dip the brush in the paint can, and it just “ fell.”
James saw, in horror, the can of blue paint lying on its side on the floor; he could only imagine what the backdrop looked like from up close.
He wasted no time running to the opposite end of the room, anticipating the accident he would meet. He stepped through some drying paint on the floor, nearly slipping and falling in the puddle of blue, but James expertly slid into place, just in front of the tarp.
He paused, frowning.
“Jimmy “ what are you talking about?”
Jimmy blinked. He was still standing at the door, almost too nervous to approach James. “What do you mean?” he asked in response to James’ question.
“There’s nothing here,” James breathed, looking very relieved. “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the tarp.”
Jimmy did not believe him. He walked swiftly to James’ side of the room, skidding to a halt in front of the tarp.
He gasped.
“But “ there was paint “ all over it!” Jimmy could not believe what he was seeing. The canvas looked normal! Nothing had happened to it!
“Maybe you just over exaggerated everything in your mind,” James shrugged. “I think it looks fine, Jimmy. You probably just thought you saw paint on the backdrop, but,” he pointed to the mess at their feet, “it only fell on the floor.”
Jimmy scratched at his head, hiding his confused face. He could have sworn he saw paint splatter the tarp!
“Yeah, I guess,” Jimmy muttered. “I might have just made it up.”
James thumped his friend on the back with a smile and started to walk away. Once he was a safe distance from the mess on the floor that Jimmy had created, he pulled off his shoes and took them outside to clean the blue paint off of them. “Just don’t scare me next time, alright?”
“Uh “ yeah,” Jimmy stammered, staring fixedly at the backdrop.
And then he, too, backed away from the suspicious looking tarp and pulled off his blue shoes, casting one final glance over his shoulder at the strange canvas.
*
“Good work!” Mr. Evans shouted to the group. “Now, remember “ James is going to teach everyone the dance sequence next week, so be ready and bring your dancing shoes!” Mr. Evans laughed at his words. “I’ll see you next Monday “ have a good weekend!”
The crowd dispersed and Mr. Evans sought out his daughter, finding her just offstage, putting her sword away. “Hey, sweetheart,” he smiled and hugged her. He gave her a kiss on the forehead. “You have fun with James, alright?”
Lily backed away from her father and raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?” she asked. Lily had never told her father that she stayed after play practice to run her lines with James. And, as far as she knew, James had never mentioned anything to her father, either. “What are you talking about, dad?”
“Oh, you just have fun,” Mr. Evans winked at her. “I’ve got an appointment to get our television fixed this afternoon; I need to get going or I’ll be late!” He waved hurriedly and jetted out of the theater.
Lily was puzzled. Nothing seemed to make sense. And then, slowly, with a suspicious smile, she turned towards the room offstage and walked towards it. What did James tell my father that he didn’t tell me?
Before her foot had even left the ground, a small girl, possibly twelve, ran over to Lily and cut in front of her. She started to hop in one spot, her ponytail bouncing up and down.
“Oh my gosh,” she grinned, looking straight up at Lily with wide, watery, blue eyes, “that was so good!”
Lily blinked several times, unsure of what the girl was talking about.
“I saw you and James Potter!” she squealed. “That scene was fabulous!”
“Oh,” Lily blushed, looking down at her feet. “Thank you.”
“And between you and me,” the girl leaned closer to Lily, standing on her tiptoes, “I think that James should be on the stage instead of Peter any day.”
Lily took a step away from the excited girl, feeling much too close for comfort. “I’ll be sure to pass that information along to James,” she smiled. “He would be happy to hear it.” Lily tried to step around the girl but she cut her off again.
“Especially with you,” she beamed. “There was some sort of chemistry between you and James. It was almost like you actually were in love!”
And then suddenly, the girl reached out and clutched Lily’s wrists in a death grip. “Oh my gosh,” she lowered her voice in a frantic whisper. “You are, aren’t you?”
“I am…” Lily trailed off, trying to figure out what the girl was jabbering on about. The girl’s previous words finally came back to Lily and she froze. She shook her head slowly at first and then rapidly. “No,” she corrected the girl. “We’re “ James and I, we’re not “ we’re not in love.”
“Yes, yes you are!” the girl nodded her head eagerly. “I can see it in your eyes! But don’t worry,” she whispered, making a show of zipping her lips, “I’ll keep it a secret. I promise.”
Lily shook her head again. “It’s called good acting,” she informed the girl, and quickly passed her before she could stop Lily again.
James must be better than I thought he was to get that sort of a compliment, Lily thought to herself, stuffing the girl’s accusations in the back of her mind.
A second girl walked past Lily, making a face and slamming her shoulder into Lily’s. It didn’t take a genius to realize that this girl was none other than Jess Marzoli. Without showing any sign of pain, Lily resolved to bite down hard on her lip, controlling her anger.
She stared hard at the girl following Jess; it was Rosie.
Before Lily had a chance to scowl at Rosie, the blonde-haired girl leaned over and whispered softly, “Nice scene today, Lily.”
The surprise of this statement held Lily in her place for several seconds. By the time she had processed what Rosie had said to her, the two girls had already stepped off of the stage and were now proceeding through the theater aisles.
Lily turned and spotted Rosie, obediently following Jess and acting as if nothing had happened. And Lily knew that if she were ever to approach Rosie in front of Jess, Rosie would never admit to having said anything to Lily.
But Lily smiled all the same.
“Hey, Lily,” Jimmy’s voice reached her ears. He was carrying a wooden set piece that resembled a green shrub.
“How are you doing today, Jimmy?” Lily asked, genuinely curious. For the past week, Jimmy had been the only person in the cast “ besides James “ that spoke to her as a genuine friend.
“Oh, I’m “ fine, I guess,” Jimmy tried to shrug, shifting the large object in his arms from side to side. “This is just “ a little heavy,” he gasped, dropping the set piece to the floor a bit harder than expected.
“No…” Jimmy moaned as he fell to his knees, studying the damage he had inflicted on the fake shrub. “I just fixed it “ please don’t be broken again…” He looked at the corner of the wooden block that had splintered, leaving a rough edge. “Oh, damn.”
Lily’s green eyes flashed. “Jimmy,” she scolded the young boy. “You aren’t old enough to be swearing!”
Jimmy tore his eyes away from the damaged set and stood up, staring at Lily. “Why not?” he asked innocently, blinking. “James does it all the time.”
Lily sucked in a breath and held her hands on her hips. “Well, he shouldn’t, particularly when younger children are around.”
“I don’t mind,” Jimmy crossed his arms. It was clear he did not intend on backing down anytime soon.
“James is six years older than you, Jimmy!” Her eyes found the room that James was sure to be in, and she narrowed her eyes, intending on visiting there next. “James should know better than to swear in front of an impressionable eleven-year-old, and you should know better than to listen to him!”
Jimmy looked offended. “First of all, I am not impressionable. And, for your information,” he added with a sense of pride is his voice, “I’ll be twelve in two months!”
“That won’t change anything,” Lily held up a finger. “He should “ ”
“Oh, give it up,” Jimmy rolled his eyes. “I won’t change “ and you know James won’t change either. So what’s the point in arguing about it?”
Lily dropped her finger in defeat. Jimmy was right, after all. The boys wouldn’t change their ways, no matter how hard she tried to convince them.
“Fine,” Lily mumbled, tossing her hair over her shoulder and trying to hold her head high. “Be that way.”
Jimmy smirked. “I’m glad that you see my point of view.”
Lily huffed, blowing an auburn lock of hair out of her face.
“Now if you’ll excuse me,” Jimmy started, turning around, “I’ve got to take this back to the - ”
Lily frowned at the sudden stop. “What is it?”
Jimmy spun around in a circle, looking panicked. “I put that bush “ right here “ didn’t I?” Jimmy glanced at Lily, trying to figure out what had happened to the set piece he put down just behind him.
Lily scanned the stage. It was nowhere in sight.
“I dropped it,” Jimmy muttered to himself, retracing his steps. “I turned around to talk to you.” He spun to face Lily again. “And then I was going to take it back to the set room.” Jimmy turned to look at the room offstage and gasped, finding the same, broken shrub sitting at the door to the set room, waiting to be taken inside.
“How on earth…”
“Did someone pick that up when I wasn’t looking?” Lily asked curiously.
Jimmy’s wide eyes reflected her confusion. “They must have…” He started to drift into a thoughtful silence, but quickly recovered.
“I need a break,” Jimmy finally decided. “I’ve been working in this heat for far too long “ it’s starting to affect me.” The boy turned to face Lily. “Tell James I left, alright?” Jimmy nodded with a small wave in Lily’s direction. “I’ll see you on Monday.”
Lily waved back, slightly surprised by his sudden departure. She shook herself and returned back to the task at hand.
She approached the back room. It looked empty without any of the set pieces to clutter it up. In the middle of the room, she found James bent over a large duffle bag. He hoisted it up, over his shoulder, and turned, surprised to find that Lily was waiting for him.
She stood silently in the doorway, leaning gracefully on the doorframe with her arms and legs crossed and a suspicious look on her face.
“Maybe you could tell me,” Lily started, entering the room, “why my father told me to have fun this afternoon?” James made a big show of stuffing his hands in his pockets, like he was thinking very hard on her question, and started to look at everything in the room but Lily. “With you?” Lily emphasized.
“Gee,” he said with wide eyes and an innocent voice, “I have no idea what your dad is talking about.”
Lily rolled her eyes and stepped away from the doorframe and into the room. While Lily had been talking to him, James had dropped the bag back on the floor.
“What’s in the bag?” she asked.
“Nothing.”
Lily raised an eyebrow at James. Unfolding her arms, she reached for the duffle bag and tried to unzip it. James, instead, lunged for the bag and sat on it, blocking her path.
“Tell me what’s in it,” Lily demanded with bright eyes.
James firmly shook his head, sticking his nose in the air. “It’s a surprise.”
Lily felt a smile cross her face. It’s always a surprise with him… “It is, is it?” As fast as she could, Lily tried to knock James off of the bag, hitting him in the stomach when he had his guard down, so she could peek inside of it for herself.
For several minutes, Lily and James laughed as they playfully wrestled around with each other on the floor.
“I will see what’s in there,” Lily told James with a giggle as he tried to grab her hands and hold them behind her back.
“Not now, you’re not,” he grinned as she managed to weasel her way out of his tight grip. She spun around, trying to pull away, but James grabbed her waist and pulled her right back towards him.
Lily heard a high-pitched giggle.
She put both of her hands on James’ shoulders to stop him, and looked towards the door with wide eyes, as if she had been caught doing something she shouldn’t have been doing. Her eyes grew wide at the sight of the visitor and she couldn’t help but smile to herself.
“Uh…” James’ hands did not move from Lily’s waist. He looked back and forth between a smiling Lily and the short girl, bubbling with laughter in the doorway. Finally, he asked, “Is she a friend of yours?”
The girl was grinning from ear to ear. She waved quickly at Lily and then held a finger up to her lips. She moved her hand from one side to the other as if she were zipping her lips, and then giggled again.
Lily laughed. She let her head fall weakly onto James’ shoulder and gave the girl a thumbs up sign. It was no use trying to correct the girl. She had, of course, come at the worst possible time. Lily tried to imagine it from the young girl’s perspective. Lily and James were laughing, inches away from each other. And she knew that James’ hands on her waist only helped, if anything, to persuade this girl that Lily and James were more than friends.
“Who was that?” James asked, very confused at the silent communication between the girls. Lily was laughing softly into his shoulder. He couldn’t help but smile at Lily’s contagious laugh.
“This girl,” Lily pointed to the now-empty doorway after she managed to control her laughs.
“I thought that much was obvious,” James smirked as Lily raised her head from his shoulder.
“She came up to me less than five minutes ago,” Lily continued explaining with a sigh. She lowered her voice. “She thinks we’re in love because of that scene earlier “ can you believe it? I told her it was acting…”
James nodded slowly and then laughed. “Yeah, that’s “ that’s funny,” he smiled weakly.
“I know, isn’t it?” Lily laughed loudly. “She kept saying that she wouldn’t tell anyone that I liked you and she would keep it a surprise. Hence,” Lily motioned again towards the door, “the signals back and forth.”
James nodded, understanding now. “So, we have a following, now?” he asked with a smile. He dropped his hands from Lily’s waist and backed away, creating a significant amount of space between the two of them.
“I wouldn’t say that we do,” Lily shrugged. “More like you do.” She shook her head, looking very amused. “You’re as popular with the ladies in the Muggle world as you are in the Wizarding world, James,” she said softly, not wanting anyone to overhear her words.
“Well, what can I say?” James winked playfully. “I’ve got the charm. Not everyone can be blessed like I am,” he smirked.
Lily jabbed him in the side with her elbow and laughed.
“Hey!” James protested. “Do you not remember my injury?”
“Oh, please,” Lily rolled her eyes. “It’s been weeks “ I think it’s healed.”
James opened his mouth, as if he was about to retort, but couldn’t find the words to say. Finally, he closed his mouth and decided it was better to stay silent rather than use any sort of comeback he could think of at the moment.
“So, when are you going to tell me what’s in this bag?” Lily pointed at the lump of a duffle bag. She nudged it with the tip of her toe, but didn’t open it.
“Let’s see…” James looked carefully at his watch. “About twenty minutes, I’d say.”
“Twenty minutes?” Lily raised an eyebrow.
James rolled his eyes and picked up the bag. He threw it over his shoulder and carried it out the door. “You’re just full of questions today, aren’t you?”
Lily shrugged and followed James onto the stage. “Same as always,” she answered.
James walked through the empty audience and towards the front doors of the theater. He turned and realized that Lily was no longer following him; she stood center stage, scratching her head.
“Well, aren’t you coming?”
“Where are you going?” she shouted back. “I thought we would practice lines first!”
James grinned and shook his head. “Not today!”
Lily jumped off of the stage and ran to meet up with James. She quickly swiped the hair falling down her back into a messy ponytail, tucking the loose strands behind her ears. “Are we going to another museum?” she asked rather enthusiastically. She tried not to sound too excited about spending another afternoon learning about history, but she couldn’t deny that she had actually had fun with James the previous week.
James didn’t miss her enthusiasm and smiled. “Better,” he said. “Well “ I hope.”
“You “ hope?” Lily bit her lip.
James put a hand in the middle of her back and ushered her through the door. If she kept asking questions like this, they were never going to leave! “It all depends on the conditions,” James shrugged. “Personally, I think the conditions are ideal today, but we’ll see…”
They stepped out into the heat. Lily squinted as James took his hand off of her back and continued walking forward towards the street. “What conditions?” Lily asked. “Like the…” Lily’s voice trailed off as soon as she saw where James was headed. “Is that yours?”
James grinned. He pulled out a set of car keys and opened the trunk of a gleaming, silver car. “My dad’s,” James said simply and stuffed the duffle bag into the small trunk space. He moved hastily to the passenger door and opened it politely for Lily. He bowed deeply and held a hand out for Lily to take. “My dear.”
Lily hesitantly stepped forward and took James’ hand. He gently guided her into the passenger seat and closed the door for her. He ran around to the other side of the car and jumped excitedly into the driver’s seat. Fumbling with the keys, James finally pulled out the correct car key and stuck it into the ignition.
“So “ you can drive?” Lily asked, stunned. Nearly all of the students that attended Hogwarts found that driving a car was a waste of time when they could easily Apparate “ herself included! Because she was a Muggle-born, Lily had been taught to drive by her father and was, now, officially a licensed driver. But Lily never would have guessed that anyone from such a prominent wizard family would ever learn to drive before they were an adult.
“My dad loves Muggles,” James explained. “He got his license several years ago, and then decided that I had to have one ‘just in case’. Personally,” James turned the key, firing up the engine, “I think it’s because he’s obsessed with Muggles.”
James revved the car engine and grinned. “But I also believe that driving gives you a great feeling of power that nearly everyone at Hogwarts will never be able to imagine.”
Lily paled at these words. She had seen James fly before; the fact that he now had the power to drive made her nervous.
Her hand automatically went to her seatbelt latch; she double checked to make sure that it was secured tightly around her waist. She then put her other hand on the handle above her window “ just in case.
“Just “ curious,” Lily chuckled nervously. “How many tickets or accidents have you ever gotten into?” she asked with a terrified tremor in her voice. “Just curious, of course,” she hastily added.
“Well,” James said with a casual sigh. He leaned back in his chair and shifted the gear into drive. “In the past few days “ none.”
Lily’s hand flew instinctively to James’ hand. She shifted the gear back into park and looked frantically into James’ face.
He cracked a smile, unable to keep a straight face any longer.
Lily deflated into her chair as relief swept over her. “You liar,” Lily slugged him in the arm. She started to relax and laughed.
Smoothly, James pulled out of their parking space and into the flowing traffic without a hitch. “Never been in an accident,” he boasted proudly. “I was close once, but that old lady just wasn’t watching when she backed out.”
Lily hid her smile.
James flipped on a radio station and merged onto a busier street.
“So where are we going?” Lily asked with a smile.
“Question after question,” James rolled his eyes, pressing his foot down on the acceleration pedal. “Do you ever give up, Lily?”
She shook her head rapidly, causing the red curls in her ponytail to fall out.
“Well,” James grinned, “you’ll just have to wait.”
*
“Are we there yet?”
James turned the car onto a gravel road. “We’ve been traveling for fifteen minutes, Lily.” He shook his head with a smile. “I would have thought you, of all magical people, would be more patient with cars.”
“Nope,” Lily shook her head firmly. “I think I’m probably worse, because I fell into the magical lifestyle, not the Muggle lifestyle.”
James laughed.
“Where are we?” Lily asked. She pressed her face up against the window and squinted outside. Large clouds of dust were kicked up into the air as James drove over the gravel. “We must be in the middle of nowhere,” she mused.
“Well,” James shrugged, “not quite.”
Lily spun back in her chair and faced James with a curious look. “Where are you taking me?”
“Do you honestly think that after asking me forty-four times that my answer is going to change?” James pulled his eyes from the road to give Lily a look.
“Probably not,” she muttered under her breath. “But one can always dream,” she added hopefully.
“Well, keep dreaming,” he smirked.
Several minutes later, James pointed straight in front of him and said, “There it is.”
Lily leaned forward in her seat. “There’s what? Is that where we’re going?”
James nodded.
“I can’t see,” she muttered. Lily tried moving around in her seat to get a better view, but saw nothing. “James, there’s nothing there but trees.”
James smiled.
He pulled off of the gravel road and drove up a smaller path hidden between several, large trees. They reached the top of the hill and began to weave through the heart of the woods until they came to a clearing.
James slowed to a stop.
“I “ don’t get it,” Lily stammered, looking through all of the windows of the car. “We’re in the middle of the woods, James. There’s nothing up here.”
James pulled out his car keys, unbuckled his seat belt, and leaned close to Lily. “Precisely.”
He climbed out of the car and went to open the trunk as Lily sat still in the passenger seat, more confused than ever. What are we doing in the middle of nowhere?
Lily’s face flushed and her stomach flopped several times. Maybe “ maybe he likes me as more than a friend and wanted to tell me out here “ that little girl was right!
She shook her head quickly, clearing her thoughts. Impossible “ why would he have brought me all the way out here when he could have told me just as easily after play practice?
He wanted to be romantic! Lily argued with herself. It’s so much more meaningful if he did something to show how strongly he felt!
True “ but unlikely. Come on, the voice in her head reasoned, this is James Potter we’re talking about. The boy would never, in a million years, think about doing something this romantic just to confess his undying love for someone. I think it’s more likely that he would have brought you all this way to kill you rather than to say he loved you.
Lily laughed at the idea. She reached for the door handle to open the passenger door, and then froze.
Oh god “ he hates me.
Lily immediately spun in her seat to find James digging around in the trunk of his car.
He brought a gun “ he brought a gun in his duffle bag “ that’s what he was hiding from me! News headlines of her mysterious death flashed through her mind. I knew it was too good to be true! He only befriended me so he could get back at me when I least suspected it! Lily’s heart sped up and her face paled. I thought I trusted James “ he tricked me this whole time!
Stop panicking! Lily shouted at herself. Calm down “ just get out of the car and ask what’s going on. It’s probably nothing…
Lily reached for the door, swallowing. She turned her head to the window and screamed at the top of her lungs when she saw James’ face peering back at her.
James threw open the door with a slight chuckle. “Did I scare you?” he smiled. “Sorry “ I didn’t mean to.”
Lily looked back at James. He was greeting her with a heartwarming smile and holding out a kind hand to help her out of her seat.
She put all of her past thoughts about James behind her and took his hand.
Climbing gracefully out of the car, Lily moved toward the duffle bag lying on the ground. She eyed it carefully.
“You can open it, now,” James smiled at her. He stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned up against the sleek, silver car with a smirk.
Lily cautiously fell to her knees. She unzipped the bag and quickly shuffled through all of the items. She knew that, over time, she would have trusted James before too long, whether or not she had been allowed to open the duffle bag, but found that she was, nonetheless, rather relieved when she couldn’t find any sort of weapon hidden inside of it.
But without realizing what she had done until she did it, Lily sighed.
James, however, noticed it. “What’s that for?” he asked, frowning. “Is that a good sigh or a bad sigh?”
“Oh “ that was nothing, just “ ” Lily cleared her mind of the crazy stories she had made up in the past five minutes “ “ just an overactive imagination, that’s all.”
James’ made a confused look. “What do you mean - ”
“What is this stuff?” Lily quickly asked before James could question her any longer. She had no intentions of letting him know where her thoughts had taken her.
“Ah,” James knelt beside Lily with a grin. “This stuff is for camping.”
Lily’s eyes doubled. “We’re going to camp out here?” Millions of thoughts ran through her mind “ but she was sure to keep her imagination to a minimum. “You asked my dad?”
“Asked your dad,” James smiled in affirmation.
“And you brought all of the equipment we need?”
“You’re looking at it.”
Lily blinked several times as she tried to process the idea before finally gasping, “Why?”
This time, James stood up with a slow nod. “Well “ you know,” he smiled.
“No,” Lily shook her head. “I don’t know.” She was extremely confused, now. He didn’t want to confess his undying love to her; he didn’t want to kill her; what did he want?
“Well,” James struggled for words, “I guess it’s “ it’s like last week, remember?”
Lily nodded hesitantly. She squinted through the sun, up at James. “You’re helping me with my role by taking me camping?”
Oh, sure, when you say it like that… “I know it might be hard to understand, but “ I thought that you might get used to a camping lifestyle,” he shrugged. “You know, when the thief takes the princess and holds her hostage in the forest? You would have a better understanding of camping when you’re onstage. And,” he added as a last attempt to make Lily change her mind, “I thought it “ it might be fun.”
Lily scratched her head. The reasoning didn’t make any sense. There were thousands of things James could have done to help her with her acting before dragging her into the middle of nowhere!
James, on the other hand, looked as if he was about to be sick. God “ I knew that this would be a bad idea! I thought she would like it, but she hates it, I knew she would! James tried hard not to hit himself while Lily was still watching.
“If “ if you don’t like it,” James shrugged in what he hoped looked casual, “you’re always welcome to go back home. It’s only twenty minutes from here, so I can drive you back. Or you could Apparate, course, if you wanted to do that instead. Or we could “ ”
“No,” Lily abruptly cut him off, shaking her head and standing on her feet. She put both hands on her hips and looked up at James, catching his eye. “Let’s stay.”
“Really?” James felt all of the air rush back into his chest at her words.
“Sure,” she smiled. “I mean “ why not? It sounds like fun,” Lily grinned. She zipped up the bag and swung it over her shoulder. “Come on,” she smirked with a mischievous glint in her emerald eyes, “let’s go further.”
James couldn’t hide his smile. The look in Lily’s eyes had ignited a fire that burned deep in his chest: one that he wouldn’t be quick to put out.
He pushed off of his car and chased Lily into the woods.
The Curtain Call
Chapter Seven: The Belmanns
Soon after entering the forest, Lily and James stepped into a large, circular clearing with trees surrounding them in every direction. Without a word, Lily set down the duffle bag she was holding and smiled; this was where they would stay.
James and Lily set out immediately, collecting firewood and throwing it together into a big pile at the center of the clearing. When they returned, James expertly propped the twigs up against each other, forming a pyramid shape.
“And now for the fire,” he smirked. He crouched low to the ground, picked up two sticks, and started to rub them together.
Lily held a hand over her mouth, attempting not to laugh. She circled around the small fire pit that they had created and stopped on the opposite side of the campfire to watch James’ face, intent with concentration.
“Is it working?” she asked smartly, jutting her hip out to the side.
James gritted his teeth as he scraped the two sticks together as fast as he could. Finally he stopped and dropped them with a sigh. He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Lily,” James apologized. “I really wanted this to be authentic. I guess we’ll just have to use our wands after all…”
“Not so fast,” Lily cut in. She took James’ spot, but pulled out two different looking sticks from the pile. Within minutes, she had a flame burning.
James was in shock.
Lily casually tossed the sticks she used back into the small fire, which was steadily growing stronger by the second. She held up three fingers together and smiled sweetly. “Girl scout.”
“Oh.” James smiled. “Now, that’s cheating.” He swung an arm around Lily’s shoulders as they watched the flames grow in intensity, warming them from a great distance. “And you were mocking me this whole time, weren’t you?”
Lily patted his stomach with a grin. “Yes, James,” she told him flatly. “And I’m glad that we can laugh about this like mature adults after I just made a fool of you.”
James didn’t have time to respond; his stomach rumbled loudly beneath Lily’s hand, causing her to jump in surprise. Recovering quickly from her shock, Lily looked up at James and chuckled.
“I hope you brought food,” she commented, “or this is going to be one very short camping trip.”
“Got’cha covered!” James jogged back to the duffle bag and pulled out a small cooler. He tossed it to Lily, careful to make sure the contents did not spill. “Go ahead,” he urged her with a smirk, nodding his head towards the cooler. “Open it.”
Lily flipped open the lid of the cooler and shifted through the layer of ice on top. She smiled once she had dug to the bottom, looking surprised. “Hot dogs,” she said, approving of his choice. “Not bad.” She put the lid back on the container and looked up at James with an innocent expression. “I don’t suppose you happened to remember to bring any hot dog buns…”
James frowned. “Damn.”
The laugh that she had been hiding bubbled to the surface. “As long as you have something to cook them with, we’ll be fine.”
“Now that I have.” James grinned, as if this made up for his previous mistake. He stuck his hand into a side pocket of the duffle bag, pulling out two skewers. He proceeded to sit in the dry, red dirt, kicking up small clouds of dust as he did so. He held one of the skewers out to Lily.
“Perfect,” Lily said with a smile, accepting the thin, metal rod. She sat in the dirt beside James. They attached their hot dogs to the ends of their skewers and held them over the open fire, slowly cooking their food.
James opened his mouth to speak. For several moments, he looked like a gaping fish, opening and closing his mouth. Lily finally turned to look at him, noticing this odd behavior, and he abruptly turned away, suddenly embarrassed. However, it didn’t take him long to regain his courage once more.
“Lily,” James nearly shouted at her, determined to make himself say something “ anything.
“Yes?” Lily asked softly. She watched him carefully, waiting for a response.
“I just “ well, I want to tell you,” James stuttered, “that I’m really - ”
“Isn’t this just adorable, Frank?”
James’ face paled, expecting the worst. Not now, he pleaded. Anytime but now…
A pleasantly plump woman stumbled through a cluster of trees at the edge of the same clearing that James and Lily were sitting in. She dragged a large, flower-patterned suitcase behind her. Just as she walked into the dusty clearing, the large suitcase immediately stopped trailing behind the woman and lodged between two trees.
“Oh, bugger,” she muttered after pushing and pulling on the handle of her bag for several minutes. It finally tugged free after James heard a distinct ripping sound of her flower-patterned suitcase getting caught on the tree. Multiple tree branches broke and fell to the ground, surrounding the woman’s bag, but the woman just readjusted herself and stood back up to her full height, looking very proud as she dragged her ripped bag behind her.
“Come on, Frank!” the woman hollered in a shrill, high-pitched voice. She turned to yell something else to the man, but, instead, spotted Lily and James several yards away from her.
“Oh.” She covered her mouth with a hand and a small giggle. Her cheeks quickly turned red and she smiled guiltily. “Hello,” she said softly with a quick wave.
“Hi!” Lily grinned and waved back.
“I didn’t mean to intrude,” she mumbled, looking back and forth between James and Lily. She started to walk back into the trees and in another direction.
That’s it, James smirked, slowly letting out a sigh of relief. Move far, far away…
“Oh, no problem,” Lily called, much to James’ disappointment. “There’s plenty of room here for others.”
The woman looked back through the trees where she had come from, most likely looking for the person she called Frank. “You’re sure you don’t mind us joining you?”
“Absolutely not,” Lily grinned. James dropped his head to his chest in defeat. He had lost.
“Right, James?”
James’ head popped right back up as if nothing had happened. He plastered a fake smile on his face. “Right,” he boomed loudly as if the answer were obvious. “Of course “ we’d love to have you stay,” he lied through his teeth.
“We won’t get in your way “ I promise,” the woman assured them, positively beaming by this point.
“It’s fine,” Lily kindly responded, waving a hand at the woman as if it were nothing.
The woman seemed to swell with happiness. “Oh, that’s wonderful!” she shrieked, clapping her hands together. She then dropped her bag where she was standing and rushed over to them, holding out her hand. “My name’s Nancy,” she grinned.
Lily stood, handing off her skewer to James so that he could finish cooking her hot dog. She held out her own hand and shook Nancy’s. “I’m Lily.”
“Lily; how nice to meet you.” She pumped Lily’s hand up and down energetically, her round face red from her excitement. “And you are…?”
“James,” he said simply. He stood slower than Lily had, wiping the dirt off of the back of his pants. When he pulled himself up to his full height, he realized that Nancy had not been as tall as she had looked from his seat on the ground. Compared to James’ six feet, the woman looked like a dwarf.
James stuck out his hand and smiled weakly.
“Hello, James.” Nancy smiled back at him, missing his strained look. She did, however, notice the two hot dogs. “I see you’ve already started cooking dinner,” she commented. “Speaking of which, we need to get going or it’ll be dark soon…”
The short, heavyset woman held her hands cupped to her mouth and screamed, “Frank! Are you coming?”
Finally, a very tall, muscular man hobbled out of the trees with a large, camping backpack on his back and two girls hanging off of his arms, as if he were a jungle gym.
Oh, God, James groaned, praying Lily didn’t hear him. There are four of them…
“I would have been able to get here quicker,” the man “ presumably Frank “ hissed in a deep grumble, “if you could have taken the kids off of me while I was trying to unload the car…” The two girls jumped off of the man’s arm and started running towards Lily and James’ fire. The man’s gaze followed.
“Uh “ Lily, James,” Nancy addressed the two teenagers, taking the man’s hand and pulling him closer to her, “this is my husband: Frank.”
“Mr. Belmann,” he interrupted his wife, sticking out his hand in a forceful manner. Mr. Belmann shook each of their hands quickly before pulling away, acting as if he had just touched something appalling. He crossed his arms over his chest and shot his wife an irritated look.
James felt his neck crane back, astonished at the man’s height. He couldn’t have been too much taller than James, he realized, but the large muscles covering his body gave him the appearance of a giant.
Frank Belmann herded his kids away from the fire and sent them to search for their own firewood in another area of the forest. He then took his wife’s arm and gently pulled her away, lowering his voice.
“Who are they?” Frank asked gruffly, nodding towards Lily and James.
“We’ve got neighbors!” she exclaimed, her smile not faltering. “Isn’t that wonderful?”
The man didn’t seem happy. In fact, he almost looked upset.
“There are plenty of other spots to camp,” he hissed, lowering his voice, but not enough to keep Lily and James from overhearing. “We don’t need to barge in on everyone’s space, Nancy. Do you remember last time you tried to “ ”
“They said it was alright!” Nancy beamed. She clasped her hands together and started to hop up and down in front of her husband, but never quite high enough to match his height. “Come on, Frank,” she begged. “I want neighbors! And they’re so nice!”
For several minutes, James and Lily tried to appear as if they weren’t listening to the argument, keeping their gaze focused on the dirt beneath their feet. James had even tried kicking his shoe into the dirt in order to create a noise that blocked out their sound, but it was rather difficult to ignore the Belmanns when Frank finally gave in and shouted, “Alright, fine! But this is the last time!”
Nancy couldn’t have cared less whether or not her husband was upset. She quickly hugged him around the middle and told him, “Thank you!” many times consecutively, even when Frank had already walked off to find their kids.
James immediately sat down and continued cooking both of their hot dogs with an annoyed face. It wasn’t long until Lily had silently joined him. She propped her legs up and rested her arms on the top of her knees.
Lily casually moved her leg to the left, bumping it into James’ arm in an attempt to try and get his attention. With less enthusiasm than earlier, James turned to raise an eyebrow at Lily.
She frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“The Belmanns,” James said softly, checking their surroundings for any sign of the family.
“What’s wrong with them?” Lily asked, genuinely concerned.
“I was just hoping not to have other people invading our space,” he replied with a shrug. “It really isn’t that big of a deal, I guess,” James mumbled to himself, now feeling incredibly stupid for mentioning this in front of Lily in the first place. He dropped his chin onto the arm that was holding the skewers, looking rather depressed.
“I didn’t “ I didn’t realize you didn’t want anyone else here,” Lily replied, crossing her legs in front of her. She reached over to James and rubbed his back comfortingly. “If it means that much to you, we can move or ask them to leave. If you want to.”
James immediately shook his head. “I’d feel bad since we already invited them to stay.”
Lily leaned over and took her hot dog skewer back from James. She pulled it out of the fire to let it cool. “Really, James,” she said in a soft, soothing voice. “We can pretend like we’re going on a walk and just “ ”
“I appreciate it,” James smiled, pulling out his own hot dog, “but it’s fine “ honestly,” he assured her, surveying the area. “There’s plenty of room between us and them right now, anyway.”
“True,” Lily nodded. She bit into the hot dog. “Hey “ not bad,” Lily complimented James, surprised that a hot dog cooked over a campfire could ever taste this good.
“Well, thank you very much,” James said with a smirk. He took a bite into his own hot dog. His eyes widened. “Wow…”
Lily laughed at his reaction. “You didn’t even know that you could cook, did you?”
James shook his head. “These are much better than I ever thought they would turn out to be.” He finished up the hot dog quickly and dug around in the cooler for another one. He continued talking into the cooler, making his voice sound muffled. “I thought it would burn and taste absolutely disgusting, but it really - ”
Lily put a light hand on James’ shoulder to stop his constant babble. He turned, expecting to see Lily looking at him, but instead, found Frank Belmann standing over their small fire with an irritated look and a beer in his hand.
“Uh “ hello.” Lily smiled politely. She eyed James’ confused face and then looked back up at Mr. Belmann with a sweet smile. “How are you?”
Frank brushed off Lily’s attempt to be nice. “Nancy wants to know if you two wanted to join us for dinner.”
Lily shook her head with another kind smile. “We’re already having dinner,” she said, holding up the hot dog between her two fingers. “Sorry.”
Frank immediately accepted their answer and started to turn around in order to head back to their campsite, when his wife, on the opposite end of the clearing, shouted in a high-pitched, nasally voice, “Tell them we’re having steak!”
James’ eyes grew. Steak? He had been already starting to stand at the mention of steak when Lily grabbed the back of his t-shirt and yanked him back down to the ground with a muffled shout and a loud thud. The dirt beneath James was kicked into the air and they both started to cough, trying to wave the cloud away.
“Steak!” James hissed at Lily between his teeth. He tried making gestures with his eyes toward the Belmanns. “Hate to break it to you, but we don’t have anything nearly as good as that in the cooler, Lily!”
Lily glared at James, mentally telling him to be quiet. Frank turned back around to face the pair just as James stopped flailing about.
He ignored the orange cloud of dust surrounding the teenagers. With a sigh, he muttered quickly, “Nancy says we’re having steak.”
Again, Lily shook her head. “No thanks,” she politely declined for the second time. “We’re fine.”
“Suit yourself,” Frank said with a shrug and quickly walked away before his wife could force him to say anything more.
“Lily!”
Lily turned to her left, fighting the urge to glare at James like she would have done at Hogwarts. Instead, she saw that James looked as if he had just been slapped. “I can’t believe you just turned down steaks!”
“It would not have been very neighborly of us to just accept food when we can’t give anything in return!” Lily exclaimed, turning away from James’ astonished face. “Besides “ ” she felt herself smirk “ “ I thought you didn’t want anyone to invade our space…”
James rolled his eyes and was very tempted to slap himself in the head. She had used his own words against him.
“Completely different situation.” James waved his hand as if it were obvious. “But I forgive you for making that mistake. Now,” he stood and spoke quickly before Lily had a chance to cut him off, “if we go over now, I bet we could still grab a steak…”
Lily grabbed James’ arm and pulled him back into the dirt like before. “No, James,” she said simply, abruptly ending the conversation.
James groaned and rolled backwards onto the ground, lying flat on his back. He stared up at the hazy, orange sky, quickly fading to night.
Lily looked behind her, watching James with a great deal of interest. Her eyes wandered up to the sky, where he was staring, and she started to fall into a sort of trance. Lily was seconds from joining James, lying in the dry dirt, when he sat up suddenly and said, “I’m still hungry.”
Lily hid her smile.
“Do you want another hot dog?” she asked, reaching for the cooler.
“No,” James put a hand on Lily’s to stop her. “I’ve got a better idea.”
Lily looked down at his hand still covering hers and James quickly pulled away, turning to the duffle bag for a distraction. She couldn’t help but think he had left his hand there a fraction of a second longer than it needed to be.
She blushed.
James pulled out a bag of white, fluffy marshmallows and turned back to Lily’s red face. He paused, staring at her. He smiled and softly murmured, “I think you’re sitting too close to the fire, Lily.” He held the back of his hand up to her cheeks, feeling the warmth, and then pulling away. “Your face is getting warm.”
“Uh “ right,” Lily mumbled. She scooted away from the fire and pulled her legs protectively up to her chest. She wrapped her arms around them and patiently waited for James to explain the marshmallows.
“Here.” He handed Lily her skewer once again, but, this time, stuck a marshmallow onto the end of it. “I heard of this really great recipe last year from one of the Muggles at your dad’s theater.” James grinned. “First, you have to cook the marshmallow, right? Then “ ” James anxiously pulled out a bag filled with graham crackers and chocolate bars “ “ you make a little sandwich with these pieces,” he said. “It’s called a - ”
“S’more,” Lily finished his sentence with a smile. She looked over at James; his mouth had dropped open.
“How did you know?” James asked in disappointment. “Did that Muggle tell you, too?”
Lily laughed. “I think s’mores are a bit more common knowledge in the Muggle world, James,” she apologized with a shrug. “A lot of Muggle people know about s’mores. I think,” Lily made a guess, “wizards have just never made them because there’s no need to make food over a campfire when a wizard tent comes with its own oven.”
James just crossed his arms in disappointment, upset that his surprise had been ruined. “Sure…”
No more than two minutes later, Lily had successfully created a s’more while James’ marshmallow had gone up in flames. It proceeded to drop into the fire pit once he started to shake the stick around, terrified. With a smile, Lily handed her own s’more over to James and cooked another marshmallow for herself.
“Sorry,” James muttered. He bashfully took the sandwich from Lily’s hand. “I’ve never actually made a s’more.” He held the s’more out several inches from his face to analyze what Lily had done to keep hers from burning to a crisp.
“Here’s a tip,” Lily advised him after she had finished cooking her second marshmallow. “You only want to hold it over the top part of the fire.” She put a chocolate bar and two pieces of graham crackers around her marshmallow and smiled at the finished product. “Don’t stick it too close to the logs, or it’ll burn “ like yours did.”
James shrugged. He found it unlikely that he would ever make a s’more again, so this information did not seem important.
He moved to take a bite of the s’more.
As it hung, midair, inches from his mouth, James felt something touch his leg. He looked down as he felt an electric bolt shoot through his leg and up his spine; it was Lily’s hand.
James glanced up at Lily, curious to know why she had interrupted him, but found, just like when Mr. Belmann had interrupted them, that she was not looking at him.
“What are you - ”
The two Belmann daughters were watching Lily and James from the shadows beneath the trees several feet away.
“Hello,” Lily cooed in her sweet, soothing voice. She smiled and waved an arm for the girls to join them. “Come over here!”
The two girls grinned and hopped over to the campfire, sitting next to Lily. However, both were too nervous to say anything.
“I’m Lily,” she introduced herself, breaking the silence. “And this is James.” James nodded, acknowledging her comment.
Both of the blonde, curly-haired girls stared at them, unsure of what to do. Lily saw them look eagerly at the s’mores in their hands.
“Do you want a s’more?” Lily asked. She held out her own s’more to one of the young girls. Slowly, as if not sure to accept the gift, the girl took the s’more from Lily’s fingertips and eagerly devoured it. She thanked her very quietly between bites.
Lily spun her head towards James so fast that the hair in her ponytail smacked the side of her face. She widened her eyes at the s’more in James’ hand and nodded rather obviously towards the other girl.
“I don’t want to,” James said in a whisper, knowing exactly what Lily was signaling for him to do. “I’ve never had a s’more before!” He reached for the bag of marshmallows sitting beside him and tossed them closer to Lily. “Just make her a different one!”
Lily’s eyes narrowed into slits.
James’ breathing stopped momentarily at the expression on Lily’s face, not used to seeing it; it had been weeks since he had last seen her glare at him, and it had caught him off guard.
Finally, with a groan, he leaned across the fire and handed the other girl his s’more. When he sat back in his seat, arms crossed stubbornly across his chest, he lowered his voice at Lily again. “Happy?”
“Very,” she said with a smirk, turning back to the girls with a wide grin. “So,” she spoke again in her kindest voice, “what are your names?”
“I’m Rebecca,” said the girl that appeared to be the oldest. She puffed out her chest proudly, ignoring the marshmallow covering her face. “I turned eight yesterday!”
“Oh, really?” Lily asked with an excited voice. James could just barely see Lily’s face, glowing in the flickering light of the red and yellow flames. Her eyes sparkled as much as her voice did, making Rebecca feel like she was the center of the world.
“What did you do for your birthday yesterday?” Lily pressed the girl for information, sounding genuinely interested.
“I had a party!” She grinned. “And I got some presents, too.”
“Ooh “ that sounds like fun,” Lily said. “And what about you?” she pointed to the younger girl beside Rebecca. “Who are you?”
Rebecca immediately spoke up for her sister as if she were the girl’s mother. “Her name is Cindy,” she informed Lily.
Cindy licked the chocolate off of her lips and looked up at Rebecca when she heard her name.
Lily leaned over, closer to Cindy. “How old are you, Cindy?” she asked, her bright, green eyes attracting Cindy’s attention.
Cindy wiped her face on the back of her hand and then held up her five, small fingers.
“Five?” Lily confirmed and Cindy nodded.
“She doesn’t really talk,” Rebecca cut in, attempting to draw the attention back to herself. She popped the rest of the s’more into her mouth and licked her fingers. “You can’t exactly understand her sometimes.”
Lily hid her laugh. “I bet she talks plenty when she’s excited, though.”
Just as Rebecca was about to shake her head no, Cindy stood up and held out her hands to Lily and continuously opened and closed them, almost as if she were testing how sticky the spilled marshmallow on her hands were. “’Nother?” she asked in a very high-pitched voice. She stared at Lily with wide, curious eyes.
“Another?” Lily repeated, frowning. “Another s’more, you mean?”
Cindy did not answer. She just searched the ground, hoping to find another s’more lying around for her to pick up and eat.
“Here,” James interrupted. He held out a hand to the little girl.
Lily was almost shocked to hear James’ voice. Because he had been silent during her entire conversation with Rebecca, she had not expected him to interact with the girls whatsoever. It was due to this fact that she nearly gasped when Cindy willingly took James’ hand and stepped closer.
But the greatest surprise wasn’t until James pulled the small girl onto his lap with a kind smile.
“Do you want another s’more?” James asked softly, pulling a marshmallow out of the bag. As she nodded, he stuck the marshmallow onto the skewer and gave the handle to the little girl. “Hold it in the fire,” James instructed her, this time careful not to put the marshmallow too close to the logs. He pushed her small hands out further, letting the marshmallow cook.
Lily couldn’t help but smile. James had been one of the last people she had ever expected to be this comfortable with small children. But, Lily realized, there’s been so many other things I’ve learned about James recently. It’s just something else he’s surprised me with…
Rebecca started to pull on Lily’s sleeve to get her attention once more. Lily turned with a bright smile and looked down at the girl.
“What are you doing out here?” Rebecca asked inquisitively.
Lily seemed slightly thrown off by this question. “Uh “ well, we’re camping,” she responded, unsure if she had answered what the girl was asking. “What’s your family doing here?”
“We’re camping, too,” she said, as if there was nothing strange about her previous question. “Only my daddy said we could ‘cause I wanted to for my birthday,” Rebecca said, trying as hard as she could to sound like an adult. Then she suddenly seemed to get really excited. “Is it your birthday, too?”
“No.” Lily quickly shook her head with a smile. “It’s not.”
“Is it his birthday?” Rebecca pointed at James, who had, by now, given Cindy a s’more and was also devouring his own; he was having a conversation with the adorable, little girl, and looking as if he was enjoying it. Cindy remained sitting in his lap, grinning.
“No, it’s not his birthday either,” Lily said, shaking her head again.
Rebecca looked frustrated. “Then why are you here?”
Lily shrugged. She didn’t have a good answer for Rebecca. “Because,” she started, searching for a good response, “we wanted to.” Lily rolled her eyes at herself. What a ridiculous answer…
“For fun?” Rebecca asked, her nose wrinkling as she thought about this piece of information. “You don’t have a reason?”
“No reason,” Lily stated calmly. “We just wanted to camp for fun.”
Rebecca looked over at James and back to Lily again. Then she asked in an entirely serious voice, “Are you guys married?”
Lily knew that if she had been drinking anything at the time, she would have spit it all back up in surprise. Where had that question come from?
“We’re not married,” Lily sputtered quickly. She felt herself raising her voice unintentionally. She was going into defense mode. “Why did you think that?”
The girl giggled. Rebecca had not realized that she had hit a nerve with Lily, but merely thought that Lily’s reaction was very amusing. “Because you look like it,” Rebecca finally said through her giggles.
Lily nodded slowly, this answer creating even more of an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach. “We “ James and I look like we’re married?”
Rebecca nodded. Her giggles subsided, and her serious face returned.
“How so?” Lily lowered her voice urgently, wishing that James was too preoccupied with Cindy to have overheard Rebecca’s casual question. “How do we act like we’re “ married?”
Rebecca couldn’t answer. “You just do,” she shrugged, quickly losing interest in the subject. Her thoughts soon escaped her and she moved on to a new topic. “Can you do a cartwheel? I can! See “ watch!”
Lily watched and continued her conversation with the girl, but couldn’t help thinking about Rebecca’s comment. How on earth did she and James act like a married couple? She could understand Rebecca’s mistake in thinking that she and James were older than Rebecca thought they were, but they had done absolutely nothing to suggest that they were, in any way, involved.
Did they?
Lily’s eyes wandered off toward the Belmanns, sitting by a tent that they had propped up on the opposite end of the clearing. They were still finishing their dinner and talking very animatedly, the fire being the only thing that gave off light for them to see each other. Occasionally, Mrs. Belmann would lean over and hit her husband on the arm playfully or Mr. Belmann would lovingly take his wife’s hand within his own with a small smile.
Lily shook her head, returning from her temporary daydream to focus every ounce of her attention on Rebecca. She didn’t let herself dwell on the topic any longer.
“Uh-huh…” Lily nodded her head absentmindedly, trying to remember what Rebecca had just told her.
“Rebecca!” Mrs. Belmann called across the campsite. She hurriedly started walking towards Lily and James with an apologetic smile on her face. “Cindy, it’s time for bed!”
“Oh “ alright,” Rebecca sighed with a hint of disappointment evident in her voice. The girl stood and looked at Cindy. “Come on,” she demanded of her little sister.
Cindy looked wide-eyed back and forth between her mother and her sister. She slowly started to shake her head, and then doubled the speed, panicked that her mother was now approaching her. She reached out for James’ shirt, clutching onto it with all of the muscles in her small body.
“I’m so sorry,” Mrs. Belmann whispered in a soft voice to Lily as soon as Rebecca ran back to her father. “I thought they were playing in the tent “ they must have snuck out and my husband and I both missed it.” She continued looking very worried, as if Lily would be upset with her. “I hope they didn’t bother you too much.”
“Oh, no!” Lily beamed. “They were, actually, a lot of fun to have around,” she responded truthfully. “They’re sweet kids.”
Mrs. Belmann’s face glowed.
She turned back to her youngest, curly-haired daughter. “Let’s go, Cindy “ it’s time for bed!”
“Uh-uh!” Cindy shouted, her voice rising into a scream. Her nose wrinkled and her lower lip started to quiver; she looked like she would start crying if her mother tried to pull her away again.
“Cindy, you can see him in the morning,” Mrs. Belmann spoke calmly, trying to persuade her daughter to release James’ shirt from the death grip she had on it.
“Yeah,” James chuckled with a smile at the small girl who was now standing in his lap and had her arms wrapped around his neck. “I’ll see you in the morning,” James whispered into her ear. “I promise; I won’t leave without seeing you.”
He grabbed Cindy under the arms and lifted her up to her mother. This time, Cindy did not try to fight. She just sniffed.
“Say goodnight to James,” her mother said softly, gently rocking her daughter back and forth.
Cindy dropped her head onto her mother’s shoulder, staring fixedly at James. She weakly flopped her small hand in his direction. “Bye bye,” she murmured sadly.
“Bye,” James responded, smiling and waving his own hand at Cindy.
Mrs. Belmann beamed at the two teenagers. She mouthed a silent, “Thank you,” and walked back to their tent, humming a soft lullaby for her sleepy child.
Lily and James were silent for several minutes, listening to Mrs. Belmann’s voice as it trailed away.
Lily was the one that broke the silence.
“You and Cindy seemed to be getting along fairly well,” she commented casually. Lily leaned back on her hands and stretched her long legs out in front of her, warming them by the fire.
James shrugged. He stared wordlessly into the flickering light.
“I couldn’t get Cindy to say anything to me,” Lily tried again, hoping to get a response from James. “But it looked like she didn’t want to leave at all after you talked to her.” Lily swallowed. “She seemed to have grown attached to you.”
James smiled, his eyes locked onto the fire. “I guess I have that effect on people,” he joked lightheartedly. He abruptly turned his head to the side and found, much to his delight, that Lily was smiling at him.
They both laughed to fill the awkward silence.
After several more minutes of hearing nothing but the soft crackle of the fire, James craned his neck back to look up at the sky. “I guess it’s time to go to bed,” he said softly, gesturing to the black night that surrounded them. He took another moment to close his eyes and inhale the scent of the open campfire mixed together with the sweet smell of the evergreens.
“Yeah,” Lily agreed. She and James stood and opened the duffle bag for the final time that night, pulling out the remaining items within it.
James laid out two, blue sleeping bags, side by side. He added two pillows to the mix, making the patch of dirt into an instant bed. He continued to pull out two blankets. “In case you get really cold,” he explained with a shrug. “I wasn’t quite sure what the weather would be like.”
Lily smiled. “Good thinking,” she said with a nod, sitting on top of her sleeping bag. She pulled out her hair tie and let her wavy hair fall loose, spilling down her back in curls. She ran a hand through it, quickly brushing out as many of the knots as she could.
Lily glanced over at the Belmanns’ tent to make sure that the family was inside it before she pulled out her wand. She shot several, small spurts of water at the fire to put it out, causing them to be enveloped in darkness; there was nothing to interrupt them but the chirping crickets and the occasional hoot of an owl.
By the time Lily turned back around, James had already sprawled out on top of his sleeping bag and opened up one of the blankets to throw over himself.
Lily laughed to herself and looked forward once again. She started to pack away the ingredients that they had used to make their s’mores.
“What a great night,” James said to himself, his eyes closed. He put his hands behind his head. “You can’t even hear the city noises.” He sighed as if he were in heaven. “And the best weather that anyone could have asked for “ I doubt I’ll even need to use the sleeping bag.” James’ eyes opened. “And not a cloud in the…”
Lily waited for James to finish his sentence, but he didn’t. She peered over her shoulder in his direction, and found that he was staring straight up at the sky.
“God, Lily,” he whispered, his throat constricting. “You need to see this.”
Lily turned her own eyes to the skies and felt all of the air escape her lungs. All of the city lights were miles away, leaving nothing but the starry sky to shine down brightly upon Lily and James.
“It’s “ beautiful,” Lily whispered, afraid that if her voice were any louder, she would destroy the beauty that surrounded them. The stars twinkled down upon them as a bright moon hovered high above them. Lily knew that if she were to try and walk away at that moment, the night sky would have been bright enough to light her path.
She glimpsed a shooting star fly past without a sound.
Lily felt her eyes fill with tears. She looked down at her lap, letting her auburn hair fall down from behind her ears to cover her face like a curtain. She hastily wiped away the tears with the back of her hand.
But her reaction did not go unnoticed.
“Lily?” James’ head rose off of his pillow as he watched her, puzzled. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s “ nothing,” she quickly answered. The tears, however, coated her voice; James heard them.
In a softer tone, he whispered, “Come here.” He laid out his arm across her pillow, inviting her to join him on the sleeping bag.
Lily sniffed. She had forgotten what she had been doing with the marshmallows and slowly crawled across her sleeping bag in order to lie on James’ arm.
James used his free hand to pick up his own blanket and tug it to the side so that it covered the both of them. Lily shifted her head so that it was lying directly on his shoulder, her hair falling over the top of his arm, onto the ground, and pleasantly tickling his neck.
“What’s wrong?” James asked her, putting one hand behind his head and the other around Lily’s shoulders, cradling her close to his chest. He swallowed several times before speaking again; his mouth had suddenly gone very dry. “Tell me.”
Lily was staring at the starry sky, speechless.
After a shuddering intake of air, Lily started to speak. “No one,” she eventually answered in a soft whisper, her breath heating the side of his face, “has ever done this for me.” James felt her shake her head back and forth on his shoulder, reinforcing her point. “No one.”
“Done what, exactly?” James couldn’t help but inquire.
Lily waved her hand around, pointing at the setting that surrounded them. “This,” she stammered after struggling to find the right word. “I mean “ I’m lying under a starry sky in the midst of beautiful surroundings,” Lily choked out. She let an overwhelmed sigh escape her.
“It’s “ perfect.”
James’ heart swelled.
“I think “ I just can’t help but cry.” Lily laughed as she endured the same, familiar sensation of a second wave of tears about to reach her eyes. She felt a strange, bubbling feeling rise up from her chest. “It’s above and beyond anything that anyone has ever done for me.”
Lily turned her head to the side to look over at James. She whispered to him.
“Thank you.”
James did not say anything in return. He reached over to pull the blanket covering Lily up to her chin and then started to rub her arm up and down in a comforting manor, keeping her safe and warm in his embrace.
The rest of the night, Lily and James talked of nothing but the stars. They spoke about everything from their Astronomy class to how many shooting stars they had spotted.
James moved his thumb in continuous circles on Lily’s arm, rubbing over her smooth skin. He squinted up at the stars and then stopped his movement. He leaned over, closer to Lily’s ear. “Hey,” he whispered after several minutes of silence, “I think I can see the North Star.”
He did not get a response.
James looked down at the girl in his arms. Lily had let her head roll onto James’ chest. She was sound asleep.
Slowly, James brushed the wisps of hair off of her face and behind her ear, taking his time to study every inch of her soft, pale skin. He brushed the back of his hand across her cheek and smiled.
James lowered his head and kissed her on the forehead.
He whispered to her.
“I love you, Lily.”
The Curtain Call
Chapter Eight: Dance Lessons
“Wake up, Jay!”
James was awake, but his eyes were not open. He knew what would happen the moment he opened his eyes. The sun would blind him, and he would realize that he and Lily were no longer in their own world together. The stars from the night before would have disappeared completely, and James would have to return to his normal, everyday life.
And, most importantly, James would not have a good excuse to hold Lily close to him any longer.
“Jay!” the voice shrieked again, closer to James’ ear. He felt multiple pokes in the arm. When James did not show any sign of feeling the fingers digging into his arm, the hand moved up to his face and started to poke his cheek continuously. Once the finger missed his cheek and went for his eye, James let out a very soft groan, cringing upon impact. Reluctantly, James resigned to his fate and slowly opened one eye, peeking out at the intruder.
The youngest of the Belmanns, Cindy, was hovering over James with a toothy grin. The second she noticed James’ eye looking up at her inquisitively, she let out a high giggle and knelt on the ground beside him.
“Horsie!” Cindy screeched in a loud voice that James would have sworn belonged to a mermaid at the bottom of the Hogwarts lake. She waved a small, plastic, toy horse in front of James’ line of vision.
“That’s nice, Cindy,” James murmured, unwilling to remove the hand that was wrapped comfortably around Lily’s waist to shoo Cindy away. He tried to smile, but was too tired to register whether or not he had actually done so. “I’m sleepy “ go back to bed.”
“Play, Jay?” the girl asked. She did not wait for a response. Instead, she pulled an identical toy horse up from the dirt and held it inches from James’ nose. She, however, did not notice that, along with the horse, she had also brought up a cloud of dirt that drifted into James’ face.
“No,” he spluttered, spitting out the dirt while trying to keep his voice to a minimum. Lily was still “ thankfully “ lying sound asleep in his arms and he didn’t want to wake her. “Play later, Cindy,” James attempted to explain to the girl. “Go back to bed!”
“Play horsie now, Jay!” the girl said in another high-pitched scream. Her cheeks started to turn red and her nose scrunched up; the second James saw her jaw quiver, he knew that she was seconds from crying.
“No, no,” James hurriedly tried to hush the girl. “I mean “ I’ll play. Just “ shh,” he tried to communicate to her quickly and quietly. He reluctantly removed one of his hands from Lily’s waist and grumpily snatched the horse from Cindy’s small fingers, somehow managing to kick up even more dirt into his face.
James cringed. He was unable to hold it in any longer! Trying to face his head away from both of the girls, James braced himself.
He sneezed.
Lily had heard it. She started to move her head and yawn.
No! James pleaded silently with her. Don’t wake up!
He did not move. He even willed his heart to stop beating if it meant that Lily would fall asleep again.
For a moment, she lay unmoving on his chest, looking like she had fallen back asleep. But James knew better.
Slowly, Lily cracked open her eyes just enough to squint into the sun. She opened them even further to take in the woodland surroundings, memories slowly drifting back to her. Her eyes wandered further around the campsite and she found Cindy, giggling with toys in her hands.
Then she remembered James.
Lily had leapt up and was standing a safe distance away from their comfortable spot on the ground before either had a chance to process what she had done. Cindy stared with her mouth hanging open. She tilted her head a fraction of an inch to the side, curiously waiting for Lily’s next move.
“Er “ ” Lily stammered, her eyes darting to every location around the campsite. She took in the Belmanns’ tent, the doused campfire, and, finally, James’ soft form underneath the large blanket.
Her face heated up in record time. “Morning, James…”
“Good morning, Lily,” James replied rather cheerily, trying not to look as if he were embarrassed at all. He merely sat up and stretched his arms above his head as if everything was perfectly normal. He then laid his elbow across his pillow and propped his head up on his hand so that he was lying on his side, facing Cindy and acting as if nothing strange had happened whatsoever.
“Horsie, Jay,” the girl cried, sticking the plastic toy underneath James’ nose for the third time in five minutes. She put her own horse on the ground and started to make horse sounds until James joined in.
“Neigh,” he muttered under his breath, unenthusiastically. He was too busy worrying about Lily’s reaction to him after she had woken up.
Cindy started to move her horse back and forth in the dirt. While running around, she accidentally hit James’ horse, knocking it out of his hands and bringing him back to the present.
“Hey!” James protested in an energetic voice. He made a face at Cindy and narrowed his eyes at her as if he were upset. “I can’t believe you just knocked my horse over! Oh, that’s it…” He began to run his horse across the ground and up one of Cindy’s arms. She giggled, batting at his horse.
*
What happened?
Lily was standing over the warm fire pit once again, rubbing her hands together. She was trying to find things to do so that she could keep her distance from James for as long as possible. Finally, she decided to hold a stick in the small flame and caught the end on fire. She watched miserably as the flame ate away at the twig.
One day I hate him with a passion, Lily thought with a sigh, and less than two months later, I’m camping with the guy!
She tossed the stub of the stick carelessly back into the flame. She discreetly looked over her shoulder at James and Cindy, laughing together. James had now taken a hold of Cindy’s waist and was tickling her until she fell over and started to roll in the dirt.
How did I miss it? Lily asked herself. There’s so much I didn’t know about him “ after six years, how did I miss it all? Lily continued the job that she had started the night before, packing up the rest of the items into their duffle bag. It’s not like I haven’t had the chance to find out anything about him! We see each other every month out of the year “ so why is it that I find everything out now that I should have known six years ago?
Mrs. Belmann started to walk quickly over to Lily and James’ campsite once she heard Cindy’s giggles.
“I’m so sorry,” she hurriedly apologized, just like she had the night before, running straight for her youngest daughter. “I hope she didn’t wake you…”
“Oh “ no,” James lied with a pleasant smile. He stood, meeting her gaze. “We were just “ playing.”
“Jay!” the curly-haired girl screamed. James looked down at his feet to see Cindy holding her arms straight up in the air, clearly waiting for James to pick her up.
James shook his head, amused, and hoisted the girl up into the air, holding her on his hip.
“Oh…” Mrs. Belmann sighed, hiding a smile with her hand. “James, you’re fantastic with her.” She reached out to run her hand through her daughter’s curly locks. “Frank and I have tried almost every babysitter in the book, and no one has connected with Cindy as well as you have.”
James smiled modestly, unsure of how to respond to this statement.
Mrs. Belmann held her hand to her mouth once more. Her eyes, then, flicked back and forth between her daughter and James. Slowly, she lowered her hand and opened her mouth, as if debating whether or not she should speak. And in a rush, worried that she might lose her nerve, Mrs. Belmann let the words fall off her tongue.
“James, where do you live?”
“Uh…” James looked down at the short woman, squinting in confusion. Cindy started to tug on James’ hair and he winced slightly, but quickly recovered. “About twenty minutes south of here.” He raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
The woman could not suppress her giggles. “Oh, that’s just wonderful!”
James looked back at Lily, worried about Mrs. Belmann’s sanity. Lily’s face seemed to show the same expression as she stepped forward. She hovered just behind James in curiosity, but still kept a significant distance from him.
“James “ ” Mrs. Belmann controlled her laughter “ “ how would you like to baby-sit for us for the rest of this summer?”
“Baby-sit?” James struggled to get the words out. His sleepy mind had now fully woken up and was working at twice its normal speed. “I’m “ surprised,” he muttered, more to himself than anyone else. He looked down at his feet, over at Lily’s blank look, and back to Mrs. Belmann’s anxious face. “I’m honored,” James quickly added, trying to assure the woman that he didn’t think it was a bad idea. “I just don’t “ know,” he finished lamely, adding an apologetic smile.
“Well, if you’re worried about the money,” Mrs. Belmann interrupted before James had a chance to look away, “don’t be! Frank and I “ we’ll pay you whatever you want. We’ll pay more than what you want,” she tried to persuade James, clasping her hands together below her chin in a pleading attempt.
“Well, I, uh…” James started to tear Cindy away from him and hand her back to her mother. “I “ can’t.”
“What’s the problem?” Mrs. Belmann spoke faster now, alarmed. She took Cindy into her arms. “We’ll do anything to have a babysitter like you, James. Name the condition, and we’ll do it. Please.”
“I have other “ obligations,” James said with a shrug. Cindy was now bending over backwards in an attempt to reach James, holding her small hands out to him. She was inches from toppling out of her mother’s arms and looked like she was about to start crying.
“Another job?” Mrs. Belmann asked. She set her daughter down on the ground, allowing the small girl to run back towards James and wrap her short arms around one of his legs. “We’ll pay more than the price they offer you right now! How about that “ will that work?” she asked eagerly.
“Actually “ it’s not a job,” James tried to explain. He put a hand on his waist to hold his pants up from the four-year-old girl at his knees trying to pull them down. “Lily and I “ we belong to a theater group,” James told her. “We work most of the day “ Monday through Friday.”
Mrs. Belmann sighed, clearly disappointed. She could find no way around James’ previous engagements. “What a shame.” She smiled sadly, giving up her attempt to recruit James as their summer babysitter. “You would have done very well with the girls.”
“Yeah…” James smiled back. He reached up to run a hand through his hair, but immediately put both hands back to his waistline as a particularly strong tug from Cindy brought his pants down several inches, revealing a pair of checkered boxers. James blushed, wishing that Lily had missed what had just happened. Ignoring the fears building in his mind, he quickly picked Cindy back up from the ground and held her once again, refusing to look at Lily.
“So,” Mrs. Belmann tried to make conversation with them after Lily tentatively stepped up on James’ left, “you both belong to a theater group?”
“Yeah, we do,” James said with a nod. “I work on the set,” he said offhandedly, “and Lily,” he announced in a much louder voice, “is the lead actress.”
“Really?” Mrs. Belmann’s hand went to her chest and her jaw dropped open in surprise. “The lead?” she gasped.
Lily’s face matched her hair. “Yeah,” she muttered, throwing James a look.
“When is it?” the short woman asked eagerly, her eyes wide with excitement.
Lily started to shake her head and protest against the Belmann’s showing up at the play. “It’s not going to be very “ ”
“A few weeks,” James cut in, grinning. He listed off the date, time, and address, providing as many details as he could remember off of the top of his head.
“Oh, it’s at Bennett Theater!” Mrs. Belmann spoke enthusiastically with a grin. “Frank and I used to love going to the shows at Bennett Theater “ before we had our girls, of course.”
“Bring them along,” James told her without missing a beat. “It’s a wonderful play “ I’m sure they would be thoroughly entertained.” James looked over at Cindy, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. “You would like going to a play, wouldn’t you, Cindy? There will be a pretty princess, and swords, and a ball!”
Cindy nodded at everything James said and then yawned, dropping her head onto his shoulder.
Mrs. Belmann looked at Lily curiously. “Princess?” she asked with a smile.
“Yep,” Lily said with a nod, continuing to stare at her feet like she had been doing for the past few minutes. “I’m the princess.”
“Have you gotten your costume yet?” Mrs. Belmann asked with a hint of excitement in her voice.
“Monday,” Lily answered with a smile.
Mrs. Belmann drummed her fingers together, looking very excited. “I can’t wait to see it!”
“So “ you’re coming?” James asked with a hint of a grin playing at his lips.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world!” she exclaimed in delight. “Oh, I can’t wait “ ”
“Nancy,” Mr. Belmann shouted in a deep grumble on the opposite end of the campsite. “Everything’s packed “ it’s time to go!”
“I’ll be right there, Frank!” she bellowed back. Mrs. Belmann faced Lily and James, beaming. “It’s been such a pleasure getting to know you both,” she hugged Lily, planting a swift kiss on her cheek. She turned to James.
“You, too,” James responded, rocking the sleepy child back and forth. “We can’t wait to see you at the show.”
“Absolutely, dear,” the woman cooed. She reached up to take Cindy from James’ grip, only to find that her daughter had fallen asleep in James’ arms. With one last smile, the woman gestured for James to lean down to her level. “Come here,” Mrs. Belmann said with a chuckle, and she, too, gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek.
“Best of luck “ both of you.” She waved her one free hand while carrying Cindy back to their packed away tent.
James stood with his arms folded over his chest as he watched the Belmanns carry everything back through the woods in the direction that they had come. He stayed in his spot, refusing to look back at Lily. Surely she was still thinking about what had happened when she had woken up. Surely she would say nothing until their next rehearsal, acting as if this trip had never happened. But, the minute the Belmanns disappeared, James felt a sharp sting on his shoulder.
“Ow “ Lily!” James turned to the redhead. “What was that for?”
“Why do you keep telling everyone that I’m in a play?” Lily asked, walking back to their fire. She shot water out of the end of her wand, drowning out the fire with a soft hiss. A thin line of smoke emitted from the pile of sticks, curling up into the air and out of sight.
“Why shouldn’t I?” James retorted, raising an eyebrow. He started to smile. “You should be proud of it, Lily!”
Lily shrugged, mumbling something under her breath. With a great swish of her wand, the remains of their campsite were neatly stuffed back into James’ duffle bag, erasing any evidence that they had ever been there. She knelt down and zipped it closed.
“You’re not nervous about the play “ are you, Lily?”
Lily rolled her eyes. “No, James,” she muttered, shaking her head. She started to pick up the duffle bag, but James grabbed it before her and slung it over his own shoulder. With a hesitant smile, Lily followed him out of the clearing.
“Don’t you want to see the Belmanns again?” James asked over his shoulder, trying to make conversation in order to fill the awkward silence between them.
“I guess,” Lily answered softly. She looked up to the sky as she felt a raindrop land on her head. “But I think Cindy wants to see you more than anything.”
James chuckled, unable to refute the statement.
They approached the familiar, silver car, small drops of rain smattered across the front windshield. Lily climbed wordlessly into the passenger seat, avoiding the building rain, while James walked to the back of the car and unlocked the trunk.
Here we go, he thought nervously to himself, roughly dropping the bag into the open trunk space. It’s going to be awkward as hell for the next twenty minutes.
James had been dreading the car ride home; he knew it would be bad. The second that Lily had jumped away from James after waking up that morning, he knew that she wouldn’t be able to act the same around him for a very long time.
It’s now or never.
James slammed the trunk closed and walked slowly to his car door, wishing he could stand in the rain just a bit longer.
He opened the door and slid into his seat with a great sigh, feeling his wet clothes stick to him as he leaned back against the seat. He reached up to his hair and ran his hand through it, trying to brush the water out of it as best as he could.
James rifled through his pockets for the car key and held it up in front of his face once he found it. Before he had been able to lean forward and touch the ignition, Lily gently tapped his bare forearm with a nervous finger and quickly pulled her hand away as if she had touched something hot.
James froze. He was not sure what to expect. Gently tilting his head to the side, he saw Lily sitting with both of her hands squeezed nervously together, resting in her lap. She was not looking at James.
“I just “ ” Lily started, stumbling through her words. The soft patter of raindrops steadily grew stronger, hitting the roof of the car. The noise echoed, somehow making it more evident to Lily and James that they were both sitting alone, inside of a small, enclosed space.
She took in a deep breath and swallowed, this time looking up into James’ eyes.
The longer Lily looked into his eyes, the more comfortable she felt. And with another deep breath, Lily spoke again. “I just “ wanted to tell you that I had fun.”
James smiled warmly, relieved to hear her say this. “I did, too, Lily.”
Lily nodded, smiling in return. “Thanks for bringing me out here.”
James no longer felt that he had to say anything more. He quickly inserted the key into the ignition and started the car, pulling smoothly away from their parking spot and back onto the gravel road. And then he did something that he would have never dreamed that he would.
James took Lily’s hand and held it the whole way home.
*
“Lily,” Mr. Evans called up the stairs, “we’ve got to go!”
“Two minutes!” Lily shouted back, pulling a clean shirt on in a hurry.
She had woken up rather late that morning “ something very out of character for her to do. The day before, Lily had spent a long day at Bennett Theater running through their show with the entire cast. However, instead of rehearsing their lines, as Lily and James normally did after rehearsals, James suggested that they take a break and return to his house to grab a quick bite to eat.
After James made two sandwiches to take with them, he led Lily out to his backyard. They spent the evening at the pond that Lily had found James at many weeks earlier, but, interestingly enough, neither of them found any time to rehearse any of their lines that night. James merely lit his wand as it grew dark and let it rest against the trunk of a tree so that they could continue their conversation well into the night.
It wasn’t until the early morning that Lily caught the time and insisted that she return home.
At ten forty-five the following morning, there was a sharp knock on her bedroom door from her father, reminding Lily of the eleven o’clock play practice that day.
Lily quickly gathered everything she needed for the practice that afternoon, stuffing her belongings into her beat-up, green bag. She had her hand resting on the doorknob of her door when a light tap at her bedroom window broke her focus.
She spun. Quickly, Lily strode to the window and opened it, letting a small owl swoop inside. She snatched the letter from the leg of the owl, and it flew right back out of the window as fast as it had entered.
Lily analyzed the envelope, managing to deduce exactly who the writer of the letter was by the handwriting.
It was Anna.
Instantly, Lily felt her insides squeeze together uncomfortably, feeling guilty. It was hard for her to breathe properly.
Lily had never, in the past few weeks, been able to bring herself to inform her two good friends about her friendship with James. Several times, she had come very close; she had written many different letters, describing how much her opinion of James had changed, but every time, Lily would feel uncomfortable with her words and throw the message at the trash can on the opposite end of her room, always insisting that she would write about James in her next letter.
I can’t put this off any longer. Lily swallowed, staring at the loopy, blue ink on the front of the letter. They need to know that I don’t hate him. I have to tell them before school starts.
Lily stuck a fingernail beneath the flap of the envelope, about to rip it open, when her father shouted from the bottom of the stairs.
“Lily “ we’re going to be late!”
Lily stopped the process of opening the letter, spinning her head to look in the direction of the door where her father’s voice was calling.
“Coming!” she called back.
Lily took one last look at the unopened envelope, weighing it heavily in her hand. And, making her decision final, Lily left it on the corner of her desk, ready for her to read once she returned home.
Tonight, Lily commanded herself. I’ll tell them tonight.
*
“Remember,” James repeated for possibly the fiftieth time, “your frame is the most important thing when you are dancing!”
Several of the kids onstage groaned, growing tired of this constant reminder. James had easily been able to teach everyone the basics of the waltz, but none had even come close to mastering it besides James himself.
“Elbows up!” James shouted at a young couple that had just crossed the front of the stage. “And “ back there “ don’t slouch just because you think I can’t see!”
One of the particularly short boys accidentally took a step to his left when he should have gone to the right and ran smack into another couple. The boy, his partner, and the other couple were all sent flying backwards in opposite directions, causing many others to trip and fall, halting the run through of the final scene in the play.
James sighed softly to himself, staring open-eyed at the catastrophe onstage. With one hand at his waist and the other constantly running through his hair, James finally spoke up.
“Alright, alright “ stop!” James hollered, waving his hand around in the air. He had to think quickly of another plan of action.
“I’m going to break you all down into smaller groups “ hopefully that’ll help,” James muttered the last bit to himself. “Now,” he thought aloud, trying to figure out how long it would take to make the dance look relatively decent, “I want anyone who plays a member of the royal family to stay onstage. All others, please wait in the audience.”
Through the hustle and bustle of the young actors trying to run off of the stage, James managed to jump up onto the stage from the floor and walked towards the remaining actors.
“We have the princess, prince, king, and queen,” James listed off, looking at the four people in turn. “Alright,” he said with a slow nod, lowering his voice so that the only people that could hear him were those still on stage. “I just want to see how you look right now and I’ll try to fix it from there. But the most important thing for you all to remember is that you’re the main characters. Everyone in the audience “ ” James pointed behind him to the empty chairs slowly filling with the other actors and actresses in the play “ “ will be focusing on the characters that they know “ you. You four need to be the best of all.”
Lily nodded, paying close attention to what James was saying. So far, she had been thoroughly enjoying learning how to dance. It was much better than she had thought it would be. And James had proved to be a rather talented dancer, as well as a good teacher “ much to everyone’s surprise “ but no one was more shocked than Lily.
Mr. Evans, standing in the sound booth at the back of the theater, waited for James’ hand signal. Once he got it, he pushed a button and the familiar waltz began to play, filling the theater.
“One, two, three,” James counted in time with the music, unable to stand still. He started to sway along to the melody as if he, too, were dancing. Once he saw a mistake, however, James would quickly jump in to fix it, but continued to let the music play on.
“And spin,” James directed under his breath, as the two girls twisted gracefully beneath their partner’s arms. The girl playing the queen was safely returned to the king’s arms, much to James’ satisfaction.
He looked to his right to watch Lily’s spin. Peter moved in the familiar pattern while Lily twirled. He smiled at Lily’s excited face, but his happiness soon turned to disappointment.
Peter had stepped forward a bit too far. And, just as James had anticipated, Lily could not have been able to see this obstacle and tripped over Peter’s misplaced foot. Before James could get to her, Lily had already fallen face first onto the stage, sliding several feet across the surface before she slowed to a stop, groaning.
“Lily.” James was the first to her side. He ran and dropped to his knees before reaching her, causing him to slide across the stage, stopping just beside her. “Are you alright?” he asked frantically, leaning over her with deep concern. “Did you hurt anything?” He lowered his voice and spoke quickly before anyone else could join them. “Are you going to need a Healer?”
Lily quickly shook her head, wincing as she felt multiple bruises forming. “I’ll be fine,” she muttered in a soft voice, hearing her father shut the music off.
She tried to stand on her own, but James did not let her. Instead, he held out a hand and helped her rise carefully onto her feet. “Are you still going to be able to dance?” he asked, wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulders.
“Er “ yeah,” Lily muttered, rubbing her elbow. She checked for open wounds and was immensely relieved when she found none. “I mean “ I can still move and all.”
“Good.” James took in a deep breath and turned back to Peter, instantly returning to his professional manner. He forced himself to hold both of his hands to his side, resisting the urge to rub his temple. “Alright, Peter,” James spoke in a low, firm voice, sounding very tired, “we can’t have this happening during the show.”
“Yeah,” Peter muttered, throwing his hair back with a shake of his head. “I know…”
“Let’s look at this in smaller pieces,” James said calmly, trying his best to explain to Peter what he had done wrong without accusing him of making a mistake. “All you have to do is simply move your feet the exact same way that you’ve been moving them before.” James pointed back at Lily. “She is the only one that changes the footing. Here “ let me show you. Lily?”
Lily snapped back to attention the minute she heard her name. She stopped analyzing her bruises and looked curiously at James. “Yeah?”
“Are you ready to dance?”
Lily’s mouth hung open, looking back and forth between Peter and James. “Now “ oh, uh… Yeah, sure.” She started to walk towards Peter, but was taken by surprise when James held out his own hands and pulled her towards him.
“We’re going to do a box step, and then move into a spin, alright?” James explained what was happening.
“Right,” Lily nodded, memorizing the pattern. She carefully placed her right hand in his and her left hand on his shoulder. And holding back a gasp, Lily was pleasantly surprised when James put his hand just below her shoulder blade and pulled her closer than Peter ever had.
“Mr. Evans?” James shouted over his shoulder to the man in the back. The music flipped on again and the familiar tune played through the speakers set up in all corners of the theater.
“Ready?” James asked, looking down at the girl in his arms with a hint of a smile.
Lily nodded, almost nervous.
Soon, James and Lily were waltzing around on the stage as if it came naturally to them. Within seconds, Lily moved away from James and spun, making her hair fly out several inches off of the back of her neck and spin with her. She soon returned to James’ warm embrace with a grin spread across her face. She hadn’t realized how much fun it was to just dance when you weren’t constantly thinking about which move came next.
“Good,” James whispered softly, almost inaudible to the human ear, but Lily heard him. She was about to thank him for the compliment, but he, instead, abruptly pulled away and turned back to face Peter. “Does everything make sense, now?”
Peter nodded his head in affirmation. He paired back up with Lily and continued to practice the dance steps he had memorized. After a few more stumbles “ but no falls “ the four actors had finished weeding out the problems within their dance routine, and James called up another small group of people.
Lily walked down the stairs and into the audience as several other cast members left their seats to join James onstage. Lily had just collapsed, exhausted, into a chair when she heard a soft hiss in her ear.
“Nice fall, Evans.”
Lily spun in the direction that the noise had come from, but all she saw was the back of Jess Marzoli’s perfectly straight, brown hair, moving away from Lily.
Lily fumed. It hadn’t even been her fault that she had fallen! Lily tripped over Peter’s feet “ but everyone must have thought that it was Lily’s doing!
She sunk into her seat, turning bright red. Apparently, James had not addressed the conflict loud enough for the cast members sitting in the audience to overhear what exactly had happened. And now, with every look Lily received, she slid down further and further into her chair.
The rest of the rehearsal passed in a blur as Lily tried to avoid curious eyes. The only moment she felt at ease was when James criticized nearly every dance move that Jess made onstage. “Tighter frame, Marzoli!” he shouted over the music at her in frustration for what must have been the fifth time that afternoon. “Remember that!”
Lily was more than happy to have finished early that Friday. She quickly gathered up her green bag and started out for the set room where she knew James would be waiting for her. She desperately needed someone to talk to after her miserable rehearsal.
She weaved through the mass of younger children and approached the room off to the side of the stage. Lily poked her head inside, expecting to see James waiting for her at the door.
But James was not at the door of the room.
In fact, James was nowhere to be seen.
That’s odd, Lily thought, frowning as she stepped into the room. She felt her stomach start to flip-flop and wondered if James had forgotten about their meeting after the rehearsal to run lines.
But that’s not like him, Lily thought, almost worried, now. James wouldn’t forget something that we’ve been doing daily for several weeks “ especially when it involves the play. I mean, Lily reasoned trying to calm her nerves, he was just here two minutes ago! I saw him!
“Hey, Jimmy,” Lily said once she noticed the dark, curly hair of the eleven-year-old boy sitting on the ground. He was carefully repairing a broken set piece “ a large chair decorated to look like a royal throne. He looked up at Lily with a wide grin and stared at her intently with his steel-blue eyes.
“Hey there, Lily,” the boy responded, gently setting down the hammer that he was holding onto the floor.
“Have you, by any chance,” Lily asked as casually as she could muster, leaning against the door frame behind her, “seen James around?” She flicked her eyes to the corner of the room where James normally kept his backpack full of materials for the play. It was not there. “Did he leave, already?”
“Uh…” Jimmy mumbled mindlessly, thinking about something entirely different than the conversation that Lily was trying to have with him. He picked at some chipping paint on the leg of the chair with a dirty fingernail, frowning as it easily peeled off. He reached behind him to grab a small can of gold paint to cover the spot, but the paint can was not there. Puzzled, Jimmy finally looked back up at Lily, forgetting the original question. “Sorry?”
Lily could not help but look amused at his absentmindedness. Jimmy was so similar to James when it came to putting all of his time and effort into building a set that it was almost scary. “Did you see James leave?” she repeated herself.
Jimmy nodded, vaguely remembering her asking the question once before. “Yeah, yeah, he did,” he answered after a minute of silence. “He went home,” he muttered, searching high and low for the missing paint can. “I could’ve sworn I put it right here…”
“He did?” Lily choked out, finding it difficult to believe that James would have just left her without explaining where he had gone. Of course, Lily could not find James or any of his belongings “ but she hadn’t actually believed that he had left without so much as a goodbye!
Lily stopped her thoughts, surprised by her reaction. What did it matter if James wanted to leave early? She nearly had every single line perfect, anyway; tons of people were still relying on their script with only one week before the play! It wasn’t like Lily really needed to practice every day anymore… Surely it wouldn’t hurt to take a break for one day. She and James would just practice less than usual. No harm done…
“He told me to tell you,” Jimmy calmly interrupted Lily’s frenzied thoughts with his thick Irish accent after he found the gold can of paint in its proper spot on the shelf, “that you’re supposed to meet him at his house.”
Instant relief flooded over Lily. If she were any happier, she could have sworn that she would have melted directly into the wall behind her. James hadn’t forgotten about her! He wasn’t trying to ditch her!
“His house?” Lily repeated in a wispy voice.
“That’s what he said.” Jimmy shrugged. He finished patching up the paint and started to stand and drag the chair out of the doors and onto the stage with a great deal of effort. By the time he had reached the dark and empty stage, Lily was close on his heels, firing off questions, one directly after the other.
“Why am I supposed to go to his house?” she asked, rather confused.
“Dunno,” Jimmy shrugged. He stepped away from the set piece, analyzing its location onstage compared to the other props. He shook his head and stepped forward, pushing the set piece further towards the back. “I already told you everything that he told me.”
“Didn’t he tell you anything else you might have just “ forgotten?” Lily tried to pry more information from the boy nearly a foot shorter than her. “Maybe he had certain facial expressions!” she suddenly exclaimed. “Did you notice anything out of the ordinary?”
“Besides the fact that he actually left rehearsal on time as opposed to three hours later?” Jimmy asked Lily with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. “No.”
Lily rolled her eyes. She noticed the boy starting to return to the set room. She followed him.
“Well, did he at least say when I was supposed to leave?” Lily asked, stomping her foot in frustration.
Jimmy stopped just before he reached the double doors. Lily watched as he sighed and took in a deep breath before turning around to face her with a smug smile. He leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms, looking more like James’ twin than ever.
“I’d assume he wanted to see you now,” Jimmy said with a shrug. “Besides “ you clearly want to see him.”
Lily froze for an instant, trying to process the Jimmy’s words. “Excuse me?” she asked, squinting curiously at the boy.
“You heard me,” the boy grinned, knowing full well that he was right. “If you love the guy so much, I don’t understand why you don’t just go.” He shook his head and pushed off of the door frame, starting to re-enter the room full of spare set pieces. “Why are you standing around here, asking me stupid questions, when you could already be at James’ house?”
I don’t love James! Lily mentally shouted back. We’re hardly even friends! Besides, I was just curious to figure out what James was doing. And I needed to know when he wanted to see me, of course. Why would I want to show up at James’ house when I didn’t have to?
But Lily didn’t say any of these things. She just shook her head and walked away.
Jimmy Dunne grinned.
The Curtain Call
Chapter Nine: An Unexpected Invitation
Lily stood in the alcove just before James Potter’s front door. She stepped onto their doormat and took in every detail, wondering why, exactly, she was standing there.
She walked past an antique rocking chair sitting in the corner of the porch. We’re just supposed to practice my lines… Lily’s hand hovered directly in front of the door. She hesitated, frowning. Why is he always trying to change our rehearsals! Lily thought sourly, noticing a solid gold doorknocker at eye level on the door. And why does everything have to be a bloody surprise…
Lily stared for a moment at the doorknocker, slightly intrigued. It was a three-inch replica of the head of a lion. Unable to hold herself back, Lily grabbed the doorknocker and knocked three times.
She watched the lion with great interest as a pair of footsteps rushed around behind the door. For an instant, Lily could have sworn the eyes of the lion turned a scarlet color and began to move, as if they were able to see her.
Then the door flew open.
But James was not standing in the doorway.
“Ah, dear.” The dark-haired woman smiled kindly. “There you are.”
Lily immediately recognized this woman as the one that she had met several weeks ago when she had first come to James’ house to apologize.
“Uh “ hello,” Lily stuttered, in awe of the woman’s beauty, despite her age. She started to feel her throat go dry like it had the last time she had seen this woman. “I’m looking for James…?”
Lily stood on her toes, trying to peer over the woman’s shoulder for James, but he was nowhere to be found.
“He’s upstairs,” the woman said with a nod. She reached out and took Lily’s hand, gently pulling her inside and closing the door behind her.
“Oh “ alright, then,” Lily said, clutching onto her green bag. She was suddenly feeling very uncomfortable standing in James’ house “ without James.
The woman started up the steps toward, Lily assumed, James’ bedroom, but stopped when she noticed that Lily was not following.
“Well, come on,” she spoke in her sweet voice. “Aren’t you coming?”
“Oh,” Lily muttered, embarrassed. She had not realized that this woman wanted her to follow her up to James’ room. Quickly, Lily jumped up several steps at a time, now walking directly behind the beautiful woman.
“Right this way.” The woman pointed to the first of many doors in the hallway at the top of the stairs. “In here.”
Lily obediently followed. She watched as the woman turned the handle of the door and pushed it open.
Lily raised an eyebrow.
From what she could see, the entire room was white. The walls, the carpet, the bed, and even the desk and chair in the corner were a spotless, pearly white.
“Come in, dear.” The woman grinned kindly. She took Lily’s hand for the second time and pulled her into the room with a great deal of excitement that she was now having difficulties hiding.
Lily stepped cautiously into the room. She glanced down at her ripped jeans and dirty t-shirt, feeling extremely out of place in this room. She tentatively held up one of her tennis shoes with a broken shoe lace, praying that she had not stepped in any mud before walking into this spotless room.
Lily had no idea what was going on any longer. James was nowhere to be seen in this very large room. She was standing in James Potter’s house, and had yet to see James himself!
“Over here,” a voice behind Lily spoke up. Lily turned and found that she and the dark-haired woman were not the only ones in the room. A short, disheveled-looking woman was standing with one hip jutted out to the side and an impatient look etched permanently onto her face. Behind her was a large, oak wardrobe.
Lily did not respond to the woman. She had no time to. Before she could process what was happening, the dark-haired woman had already pulled Lily toward the shorter woman.
“Uh “ hi,” Lily said softly to the short woman, feeling her face heat up. The woman did not smile back; she merely pointed to a circular stool for Lily to stand on.
The beautiful woman ushered Lily towards the large stool, helping her up with a great smile.
“What a mess,” the short woman muttered under her breath, looking Lily up and down. She circled the stool, making faces and clicking her tongue as she did so. And then, as if in a sudden decision, she immediately started to pull on Lily’s clothing.
Lily clung to her green bag, unnerved by the woman’s behavior. What was she doing? Lily threw a glance over her shoulder at the kind, dark-haired woman to see what her reaction was. She just smiled.
“Let go of this “ horrendous bag,” the short woman croaked with a frown, tugging at the ratty, green bag with a great amount of effort. “It won’t match anything you chose to wear “ give it here!”
Lily’s breathing sped up, finally snatching her bag out of the woman’s grip, and holding it out of reach. “I beg your pardon?” she asked in a louder, much more defensive voice than she had intended. But she was not worried about the volume of her voice; two strange women had taken Lily to a place that she was unfamiliar with, and she was frightened!
“Your gown,” the woman said very quickly, annoyed that Lily seemed to be wasting her time. She took a step forward and managed to slip the old, green bag from Lily’s hands, throwing it carelessly onto the floor behind her. “The bag won’t match.” The short woman stepped onto the platform beside Lily and started to pull Lily’s old t-shirt up, over her head.
“What’s going on?” Lily finally shouted, leaping off of the platform. She tightened the hold she had on her shirt, making sure that it did not leave her stomach. She looked frantically back and forth between the nice woman and the short woman. “Who are you “ and what are you doing?”
The nicer woman stepped forward, looking genuinely concerned; Lily did not back away. “We’re getting you measured for a gown, dear,” she said sweetly. “For the Ministry Ball.”
Lily’s eyes doubled in size, instantly forgetting her fear. “Ministry Ball?” she nearly shrieked at the top of her lungs. She quickly swallowed and blinked several times, letting the statement sink in.
Lily had certainly heard about these so-called Ministry Balls; prominent wizards across the world were invited to the Ministry for one of the largest parties in all of Britain. Only the highest ranking officials in the Ministry of Magic were invited to this annual party. Lily mentally sorted through a list of well-known people in the magical world, including the Minister of Magic himself. She felt her knees begin to shake at the thought. “I’m “ I’m going to a Ministry Ball?”
“Of course,” the woman responded with a smile. She soon frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. “What was it that James told you that you were doing?”
“Well “ nothing,” Lily spluttered, very confused that this was the reason that she had been brought to James’ house. “He just said to meet him here “ that’s all.”
The woman’s mouth formed the shape of an “O”. She pushed Lily back onto the circular stool with a knowing look in her eyes. “To be completely honest with you, dear, I’m quite surprised that you showed up at all when James hardly explained himself. His other friends “ ” she waved her hand, clearly referring to the Marauders “ “ have learned by now that they should get more information before doing what James asks of them.” She leaned in with a smirk and lowered her voice. “But I think he just likes to create an element of surprise.”
“You’d think I’d have learned that by now,” Lily muttered under her breath. She glanced at the woman, wondering if she had heard Lily’s comment. When the dark-haired woman smiled discreetly, Lily realized that she had.
“I’m sorry “ we haven’t been properly introduced.” She held out a hand. “I’m Avelynn “ but everyone calls me Lynn.” She smirked. “I’m James’ mother.”
“Ah.” Lily nodded. She watched with amusement as the smile that spread over the woman’s face nearly replicated James’ trademark grin, confirming her thoughts that this woman was, indeed, James’ mother.
Lily took Mrs. Potter’s hand. “I’m Lily “ Evans.”
“I know,” Mrs. Potter answered softly with a smile. “James already told me all about you.”
This one statement launched thousands of questions in Lily’s mind. All about me? How much is that, exactly? Everything he knows about me? The good characteristics “ or the bad ones?
“And this,” Mrs. Potter introduced, gesturing toward the other woman, “is Madame Biddle. We hired her to make a dress specifically for you.”
Lily’s eyebrows shot up. “Well “ I have plenty at home that I could have brought,” Lily stammered, floored by the generosity. “I can Apparate home right now and grab one.” She moved to step down from the stool.
“No need, dear,” Mrs. Potter assured her, gently resting a hand on Lily’s arm in order to keep her in place on the circular podium. “I insist that we make you a dress.”
“Well “ thank you!” Lily smiled gratefully. She was becoming more and more at ease the longer that she was around James’ mother.
“Certainly,” Mrs. Potter beamed. She suddenly turned professional, squinting at Lily. She leaned down and whispered something into Madame Biddle’s ear and the short woman nodded.
“Alright, undress,” Madame Biddle demanded.
Lily followed their instructions this time. She hesitantly stripped off her jeans and pulled her t-shirt over her head, throwing both onto the floor next to her green bag. She wrapped both of her arms protectively over her chest, shivering at the sudden drop in temperature.
The two women had their backs turned on Lily and were rifling through the oak wardrobe, which Lily now saw was overflowing with many different colors of dress robes.
The longer that the two women stood at the wardrobe, the more self-conscious Lily became about standing half-naked in the center of the room. She threw several looks over her shoulder at the door leading to the hallway before finally raising the question.
“Mrs. Potter?” she asked in a tiny voice. “Did you lock the door?”
“Don’t worry, dear,” she said in a soothing tone without bothering to turn around. “James is in his own room.”
Lily did not ask why Mrs. Potter had assumed it was James that Lily was worried about, but she accepted the answer all the same.
“Here it is.” Madame Biddle sighed in relief once she had found the dress that she was looking for. “It may need to be taken in just a bit around the middle, but it should fit rather well…”
Lily gasped the minute she saw it, forgetting all about the strangeness of the situation that she was in. Within seconds, Lily had managed to slip easily into the dress. She turned around to stare at herself in the mirror.
I love it. Lily instantly grew attached to the dress, almost surprised that she liked it as much as she did. She lifted the lower portion of her dress and twirled, grinning as the fabric spun outward, away from her legs. I’ll do anything to keep this dress.
“Look at the hair,” Mrs. Potter spoke to Madame Biddle pointing up at Lily’s face. “And her eyes… Just look at the combination.”
Lily instinctively felt her hand reach for her auburn hair, tugging at the particularly long strands that curled well past her shoulders. She leaned slightly forward on her stool, trying to look closer into the mirror. She didn’t see anything wrong with the outfit… What were they talking about?
“Yes,” Madame Biddle agreed, nodding. She circled Lily, scowling at every inch of the outfit.
“What “ what is it?” Lily asked frantically. She started turning this way and that, struggling to find the problem. “What’s wrong with it?”
“Wrong?” Mrs. Potter asked, puzzled. Then she smiled and lowered her voice, taking Lily’s free hands up in her own. “No, dear,” she whispered. “Your hair, your eyes “ with the dress “ ” she pointed to each, sighing wistfully. “You look gorgeous.”
*
“Lynn!” Mr. Potter called from the bottom of the stairs. He finished adjusting his tie and shouted again. “We’ll be late if we don’t hurry!”
“We’re coming! Just “ wait!”
Mr. Potter sighed and dropped his head onto his chest, looking defeated. “What is it,” he asked to no one in particular, “with women and clothing?”
“They have to look perfect,” James supplied, meandering down the steps at his own pace. He did not look concerned that he was walking at a slow rate, when he knew that Lily and his mother would spend several more minutes preparing for the Ministry Ball.
“I shouldn’t have let you invite a friend,” Mr. Potter grumbled, starting to shake his head back and forth. “And a girl, at that.”
“Dad,” James immediately tried to cut off his father’s rant. “I already told you that you can’t say things like that to Lily.” He lowered his voice. “I mean “ she’s not a guy, Dad, you can’t just fool around with her “ she’s not a Marauder.”
“Right.” Mr. Potter winked sarcastically at his son. “Marauder “ that secret club of yours…”
James’ face flamed. Secret club? It is most definitely not a secret club…
“Avelynn?” Mr. Potter tried again. “Are you three almost finished up there?”
His wife’s voice rang out through the spacious front hall. “Just give us two minutes, Ben!”
Mr. Potter lazily waved his wand, making two chairs appear in the air. The wooden chairs dropped silently to the floor and the two boys sat still in them for several minutes. James reached up tentatively to touch his hair. He had spent nearly half an hour in his room earlier, trying to get his black hair to lay down flat on his head. Finally resolving to a mixture of water and several weak spells, James had managed to split his hair down the side and smoothed the loose ends. Occasionally a stray piece of hair would pop up, but James would hastily rub his hand over the spot several times, straightening it once more.
The silence droned on. For a minute, Mr. Potter started to tap his foot, listening to the echo bounce off of the walls. Finally, he spoke again.
“Why couldn’t you just bring Sirius?”
“Dad!” James shouted, eyes flashing. He lowered his voice, raising an eyebrow. “Do you have any idea how much damage Sirius could cause at a party like this?” He leaned towards his father. “You have heard Sirius’ latest detention count, haven’t you? You know “ ” James widened his eyes meaningfully “ “ the one he’s so proud of?”
Mr. Potter looked like he was about to throw a tantrum. “But all he would have to do is throw on a simple dress robe that he already owns! Not specially request some designer to make a visit to your house at the last minute so they can rummage through a closet full of clothes that they don’t “ need!”
“Dad, could you just knock it off “ please?” James pleaded with his father. “At least “ please don’t embarrass me tonight, alright?”
Mr. Potter smirked. He looked at his son out of the corner of his eye and nodded. “Yeah, alright, fine.”
“Are you boys ready?”
Mr. Potter eagerly jumped up from his chair at the sound of his wife’s voice. “Oh, you ladies are done? Fantastic “ ready to go, then?”
“No, no, no,” Mrs. Potter quickly chided her husband with a secretive smile. She put both hands to her sparkling, black dress and pulled it up past her ankles, revealing tall, black heels. She started down their front staircase as fast as her shoes could manage. Once she reached the bottom, she dropped the hem of her dress and reached out for her husband’s hand. “Alright!” Mrs. Potter beamed, speaking in a very loud voice. “You can come down now, Lily!”
James stood from his chair at the base of the steps, eager to see Lily’s outfit, but he could not spot her. He heard the door at the top of the steps open and close with a series of soft clicks. But he still could not see Lily.
James shuffled to the side in order to get a better view than his parents had of the top of the steps. And with a sharp gasp, Lily stepped out from the shadows and spotted James, the only person that she could see.
James’ eyes eagerly roamed her body, taking in every detail, following every curve. She was wrapped snugly inside of a cream, sleeveless gown. The bottom of her dress hovered a fraction of an inch above the floor, hiding Lily’s shoes and making it look as if she was walking on air.
Lily started to slowly descend the stairs, taking her time with each step. As she moved, James could just barely spot a glimmer of something on her dress catching in the light. He looked closer at the outfit and could just barely make out the trace of several very small flowers that he never would have seen if she hadn’t have moved underneath the light.
She was blushing furiously.
“Well?” Lily asked with a hesitant smile as she reached James. She carefully flipped her curled hair over her shoulder, revealing a pair of Mrs. Potter’s finest diamond earrings. “How does it look?”
James took her hand and held it high above her head, spinning her slowly around in a circle so that he could examine the other side of the dress. He noticed the back of her gown fall just below her shoulder blades. As Lily turned back around, James eyes followed the fabric, mesmerized, as it trailed beneath her arms and back up to her neck, attached to a decorative collar. This, James realized, was what was holding up the dress.
He looked back up into Lily’s eyes to see that they were wide, eyeing him with curiosity. She was clearly waiting for James’ response.
He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing happened. James cleared his throat, blinking quickly, and swallowed several times; all that came out was a whisper. “You look beautiful, Lily.”
Lily took his stunned expression as a compliment and blushed even further, staring at the floor.
“Now, now, dear, don’t slouch,” Mrs. Potter said softly under her breath, tapping Lily’s bare shoulders.
“Oh, uh “ yes, thank you, Mrs. Potter.” Lily smiled appreciatively, realigning her head to sit directly on top of her spine.
But James wasted no time in sending a meaningful look towards his mother, hinting for her not to bother Lily.
James escorted Lily away from his parents by gently touching the lower portion of her back. His mother rushed around the room to find her purse while his father waited with an impatient tapping toe, giving James plenty of room to speak to Lily before they departed for the Ministry. But as James attempted to speak normally to Lily, just like he had for the past month, he was suddenly finding it increasingly difficult when his mind could no longer concentrate on what to say, and could think of nothing more than what he was seeing. He cleared his throat once more, and tried to talk to Lily as if it were any normal day at Bennett Theater.
“So,” James said with his trademark grin, puffing out his chest proudly. “How do I look?”
“Adorable,” Lily said with a grin, scanning his simple black and white dress robes. She did have to admit that he certainly cleaned up nicer than she ever could have expected.
“Adorable?” James repeated with a look of sheer horror. “I tell you that you’re beautiful, and all I get is adorable?” He stuck his right shoe out in front of her, moving it around so that the light caught the shiny surface and bounced off of it, into their eyes. “I bought new shoes for this thing “ and I’m only adorable?”
Lily giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. “You have beautiful shoes, James,” she said, trying her best to sound completely serious.
“Thank you.”
Lily’s eyes wandered up to James’ hair, smiling. “I never thought it possible…”
“What?” James asked, his eyes widening as he tried to figure out what Lily was talking about.
“Your hair,” she said in a soft, stunned voice, “is actually under control.”
“Oh “ yeah.” James grinned, automatically reaching a hand up to smooth his hair once more, just to be safe. “It took me awhile, but I finally got it to stay put.”
Lily nodded. She then smiled as if she were about to laugh, but spoke instead. “It looks nice,” she agreed, “but if you don’t mind…” Slowly, she reached a hand up to his hair and ran her fingers through it, making his black hair return to its natural state, falling wherever it pleased. She slowly pulled her hand away and looked back into James’ eyes, as if unsure whether or not she had done the right thing. “I think I like it better this way.”
James smiled.
“Are you lot ready to go, yet?”
“Relax, Ben,” Mrs. Potter said in a soft voice, hitting him lightly on the arm. She started digging through her purse, looking for an invitation. “You know that there’s going to be a line to get inside anyway; we might as well show up late “ aha!” James’ mother held up the invitation between her two long fingernails, grinning. “I knew it was in here somewhere!”
“Alright “ now can we go?” Mr. Potter said, checking the time on his watch.
Mrs. Potter glanced at the two teenagers and made a show of rolling her eyes at her husband’s persistence to arrive at the Ministry Ball on time, but went along with her husband’s request anyway. “Fine,” she cooed, cuddling up next to him. “Let’s go.”
Before Lily had gotten a chance to wonder why James’ mother was standing so close to her husband “ instead of walking out of the front door “ the couple Disapparated with a pop.
Lily almost jumped backwards into James, startled. Apparating was a completely normal thing in the wizarding world, and she now felt extremely foolish to not have been expecting it.
“You alright, there?” James asked with a smile and a soft chuckle. She had stepped on his foot without realizing it. James squinted his eyes as his smile spread even further. “Were you scared?”
“Not scared,” Lily muttered, rather embarrassed now. “Just surprised. That’s all.” She quickly tried to get them off of the topic. “Are we going or not?”
James stopped making fun of Lily, but kept his smile firmly in place. He snaked his left arm around Lily’s waist and pulled lightly, urging her to stand closer to him. And without any hesitance, she pressed herself into James’ chest and wrapped her arms around his middle.
For a moment, Lily felt at peace with the world, completely relaxed. She wished that nothing could interrupt them. She even let out an inaudible sigh and closed her eyes.
She found that she was so at ease in James’ arms, that she was inches from laying her head down on James’ shoulder, but the instant Lily’s eyes flickered open again, she realized, all too soon, that they had already Apparated.
“Lily?” James asked in a soft voice that only Lily could hear. “We’re here, now.”
“Right.” Lily nodded. She quickly pushed away from James, and scanned the area that they were standing in with her arms folded protectively across her chest. With two feet of distance put between them, she asked, “Are we inside the Ministry?”
“Yep,” James said with a nod. He threw a sidelong glance at Lily and then looked forward again, pointing towards a long line winding outside of a very large doorway. “That’s where we’re going.”
“James “ honey, we’re over here!” Mrs. Potter beamed, waving her hand a bit overenthusiastically. Lily noticed a woman with a dress made entirely of multi-colored feathers standing behind Mr. and Mrs. Potter in line, trying to move her head from side to side in an attempt to dodge Mrs. Potter’s hand. Her large, cone-shaped hat, also made of the same, colorful feathers, started to tip to the side as she moved her head away from the Potters a bit too quickly. She lifted her hands to her hat and properly adjusted it, glaring at James and Lily, as if it were their fault.
James turned toward Lily and noticed a smile growing on her face. “I believe,” James said in a soft, amused tone, “that my mother is calling me…” He gazed down into Lily’s glowing expression and slowly extended his hand toward her. “Shall we?”
She took his hand.
“I was worried you might have Apparated to the wrong spot,” Mrs. Potter said, speaking in a fast, hushed tone as James and Lily approached them at the back of the long line. “I mean “ you’ve only had your license for so long…” James’ mother stepped out of the line, towards the teenagers, and, in the process, accidentally knocked into the feathered woman behind her.
“Oh “ I’m terribly sorry,” Mrs. Potter apologized as two red and three green feathers floated to the ground and the woman’s large hat was knocked askew once again. Mrs. Potter’s attention, however, did not stray from Lily and James for long; she immediately turned back to Lily and started to rearrange her hair, brushing it over her shoulders just so, and then checking to make sure that no strands of hair were sticking out.
“Absolutely breathtaking, dear,” Mrs. Potter beamed, putting her hands firmly on Lily’s shoulders and looking into her sparkling, green eyes. She smiled and hugged Lily, closing her eyes. “Oh, I wish I had a daughter of my own.” She sighed. And then, opening her eyes, she noticed James, standing awkwardly behind Lily with his hands stuffed into his pockets.
“James Winston,” Mrs. Potter scolded him, pulling out of her hug with Lily. James started to turn very red at the mention of his middle name. “I thought you had fixed your hair “ what happened to it?”
“Oh…” He blushed even further, smirking discreetly at Lily. “It didn’t stick.” He shrugged casually, joining his father in the long line as it started to move forward. “I tried my best, Mum.”
“Tried your best…” His mother pursed her lips and shook her head. “Somehow I doubt that.”
James could not hide his smile. And, surprisingly, neither could his mother. Their happiness was contagious.
Stepping into the line, Lily stood beside James, directly behind his parents. She started to grin slyly.
“Winston?”
“Don’t you ever tell Sirius,” James hissed, holding up a finger warningly. Lily started to laugh at his serious look.
“Why not?” she teased him with a lofty voice and a smile. “I think the name Winston is adorable.”
Even James could not help but crack a smile.
The line started to move again, and James leaned over to speak into Lily’s ear.
“Don’t look now,” he whispered, “but the woman behind us is the French Minister of Magic.”
Lily was sorely tempted to turn and look over her shoulders that very second, but was held back by James’ previous comment. “That woman covered in feathers?” she whispered back.
James nodded with a broad grin. He bit his lip, trying very hard not to laugh at Lily’s choice of words. “That’s the one,” he confirmed. “She’s always wearing something a little “ extreme.”
“Always?” Lily repeated, interested. “How many years, exactly, have you come to the Ministry Ball?”
James’ eyes fell to the floor and he started to think. “Five or six years, I think.” He shrugged. “Right after my dad was promoted to the head of his department, we started to get invitations. And two years ago,” James added, “my mum became one of the head Healers at St. Mungo’s, so she started to get invitations, as well. Of course, she had already been going because my dad brought her, you know “ but it’s a great honor to be invited, just the same.”
Lily nodded, smiling at James’ words. Unlike most kids, he sounded proud of his parents and their accomplishments; Lily was reminded of several weeks ago when James had confessed to her that he wanted to be just like his dad someday.
“Sometimes I wish my parents were magical,” Lily said with a small, wistful sigh. “I’ve always wondered how different my life would have been if I had grown up with magic, instead of just being thrown in without any advance warning.”
“But isn’t it more of an adventure?” James asked, his eyes lighting up. He started to frown as he thought through his words. “Honestly,” he admitted truthfully, “what I’ve always wondered is what it would have been like to be a Muggle-born.”
“Really?” Lily was shocked. She never would have guessed that James would want anything but the pureblood life that he had grown up with.
“Oh, yeah, sure,” he said as if it were obvious. “I mean “ come on.” He lowered his voice so that his parents couldn’t overhear his conversation with Lily. “How many times, when you were a child, did you ever wish that something big would happen that would change your life?” He held up a hand, gesturing around the Ministry of Magic. “Such as finding out that you’re magical?”
Lily looked away and grinned. She had always dreamed of having an unpredictable future; she knew exactly what he was talking about.
“Growing up in a wizard family,” James explained, “I’ve always known that I would go to Hogwarts. There wasn’t this big secret about the magical world that was revealed to me like there was for you.” He started to kick absentmindedly at the tile floor, looking like he was deep in thought. He then looked back up at Lily with a grin. “I bet it was amazing.”
Lily studied James’ face. She had thought that she had seen every side of James by now, but, as was his custom, he had surprised her and revealed yet another side that Lily had never expected. “It was,” Lily nodded, answering James’ question. “A shocker, of course,” she added with a smile, “but a dream come true, all the same.”
“Lily “ you’ll need your wand out soon.”
Lily jumped, startled at the sound of a voice other than James’. She had isolated her conversation with James from the rest of the room and had almost forgotten where they were about to go.
“Safety precaution,” James muttered to Lily underneath his breath. “Considering the most important people are going into the next room, the Ministry doesn’t exactly want just anyone to walk in, right?”
“Yeah “ right,” Lily said with a nod, feeling stupid that she had not thought of this herself. Of course there would be some sort of boundary that they had to get past before entering the Ministry Ball.
Mr. Potter was the first in their group to reach the doors. He handed over his wand and their invitation to a very large man. The man turned to a thin, metal platform, hovering just beside him in the middle of the air. He delicately placed the wand into a small groove, cut to hold the wand in one spot so that it would not roll off of the floating platform. The minute he removed his hand, a green light started to glow around it, as if it were scanning the wand.
After several silent seconds, the glowing light disappeared and the large man at the door handed the wand back to James’ father, nodding.
“Good evening, Mr. Potter,” he said with a pleasant smile. “It’s just through these doors and down the hallway to your right.”
“Thank you.” Mr. Potter nodded appreciatively. He stepped aside momentarily, waiting for his wife to go through the same process.
“Mrs. Potter,” the large man said, smiling again. He repeated his directions to get to the desired room, and James’ parents took off, waving over their shoulders at James and Lily.
“Ma’am?” the large man spoke, holding out his hand for Lily’s wand.
Lily hesitantly handed it over. This man could read her wand with that machine! He knew the Potters’ names, and Lily was certain that it wasn’t because this man had met them before; this device that he was using to read their wands must have had some way to recognize the owner of the wand.
A horrible thought made Lily sweat. What if I can’t go in? I’m not a Potter, after all “ this man will know that after he reads my wand. But I don’t want to be kicked out! What do I do then? I can’t make James stay with “
“Thank you, Miss Evans,” the man interrupted her thoughts with a smile. “Through the doors and down the hallway to the right.”
“Oh “ thank you,” Lily mumbled, blushing. Once again, she had gotten herself worked up for nothing. Lily graciously accepted her wand, stuffing it into a small pocket within the folds of her dress, unnoticeable to others.
She stepped through the doors and walked into the thin, dimly lit hallway, waiting patiently for James. She spent several seconds smoothing out her dress and realigning her posture so that her head was held as tall and confident as she could manage “ just like Mrs. Potter had told her.
Lily was feeling much more self-conscious, now. She was about to be in the presence of the top witches and wizards of the century! She shuddered at the thought of making the smallest error, embarrassing herself in front of, not only, the most powerful people in the world, but James.
A hand pressed into the middle of her back; Lily jumped.
“Ready to go?” James asked with his trademark grin. He started to usher Lily down the hallway “ in the same direction that the man had told them to go “ but Lily stopped, digging her heels into the floor.
“No,” she whispered urgently. Lily wobbled dangerously on her high heels as her knees started to shake nervously. She clung to both of James’ forearms, facing him straight-on with a terrified look in her eyes.
“No?” James repeated, stunned. “What do you mean ‘no’?”
“I mean I - ”
Lily broke off at the sound of footsteps. She peeked around James and found that the French Minister of Magic had already passed through the inspection and was headed their way. Lily gently touched James’ shoulder, motioning for them to move to the side of the hallway, letting the woman brush past. Pressing herself up against the wall, Lily smiled shyly at the domineering woman and a small man trailing behind her. However, the feathered woman merely swept past them without so much as a nod of acknowledgment. She walked briskly to the end of the hall and into a lit room while the small man struggled to keep up with the woman’s long strides.
Once they were out of earshot, Lily started up again.
“What if I do something wrong?” she whispered frantically, maintaining a strong hold on James’ arms. Her intense, green eyes revealed Lily to be much more flustered than she normally appeared to be. “I haven’t been to these parties as often as you have! I don’t know anything more than what I’ve been told today. And given your need to keep everything a secret,” Lily added, sticking an accusatory finger into James’ chest, “that’s not much!”
“Lily, just - ”
Lily cleared her throat pointedly. James glanced over his shoulder, noticing a silent couple glide gracefully through their hallway.
“How do you do?” the sophisticated man spoke with a very heavy German accent as they passed, forcing a smile on his face at the two teenagers that appeared to be up to no good.
“Fine, thanks,” James mumbled, trying, but failing, to remember the man’s name. Once the man stepped out of the hallway and into the room at the end of the corridor, James waited for Lily’s eyes to swing back to his before he continued speaking.
“Don’t be afraid,” he assured her. “I’ve seen more adults at these parties make fools of themselves more than Sirius ever has.”
Lily seriously doubted this information, but felt calmed by it nonetheless.
She waited once more for a family of four to walk past them, uncomfortably aware that they had broken up a conversation.
“Trust me,” James cut in before Lily could retaliate. He held the palm of his hand face up, waiting for Lily to grasp it. “I promise “ I’d never let you be embarrassed.”
With a skip of her heart, Lily took James’ hand and willingly placed all of her trust in him.
Before another group had a chance to pass Lily and James, they walked down the dimly lit hallway and made it to their final destination.
Lily seemed surprised by the room that they were now standing in; it was not a ballroom, like she had been expecting. There were only two men dressed in formal black and white dress robes instead of several hundred Ministry officials, socializing. It looked like it was another waiting room.
“Names,” a scratchy voice squawked into their ears upon arrival.
“James Potter and Lily Evans,” James stated, sounding as if he had rehearsed this once before.
The man scribbled something down onto a piece of paper without looking up and asked, “Miss or Missis?”
“Miss,” Lily corrected the man much more quickly than she had intended to. “I mean “ we’re not married. Just friends.”
The man did not care. He just handed the slip of paper to James and told him to deliver it to another man at the top of the staircase.
“Staircase?” Lily asked softly after they stepped far enough away. “There aren’t any stairs in this room…”
James simply smiled.
He led them to a different doorway on the opposite end of the room; it was the only other location in the room that they had not already gone.
The other man was here, dressed in the same, uniform robe. He grinned at them and held out his hand for the sheet of paper, accepting it.
Just after giving away the paper, James held out his arm for Lily. She gently placed her hand on top of his in a ladylike manner, and then promptly began to blush, having never been this formal with anyone before.
They stepped through the doorway, and Lily suddenly realized that they were standing at the top of a grand staircase “ the very one that the man had told them to go to. Lily gasped, letting her lips part slightly, in awe of the scene that she could see below them.
Hundreds of people were gathered at the bottom of the steps, pleasantly conversing with one another. Several of the more outspoken in the bunch laughed boisterously at a joke they made or enthusiastically waved their glasses around as the sweet, dulcet tones of a small orchestra in the corner of the room easily played over the noise.
Lily felt her insides clench; she was having second thoughts, again. So many people were watching them, just waiting for them to descend the stairs, nearly two stories up from the ballroom floor. What if she tripped? What if she stepped on the hem of her beautiful dress and broke every bone in her body after falling down this extravagant, marble staircase?
Lily took a step backwards without realizing that she had done it. It wasn’t until James spoke up that she knew he could sense her discomfort.
“Don’t worry,” James reassured her, knowing exactly what she was thinking, having gone through the same doubts at his first Ministry Ball. He put his free hand on top of hers, meeting her eyes with his own.
“Trust me, Lily.”
Lily nodded, wanting to hold his gaze for days. For a moment, she almost thought that she would, but James broke away, looking out at the crowd of people with a small smile.
Lily took a deep breath, holding her head high and trying to appear confident, just like Mrs. Potter had taught her.
James stepped forward to the topmost stair with Lily attached firmly to his arm. She felt a sudden calmness come over her, realizing that, even if she had managed to lose her footing or accidentally tripped on her dress, James would not let her fall.
All of the faces below them looked up expectantly, waiting for something to happen.
Lily heard that something. A loud voice behind them spoke with a great, majestic boom, filling the ballroom with the sound from floor to ceiling. Lily realized that it must have been the man that they had given the slip of paper to; he was using a Sonorus spell to increase the volume of his voice for all to hear.
“Mr. James Potter, accompanied by Miss Lily Evans.”
Lily felt her heart start pounding twice as fast at the mention of her name. Though James showed no sign of having any nerves, Lily could have sworn her fingers felt the pulse at his wrist steadily increase.
The crowd “ if they had not all been watching by now “ gazed up at them and started to applaud, nearly equally as loud as the man’s voice had been when announcing their names to the entire room.
Lily started to relax. She did not feel scared or nervous any longer. James had glanced over in her direction and gave Lily a small, reassuring smile that was meant for only her to see; it belonged to no one but Lily and Lily alone.
Her insides melted.
For the first time since the start of the play, Lily actually knew what it felt like to be a princess.
The Curtain Call
Chapter Ten: The Ministry Ball
Lily’s foot reached the final stair and she sighed with relief. She had not tripped, nor had she found any other way to make a fool of herself while descending the staircase into the ballroom.
“There, you are!” Mrs. Potter rushed over to them. She looked relieved to see the pair. “We were starting to get worried when you didn’t show up right after us!”
“We?” Mr. Potter spoke up, sliding in beside his wife. He paused for a moment to politely clap as a large man and his two children walked down the grand staircase. “I wasn’t worried,” Mr. Potter continued. “You were the one that was nervous!”
Mrs. Potter rolled her eyes, swatting her husband discreetly on the arm. “Alright, fine,” she agreed. “I may have been the one that was nervous “ but all the same,” the woman added curiously, “why were you behind?”
“I, uh “ was trying to fix my hair,” James quickly intervened before Lily could speak, pointing at his messy, black hair. He smiled secretly at Lily, and then added, for his parents benefit, “It just won’t stay flat “ sorry, Mum.”
“Well “ at least you tried,” his mother mumbled with a frown. Lily watched Mrs. Potters’ hand twitch at her side, as if she were about to reach up and try to fix her son’s hair herself, but must have thought better of it and stopped.
“We’re going to get some drinks,” James told his mother as the crowd of people at the bottom of the steps started to clap again for a woman and her son.
“Alright “ we’ll see you later,” Mr. Potter muttered distractedly, clearly directing his attention elsewhere. It wasn’t long, however, before he shouted, “John! Long time, no see!” and hurried his wife to the opposite end of the room to greet a coworker.
“Sorry,” James apologized under his breath once they had escaped the throng of people congregating at the bottom of the staircase. They walked across the empty, ballroom floor, Lily’s heels clicking with each step, and reached a long table pushed up against the wall. It was filled with many different wine glasses and a random assortment of drinks. “I didn’t mean for my parents to ask you so many questions.”
“It’s no problem,” Lily truthfully told James. “I think they’re great; I don’t mind.”
James shook his head, smirking. “You’re being nice.” He chuckled, reaching for an orange-colored glass. “When you get to know them, you won’t think that. They’ll eventually get on your nerves…”
Lily doubted that, but laughed with him anyway. She now scanned the different colors that filled the wine glasses. She noticed a bright, green-colored drink sitting at the back of the table. Feeling somewhat attracted to the color, she reached for it.
“Lily “ no!”
James snatched Lily’s hand away from the glass, just before she had been about to touch it.
“What is it?” Lily asked, sounding very scared. She was only going to pick up a glass “ was there a rule against it?
James silently pulled Lily’s hand back from the table, holding it a safe distance away. Then he let out a relieved sigh. “Don’t take the green ones,” he informed her in a very serious sounding voice. “An alarm goes off if you pick up one of the alcoholic beverages when you’re underage.”
Lily blinked several times. She looked around the table, trying to find a sign, possibly one that was color coded and explained what each drink was, but found nothing.
“Trust me on this one, Lily.” James lowered his voice with a hint of a smile appearing on his lips. “You don’t want to take the green drink.”
She then noticed the orange drink in James’ hand. Pointing to it, she asked, “Then what’s that?”
James looked at the liquid in the glass, turned back to Lily, and shrugged. “Dunno,” he said, smoothly swishing the liquid around in circles in the glass. “But I can tell you that I tried to take that green drink the first year dad brought us, and the alarm went off.” James shuddered, as if reliving this memory. “Then Mum just handed me the orange drink and told me that I was only allowed to have that one.”
“Ah…” Lily nodded her head, smiling at this story. She turned back to the table and was about to reach out for the same, orange-colored drink, but noticed, with a blush, that James’ hand, for the past several minutes, was still attached to hers.
Making up her mind, Lily picked up the orange drink with her free hand, and held onto James’ hand even tighter than before.
“James Potter.”
Lily watched as James closed his eyes, clearly not wanting to look behind him at the owner of the voice. Lily noticed his look of annoyance and hid her giggle.
“Henry…” With, what seemed like, a great amount of effort, James finally turned around, dropping Lily’s hand and forcing a smile on his face. “How are you?”
“I’m fine, James.” Lily now had a chance to see the boy that had interrupted them. He was very tall with broad shoulders, filling out his extremely formal dress robes rather nicely. This, however, made the entire scene a very comic moment when he opened his mouth and spoke with a squeaky, haughty voice. His dark hair was slicked back, giving it the appearance that it had not been washed for days.
His dark, beady eyes were glued to Lily, eyeing her outfit. “Excuse my manners,” he spoke in a soft voice. “My name is Henry Atherton.” He bowed slowly, keeping his eyes on Lily’s. He reminded her, vaguely, of someone approaching a Hippogriff; his eyes were unblinking and did not stray from hers. Although, Lily mused, a hippogriff might have liked this attention.
Lily did not.
“Uh “ hello,” Lily mumbled awkwardly, shuffling closer to James. “Nice to meet you.” She reached for the protection of James’ hand again, but Henry was quicker, snatching up her hand and holding it forcefully to his lips, kissing it.
“Believe me.” Henry stood up to his full height. “The pleasure is mine.”
James glared at the tall boy. He looked as if he was very tempted to curse the boy into oblivion, but quickly decided against it, resolving to mutter a soft, “Slimy git,” instead.
Lily heard it and giggled.
“You have a very lovely laugh,” Henry complimented her, completely unaware that her laugh had been at his expense.
“I “ well “ thanks,” Lily stammered, not sure how to respond to this comment. “I guess “ well, I’ve had it my whole life…”
Henry threw back his head and laughed very loudly. Lily blushed, worried that people were now staring at the three of them.
“I didn’t know that you were funny, also!” He continued chuckling, holding his stomach as if it were the funniest thing he had ever heard. “You must tell me.” Henry stopped his laughter abruptly. “What is your name?”
“I’m Lily,” she said in a soft voice. Finally, Lily found James’ hand and immediately slid her fingers through his and clenched onto his hand for dear life.
James smiled.
“I assume you attend Hogwarts, Lily,” Henry babbled on, ignoring their interlocked hands. “With James?”
“Yeah “ I do,” Lily confirmed with a nod.
“My father is good friends with the Beauxbatons headmaster,” Henry boasted proudly, puffing out his chest slightly more than he had been doing before. “I was able to attend school in France instead of at Hogwarts.” He said their school’s name with disgust, making a face.
“Oh, really?” Lily asked, highly relieved that the boy did not attend their school. “You know French, then?” she challenged.
“I do,” Henry answered, trying “ but failing “ to smile coyly. He took one step closer to her and, fluently, whispered, “Vous êtes belle.”
Lily knocked into the table of wine glasses behind her in her attempt to escape from Henry’s advances. The glasses clanged together loudly as they hit each other and fell to the side, allowing the colorful liquids to blend together and soak through the spotless, white table cloth.
“Pretty,” Lily mumbled with a hesitant smile, trying to avoid any and all eye contact with Henry. She slowly started to inch behind James, wishing she could disappear entirely.
“It means ‘you are beautiful’,” Henry quickly translated, wearing a rather disturbing grin. He didn’t seem to notice Lily’s discomfort with the situation.
“I’m sure,” Lily responded absentmindedly, frantically searching for a way out of this situation. Nearly half of her body was hidden behind James, peeking around his large shoulders.
“Well,” James finally spoke up, tugging reassuringly at Lily’s hand. “As much fun as this has been to catch up with you, Henry “ ” James started to walk away “ “ I must introduce Lily to another friend I see, now.” He waved quickly and then shot across the room in a fast walk, dragging Lily across the floor behind him.
“Goodbye, Lily!” Henry called, making a big show of bowing to her as they made their fast getaway.
James rolled his eyes in return and plunged into a crowd of people. He pushed his way through the center of the group and slipped out on the opposite side of the room, far from Henry.
“What a pain,” James groaned as they reached a wall just beyond the crowd of people. He fell against it, exhausted and shaking his head. “He’s never been fun to be around.”
Lily giggled at the comment.
Slowly, James’ eyes followed Lily as she moved to lean against the wall beside him.
“Believe it or not, he has been this annoying since the first day I met him.” James gave a quick explanation. “Always wants to impress people and try to show everyone how bloody important he is…”
Lily nodded in agreement. “I figured that out.”
James took several breaths before saying, “I think he liked you.”
“Well…” Lily stood up from the wall with a smile and spun around once in her dress, making the bottom of the fabric fly out and gracefully swirl around her. “Who can resist me in a dress like this?”
James dropped his smile and swallowed.
He quickly pushed off of the wall and stepped forward, catching Lily’s hand and stopping her in mid-spin. Once she noticed the serious look on James’ face, she immediately stopped fooling around.
“You know “ ” James spoke in a softer tone that he had never used with her before “ “ Henry was right.”
Lily frowned. “About what?” she asked.
“When he said you looked beautiful,” James answered bravely. His eyes did not stray from hers.
Lily felt her face heat up and her heart race. She had not reacted this way when Henry said it.
She opened her mouth to respond, but a girlish voice squealed, “James “ is that really you?”
James quickly pulled away from Lily, looking as if he had been caught in the act of stealing something. He then noticed the owner of the voice that had interrupted him. He stared at the short, thin girl, grinning in front of him. Immediately, he processed who the person was and swept her up in a giant bear hug.
“I can’t believe how much you’ve grown!” the girl shrieked. She squeezed his biceps and nodded approvingly with a smile crossing her face. “I see Quidditch has been good to you.”
“Yeah, it has,” James admitted with a grin. “And you don’t look too bad yourself,” he added, pointing at her curly, blonde hair.
The girl smiled, running her fingers through her bouncing curls. “I changed it just before I went to Malaysia,” she informed him matter-of-factly.
“Malaysia,” James repeated, awestruck. “Really? I thought you went to Australia.”
“No, that was ages ago. After I finished that year abroad, I’ve been to all sorts of countries,” the blonde girl explained, gently touching James on the arm every time she said something new. “Hence the reason I haven’t made it to the past few Ministry Balls,” she explained, keeping her hand on James’ arm much longer than she should have.
Lily felt her face heat up at every single word and gesture that the girl made.
She was starting to dislike this girl.
“Of course, yeah.” James nodded, grinning. At the pause in their constant flow of conversation, he turned to point to Lily. “Corinne, this is my friend, Lily.”
Lily leaned forward to shake hands with the short girl, forcing herself to smile. As the blonde shifted her tall, thin wine glass from her right hand to her left, Lily noticed that she was carrying a green drink. A small flash of something shiny caught her eye and Lily saw that one of the girl’s fingers was encircled by a small, wedding ring.
Lily instantly warmed up to her.
“Nice to meet you,” Corinne spoke up enthusiastically with a broad grin, shaking Lily’s hand firmly.
“This “ ” James pointed back at Corinne “ “ is the reason I never went insane at these Ministry Balls when I was younger.”
Corinne laughed, shaking her head. “I was such a brat in those days…” She trailed off, looking around at the walls, apparently remembering past memories. She turned back to Lily and spoke in a soft voice, as if sharing a secret. “You see, there was this boy, Henry, that James and I would - ”
“I already met him,” Lily cut in, making a disgusted face at Henry’s name
“He tried to impress Lily no more than five minutes ago,” James informed his friend with a raised eyebrow. “And of course, I, playing the hero, had to save her from his torment.”
“Good for you, James!” Corinne laughed, throwing back her head as she did so. “I just hope he didn’t scare you too much,” she added, directing this comment towards Lily.
“He scared me enough to learn that I shouldn’t go back anytime soon,” Lily retorted.
Corinne chuckled. “James and I played tons of tricks on him in the past.” She started to talk in a very fast, gossip-like tone. “This one time, we put an exploding snap in his drink!” Corinne started to laugh hysterically, splashing part of her green drink out of her glass. “It was James’ idea, of course,” she hiccupped, “but I supplied him with the materials.”
Lily smiled. James had accomplished much greater pranks at Hogwarts, so she was not surprised by this minor incident; merely amused.
Just as Corinne had started to mention another trick that they had once played on Henry, James interrupted their conversation, gently placing his hand on the lower portion of Lily’s back as he did so.
Lily shivered, feeling a smile grow on her face.
“If you’ll excuse me, ladies,” he spoke with a gentle voice. He set down his Pumpkin juice on an open table beside him and quickly disappeared into the crowd.
“Well, that was odd,” Corinne stated in a louder voice than she had intended. “He’s never just walked away on his own, before; he usually wants company in case he runs into Henry!” Corinne waved her arms around in big circles, sloshing more of her drink onto the floor in the process.
“I guess that is odd,” Lily mumbled, her eyes trailing after James until she could no longer see him. She, however, found it much more intriguing than odd.
“But enough about James and I,” Corinne boomed loudly, looping her arm through Lily’s elbow and pulling her towards a pair of chairs seated around a circular table. She flopped into one seat and leaned forward as Lily gently lowered herself across from the eccentric woman. “I want to hear about you and James!”
Lily smiled politely. “Well, we’re in the same year at Hogwarts,” she started with a shrug. “Both in Gryffindor, I guess.”
“Not that sort of drabble,” Corinne scoffed, waving her hand in Lily’s face. “I’m talking about you and James.” She lowered her voice, wiggling her eyebrows at her last words. “You know “ the type of stuff that James won’t ever tell me, and what you won’t mention when he’s hanging around.”
Lily flushed, shaking her head and looking down into her lap where her hands were folded, one over the other. “Oh “ there’s nothing going on between us,” Lily corrected the woman. “Common misconception, though.”
“‘Common misconception’.” Corinne rolled her eyes at the words. “Like hell there’s nothing going on.”
Lily turned a deeper shade of red, highly embarrassed. She looked over her shoulder to make sure that James wasn’t standing anywhere nearby. “We’re only friends.”
Corinne enthusiastically set down her wine glass on the table with a loud thud and turned back to Lily. “I may have been out of the country for a few years,” she commented with a smirk, “but I’m not foreign.” Corinne jerked her head over her shoulder, gesturing in the direction that James had disappeared. “I don’t have to be around much to notice the looks he’s giving you.”
Lily was moments from protesting that there were no such looks, but curiosity got the better of her. Slowly, she bit her lip and leaned forward, interested. “What looks?”
Corinne grinned. “I don’t think you realize just how many times James was staring at you in the past five minutes,” she stated with an air of simplicity. “And trust me “ ” Corinne pointed at Lily’s outfit “ “ it’s not just the dress he’s eyeing. It’s you.”
For a moment, Lily clung desperately to these words. Her heart lifted and her stomach flipped, but she quickly shook herself from her temporary daydream.
“Impossible,” Lily told the woman, sitting back in her chair. “We hardly even like each other as friends. Why would we be anything more?” Lily searched every inch of her mind to find the right words. “He doesn’t even like me!”
Corinne crossed her legs. She picked up her wine glass and downed the remaining contents in the blink of an eye, smiling at Lily’s confused stare. “Trust me.” Corinne leaned forward, across the table. “He likes you.”
Lily didn’t have a chance to dwell on these words any longer. Before she could say anything more, a faint melody floated to her ears.
It was the song from the play! This was the very song that James had taught her to dance to!
A slow smile crept onto her face. She closed her eyes and slowly started to rock back and forth in her chair, humming the melody. She looked as if she would be content listening to this song for the rest of the night.
Lily opened her eyes as she felt a soft tap on her shoulder. Expecting it to be Corinne, asking about Lily’s odd behavior, Lily quickly opened her eyes. However, when she looked up, her eyes were locked with a pair of hazel ones.
It was James.
“Lily…” James held out his hand, palm up, for her to accept. “May I have this dance?”
Lily’s throat instantly went dry. She didn’t know what to say. Her eyes went to Corinne who was waving her fingers playfully back at Lily with a wide grin.
“Yes,” Lily finally managed to say, placing her hand within James’. “Of course.”
Lily stood from her chair, allowing herself to be pulled along, no longer caring where he was taking her. James pushed through several people, making their way to the front of the crowd. It wasn’t until he had started to walk onto the dance floor that Lily regained her wits.
“James,” she hissed, pulling her hand away and falling back into the crowd of people. “No one else is dancing!”
James took her hand again and pulled her back into the center of the room, smiling. “But someone has to start, don’t they?”
“Well, yes,” Lily fired back, “but it doesn’t have to be us!”
She pulled her hand free once more, but James was too fast. He grabbed both of her hands, this time, and pulled her even further onto the floor than he had before. “It’s no different than dancing in front of hundreds of people in a theater,” James calmly explained to her, as if he had been expecting this reaction. “Right?”
Lily swallowed, very nervous. “Well “ right,” she mumbled, her heart rate steadily increasing by the second. Her legs grew shaky as the sound of her shoes, clicking loudly on the ballroom floor beneath her, filled the entire room.
“And I told you,” James continued, lowering his voice as they reached the middle of the dance floor, “that I would never do anything to embarrass you.” He stopped walking and just stood there, less than a foot away from Lily. “Right?”
All thoughts escaped her. They were being drowned out by James’ soothing words. With a sigh, Lily nodded, whispering, “Right.”
James smiled.
Before Lily had another chance to back out, James took her right hand in his left one and held it high in the air, even with their shoulders. He then placed his other hand on her bare back just beneath her shoulder blade, sending shivers down her spine.
He pulled her close, leaving hardly any space open between them, and took off, spinning gracefully around the ballroom.
Lily mirrored the same motions that James had taught them during their play practice. She concentrated on counting the beat in her head, praying that she wouldn’t mess up with so many people watching them.
In the middle of watching her feet, Lily felt James shift his hands and pull away ever so slightly. She instantly panicked, losing her focus and feeling like she could not carry on without James’ warmth.
Soon, he had pushed away from Lily entirely, and she realized that he was not trying to stop their dance; he was sending her spinning beneath his arm “ a change in the normal stage choreography. She stumbled, almost unnoticeably, but regained control as quickly as she had lost it.
James smiled and leaned down to her ears and whispered.
“Just dance.”
Lily smiled, swearing she could feel her hair stand on end once the warmth of James’ breath heated the back of her neck.
She didn’t need to ask what he was talking about. She had been worrying about precision and getting every dance step exact. James just wanted her to move to the music without thinking about the mechanics; she should experience it the way that it happened in the present, not plan ahead for the future.
Lily hesitantly closed her eyes while still gliding around in circles on the dance floor. Her feet knew, automatically, where to move; she didn’t need to see where she was going, she only needed to hear the music. Lily memorized the song and hummed along with every note strummed by the violins, keeping in stride with James’ expert dance steps.
Lily fixed this moment in her mind, wishing her memory would never fade; she never wanted to leave James’ arms ever again. It was much safer than she had ever dreamt it would be, to feel carefree and act impulsively without thinking about any consequences “ but yet, it was almost like the new person that had replaced Lily felt completely normal and at ease, like she had nothing to fear.
She wanted to stay like this forever.
James must have noticed her closed eyes, because he leaned down and whispered again.
“Look around, Lily.”
They were no longer alone. Several other couples had been swept up by the song and had, now, joined Lily and James, whirling around the dance floor.
Lily nearly stopped dancing, she was so surprised. A slight pressure on her back from James’ hand reminded Lily where she was, and she kept moving, her eyes staying open this time.
“I told you not to worry,” James whispered with a smile. “I said that everything would be fine, didn’t I?”
“Yes, James,” Lily responded, smirking at his I-told-you-so attitude. She looked up into his strong face and studied every curve, every detail. It wasn’t until he caught her staring at him that Lily blushed and returned to her appropriate dancing position.
Soon, the song had stopped. The dancers pulled away from each other and clapped enthusiastically for the orchestra, smiling at the bowing conductor. Immediately after the song finished, the conductor turned back around and a second song picked up.
Other couples had started to dance around them, swaying back and forth to the sweet melody. Lily, however, wasn’t quite sure what she should do. She knew exactly what she wanted to do, of course; continue dancing with James. But did he want to dance with her? Clearly, the reason he brought her to the Ministry Ball was to prepare her for dancing in front of others onstage! He wouldn’t actually want to “
Lily’s jumbled thoughts were cut off once she felt a hand grab hers. She was thrown several feet to the side and then spun back in a circle, landing gracefully in James’ arms.
Lily grinned.
Before Lily could make up any other farfetched theories, James’ hands found his way to Lily’s waist. Lily, in return, dropped her arms casually over James’ shoulders and wrapped them around his neck, smiling. She knew that this dance would be much more informal than the one before.
“So,” Lily started in a soft voice, “this was why you brought me?”
“What “ the waltz?” James asked, smirking.
Lily nodded.
“Sure,” James answered with a bit of a shrug. “I guess you could say that.”
Lily rocked back and forth in James’ arms for several seconds before responding. “What is that supposed to mean?”
James gently pushed Lily away from him again, spinning her out into an open space. She spun back into his arms, and James took the chance to dip her to his side, smiling down at her. He pulled her back up to her normal height, chuckling at her red face.
“If you’re trying to distract me, James Potter “ ” Lily tried to act stern, returning to her previous position, pressed up against his chest “ “ it’s not working.”
James sighed, giving in. “I figured you would enjoy coming to the Ball itself “ not just for the waltz,” James explained. He looked down, focusing on Lily’s glittering eyes. “Was I right?”
Lily nodded, hardly registering the question after looking into James’ eyes for such an extended period of time.
Neither had noticed that the music had stopped playing and that many people were clapping. They had also missed the shift between the slow song and the, now, fast song.
Standing in the center of the ballroom, Lily and James stayed in each other’s arms. The dancers flying around them did not faze them in the slightest.
James was the first to break out of his captivated state.
“Follow me,” he said in a soft whisper. “There’s something I want to show you.”
Lily could not speak. All she could do was nod.
James took her hand and held it tight, squeezing it gently as he did so. He started to pull her across the floor, weaving between the dancers. The urgent tug on Lily’s hand made it feel almost like he was anxious to leave as soon as possible.
They did not make it far before a large man stepped into their path.
“There you are!” He laughed loudly, slapping James heartily on the back. “I’ve been searching for both of you for several minutes, now!”
“Us?” Lily asked, her jaw dropped. She eyed the man, trying to remember where she had spotted him before. “Why were you looking for us?”
“I wanted to thank you, my dear!” the man beamed, turning his gaze on Lily. He continued to explain at the look of confusion on her face. “For being brave enough to start the dancing at my party, of course!”
His party?
Lily instantly felt her face rise in temperature, embarrassed. She finally figured out who this man was; his face was in nearly every copy of the Daily Prophet.
It was Mr. Howers: the Minister of Magic.
Lily glanced at James, trying to figure out whether he had known who this man was before she had realized it. With his simple smile, Lily realized that he had, indeed, known all along, and, by the looks of it, seemed amused by the fact that Lily hadn’t.
“It’s our pleasure,” James cut in with a small bow, covering for Lily as she quickly tried to regain her senses.
Mr. Howers seemed happy with this response. “Now tell me,” he said in a softer, much more hurried tone, “where did you learn that dance?”
“James taught me,” Lily spoke up, attempting to overcome her embarrassment in front of one of the most important men in the wizarding world to date. “It’s for a play that I’m in.”
“A play?” Lily could have sworn that if the man were a small child, he would have started to jump up and down, clapping his hands together in excitement. “I love going to plays “ but ever since I’ve taken the job as Minister of Magic, I haven’t had much of a chance to attend many shows.”
James stepped in, flashing a grin. “It’s next Friday at Bennett Theater if you’re interested.” He gestured towards Lily. “She’s in the lead.”
“Are you really?” Mr. Howers started to glow. “How exciting!” He then frowned and closed his eyes, trying to mentally think through his schedule. “I’m sure I could cancel a few meetings on Friday…”
Lily bit her lip, holding back her excitement. The Minister of Magic himself was going to watch her perform in a play!
Mr. Howers took a large drink of whatever liquid had been in his glass and then turned back to James and Lily, squinting into their faces. “Where do you work?” he asked curiously. “You must own a very small business or I would have seen you around here before!”
James smiled, flattered by this comment. “Actually, we still go to Hogwarts, sir.”
Lily nodded, reinforcing this point. “Next year will be our last year.”
The Minister’s eyes widened, surprised by this information. “Then I still have a shot at recruiting you to work for the Ministry!”
Lily and James laughed, but were elated to hear these words straight from the Minister’s mouth.
“I’m sorry,” Mr. Howers finally admitted, sticking out his hand. “I don’t believe I caught either of your names.”
James spoke up first. “I’m James,” he said, enthusiastically shaking the Minister’s hand.
“Potter,” Mr. Howers completed his name. James nodded affirmatively and Mr. Howers smiled knowingly. “Yes,” he said with a chuckle and a pat of his large stomach. “I could see your father in you.”
James grinned.
The Minister next turned to Lily. “And you, dear, are…” he trailed off holding out his hand.
“I’m Lily Evans “ my parents are Muggles,” she quickly explained before Mr. Howers could attempt to guess who her parents were.
“Lily Evans,” Mr. Howers repeated her name, firmly shaking her hand. And then with a deep breath and a bigger voice, Mr. Howers announced, “Miss Evans and Mr. Potter “ I will be sure to keep an eye out for both of you next year.”
Lily blushed, beaming. “Thank you, sir.”
The Minister nodded slightly and, after a quick good-bye, he started to wander across the hall, approaching another friendly face.
Lily let out all of the breath she had been holding and felt her shoulders slump. She fell limply into James’ arms, drained of all energy.
“I can’t believe,” Lily stammered, unable to hide her goofy smile, “that I just met the Minister of Magic!” She started to giggle softly into James’ shoulder.
James smirked, rocking Lily back and forth as she tried to control her excitement. Once she managed to stand on her own two feet again, he chose to keep one arm wrapped around her waist, continuing to walk her across the room. However, he moved slower and less urgently than he had before, partially due to the fact that Lily was now pressed up against him as they moved.
“If you’re that excited to have just met him,” James reminded Lily in a soft, playful tone, “then maybe I shouldn’t remind you that he just told us that he would be attending the play next weekend.”
Lily started to laugh giddily, throwing her head back. “Honestly…” She shook her head with a smile. “I don’t know if this night could get any better.”
James shrugged in what he hoped was a casual manner. “You never know.”
The pair walked past the table that had, originally, been covered with multicolored drinks. Now, nearly half of the drinks were gone.
Lily noticed Corinne standing at the end of the table, reaching for another green glass. The man standing behind her, who Lily assumed was her husband, seemed to by trying to drag her away. After Corinne put up a sloppy fight, her husband stood behind her and hugged his arms around her waist. He lifted her several inches off of the ground and casually carried her away from the drinks, ignoring her kicking legs, and calmly replied that they needed to go home before she passed out in front of everyone.
James laughed, waving goodbye to his old friend.
Lily interrupted the silence. “She was nice.”
“Did you get to know Corinne a bit better after I left you two alone?” James asked curiously, looking over in Lily’s direction.
Lily looked down at her feet, thinking about her previous conversation. She blushed. “I guess you could say that.”
They slowly sauntered through the ballroom, taking their time.
With the realization that they were nearly at their final destination, Lily asked the question that had been nagging at the back of her mind for several minutes. “Where exactly are you taking me?”
James stopped walking and Lily noticed that they were standing just behind the grand staircase, hidden from view. James released her waist and stepped towards a wooden door placed in a dark corner of the ballroom. Maintaining direct eye contact with Lily, James slowly turned the handle and opened the door, gesturing for Lily to enter. “After you.”
Lily smiled, playing along. She nodded politely at James in an attempt to act proper and held up the front of her dress, stepping cautiously into the room.
Lily gasped, her hands falling away from her dress.
“Do you like it?”
Lily nearly jumped several feet in the air. James had snuck up behind her and whispered into her ear without her realizing the close proximity in which he was standing.
“It’s breathtaking,” Lily replied, stunned.
She gazed openly up at a sparkling night sky, the light of the bright stars reflecting brilliantly in her eyes. She took a step forward and heard the reverberating click of her shoes as they moved across a stone surface, just beneath her feet.
The noise of her shoes made Lily tear her eyes away from the sky. She realized that the stars were no longer the only thing that held her attention.
She was standing on a balcony. Walking eagerly to the elegantly carved railing, Lily leaned over the side. Her jaw dropped as her eyes wandered over several hundred evergreen trees, planted several yards beneath her. The trees continued in endless clusters, winding up and over a mountain and traveling far off into the distance. A soft, white blanket of snow protectively covered the tops of the trees, winking at her beneath the moonlight.
Lily searched through every corner of her brain, trying to find the words best to express her feelings at that moment. She settled for a question. “What is this place?”
James stepped up on Lily’s right side, leaning on the stone balcony just beside her. “There are different doors in the ballroom,” he softly explained, not wanting to disrupt the crystal like silence that surrounded them. “One of the main reasons why the Minister hosts the annual Ball each year is so that he can negotiate political affairs with other foreign leaders. Depending on the night, he’ll tell his staff to charm certain rooms to resemble specific countries, particularly the countries of the leaders that he intends to speak with.” James leaned over, closer to Lily as if sharing a secret. “I’m sure he wanted his guests feeling just like they were at home.”
Lily nodded, taking in all of the information. She turned her head and looked up at James, acutely aware that both of them were standing much closer than either of them should have been. “What country is this?”
“I saw Howers walking out of here earlier with the Swiss Minister of Magic,” James said with a nod. “So I’m pretty sure this room is supposed to resemble Switzerland. However “ ” James shrugged his shoulders “ “ the Minister doesn’t tend to speak with Switzerland’s magical leader too often; it’s pretty rare that Switzerland gets into many arguments, if any.”
Lily laughed, looking back out at the landscape. “I’ve never been to Switzerland before,” Lily whispered, unable to suppress a sigh. “But if it’s anything like this, I’d go in a heartbeat.”
James scratched the back of his head nervously, an idea suddenly springing on him. “You know,” he muttered, putting his hand just beside Lily’s on the stone railing, “maybe this winter, or something “ we could go there for break “ I mean, if you wanted…”
Lily smiled, listening to James ramble on for several minutes. Finally placing her small hand over his, she cut him off.
“I’d love to.”
*
Lily spun around in several circles, making her dress fly out. She was laughing.
James caught her as she returned to him, holding both of her hands. He then spun her away and reeled her back in, as if dancing to music inside of his head.
Lily grinned and brushed the hair out of her face, exhausted after James had just finished teaching her yet another dance. “I had no idea you knew so many dances “ and you’re actually good at them!”
James puffed out his chest proudly and put on a crooked smile. “It comes with being a Potter, you could say.”
“What “ learning new dances?” Lily asked. She pulled James’ jacket, which he had generously placed around her shoulders moments before, tighter around her body, breathing in his strong scent on the collar of the jacket with a smile.
“I wouldn’t say learning the dance itself,” James muttered, walking across the balcony to sit on a stone bench. “You should see me before I actually know the dance “ I’m horrible at learning them.”
Lily laughed, following James to his spot off to the side of the balcony. She sat down beside him and started to trace her finger over a spiral carving on the bench. “I bet you were better at learning the dances than I was.”
“Not true,” James immediately cut in. “It nearly took me a month to perfect the waltz!”
Lily shrugged her shoulders. “But I haven’t perfected the dance, yet.”
James leaned over and bumped her playfully, accidentally knocking his jacket off of one of Lily’s shoulders. “You’re pretty close, I’d say. I mean,” he added, delicately pulling the jacket back up to cover her bare arms, “I did dance with you tonight “ and you seemed perfect to me.”
Lily did not look away from the stone bench. If anything, she stared more intently at it, tracing each and every shape in the stone that she could find. That is, until James stopped the movement by putting his hand over hers.
Surprised, Lily glanced up, suddenly nervous. She was staring up into a pair of unblinking, hazel eyes. She had never felt so intimidated before in her life “ nor had she ever felt so safe.
Lily cleared her throat and looked back down at the bench, trying to interrupt the silence in the conversation. She wished James would start talking about something “ anything “ but he didn’t. Instead, he lifted his free hand to her chin and lifted her head so that she was looking directly into his eyes once more.
For a moment, Lily thought that James was about to say something to her. His mouth opened and he blinked, clearly thinking about his next words. But upon impulse, he leaned forward.
Lily could remember thinking in the back of her mind that this action was a bit strange, but she immediately brushed off the thought.
She leaned forward.
A large, loud clock just beyond the closed wooden door chimed twelve, clanging loudly.
Lily tried to ignore the distraction as best as she could, scooting closer to James, but it was clear that the noise had caught James’ attention.
“It’s already midnight?” James swore, glancing at his watch. He tapped the face of the clock, as if checking to see if his wristwatch was still running properly. “We must have been out here longer than I thought…”
Lily moved back to her original spot with a sigh, absentmindedly tracing the carvings once more. She readjusted James’ coat once more. “I guess so…”
“The thing is,” James explained, standing up, “I told your dad that I’d have you home by midnight.” He frowned slightly, as if worried that Lily would be upset by this news.
“Oh.” Lily nodded in understanding.
She stood “ and then froze. What was she supposed to say now? Lily sorted through her vocabulary, trying to find the best words to say before she left. She didn’t want to just Disapparate without any good-bye “ but she also didn’t want to babble on like some sort of crazy “
“Shall we?”
Lily frowned, staring curiously at the hand in front of her, palm up. Her eyes flicked up to James’ face and then back to his hand.
“Sorry?” she muttered, rather confused by this gesture. “Shall we, what?”
James looked as if he had made it perfectly clear. “Disapparate,” he smiled, hiding his laugh. “I was going to take you back to your house.”
Lily’s jaw dropped open to form an “o”.
Much faster than she had intended, Lily eagerly grabbed James’ hand and stepped towards him, smiling as he put an arm around her waist and pulled her closer.
“Alright.” Lily wrapped her arms around James, satisfied with her position. “I’m ready to go, now.”
*
“Just on time!” Mr. Evans beamed, closing the front door behind his daughter. He quickly eyed her dress, marveled by the way she looked, but returned to his original question. “Did you have fun?”
Lily nodded, her eyes slowly wandering around the room. She fondly touched each object with a brush of her fingertips, as if it were the first time she had seen this room in years.
Mr. Evans tried to interpret Lily’s odd response to his question, but found it difficult. He chose to move on. “Is that “ is that James’ jacket?”
Lily casually glanced down at her shoulder, noticing that James had forgotten to take his coat back before he had Disapparated. With a small smile, Lily nodded.
Mr. Evans frowned. It was extremely hard to carry on a conversation when there was only one person speaking… He started to ask another question, but stopped when Lily quickly cut him off.
“I’m really tired,” she muttered, although her eyes seemed to be alight with a new sort of burning fire. “I need to change out of my clothes and get ready for bed “ I’ll talk to you in the morning, alright?”
“Oh “ sure.” Mr. Evans nodded, waving as she slowly climbed the stairs to her room, taking her time to run her hand over every inch of the banister on her way up.
Once she was out of sight from her father’s inquisitive gaze, Lily pushed open her bedroom door and silently flicked on the light switch. She kicked off her shoes somewhere in the middle of the floor, and proceeded to lean against her bedroom door with a heavy sigh.
She stopped moving for one moment, trying as best as she could to let the events of the night sink into her mind. She tried to memorize each one, wishing she could never forget it.
And then she smiled.
Images of James continued floating to the surface of her mind. She could recall every single word that he had said to her that night. She thought about how different that night had been, learning things about James while they had been out on the balcony: things she would have never dreamed she would ever know about him.
Lily found herself reliving the last few moments when James had Apparated them onto Lily’s front porch. Both of them had stood there for what seemed like forever, unsure of what came next. Just when Lily had been about to thank James for a lovely night, he stepped towards her and decided to give Lily a small kiss on the cheek, seconds before Mr. Evans had flung open the front door.
By this point, Lily had pushed away from her door and was moving silently to her bed, a grin plastered on her face. She picked up her many textbooks covering her bed and tossed them carelessly onto her desk, knocking a sealed envelope behind the piece of furniture.
Lily gently shrugged out of James’ coat, handling it with great care. She smelled the collar of the jacket and was instantly reminded of James’ scent. And then, very carefully, Lily reluctantly let go of the coat and hung it on the bedpost, directly beside her pillow.
She turned back to her bed. Holding her arms out in the air, she fell backwards, letting the springs in her mattress bounce her up and down. Slowly, she came to a stop and allowed herself to slowly melt into her many blankets covering the bed. A ball of happiness residing deep within her chest started to rise. Something started to expand inside her, giving her the feeling that she was invincible.
And without thinking, without planning, she started to laugh.
*
The front door opened and clicked softly shut.
“James?” Mrs. Potter called out, peeking around the corner. “Is that you, dear?”
James shuffled through the dark kitchen, easily making his way over to his mother without the use of lights.
“I didn’t think you would stay so long,” Mrs. Potter commented before receiving a response from James. She pulled her bathrobe tighter around herself, shivering at the gust of wind that had been let in through the front door. “Your father and I left the ball over an hour ago.”
James merely hummed with a pleasant smile permanently attached to his face. He couldn’t hear a single word that she was saying.
Taking her by surprise, James snatched up his mother’s hand in his and spun her around the room, fuzzy pink bathrobe and all, as if he were still dancing at the ball. He started to sing the melody louder than before, grinning.
After James stopped his dance, Mrs. Potter started to laugh. “Had a good time, did you?”
James kissed her on the cheek and pulled away, putting both hands on her shoulders and staring directly into her eyes. With a soft breath, he whispered, “The best.”
He waltzed away from his mother, spinning in circles up the stairs as he whistled the same tune over and over.
Mrs. Potter looked on with an amused smile playing at the corner of her lips.
The Curtain Call
Chapter Eleven: Act 1, Scene 5
“Great job today, guys!” Mr. Evans clapped his hands together in excitement, unable to restrain his enthusiasm. “Absolutely wonderful.”
Lily smiled and pulled Peter in to give him a brief hug. They had just finished rehearsing the full show from start to finish, and the entire cast had remembered each and every line, as well as their correct entrances. Peter returned the grin.
“I’ll see you all back here tomorrow,” Mr. Evans informed them, waving his hand as a way of dismissing the group. “Get a good night’s rest! We’ve got one last run through tomorrow, and then our show opens on Friday night! And remember “ don’t overuse your voices!”
Lily smiled at her father’s continuous stream of warnings for the cast. Shaking her head, she lifted the hem of the costume to her knees, in order to avoid dragging it across the dusty backstage floor. She then followed the rest of the cast off of the stage and into the dressing rooms, changing back into her normal street wear.
Feeling much more relaxed in her jeans and t-shirt, Lily walked out of the dressing room and stepped back onstage with her dress hung limply over her arm. She had just started crossing the stage, dodging the set obstacles in her path, when a pleasant voice floated to her ears.
“Hey, Lily.”
Lily grinned, knowing exactly who had spoken to her.
“Hi, James,” she answered, glad to have his company.
“What are you up to?” he asked, joining Lily. He noticed the dress that she was holding in her arms. “Were you going to hang that up?”
Lily nodded, surprised by how much her mood seemed to have improved by simply having a conversation with James.
They approached the room filled with costumes. Lily stopped and turned in the doorway, leaning back against the door before she entered the room. She smiled at James.
“You know,” he stammered before she could say anything, “you did a really good job this afternoon.” James stared adamantly at his feet, shrugging. “From what I heard, at least.”
Lily blushed. “Thank you.”
The door that Lily had been leaning up against slammed hard into her back, knocking her forward into James’ arms.
“Uh…” The young boy that walked out of the room looked frantically between the pair, quickly taking in the scene before him. Lily had both of her hands wrapped around James’ neck while James, in turn, had put his hands on her waist, managing to hold her upright. Neither broke eye contact to see the intruder slip away unnoticed.
“Sorry,” Lily mumbled, finally regaining the use of both of her legs. She managed to stand on her own without James’ help, but she could not take her eyes off of his. “I “ someone just “ it was an accident…”
“No worries,” James quickly brushed off her apology in a breathless tone. He took in a deep breath and reached up to scratch the back of his head, shrugging. “Your costume “ it’s still good “ right?”
Lily turned to look down in her arms, forgetting entirely about her costume. She slowly processed what James was saying. “Oh “ yeah,” Lily said with a forced nod, fingering the soft, silk-like material. “It’s not dirty or ripped or anything…”
She momentarily turned away from James and darted into the room to hang her dress on a hanger. Within seconds, Lily had reappeared, grinning once again.
A thought occurred to her and her grin began to fade with a look of fear in her green eyes. “We’re still practicing now “ right?”
“Of course,” James answered automatically, as if he wouldn’t dream of doing otherwise. They started back towards the set room. He hesitated, stopping in his tracks. “I mean “ ” he turned to look at Lily “ “ if you still want to.”
“Oh “ yeah, I do.” Lily nodded enthusiastically.
“But not because you need to or anything,” James quickly added, as if he was worried he might offend her. “You’re perfect already,” he mumbled, using several hand gestures to try and get across what he wanted to say. “We’d just practice to reinforce habits and “ stuff.”
Lily smiled.
After softly excusing herself to grab her belongings, James nodded and did the same, stepping into the set room. He spotted his backpack in the corner with his script stuffed into a side pocket, torn in two from all of the use that he had put it through that summer.
However, instead of leaning over to pick up his bag, James paused. He noticed Jimmy sitting on the floor with his back to the door, hunched over something in his hand.
“Hey, Jim,” James said, trying to get the boy’s attention by using the nickname he knew that Jimmy had always hated. “What’cha doin’?”
Jimmy turned, startled by James’ sudden intrusion, and then mumbled incoherently, quickly stuffing his hand into his bag, sitting open in front of him. He leapt to his feet and started to clean the room, putting away spare paint cans and rusted tools.
James’ eyebrows shot into his hairline. Not only did the boy appear to be hiding something, but he had also forgotten to snap at James when he had used Jimmy’s least favorite nickname.
That never happened.
“Nothing?” James asked, stepping towards Jimmy’s bag.
Jimmy noticed this movement and darted back to his bag, clutching it protectively to his chest. “Right “ it’s nothing,” he repeated firmly, walking to the other end of the room.
James stood, frozen with his hand held out in the air where he had almost snatched up Jimmy’s bag. Slowly, he dropped his arm and stood back up to his full height, raising an eyebrow. “Well, well,” James sighed dramatically. “That sounded like a pretty big nothing,” he commented casually, “which definitely makes me think that it’s really something.”
Jimmy did not look away from the speck of sawdust on the floor that he had suddenly gained an interest in staring at. He hugged his backpack to his chest and did not speak, only confirming James’ fears.
James stepped forward, frowning. He looked slightly worried. “Come on,” he said, slapping a comforting hand on Jimmy’s shoulder. “What’s really going on?”
Jimmy swallowed, looking up. “You swear you won’t tell anyone?”
James nodded solemnly.
Jimmy eyed his mentor for a moment, as if gauging how much he could trust him with. “Not even Lily?”
James bit his lip. “Well, Jimmy…”
“Swear,” Jimmy quickly repeated with a determined look.
James could tell that there was no way he could talk Jimmy out of this decision, particularly when he appeared so resolute.
“Alright, fine,” James assured him, dropping into a folding metal chair behind him. “Now “ tell me what’s going on.”
Jimmy paused for a few moments, and then eagerly dove into his backpack. “You see, this morning I found this “ stupid…” Jimmy trailed off as he pulled out a folded piece of paper. “Here,” he muttered, stepping forward and slowly handing it over to James.
James took the paper and opened it. After skimming over the words, he grinned.
Then he started to laugh.
“Crazy, I know,” Jimmy said, laughing along nervously. He started wringing his hands together, studying James’ lighthearted expression. “Ridiculous, right? I mean “ there’s no such thing as - ”
“‘Dear Mr. Dunne’,” James quoted the sheet of paper with a smile. “‘We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry’.”
“I can’t believe I even believed it for a second,” Jimmy said a bit louder, starting to turn red. “I should’ve just thrown it into the fire instead of holding onto it…”
“Well,” James said with a shrug, handing back the letter to its rightful owner, “you could burn it. Or “ ” he leaned forward with a devilish grin “ “ you could send back a reply and spend the next year at Hogwarts with me.”
Jimmy started to laugh loudly, but soon realized that James was not joining in. “Are you “ you’re serious?”
James nodded with a smug smile.
“You’re “ ” Jimmy swallowed, dropping to the floor when his knees buckled and he lost feeling in his feet “ “ a witch?”
James’ eyes doubled and he looked rather offended. He shook off the amateur mistake. “Technically,” he gently corrected the boy, “I’m a wizard “ but it’s the same principle.”
“But aren’t witches “ and wizards “ ” he added, nodding at James, “ “ supposed to be “ weird or something?” As soon as he uttered the words, Jimmy slapped a hand over his mouth. “I mean - ”
“Common misconception,” James assured him, brushing off the insult. “But I’m only as weird as you.”
Jimmy seemed to immediately believe everything that James was telling him; he didn’t appear to have any doubts that this was, in fact, very real. Instantly, all strange events that had happened to him started to make sense; the sets that had moved themselves; the spill on the backdrop that had left no stain; the paint can that had automatically returned to its shelf without him placing it there. “So what do you do at “ Hogwarts?” he asked, sounding very interested.
James shrugged, scratching his head. “We do magic. You know “ learn about potions and spells. And the history of magic “ but that class is a drag. I doubt you’ll ever make it through one day without falling asleep.”
“Wow.” Jimmy didn’t seem to care that James thought the class was nothing but a time to catch up on lost sleep. He sat up on his knees, leaning forward. “Can you do magic?”
“Can I do “ of course I can do magic!” James nearly shrieked, sounding appalled by this question. “Here,” he told the boy, slightly relaxing his expression. “Watch this.”
James pulled out his wand and expertly waved it in the air. Instantly, the thin layer of sawdust that covered every inch of the room was neatly collected into a large ball, hovering in a spot in the center of the room. James flicked his wand once more and the wood shavings dropped unceremoniously into a plastic trash bin in the corner of the room.
“No way!” Jimmy leapt onto his feet, amazed by this small demonstration. He dropped his backpack and Hogwarts letter onto the clean floor in his excitement and started to back away slowly.
James grinned proudly, tapping his wand against the palm of his hand.
“But my parents,” Jimmy started to speak very quickly. “They can’t do this magic stuff! I mean “ I haven’t seen it if they can, but - ”
“Relax,” James reassured the jittery boy. “Sometimes Muggles have kids that have magic in their blood.” He waved his hand around when Jimmy frowned at the use of the word ‘Muggle’. “People that can’t do magic,” James quickly explained, answering Jimmy’s unspoken question. “But the fact is “ this sort of thing is completely normal.”
“What’s normal?”
Both heads spun towards the doorway to find Lily, leaning into the room.
“Uh “ it’s nothing.” Jimmy started to panic, looking desperately towards James for help. “We were just “ it’s nothing.”
Lily raised an eyebrow, her eyes darting back and forth between James and Jimmy. “Not that you sound suspicious or anything,” Lily said in a highly sarcastic tone, pausing to send James an inquisitive look, “but I’m thinking you just might be trying to hide something from me.”
“Actually,” James spoke before Jimmy could, “he is.”
Jimmy’s jaw dropped. “You said you wouldn’t,” he softly reminded him. “You said “ ”
“Jimmy is a wizard.”
Jimmy’s dark eyes went straight towards Lily’s expression, caring little about James’ betrayal. All he seemed to care about was Lily’s reaction “
“ which was quite a bit different than he had been expecting.
The scene would have been identical to that of an eight-year-old receiving their birthday presents a day earlier than expected.
Lily squealed and ran towards Jimmy. She threw her arms around the boy’s neck and hugged him as tight as possible, very nearly suffocating him.
“Oh, I’m so proud!” she cried, beginning to laugh joyously. “If there was one person that I wanted to get into Hogwarts next year, I’m so glad that it’s “ ”
“Oy “ back off!” Jimmy shoved Lily off of him. Carefully, he patted his sore neck and then regained his composure, trying to appear much older than he was. “What was that for? And why,” he continued, spinning in James’ direction and pointing an accusatory finger at his chest, “did you have to go blabbing my secret to Lily when you swore you wouldn’t?” Looking rather irritated, Jimmy crossed his arms stubbornly over his chest and looked away from both of the teenagers. “See if I ever spill another secret to you again…”
“Calm down, Jim,” James spoke soothingly, trying to diminish the boy’s fears. He leaned back in the metal chair, spreading out his legs and looking much more at ease than Jimmy appeared to be. “She would have figured out your secret in September anyway.”
Jimmy’s eyes widened beneath his curly hair. “You mean “ she goes to Hogwarts?” He forgot entirely about James using his nickname once again, and rounded on Lily. “Really?”
Lily nodded eagerly, unable to hide her grin.
“You mean “ ” Jimmy started to look more excited than fearful “ “ you’re a wizard, too?”
“Well “ not a wizard, per se,” she said with a kind smile, glancing quickly towards James’ smirk. She swept her gaze back towards Jimmy. “But I am a witch.”
“So you can do magic and stuff, too, right?” Jimmy questioned her.
“Yeah, I can do magic and stuff,” Lily mimicked the boy, grinning at his use of vocabulary. “I learned a few spells within the first few days of school.”
Lily could have sworn she saw Jimmy’s knees begin to shake in excitement. “Really?” he gasped. “So that means that I might “ ”
“You’ll pick up a number of useful spells,” Lily assured the boy, smiling.
“Like what?”
Lily shrugged, trying to quickly search through her mind. “Uh… Well, there’s plenty. I’m not quite sure “ ”
“Can you show me one?” Jimmy started to bounce up and down on the balls of his feet.
Lily hurriedly shook her head, dismissing the idea. “Of course not,” she said, now lowering her voice. “There are plenty of kids that could be watching.”
Jimmy’s face fell. “But James did a spell!”
Lily turned to James, her jaw dropped. He looked up at her guiltily and immediately pocketed the wand that he had been twirling between the knuckles of his fingers. “I “ uh “ well, he “ ”
Lily pulled out her own wand and drew it through the air in a fast, swiping motion, causing the door to slam closed behind her. She ignored Jimmy’s elated expression and sped towards James. “You could have been seen, James! If a Muggle spotted you, you could be “ ”
“Relax,” James said in a soft voice, grinning up at Lily. “The rehearsal has been done for quite some time “ everyone’s left by now.”
Lily ignored this convincing piece of evidence, frowning. “But still…”
James shrugged when Lily could think of nothing more to say to him. “He just wanted to see a bit of magic, Lily “ no harm done. Besides,” he added with a grin, peering around Lily to watch as Jimmy tentatively touched the closed door with a look of astonishment, “you just did magic.” He raised an eyebrow, knowing he had already beaten her at her own game. “Is it really fair to blame me when you just did the same thing?”
Lily’s eyes narrowed in on James. She felt a smile tugging at her lips, but refused to let James catch her caving in. She turned away, now watching Jimmy.
“That,” he whispered, touching the doorknob, “was so cool.”
James nodded. He stood from his chair, towering over Lily when he did so. “It’s definitely got some advantages.”
Jimmy swallowed, as if trying to process everything that had happened. “This is incredible.” He ran past James and picked up his book bag and his Hogwarts acceptance letter. “I’ve got to tell my parents!” And, without a hurried goodbye or even a glance over his shoulder, Jimmy sped out of the room and sprinted from the theater.
“Well…” James turned to Lily, instantly realizing just how close they had been standing. He tried to take an unnoticeable step backwards before Lily had a chance to turn, as well. “I thought that went well.”
“Oh, extremely,” Lily said with a nod. She smiled up at James.
James swallowed. “Well, uh…” He cleared his throat rather loudly and returned to staring at his feet. He shook his head and looked up rather quickly, pointing towards the exit. “Shall we?”
Lily nodded, walking with James to the stage. “Speaking of letters from Hogwarts,” Lily said in a soft tone, “I received mine this morning.”
James nodded. “Yeah, me, too.”
Lily could not hide the grin from appearing. “Dumbledore made me Head Girl.”
“Congratulations!” James said in a bright tone, smiling as well. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they walked. “But I think we all knew you would get it.”
Lily nodded, blushing when James did not remove his arm. “I just don’t know who the Head Boy is.”
James’ eyebrows rose without Lily noticing. “I think I might have a hunch,” he said with a smirk.
Lily glanced up at his face. Once she saw his knowing expression, she stopped walking altogether. “You know who it is?” she asked, excitement evident in her voice.
James chuckled softly. And in a slightly surprised sounding voice, he said, “Well “ you’re looking at him.”
Lily’s jaw dropped open. “You’re kidding!”
James didn’t know how to take this outburst. “No, I’m not kidding,” he said, frowning. “I mean “ I can understand you thinking that I might not be as serious about the job as others, but I do have respectable grades! And, in fact, I have been “ ”
The rest of these words were unheard as Lily shrieked and threw her arms around James’ neck, hugging him excitedly. “I don’t believe it!” she squealed directly into his ear. “You’re Head Boy! This will be so exciting,” she murmured in a fast voice. “Especially since I don’t have to share the position with someone I don’t know, right?” At this point, Lily pulled herself away from James, looking up into his stunned face, appearing surprised by her reaction.
She instantly regretted what she had done, feeling her cheeks burn. “Er “ sorry about that…”
James shook his head, looking down at the floor. “Don’t be,” he muttered, reaching into his bag for his script. “Uh “ shall we start?”
Lily took in a small, shuddering breath, looking relieved that he had changed the topic. “Oh “ sure, yeah,” she answered, nodding. “Everyone’s gone home, so no one should be able to interrupt us, I guess.”
James dropped his bag onto the edge of the stage and pulled out his script. “Do you care which scene we start with?” he asked, sitting down.
Lily joined him, dangling her feet over the edge of the stage. She shook her head. “Wherever you want to start is fine with me.”
James started to thumb through the script, flipping through each of the pages. “Tell me when.”
The moment that Lily said, “When,” James halted his movement and opened the booklet where his thumb had stopped. “Ah…” he nodded, staying silent for just a split second longer than he should have. “Act one, scene five.”
Lily nodded, swallowing.
She remembered this scene very well.
“Alright, we’ll start here,” James said abruptly, immediately standing up. He held out a hand for Lily. She took it and joined him on her feet. “Ready?”
She forced herself to nod.
James picked up both of Lily’s hands and started to recite his lines. “I can’t keep you here any longer,” he said in a voice loud enough for it to reach the back of the theater, but soft enough to send shivers down Lily’s spine. “You mean too much to me, Adelaide.”
Lily responded to these words with just as much volume. “I don’t understand, Eddie,” she said, looking thoroughly confused. “Why are you letting me walk away? Don’t you want your ransom money?”
“Because I love you!”
Instantly, Lily’s insides seized up. She could no longer breathe, due to the fact that she had thought that she had forgotten how to, after hearing those words.
This is crazy, Lily scolded herself. Peter and I have practiced these scenes daily. It’s called acting. There’s absolutely no meaning behind those words!
But, then… why does it always mean so much more coming from James?
Lily shook her head, realizing that she was not focused. She had been thinking about the wrong thing at the wrong time when James had continued reciting his lines. Her facial expression had disappeared, and even her posture looked as if she weren’t paying attention.
Lily quickly squared her shoulders and held her head high, now listening to James’ every word.
“Do you understand now?” he asked Lily, as if pleading with her to understand. “I got attached and if “ if I wait any longer for ransom money…”
James opened his mouth to continue, but no words came out. He quickly looked down at his feet, almost as if he were nervous. His gaze lingered on the floor for what felt like days.
Lily was taken aback by this odd behavior. James had never, once, acted this strange before. If it were any other person besides him, she would have thought that they might have forgotten their lines. But James’ behavior was much more different than anything else he had done before.
Lily took a step forward, frowning. She reached out and, for reasons unknown to her, gently brushed a finger across his cheek, urging him to continue the scene. It was this gesture, perhaps, that startled James and made him look up suddenly. His eyes instantly locked with hers.
James swallowed and then, slowly, almost unsure of himself, continued the line much more softly than it should have been spoken.
“I’ll never be able to let you go.”
Lily felt her stomach flip. James had put both of his hands on her waist “ something that he had never done before in this scene.
He took a step forward.
Lily’s heart was racing, beating loudly within her chest. Her head was pounding. He was pressed up against her, now, his face inches from hers.
She felt her mouth go dry. She didn’t think that she would have had the power to slip from his grip if she had wanted to. Her arms were pressed tightly between James’ chest and her own, thudding heart, frail and powerless to his advances. For one moment, Lily was sure that she might feel uncomfortable with how close James was standing “ but, somehow, she still managed to feel safe and warm within his arms.
James did not remove his eyes from hers. If anything, she almost felt as if their gaze was unbreakable; it was as if they were not capable of looking at anything else but into each other’s eyes.
He took in one last deep breath and whispered his final line.
“I love you.”
Lily felt her knees go weak and her hands cling to the front of James’ shirt, as if trying to find some way to stay on her feet. There was something different, she realized, about the way James had said his lines tonight. He was no longer addressing an audience. He wasn’t performing for anyone.
He was speaking to her.
Before Lily had a chance to brace herself for what might happen next, James had lowered his mouth to hers and was kissing her softly, almost cautiously. Lily’s mind seemed to be in a state of shock from everything that had happened so suddenly, and she simply allowed herself to be kissed. When she put up no fight, James carefully pulled his hands away from her waist and moved them up to her face, cradling it caringly in his strong, safe hands. The fingers on his hands began threading themselves through her hair, and he began to kiss her much deeper than he had before, pulling her closer to him. And then, as if she had lost all reason, lost all sense of rationality, Lily managed to free her arms from James’ chest and snaked them up around his neck, running her own hands through his messy, black hair.
She was kissing him back.
Lily could not have guessed how long they had been standing there, in the center of the stage. It was a blissful moment “ as if she had been waiting years for this one event to happen “ and she did not seem to want to break apart anytime soon.
But her thoughts were shattered.
A loud thud echoed around the room and Lily immediately pushed James away, looking windswept. She was breathing heavily and looking around the room in a panic “ looking for the noise.
One glance over her shoulder, and Lily found that she had accidentally knocked James’ script off of the stage and onto the floor where it lay open to the page that they had been rehearsing.
Lily gasped.
She turned back to look at James, taking in his disheveled appearance. His hair was sticking on end, his clothes were slightly wrinkled, and his glasses had been knocked askew, teetering precariously on the bridge of his nose.
And then she found his eyes and her breathing hitched. They were wide, bright orbs of light, as if he had been laughing at a joke. They appeared startled “ because she had broken away from him so quickly, she assumed. Lily looked closer and noticed that there was a hint of excitement and, possibly, just a bit of confusion hidden deep within his hazel eyes “ but these were not the reasons that she forced herself to look away. There had been another emotion that she could not place that made her feel sick “ made her feel guilty.
He kissed me, was all that she seemed to be able to register at that moment. James Potter “ kissed me.
It took a moment for them to have a chance to slow their rapid heart rates. Both were in a state of shock over what had just happened, and neither looked very excited to say anything that would bring them back to reality.
James was the first to overcome his disbelief. Slowly, he started to reach out to touch her wrist, unsure of what he would say. All that he knew was that something needed to be said.
“Lily?” he inquired in a soft voice, swallowing. He took one step toward her and reached out a finger to touch the back of her hand.
Lily flinched at the gesture, stumbling over her feet as she moved several steps away.
“Uh…” Lily spluttered, looking frantically around the room, as if checking her exits. She hurried forward to the edge of the stage and gathered up her belongings, stuffing everything into her bag and throwing it over her shoulder. “I’ve got to “ I just “ you know…” she mumbled incoherently, feeling extremely flustered.
She took one last chance to try and look up into James’ eyes, but found that she couldn’t do it.
Lily shook her head once, as if it were her apology to James, and then turned on her heel and sprinted from the building, keeping her eyes down.
She couldn’t face the look in his eyes. Hearing his stunned silence as she ran from him was bad enough as it was. Looking into his eyes again would have made it several hundred times worse.
Lily flew through the doors of Bennett Theater and out into the street, running up a hill towards her house.
She knew that she had finally been able to place that last emotion that she had spotted in James’ eyes earlier. It was this look that made her stomach queasy. It was this look that caused her heart to let out a soft cry of pain. It was this look that made her wish she had not left him standing, all alone, in an empty theater.
She recognized the emotion.
He was hurt.
*
“Honey “ you’re home earlier than “ are you alright?”
Lily had thrown open the front door of their house and had fallen through the entrance, collapsing on the rug beneath her. She took several deep breaths before looking up at her mother.
“Sorry,” Lily said quickly, pulling herself back onto her feet. “I “ tripped,” she muttered, tucking her hair behind her ears. She turned around and slowly closed their front door with a soft click.
“I wasn’t expecting you home so early,” her mother commented casually, putting a hand on Lily’s shoulder. She noticed her daughter’s gasping breaths. “And I assumed you would Apparate home…”
Lily heard her older sister in the other room, scoffing at the mention of magic. Lily ignored the noise and responded to her mother. “It was a, uh “ good night outside,” she lied. She had, in fact, forgotten entirely about Apparating home. Running had seemed like her only method of transportation at the time. “I didn’t want to lose the chance to spend some extra time outside in the open air.”
Lily’s mother backed into the kitchen, gesturing for Lily to follow. “I really wish you would have Apparated,” she said, returning to her cutting board on the kitchen counter. She picked up a knife and started to chop up several carrots. “In such a busy city “ it’s dangerous to just go walking around at night, dear,” Mrs. Evans said in a worried tone.
“Yeah “ I understand,” Lily replied absentmindedly. “I won’t do it again.” She followed her mother into the kitchen and rested both of her elbows on the counter.
With one glance over into the next room, Lily spotted Petunia sitting with her legs curled beneath her in a large chair, supposedly reading a book, but Lily could have sworn she saw Petunia peeking out over the top of the book, sending frequent glares in her direction.
Lily shook her head and turned back to her mother. She noticed the large turkey sitting in the oven. “This meal seems a bit fancy for a Wednesday night…”
Mrs. Evans gasped, setting her knife down on the counter, suddenly reminded of something by Lily’s words. “I completely forgot!” She put both of her hands on Lily’s back, pushing her out of the kitchen and in the direction of the stairs. “You have visitors,” she said in a hushed tone. “I told them to wait in your room “ you can surprise them!”
Lily opened her mouth to ask who these visitors were, but she had been pushed up several steps and was out of hearing distance by the time her mother sped off, rushing back into the kitchen and resuming her previous job of chopping up the vegetables.
Slowly, Lily took the rest of the stairs until she reached the top landing. She looked down the hallway, hearing voices come from her room.
Careful to step over all of the noisy spots in their floor that creaked, Lily finally made it to her room. Slowly, she opened the door and slipped her head in.
She gasped.
*
“Lily!” a voice cried. “You’re home! We thought you would stay at that theater all night!”
A second, much calmer voice, spoke up, saying, “I’ve missed you so much!”
Lily entered her room and closed the bedroom door behind her. She fell back against the door for extra support.
“Anna,” Lily said in a soft voice. She swallowed, unable to speak much louder than she was doing at the moment. “Chelsie “ wow.”
The girl sitting on Lily’s bed stood and ran over to the door. She flung her arms around Lily’s neck, hardly caring that her long, dark hair must be getting in Lily’s face as she gave her a great hug. Weakly, Lily returned the hug with a small pat on the girl’s back. “Chelsie and I showed up not too long ago,” her friend said, grinning as she pulled away from Lily. “I hope you don’t mind our trunks “ we put them in the corner of the room with your school things so that they wouldn’t get in the way.”
Lily’s eyes widened at the sight of three school trunks crammed together. Two owls hooted contentedly in their open cages while a round, purple, fuzzy ball inside of a third cage hummed in a low tone.
“Your mum said you never told her we were coming,” said the quieter girl. She stood, tossing the blonde hair in her ponytail over her shoulder, and hugged Lily as well. “It’s a good thing she loves us so much “ or she might have sent us back to Anna’s place!”
Lily chuckled along with her friend, but she did not feel any humor in the situation. “So “ you’re spending the, uh “ rest of the summer here?”
Chelsie nodded, eyeing Lily suspiciously. “Of course we are,” she said, frowning. “Didn’t you get Anna’s letter?”
Lily started to shake her head, but soon realized, with a sudden jolt, that she had received their letter.
“Oh no…”
Lily ran to the desk beside her bed and searched frantically. She threw her books on the floor behind her, trying to find the letter that she had thrown carelessly onto the desk nearly a week ago, without bothering to read it.
She peeked behind the desk and saw, with a horrified look, that the letter Anna had sent had been knocked off of her desk and had fallen behind it, hidden from view.
Lily swooped down and grabbed the letter, ripping it open.
Lily,
Chelsie finally got approval from her parents! We’re going to be able to see your show after all! I’m sure we’ll make it before the opening day, so expect us sometime that week!
Send back a letter if things won’t be able to work out!
Anna
Lily groaned, staring speechless at the letter.
“You never even got the letter?” Anna asked, missing the envelope in Lily’s hand. Instantly, she turned on her owl, pointing an accusatory finger at the wide-eyed bird. “She’s been giving me attitude all summer “ I never thought she would do the same to everyone else!”
Chelsie grinned. “There’s a reason I never bought an owl,” she muttered smugly.
Anna scoffed at this statement. “Yeah, you bought a Puffskein “ ” she pointed next to her owl where the small, fluffy ball was rolling around in circles in Chelsie’s animal cage “ “ an animal that you’re not even allowed to have at Hogwarts!”
Chelsie shrugged, clearly not caring that she was breaking the rules. “At least my pet likes me.”
Anna put a hand on her waist. “Puffskeins like everyone! There’s no one that they don’t like!”
Chelsie held up her hands, smiling. “But owls don’t always like their owners, do they?”
“Yeah, but “ ” Anna frantically searched for a retort “ “ at least my animal can do something useful “ like deliver letters!”
Chelsie laughed. “I thought we just discovered that she can’t.”
Lily shook her head, sitting weakly on the edge of her bed. “No, it’s not the owl’s fault “ it’s mine,” she said, breaking off the feud between her two friends. She swallowed, momentarily closing her eyes. “I got the letter, I just “ forgot about it.”
Chelsie snickered, covering her mouth. “Well, what were you doing?”
The memory of her night at the Ministry Ball suddenly sprang back to her in full detail as she realized that she must have accidentally knocked the letter off of her desk after spending the night with James.
Lily quickly shook her head. “Nothing, I just “ forgot.”
“Oh, sure,” Anna mumbled, sitting on her trunk with a hollow thud.
“No, really,” Lily assured her friend. “I was late for a rehearsal when I first got it. Then when I got home…” Lily looked down at her hands, hiding her red face. “I completely forgot that I had a letter.”
Anna smiled. “Don’t worry, I believe you,” she said in a kind voice. “I was just messing with your head.”
Chelsie stepped in before Lily could respond. “It is alright that we’re here, though, right?” she asked. She sat down beside Lily on her bed. “I mean “ you don’t mind?”
“Oh “ course not,” Lily mumbled, putting on a false smile. “I’m excited that you’re here “ we’ll have a ton of fun!”
Anna let out a loud laugh. “Yeah “ like you haven’t already had fun without us.”
Lily frowned, looking up sharply. “What “ what do you mean?”
Anna pointed to the suit jacket that Lily had left hanging on her bedpost. “Chelsie and I were saying “ just before you came in “ that we think it smells like a very handsome Muggle boy who was trying to impress you.”
Lily gasped silently. It was the coat that she had kept after the Ministry Ball.
They were pointing at James’ coat.
“No “ you’re mistaken,” Lily quickly assured the girls, snatching the jacket and pulling it away from her bed. “It’s my dad’s coat.”
“Oh, yeah?” Chelsie smirked and crossed her legs. “And why on earth would your dad have left his suit jacket in your room?”
Lily blushed, walking to her closet. “He set it down and just forgot about it.” She pulled out a coat hanger and slowly draped the jacket around it. She held it up, discreetly inhaling James’ scent. She realized that the smell was just as strong as it had been when he had first worn the coat.
“Uh “ right,” Anna said with a giggle. “Your dad forgot about his coat, just like you forgot about the letter I sent you.” She grinned, loving to tease her friend. “And, of course, it makes complete sense that, instead of returning the coat to your father, you would rather hang it up in your closet.”
Lily swallowed, biting her lip. She fiercely shoved the jacket into her closet, taking in smaller and smaller breaths as she started to panic. “No “ it’s just “ oh, forget it…”
Chelsie raised an eyebrow, looking back and forth between Anna and Lily. “Are you sure you’re alright?” she asked, realizing that Anna’s last joke had clearly hit a nerve. “Lily “ you’ve been on edge since you’ve walked through the door.” She frowned. “Did something happen?”
Anna cut in before Lily had a chance to explain herself. “It’s James, isn’t it?”
Lily put a hand on the door to the closet, feeling herself sway. “What do you mean?” she fired back, looking alarmed. “What about him?”
Anna’s eyes widened. “It is James,” she said in a whisper under her breath. She sadly looked over at Chelsie. “I told you that this much time together would drive her crazy!”
Chelsie shook her head, looking confused. “I didn’t want to believe it,” she muttered with a shrug. “I really thought that if they spent this many summers together, they might eventually become friends “ or, at least, learn to tolerate each other!” She sighed. “I didn’t think they would become even greater enemies.”
“And now look at her,” Anna continued, pointing towards Lily’s pale face. “She’s a complete wreck after spending the summer with bloody Potter.”
Lily swallowed, allowing her friends to come to their own conclusions without her saying a word.
“Well “ we’re proud of you, then,” Chelsie said, smiling. “Especially because you made it to the end of the summer without hurting him.” Her eyes, which had previously been roaming freely around the room, now darted back to lock with Lily’s gaze. “You didn’t hurt him, did you?” She swallowed, sitting forward on Lily’s bed. “Because if we want a chance at winning the Quidditch cup this year, we need James to be healthy and able to play. He can’t be sitting in the hospital wing like he was before last year’s first game.” Chelsie shook her head, remembering the terrible event. “You knocked him out for a week “ do you remember that, Lily?”
Lily blinked, thinking over Chelsie’s original question. She hadn’t harmed James whatsoever “ but she had hurt him. Instantly, the look that had been in his eyes when she left the theater flooded back to her, causing her stomach to contract into tight knots, almost as if she were about to be sick. She felt her head grow lighter. “No,” she lied to her friends. “I didn’t hurt him…”
Anna sighed in relief. “Good,” she said in a soft voice. “And look on the bright side, Lily! You’ve only got a few days left with him “ and then it’ll be done!” she said, looking upbeat.
“Yeah.” Lily nodded, her hand still held firmly on her closet door. “Only a few days left…”
She slammed the door closed.
Chapter Thirteen: The Curtain Call
“James!” Lily pounded her fist on the Potter’s front door. “James, I’m sorry! I didn’t “ ”
The door suddenly flew open, startling Lily. She gasped, taken aback by the surprising response, and took a small step backwards. She was instantly alert. But then, realizing that it wasn’t James but Mrs. Potter standing in the doorway, Lily sighed.
“Hello, Mrs. Potter,” she said, lowering her voice to the appropriate volume.
“Hello, dear.” James’s mother smiled politely, stepping out onto the front porch. She pulled the door closed behind her, leaving just a small opening behind her. “How are you, Lily?”
Lily quickly brushed a lock of hair out of her face, ignoring the knots that were forming in her windblown hair. “I’m fine,” she hastily replied, forcing a smile onto her face as she tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. And then, forgetting to return the same question, Lily jumped straight to her reason for stopping by. “Is James here?”
Mrs. Potter blinked, surprised by the abrupt topic change. “Oh, uh “ no, dear, I don’t believe so.”
Lily’s felt her stomach drop and her smile disappear entirely. “Oh,” she muttered, dropping her gaze down to her feet. “A-alright,” she stammered. “Thanks, anyway.”
Mrs. Potter frowned just as Lily turned to walk away. “Have you checked the backyard?” she asked, grabbing Lily’s attention once more. “Is he down by the pond?”
Lily nodded, kicking at a small rock on the porch. It skidded across the surface and fell off the edge. “That was the first place I looked.”
“Ah “ I see.” Mrs. Potter crossed her arms over her chest and glanced back into the house, almost as if she was feeling uncomfortable and was hoping to find a way out of her conversation with Lily. “How about the theater? There might have been some sort of last minute emergency “ ”
“He’s not there either. Jimmy said he hasn’t stopped by since yesterday.”
Mrs. Potter looked surprised, now, to hear that Lily had already visited both of these locations that she had suggested. “Downtown?” she finally asked, furrowing her eyebrows.
Lily sadly shook her head. “I saw Sirius, but not James.” She paused, biting her lip. “They said they thought he might be here.”
Mrs. Potter watched helplessly as Lily ran her fingers through her hair, tugging at the tangles.
“I’m sorry, Lily,” she said, shaking her head. “I wish I could help “ really, I do.”
Lily nodded, letting out a heavy sigh. “I know,” she whispered, afraid to speak any louder than that for fear of her voice cracking. She started to walk away. But just as she stepped off of the stairs, she quickly turned back around. “Wait “ Mrs. Potter.”
“Yes?” James’s mother stopped with her hand on the doorknob, turning back to face Lily.
“Could you “ just “ ” Lily struggled to say the right thing. Finally, she dropped her chin onto her chest, closing her eyes in defeat. Mrs. Potter waited for her to say something more, but was frozen in her place when Lily brought one hand to cover her face and her shoulders started to shake “ almost as if she was crying.
“Lily,” she gasped. Mrs. Potter moved from her spot beside the door and sped to Lily’s side, wrapping her in a motherly embrace. “Hush, dear, it’s alright.”
Lily sniffed, swiping at the tears that had slipped out from the corners of her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she apologized, blinking furiously to keep herself from letting anymore tears fall. “I’ve just been looking for him “ for James “ everywhere. I really thought he might be inside “ but I just got my hopes up again.”
James’s mother let out a slow breath. She opened her mouth to say something, but Lily cut her off.
“Mrs. Potter “ can you let James know “ could you tell him that I’m sorry?” Lily turned to face the dark-haired woman with a desperate look etched onto her face. “Tell him that I told my friends and “ I’m sorry.” Lily swallowed, quickly averting her gaze before her emotions went out of control again. “You have no idea how sorry…”
Mrs. Potter could do nothing more but pat Lily on the back. “Of course I’ll tell him,” she said. Her heart went out to this poor child, hurting to see her go through so much pain.
Lily nodded. “Thanks,” she said. She stepped away from Mrs. Potter and sucked in a deep breath, slowly exhaling and placing a false smile on her lips. “I guess I should go, now.”
James’s mother nodded, rubbing Lily’s arm once more before starting back up the steps to the front door. “And good luck tonight,” she added, hoping to lift Lily’s mood before she left. “Ben and I were planning on coming to the show “ we’re thrilled to see it after everything that James has told us about it,” she said, trying “ unsuccessfully “ to cheer Lily up with this compliment.
Lily smiled and nodded. “I hope it runs smoothly.”
“I’m sure you won’t have any troubles.” Mrs. Potter reached her front door, pushing it open. She paused, turning back to wave to Lily. “We’ll see you tonight!”
Lily turned and left without another word.
Mrs. Potter watched, waiting for Lily to walk out of sight. Once she was gone, she let out a deep sigh and immediately spun on her heel, walking purposefully back into the house and slamming the front door closed behind her. She turned towards the staircase leading up to the second floor, immediately folded her arms across her chest, and jutted her hip out as she glared at her teenage son sitting motionless at the bottom of the steps.
“That was a horrible thing to do,” she scolded him, narrowing her eyes. “All Lily wanted to do was apologize “ and you hid from her!”
James did not speak. He remained unmoving, staring at the blank wall opposite of him with the knuckles of his fingers pressed up against his lips.
Mrs. Potter shook her head in disgust and stomped away into the kitchen. She wasn’t finished yelling at him, however. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into covering for you!” she shouted, slamming one of her many books onto the kitchen counter. And then, finding it much too hard to argue with James from a distance, she sped back to the bottom of the staircase. “She went all over town looking for you, James “ do you really think she would have put that much effort into finding you if she wasn’t truly sorry for whatever it was that she did?”
James’ only response was to drop his hands away from his lips. He let his elbows rest on his knees, leaning forward on them.
When Mrs. Potter didn’t get a response, she let out a short, soft growl of frustration. “She told me to tell you that she was sorry.” Mrs. Potter frowned slightly as she remembered the other part of Lily’s message, somewhat confused. “And that she told her friends.”
James’ blank stare didn’t seem to change as his mother disappeared into another room.
*
“So?”
Lily shuffled back into her bedroom, keeping her eyes glued to the floor. “What?” she asked, silently wishing that her friends weren’t visiting when all she wanted was to be left alone.
“Did you find him?” Anna asked, leaping off of Lily’s bed. She hurried to the door where Lily was standing with her shoulders slumped. “Did you talk to James?”
Lily didn’t provide an answer. Instead, she walked silently past Anna and sat on the corner of her bed. Chelsie, who had been sprawled across the floor on her stomach, rolled onto her back so that she could easily look up at Lily.
“He didn’t turn down your apology,” Chelsie stated as if it were a fact. However, doubt started to fill her mind. She quickly sat up, leaning towards Lily. “Did he?”
Lily wearily shook her head. “He might as well have done that,” she muttered. “I went everywhere, but I never even found him so that I could give him an apology.”
Anna glanced over at Chelsie with hesitation, as if trying to get her statement approved before saying it aloud. “Well “ maybe that’s a good sign!” she exclaimed, brightening her tone. “You never found him “ he could still forgive you, right?”
Lily refused to believe the words. “Highly unlikely,” she grumbled, falling backwards onto her bed with her arms tossed carelessly above her head so that they landed at odd angles. “He’s avoiding me,” she whispered, staring vacantly up at the ceiling. “That’s even worse than just flat-out rejecting me.”
She didn’t have to see it to know that her two friends were most likely huddled together, sending frantic glances back and forth in an attempt to figure out what to say next. Lily decided to help them out.
“Doesn’t matter,” she finally said, hating to utter the words that she didn’t believe. “If he won’t talk to me, then I’ll just “ move on,” Lily finished, abruptly sitting up once more. “I can’t keep looking for him if he doesn’t want to be found.”
Lily stood and walked over to her closet, suddenly furious with James. Why couldn’t he just talk to her? That’s all she wanted “ was a chance to explain!
She shoved several clothing items to the side, knocking a few of them off of their hangers and onto the floor in a crumpled pile. Then, she pulled out exactly what she had been looking for “ James’s jacket “ and proceeded to throw it into her garbage can in the corner.
Lily’s chest rose and fell with gasping breaths from her surprising fit of anger. She stubbornly stared at the garbage can, unable to look her friends in the eye.
Feeling very tired and weak, Lily closed her eyes, trying to take in a deeper breath to slow her hurried breathing. “I’m sorry,” she apologized softly. “Could you just “ leave me alone for a little bit?” Lily asked, opening her eyes a fraction of an inch.
Her friends didn’t respond immediately. Instead, they walked silently to the bedroom door.
“Sure,” Chelsie finally responded, opening Lily’s door. “We’ll just “ we’ll see you tonight “ before your show.”
Lily nodded. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” Anna replied softly, gently closing the door behind them as they walked away from Lily’s room.
Lily couldn’t move from her spot, horrified by the way she had acted in front of her friends.
They didn’t do anything wrong, Lily scolded herself. I shouldn’t have kicked them out because I have a problem. I need to just learn how to deal with it…
Despite the horrible feeling settling in the pit of Lily’s stomach, she couldn’t help but feel relieved that she was finally alone. She finally had a chance to break down and cry; she could release all of the pent up emotion that she had been bottling up all day.
But, as strange as it seemed, she didn’t feel like crying anymore. She had felt nothing but guilt and shame all day when she had been searching for James, but she couldn’t feel that at all anymore. It was almost as if she had run out of tears to shed. She was starting to grow numb. She realized the only thing that could possibly shake her thoughts from her empty state of being was James.
The moment Lily thought of his name, her eyes flicked up to her trash bin, eyeing the jacket’s sleeve that was hanging haphazardly over the side of the bucket.
James wasn’t to blame. She was. She had felt a surge of anger towards him just now “ and none of it was deserved. She should have directed her anger towards herself. She was the one who had made that stupid mistake “ it was her fault.
With a small sigh of resignation, Lily walked over to her garbage can and rescued the coat from the bin. She carefully hung it back up on its hanger, brushing off any dirt that had gotten on it, and placed it back into her closet.
*
“So,” Peter said, anxiously rubbing his hands together. “You ready?”
Lily smoothed out her costume, glancing up at the boy who was shifting his weight back and forth from one foot to the other. “Sure,” she stated calmly. She looked over to her right, peeking through an opening in the heavy curtain. She could spot her family in the audience, seated directly in the front row. Her two friends sat in the row directly behind them, closer to the aisle.
Immediately, Lily tore her gaze away, forcing herself to stare at the dimly lit stage instead. She refused to search for James. She knew that he wouldn’t come to see the show “ it would only make it worse if she confirmed this fact before the performance.
“How about you?” Lily asked, trying to distract herself. She focused every conscious thought on here and now “ she couldn’t think about him. “Are you ready?”
Peter shrugged. He took in a deep breath and let it out as slowly as he could, hoping to calm his fears. “I’m nervous,” he confessed, shaking his hands at his side. “But I think it’ll be alright “ don’t you think?”
Lily nodded, her gaze returning to the stage. “Yeah,” she agreed, watching as the curtain slowly started to rise, silencing the audience. “I think it’ll be alright.”
And then she walked onstage.
*
Much to Lily’s surprise, the show was nearly flawless. Everyone had remembered their lines, their fight choreography “ even Peter had managed to look halfway decent during the dance at the finale!
“That was amazing!” Mr. Evans hissed from backstage, congratulating each cast member as the audience continued to clap enthusiastically. “Fantastic “ I couldn’t have asked for a better performance!”
Lily, who had portrayed a wide variety of emotions onstage but had felt nothing but sorrow all night, allowed a small smile to grace her lips at this compliment. Peter was grinning, high-fiving every person he saw. Even Jess was squealing with excitement, hugging her friends.
The stage lights turned back on and Mr. Evans started to push some of the younger children back onto the stage. “Quick,” he whispered. “The curtain call!”
Every single person in the cast hurried onto the stage, bowing. Just when the applause had nearly died down, Lily and Peter jogged back out into the blinding spotlight and the crowd roared with excitement, whistling for the two lead actors.
Lily plastered a fake smile onto her face. She then grabbed Peter’s hand, held it above her head, and bowed.
The pair brought their heads back up. And then, finally allowing herself to put down her guard, Lily squinted into the bright lights for the one person who she most longed to see.
Nowhere. She couldn’t see him anywhere.
He never showed up.
Lily’s smile faltered as she felt this horrible realization envelope her entire being.
She could vaguely sense that Peter had lifted her hand into the air once more, preparing to lead the entire cast in their final bow. Just as she was about to lower her arm with the others onstage, she spotted movement in the back row.
A man dressed in a suit squeezed past the standing audience members. Once he reached the aisle, he immediately turned towards the doors and exited the building.
Lily froze, forgetting to bow with the others. She could not look away from that spot in the back of the room.
She would have recognized his black, messy hair anywhere.
Before the applause had stopped, Lily dropped Peter’s hand and darted off of the stage, lifting her dress up to her knees in the process. She ignored her father’s puzzled look as she stumbled past him in her high heels.
“Lily?” he called, confused. “Dear, is something wrong?” he asked.
His voice trailed away as she sprinted into the room backstage to grab her belongings. Her father followed, standing in the doorway with a look of concern. Lily, however, didn’t have time to stop and chat. She breezed past him once more, calling a brief, “Sorry!” over her shoulder.
By now, the rest of the cast was starting to shuffle off the stage as well, blocking Lily’s only exit.
“Excuse me “ sorry “ let me through!” she grumbled as nearly every single person seemed to run directly into her. “I need out!”
“Lily!”
Before Lily could avoid it, Peter jogged over, hugging her. “We did it!” he exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. “Congratulations!”
“Yeah, you too,” Lily hastily returned the compliment. She wiggled out of Peter’s arms, but now found herself wrapped in an entirely different embrace.
“Oh, dear, that was wonderful,” the woman cooed. Lily blinked, struggling to place the voice. Soon, however, she spotted the tall man with two children hanging off of his arms.
“Mrs. Belmann!” Lily realized. She pulled away, immediately recognizing the kind, plump woman at once from the campsite. “It’s so good to see you again!”
Mrs. Belmann was about to respond, but her oldest daughter interrupted, releasing her father’s arm.
“That was so cool!” she shouted, jumping up and down excitedly. “And you look really pretty in that dress,” she said, stepping forward to touch the material without asking. “Can I wear it?”
Lily opened her mouth, but an even younger voice piped up.
“Jay?” she cried as she seemed to have finally remembered where she had seen Lily before “ as well as who had been with Lily at the time. “Where Jay?”
“Oh.” Lily swallowed, feeling her brief moment of excitement disappear at this unintentional reminder. “You see, James is “ ”
“Good job “ it’s Lily, right?” a rough voice cut her off. Lily glanced up to find Bernie, the museum owner, walking towards her with his hands stuffed into his pockets. “That wasn’t half bad “ it seemed relatively accurate, too.”
Lily smiled politely, interpreting his comment as a compliment. She shifted her belongings into her left hand as she reached out to shake Bernie’s extended hand. “Yeah, well “ most of the props were James’s idea.”
“Speaking of,” Bernie quickly interrupted before she could elaborate. “Have you seen him around?”
“Actually,” Lily said, looking from Bernie to the Belmann’s. “I was just going to look for him “ but thanks for coming to see the show!”
Mrs. Belmann waved, smiling as Lily hurried towards the exit at the back of the hall. Just as soon as she thought she was home free, her two friends appeared in front of her.
It’s alright, Lily told herself. I can get rid of them “ they’ll understand.
“Lily “ that was incredible!” Anna shrieked, clasping her hands together in front of her chest. “All of the fighting and the dancing “ oh, it was so romantic,” she said with a heavy sigh. “And your co-star!” she shouted, seeming to just remember this detail. “The one who played the thief “ you have to introduce me to him!”
“I’m sorry.” Lily shook her head. “You’ll have to do it yourself “ I have to go find “ ”
“Look who it is “ it’s the star of the show!”
Lily let out a short huff of air, suddenly finding herself wishing there hadn’t been such a positive turnout for the show. She turned around, spotting Sirius. Remus and Peter tagged along behind him, smiling. And then, beside the group of tall boys, she found Jimmy, grinning from ear to ear.
“You did excellent, m’lady,” Sirius said in a failed attempt to sound as if he were from the Middle Ages.
“Yeah, nice job,” Remus added. Peter murmured in agreement.
“Thanks, guys, but I “ ”
“And you know Jimmy, right?” Sirius asked, pointing to the small boy beside him. He wrapped an arm around his head and proceeded to rub his fist into Jimmy’s hair, making it stand up on end. Jimmy laughed, clearly excited to have made more friends from the magical community. “James said he’s going to Hogwarts next year!”
Lily nodded, glancing frantically at the exit. “Yeah “ look, I really need to go, alright?”
The boys were about to nod their heads in agreement when Lily heard a voice that made her insides seize up.
“Lily Evans!” The deep voice seemed to boom over the entire room. “How nice to see you again “ and a spectacular performance as well! Simply delightful.”
Lily turned, ignoring her friends’ dropped jaws as they spotted the owner of the voice.
Because it was the Minister of Magic.
“Hello, sir,” Lily said in her hurried tone. “Sorry, but I really have to go. I wish I could stay and talk “ but I can’t.” She smiled apologetically at the man’s surprised expression. Surely, she was one of the first people to ever decline the chance to speak with the Minister of Magic. But “ she told herself “ there were more important things that she had to do right now.
She turned and started to walk away. “Sorry,” she apologized one last time.
The Minister of Magic opened his mouth as he tried to find something to say, but Lily was already several steps away. However, she noticed that it had taken no time at all for Sirius to immediately fill her empty spot and begin to introduce himself to this powerful man.
Lily sighed, relieved that she had slipped out of yet another conversation.
I couldn’t possibly know anyone else, she told herself. There’s no way that anyone could “
Cursing herself for thinking this thought just a bit too soon, Lily stopped in her footsteps as a girl blocked her path with her arms folded.
“Evans.”
Lily felt anger surge into her system where it had not been present before. “Marzoli,” she replied just as snidely.
Jess smirked, tossing her long, dark hair over her shoulder. “I see you’ve had quite a large crowd congratulate you,” she said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.
Lily nodded, narrowing her eyes at the girl that she despised. “Yes,” she growled, trying to keep her answers short and her temper under control. Don’t let her get to me, she repeated in her head. Don’t get worked up. She’s just trying to get on your nerves.
Jess took a small step forward. She moved one hand to her hip, jutting it out to the side. “Unfortunately,” she added with a mock sympathetic expression, “not James.”
The fire inside of Lily doubled at this comment. She forgot everything that she had just been telling herself about remaining calm and ignoring Jess. “What does James have to do with it?” she asked, biting her tongue so as not to say anything more than that.
Jess looked as if Christmas had come early; she had finally managed to evoke the response from Lily that she had clearly wanted to get.
“Oh, please.” Jess sighed, rolling her eyes. “Do you really think everyone’s oblivious to the sort of looks you’re always giving him?” She smirked, moving close enough for Lily to touch her. “You’ve got a crush on James Potter,” she said, unable to hold back a high-pitched giggle.
No I don’t, Lily wanted to say. Deny it “ say anything to get her away from you.
Lily opened her mouth, prepared to lie about her feelings for James “ but quickly decided against it.
Ignore her, she reminded herself, silently closing her eyes and walking past the dark-haired girl.
“Running away, are we, Evans?” Jess asked, happily skipping along behind Lily’s retreating figure.
Lily tried her best to block out the high voice as she left Bennett Theater and entered the cool night’s breeze. Let her say all she wants, Lily thought, trying to persuade herself to remain calm. She only wants to see me get upset.
“Figures,” Jess said with a mock sigh. She stopped just outside the doors, standing underneath a street lamp. “I should have known that you wouldn’t want to hang around here much longer. You must be embarrassed after your performance tonight “ I really don’t know why so many people congratulated you…”
Lily stopped dead in her tracks, struck by these words.
No, she silently corrected Jess. I had a great performance “ one of my best. You can’t tell me I was inadequate when I know that I put on a great show tonight!
Lily turned around on the sidewalk, walking back to Jess to voice her opinion, but she stopped just before the girl as a new thought struck her.
Who cares? she suddenly realized. Her entire thought process seemed to change instantaneously. Jess doesn’t matter “ her opinion doesn’t matter! It’s my life “ not hers! Lily could feel her blood boiling just thinking about Jess’s interference. So what if I’m in love with James “ so what if she thinks I’m a horrible actress “ it doesn’t have anything to do with Jess!
Lily smiled at her own thoughts, agreeing with them. It gave her a new wave of strength. And then, just as she was about to say these things, an entirely new side of her took over.
Without fully realizing just what her hand was about to do when it clenched into a fist, Lily watched with amusement as her right hand collided with the girl’s jaw, forcing Jess to collapse onto the floor, holding her face in her hands.
“You “ you “ hit me!” Jess shrieked, glaring up at Lily from her spot on the empty sidewalk outside of the theater. She quickly scrambled to her feet while simultaneously trying to avoid stepping on her floor-length costume. She stumbled around, finally managing to stand up straight and tall. “I can’t believe “ you just punched me!”
Lily’s breathing was coming out in hurried, shallow gasps, her chest rising and falling with each breath. “Yeah,” she whispered, holding her hand in front of her face. “I did.” She slowly opened and closed her fist, ignoring the slight pain that shot through her fingers. And then, a small smile spread across her face. “And it felt great.”
Jess’s eyes widened beneath the fluorescent light that shone down on the two girls. “You are going to be in so much trouble when I tell your dad!”
Terror took over as she imagined what sort of trouble she could get into. Her stomach twisted into multiple knots and her mouth went dry. She’d be grounded until school started up again! Her parents would “
Lily halted her rushed thinking as she felt a smirk spread across her lips.
“No, I won’t,” she said, unable to hide her grin. “Because no one will believe you.”
Jess, for once, didn’t say anything in response. Lily quickly continued.
“No one witnessed a thing,” she pointed out, gesturing around to the empty street. “And I doubt that anyone would believe that I would ever do such a violent thing!”
Jess’s jaw dropped open as she, too, seemed to process this knowledge.
Lily had finally won.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me,” Lily said, turning on her heels. “I have something I need to do.” She looked over her shoulder, sending one last glare to the dumbfounded girl. “And it doesn’t concern you.”
If it weren’t for her present situation with James, Lily knew that she would have laughed at Jess’s stunned silence. The thought of James, however, sent shivers down her spine and caused her stomach to drop.
I need to find him, she told herself, worried that he might have disappeared from her yet again. She took off at a run, keeping her belongings tucked carefully under her arms. When she was a safe distance away and gasping for breath, she slowed to a stop.
“This is stupid,” she growled at herself, digging around in her green bag. “Are you a witch or not, Evans?”
She pulled out her wand and closed her eyes, concentrating on her objective, and then waved it around in a familiar motion. When she opened her eyes, she quickly spun around in a circle to take in her new location.
Lily ran forward, stumbling over fallen twigs and tree roots that had grown above the grown. Several times, she fell to her knees and got dirt all over her beautiful, white costume, but she could care less about the state of her costume; she had to find James.
And then she saw it “ the pond in James’s backyard “
But James was nowhere in sight.
Lily’s frantic gasps for breath had stopped. She wasn’t breathing at all anymore.
With a small sob, she dropped to her knees, staring blindly ahead of her, refusing to believe that she had lost James yet again.
No. She couldn’t have lost track of him again. He should have come here, she thought, trying to figure out where she had gone wrong in her assumptions. He’s always in his backyard “ he was supposed to “
“Lily?”
Lily spun around on her knees so quickly that she got tangled up in the material of her dress and landed on her backside in the dirt.
“James,” she breathed, unable to believe her eyes. He was here “ he had come after all! She found him!
James shuffled towards her with his hands stuffed into his pants pockets. His white, button-up shirt was pulled out from his pants and his suit jacket was left unbuttoned, flapping in the gentle breeze. “What are you doing here, Lily?”
His voice was soft, but inquisitive. His facial expression was unnaturally solemn as he strode up to her and held out a hand to help her to her feet.
Lily stared at the gesture, trying to process what was happening. She had been searching for him for hours, but now that she found him “ she was speechless.
“I came to see you,” she whispered, gratefully taking James’s hand within her own. She felt herself being pulled to her feet, but the instant she was upright, James jerked his hand away.
“Oh, yeah?” he asked, sounding almost bored of their conversation. He shrugged out of his suit coat and tossed it over a tree branch. “Why?”
Lily licked her lips and wrung her hands together, watching with fascination as James easily stepped out of his shoes and socks without giving her a second look. “I needed to talk to you.”
He finally looked up at her. “Well, here I am,” he muttered. His face remained impassive, making it hard for her to read. He started to wade out into the water, allowing the bottom of his pants to get wet. “Say what you came to say.”
Lily was shocked. She hadn’t imagined he would have ever been so blunt and straight to the point. But she didn’t let this throw her off. She quickly shook her mane of long, crimson hair, stepped up to the edge of the pond, and spoke.
“I told Anna and Chelsie,” she confessed, watching as James scooped up a pile of rocks and started to skip them across the smooth, flat surface, just like he had been doing the first time she found him here at the beginning of the summer. She had been apologizing then, as well. “Last night “ I told them everything “ about us.” She swallowed, praying that this would work. “About the museum and the camping trip “ and the Ministry Ball,” she added, trying to remember what all she had said to her friends. “And what happened that night “ when you “ you “ ”
Lily broke off, unable to complete her sentence. When you kissed me, she finished in her head. James, however, interrupted her before she was forced to say the words.
“I know,” he whispered, straightening his posture. “I already heard.”
Lily froze, trying to process his words. “You “ heard?”
He nodded, keeping his back towards her. He strengthened his hold on the small rocks clenched in his hand. “When you were talking to my Mum,” he admitted in a soft voice. “I heard the whole thing.”
This was worse, she decided. Worse than an unsuccessful search for James before the play “ worse than losing him after the curtain call “ this was much worse.
“You heard me “ at your house,” she stated, staring at her feet. She tried to ignore the pain she was feeling “ nothing could have prepared her for this sort of anguish. “You “ avoided me?”
With the slightest of movements, James nodded. It wasn’t much, but Lily spotted it.
Her eyes filled with tears. She felt betrayed “ felt hurt. James “ he had purposefully hidden from her when she had spent all day searching for him. Sure, she had suspected that this might have been the case all along “ that he really was trying to stay away from her “ but it had been so much easier to tell herself that she was overreacting and jumping to conclusions. But now, she knew the truth “ she hadn’t been overreacting at all.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, staring at the water that lapped up over the bank and touched the toe of one of her shoes. “For everything I did to make you avoid me.”
Lily stopped speaking at the sound of a small plunk. She looked up and realized that James’ hand had released the small stones into the water and had spun around to face her with a disbelieving stare.
“You’re “ you’re sorry?” he asked, squinting at her. “Damn it, Lily, I’m the one that should be apologizing for hiding like some coward when all you wanted to do was say that you were sorry!” He clenched his fists at his side, looking infuriated with himself, but he didn’t move.
Lily immediately shook her head. “No,” she responded, “it’s my fault “ if I hadn’t done all of those “ stupid things “ you wouldn’t have “ you’d never “ ”
She broke off, struggling to find the words to say. She opened and closed her mouth at least three times before she impulsively started to move forward through the cold water.
“What are you doing?” James asked, shocked to see Lily dragging her dress through the water. “You’re ruining your costume, Lily.”
She shook her head, keeping her eyes locked on James’ as she moved forward. “I don’t care, James. I just “ don’t “ care. The dress can “ ” But what she was about to say was lost as one of her shoes slipped between two stones in the water and she stumbled, falling to her knees. She started to shiver, watching as her other shoe went floating away from her, but she didn’t give it a second thought.
As Lily tried to hoist herself back onto her feet in the shallow water, she felt two, strong hands grab her wrists and gently pull her upwards. But, unlike before when James had helped her up, he didn’t let go of her this time.
“I’m sorry, James,” she whispered without waiting to regain her balance. She clung to the front of James’s, now, wet shirt, refusing to let go, no matter how much she wanted to warm herself up at that moment. “I’m sorry that I was always mean to you in the past. I’m sorry about all of those horrible pranks I played on you at school. I’m sorry I never told my friends about us. I’m sorry I ran out on you after you “ kissed me. I’m sorry that I hurt you.” She swallowed, locking her eyes on his. “And I can’t even begin to tell you how sorry I am that I lied about what I felt for you.”
James didn’t say a word. Slowly, he released Lily’s arms and dropped his hands to his side. Reluctantly, Lily let go of his shirt, but she kept her hands clenched together in front of her. A slight breeze hit her arms and she started to shake uncontrollably without James standing there to block the wind. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to stand the cold for much longer, but she was also determined to stay until she was forgiven.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered again, watching as James turned to the side. She clenched her teeth together, trying to stop the annoying chattering.
James looked down at the water, studying the ripples of water that their movement made. He didn’t say anything.
“I was so “ stupid,” Lily hissed at herself. If James hadn’t been there, she probably would have smacked herself in the forehead as well. “I made the biggest mistake of my life,” she told him. “I didn’t realize what I had right in front of me.”
She stopped speaking at the sign of the slightest movement. James was turning around, facing Lily once more. His height seemed much more intimidating than it ever had before, now that he was standing inches away from her. He stared down at her, watching her with curious eyes.
He blinked once. Twice. And then he opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out.
Should I leave? Lily wondered. He’s not saying anything “ is that my sign to go?
Her heart sped up as she contemplated this horrid idea. But she didn’t want to leave “ she wanted to stay here. With James.
Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. I don’t want to go, she thought, arguing with herself. I can’t “ I need to stay here. Don’t make me leave.
A single tear fell down her cheek, dropping into the water with an inaudible splash. She quickly averted her gaze, embarrassed to be caught crying in front of James. She ducked her head down, staring at her feet “
But James gently touched a finger to her chin and lifted her gaze.
She found herself staring openly, unashamedly, into James’ eyes, wishing to do nothing more than stay like this for the rest of her life, even though she was unbearably cold from the water that was lowering her body temperature.
Her temperature, however, quickly became irrelevant. Because, at that moment, James took one final step forward, pressing himself up against her chest, and leaned down to kiss her.
This kiss, like her first with James, had been a surprise. She had no idea that he had been about to kiss her “ but this time, she didn’t object whatsoever.
Lily gripped the collar of his shirt, pulling James as close to her as was physically possible. As she did so, she was sure she could have felt a small smile spread across James’ lips.
He dropped one hand to her waist, wrapping it around to the middle of her back, but kept the other cupped around her cheek. And then, sending a chill of delight down Lily’s spine, he slipped the hand on her face to the back of her neck and pulled her close as well.
Slowly, reluctantly, James pulled away, allowing them time to breathe. He didn’t, however, remove his hands. He stood with his eyes closed and his forehead pressed against hers as, together, they gasped for breath.
Lily felt warm air hit her lips. She opened her eyes to see James smiling down at her.
“You’re not going to run away this time, are you?” he asked in a teasing tone.
Lily couldn’t have felt any more relieved to see the grin on his face and the sparkle returning to his eyes.
“No,” she replied, placing a soft kiss onto his lips to reassure him of her answer. She lifted her arms to circle his neck, smiling back at him. “I’m not planning on running away anytime soon.”
James’s eyes darted around her face, trying to take in every detail. Then he nodded. “Good,” he whispered, slowly dropping his smile. He leaned forward just enough so that his nose touched hers. “But if you do, warn me,” he told her. And then she could feel his lips against hers as he spoke.
“Because I’ll make sure to stop you.”