Ch5
That morning after her Herbology class, Lily walked once again the path down to the lake. She paused on her way at the crest of a slight hill that overlooked the lake, the wind caressing her face and blowing through her long ginger hair, tossing it gently about. It had been just the night before that she had been staring up at the stars, wishing for freedom. Just the night before James had saved her from a werewolf. Lily sighed.
“I’m really going to miss this place,” she said, more to herself than anyone else.
“I am too.”
Lily jumped at the voice, and glanced to her right, just noticing that someone had come to join her on the hill. It was Remus; he had Herbology with Lily, but they hadn’t had a chance to talk since they had been taking a test. He looked gaunt, and extremely tired, brown eyes withdrawn, but she didn’t notice any major injuries other than a bandaged left hand. He too looked over the lake.
“Oh hi Remus. I didn’t hear you coming down the path.”
“Hello,” he said, smiling warmly. “It’s okay, I didn’t mean for you too.”
Lily nodded. “Listen, Remus “ “
“I know you know. James already told me. I want to apologize for the scare I undoubtedly gave you last night.”
“You don’t have to apologize for anything. It was my fault I was down by the lake anyhow.”
There was an awkward pause.
“So.. you don’t think I’m...” he trailed off.
“No, you’re still the same Remus Lupin to me. Smart, a gentleman, fellow Prefect of two years, a Marauder, my friend...”
He looked down at the dying grass, but sighed in relief. He then straightened, and offered her his arm.
“So, shall we get back to the castle now? Sirius and Peter are probably itching to get into Hogsmeade, and James is probably wondering why you’re late in setting up for the feast.”
Lily laughed and took the offered arm. “Yes, Mr. Mooney, we shall.”
Meanwhile, James, Sirius, and Peter sat, as was their custom, in the courtyard, waiting for Remus to head up from the Greenhouses.
Sirius shifted impatiently on the bench on which he was lounging, throwing a look at his watch for the 50th time in five minutes. “I wish Remus’d hurry up or Zonkos’ll be sold out before we even get there...”
Peter smiled. “Even if they are, the store owners must owe us some favors after all the merchandise we’ve bought over the years. I’m sure they could pull a few strings.”
James considered his words. “I bet you’re right, Wormtail.”
“What a shock,” said Sirius jokingly. Then, “ Where is he?”
James leaned back against the courtyard wall, crossing his arms. “You don’t want to be so jumpy Padfoot. The girls might think you’re loosing your touch.”
Sirius threw him an over-exaggerated pained look. “Me? Sirius Black? Loose my touch? You’ve lost your head man. Oh, hello ladies,” he said in a much more mature voice, giving one of his best smiles to a group of giggling girls who were making their noisy way down to Hogsmeade.
“I’ll kill him,” Sirius growled. “If Remus were here, we’d be able to follow those girls down to Hogsmeade... and what a nice view,” said Sirius, still staring at the girls. James looked them over.
“You’re not being serious are you? None of them are near as pretty as Lily.”
“I’m being perfectly Sirius, Prongs,” said Sirius, laughing at his joke. “And I think you need your eyes checked. Oh wait, you’ve already got glasses. They don’t appear to be working mate.”
Peter interrupted the friendly banter. “If you’ll put your eyes back in Sirius, you’ll notice who’s arriving.”
Peter pointed the opposite direction Sirius and James had been looking. James quickly turned his head. Walking up the hill from the lake was Remus... arm and arm with Lily. James felt jealous for a second, but then relaxed. This was Remus he was talking about. Remus would never try to steal the girl that James had been after for 6 years, and if he was trying to steal her, he wouldn’t be stupid enough to do it under James’ nose.
Sirius bounded up as he spotted them. “Remus old man! Hurry up or they’ll be sold out!”
Remus smiled. “Hold on, I just need to deposit her...” he said, gesturing to Lily.
“It’s alright Remus. I’m pretty sure I can find the Great Hall from here by myself,” she said, laughing.
“Never fear, I can take it from here,” said James, approaching the pair and offering Lily his arm, which, thankfully, she took, releasing Remus’.
“Perfect!” cried Sirius. “Off we go then!”
In a flash he had Remus by the arm and was dragging him down the path to Hogsmeade, ignoring his pleas of “Gentle with the hand!”, Peter hurrying in their wake.
James smiled at he best friends, and then turned his attention back to Lily. Merlin she was beautiful. Her cheeks were rosy from the cold, her hair wind tossed and natural, no gel in it nor straightening done to it. Her eyes were clear for once, with no signs of recent tears. Some change had overcome her from last night. She seemed much more... friendly than she had before. And almost, but not quite, shy.
“Sorry I’m late, we were talking.”
James nodded as they set off, towards the Great Hall. “I’m sure you found plenty to talk about...”
They finally reached the Great Hall. None of the other Prefects had arrived yet, making the room look even larger than it really was in its emptiness.
James, relishing the touch he was maintaining with Lily, reluctantly let her go and escorted her over to the edge of the Gryffindor table. She sat down on the table surface to wait, and he said jokingly: “Well, milady. Here we are. I trust we found the way alright.”
She laughed, then looked up at him. “James, while we’re alone, I just wanted to say...”
James looked down at her hopefully, his heart suddenly beating quickly. He swallowed nervously. “Yes?”
“Before you forced a confession from me I was extremely lonely and depressed. I know I got mad, but now I’m glad you talked to me about it. I know you actually care for me, as you try to cheer me up and make me feel better, and so I officially take back all the terrible things I’ve said about you over the past 6 years. You’ve really changed. And I think it’s really sweet what you and your friends go through to help Remus. I’m... well I’m basically trying say something that I never for the life of me thought I would say...”
“And what’s that Lily?” asked James, breath catching in his throat. She thinks I’m sweet?
“I’m glad we’re friends,” she said, and promptly leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek.
Though the kiss was only on the cheek, James thought that all the emotions running through him, ecstasy, relief, triumph, would make him explode.
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Sorry it was so short, but I needed a bridge between what just happened and what's to come.
'So, when is all the action going to start?' you wonder. And I shall answer.
Voldemort makes his next appearance... why, next chapter.