“He’s definitely got more good looking,” said Neala, dreamily, as she flopped backwards onto Lily’s bed. “I didn’t think that was humanly possible!”
“Neala,” said Lily, seriously, as she neatly folded the last of her clothes into the drawer which seemed to emit a delicate lavender fragrance every time she opened it. “It’s been less than a month.”
“I know, but…” she sighed, happily. “This weekend is going to be so much fun!”
“I hope it doesn’t rain…” Lily remarked, absent-mindedly, and nudged her suitcase under the bed.
“It won’t rain! There’s a drought on, in case you hadn’t noticed,” said Neala. “And anyway, if it rains we’ll get to spend all our time in this house. It’s really nice, isn’t it?”
“Mm,” replied Lily, joining her on the bed.
“It’s sort of posh but homely…”
Neala traced the pattern on the bedstead with her finger.
“Well, it’s nicer than mine,” said Lily. She crossed the room to the large window, framed by long drapes. Looking out, she could a long, gently sloping lawn, enclosed on all sides by an ivy covered wall and bordered by beds of various flowers, mainly roses. She didn’t know how far the garden stretched on for because the thick curtain of an old willow tree obscured any sight of the end and Lily liked the feeling that they were shut off from everyone else in their own little world.
Two, twisted apple trees, whose trunks were covered in moss, stood about halfway down the lawn and held, between them, a canvas hammock in which Sirius now lay. The other boys were grouped around him; James was trying to vacate the hammock by rocking it and causing his friend to grip the edges in order to prevent him from falling to the dry ground. Remus was leaning against a tree and laughing at them whilst Peter had collapsed on the lawn, his eyes closed and face red. Lily grinned.
“Come on,” she said, happily. “Let’s get outside.”
*
James was sitting on the bank of the stream beyond the willow tree at the end of the garden, his feet dangling in the cool water, listening to Lily and Remus’ arguing about the morality of memory charms; they’d been at it for about twenty minutes.
“Ok,” said Remus, wearily. “Look at this way: what’s more important? A Muggle not remembering five minutes of their life or our whole world being exposed?”
“That’s just stupid,” said Lily, who was standing in the stream, barefoot. “Our whole world would not get exposed. The point is, we don’t have the right to wipe someone’s memory-someone who is completely defenceless against magic, as well- just because they saw something we didn’t want them to!”
“But we have to! I mean, think how messed up the world-both worlds, that is “ would be if they knew-”
“If we didn’t want them to know then we should be more careful!”
“Yeah, but-”
“Don’t say ‘yeah ,but’. If you want to say ‘yeah, but’ you may as well say no.”
“Fine. No. We are careful but there are some occasions when they find us.”
“ They don’t do it on purpose! It’s not their fault!”
“I have nothing against Muggles, I was just sayin-”
“Guys,” said Sirius, lazily, from his blanket on the bank. “Shut up. It’s too hot to be arguing about…whatever it was you were arguing about…”
Remus and Lily both shot him a stern look.
“Oh, come on,” whined Sirius, propping himself up on his elbows. “I’m bored.”
No one answered him; Neala and James were involved in an amusing game of Wizard Chess with an ancient travel set that Neala had brought with her. It was so old that all the pieces groaned about various aches and pains every time they were made to move and the two friends found it much more interesting to try to push the pieces to their places, causing them to turn round and begin shouting insults about ‘lack of respect’ and ‘undignified behaviour’ at the players. Lily and Remus had called a ceasefire to their argument and returned to their previous activity of trying to build a minature dam in the stream. Peter was asleep on a rug under the willow tree.
Sirius sighed huffily.
“I want to DO something,” he called, trying, in vain, to attract some attention. They ignored him. “Let’s have a duelling tournament.”
“No magic,” muttered Remus, who was now holding a large stone in place while Lily tried to stick it there with home-mixed mud.
“I know, I know…”
He turned onto his front and lay, face down, on the tartan blanket. James poked a bishop in attempt to hurry the game along but it turned round and started shouting at him. Neala picked it up and stuffed it into her pocket where it could be still be heard protesting.
“That’s cheating,” said James, lazily, his head propped up on his hand.
“Well, he was being slow,” Neala responded, peering at the board whilst thinking on her next move.
“It’s not fair now, though.”
“Fine, take one of mine.”
James reached forward and took the queen who had lost one of her arms and was bent double, leaning on her sceptre.
“That’s not fair!” said Neala, trying to grab it pack off him. The queen protested weakly.
“You took my bishop!”
“He was a bishop! That’s my queen! I’ve only got one!”
“Yeah, and now I’ve only got one bishop!”
“Well, that’s not actually true seeing as I’m about to make my pawn take it.”
“Ok, give me back my bishop.”
“If you give me back my queen.”
“Fine, then.”
“Fine.”
James put out his hand, still holding the feebly struggling queen. Neala did the same, holding the bishop who was now red in the face from all his shouting.
“On three,” said James. “One, two, th-”
Neala had tried to grab the queen but James had been ready for this; he drew back his arm and, in her distraction, reached forward with the other hand for the bishop. Neala managed to hang onto it and they began fighting each other in an attempt to regain the pieces.
It was when James gave a sharp yank on Neala’s right hand that she fell forward, sending the chess board and all its pieces flying into the sparkling blue water of the stream below them. The board landed a little upstream of the dam and was quickly forced into it by the current, knocking it down. Lily hadn’t noticed this as she had been too preoccupied with the fact that she had been pelted with chess pieces which had splashed her unlike Remus who was staring at their ruined masterpiece.
“James!” yelled Lily.
“It wasn’t me! It was Neala’s fault! She fell on the board-”
“Because you were fighting with me!” interrupted Neala, waving her hands around wildly.
“Lily!” said Remus, reaching out for her arm.
“What?” she asked and spun around to see the crushed dam. “You broke our dam!”
“Uh oh,” said Sirius, who had been watching ever since he heard the splashing.
“It wasn’t me!” said James. He held up his hands only to receive a faceful of water. “Lily!”
“It was Remus!” she said, pointing to the boy next to her who was laughing hysterically. “But it was a good idea!”
She bent down and scooped up the water, flinging it towards James. It hit him in the shoulder, soaking through his t-shirt.
“Ok, you asked for it!”
He got to his feet.
“Neala! Back me up, here,” he said, offering her his hand. She took it, stood up, kicked off her shoes and together they scrambled down the bank and landed in the water.
“Ooh, it’s really warm!” said Neala, gazing down at it. “I thought it would be-”
But they never found out what she thought it would be because Sirius had also jumped in the stream, splashing Lily, and showering Neala with water.
“SIRIUS!”
“What?” he asked, innocently. Lily splashed him. “OI!”
“Well, you got me too! JAMES!”
James had splashed her, scooping up water in his empty pumpkin juice glass.
“Peter!” yelled Sirius, in the direction of the willow tree. A grunt told them that he was awake. “Bring us those empty glasses, would you? MOONY!”
Remus was laughing, water running down his arms. A moment later, the small, round figure of Peter appeared, looking flustered.
“Down here!” called Remus.
Peter looked down at them and began to clamber, awkwardly, down towards them. James glanced to his left; Neala and Lily had wandered further downstream, shrieking and giggling as they splashed each other. He grinned.
“I got two,” he said, stepping cautiously onto the stone nearest the bank, trying to avoid the water. “Is that en-”
It seemed to happen in slow motion “ Peter put out his foot to step onto the rock but, distracted by passing the glasses to Sirius, had misjudged the distance and slipped, crashing down into the water and spraying all of the boys with glittering droplets.
They erupted into fits of hysteria at the sight of Peter, sitting waist deep in the water, looking as though he’d just received the biggest shock of his life. James could barely breathe he was laughing so much and Remus had collapsed against the bank for support, tears now rolling down his cheeks. Sirius shook his head, sending yet more water over the friends. James looked over at Lily who was standing in the middle of the stream, one arm on Neala to keep her balance, water flowing around her bare ankles. At that moment, with her head tossed back so that her hair hung loosely across her shoulders, her emerald eyes glittering in the golden, evening sunlight and her face lit with laughter, James fully appreciated just how beautiful she was.
*
Lily had never felt happier as she walked up the lawn with her hand in James’, their fingers interlocked The afternoon had melted away into a warm, summer evening and everything was quiet except for the voices of her friends and the faint sound of the stream, tripping over stones.
The six teenagers were met by Mrs Potter halfway up the garden.
“Right,” she said, as they reached her. “Girls, you can go and get yourselves ready for supper. Boys, wash your hands and come and lay the table. Oh, and will one of you finish off the potato salad because I need to carve the chicken…”
They followed her into the house and the boys grudgingly trudged into the kitchen. James gave Lily’s hand a quick squeeze and smiled at her before letting go to follow his friends.
Neala, who was singing something quietly under her breath, began to climb the stairs, staring at the family photographs that lined the walls. Lily followed her. They reached the first landing and she turned right to go to the bedroom that they were sleeping in but soon became aware that Neala was not doing the same. Looking round, she saw Neala ambling down the corridor in the wrong direction.
“Neala, this one’s our room,” she said and opened the door.
“I know,” replied Neala, who had stopped and was now facing a dark green door with a round, golden handle. She reached out her hand.
“What are you doing?!” whispered Lily, casting a nervous glance at the stairs. She could hear the boys moving around in the hall.
“Exploring,” said Neala, shrugging, and she promptly opened the door and disappeared through it.
“Neala,” hissed Lily. She looked around quickly before closing the bedroom door and hurrying along the darkened corridor after her friend. “Neala, you can’t go in-”
Lily stopped abruptly as she looked around the room. They appeared to have found some sort of study; every possible surface was strewn with paper, files, folders, photographs and newspaper cuttings. One of the walls was completely covered with photographs of what looked like prisoners and various, oddly shaped artefacts lined the window sill. The desk in the far corner was almost buried under books and stacks of paper and the handsome, albeit slightly worn, leather chair, had been pushed away from it roughly as though the person sitting in it had left in a rush.
“Woah,” said Neala, staring around the room. She took a step further in but Lily, who was still standing in the doorway, quickly grabbed her arm.
“Neala, we really shouldn’t be in here,” she whispered, uncertainly.
“Oh, no one’s going to find out…hey, look…”
She pulled one of the pictures down off the wall.
“Neala,” hissed Lily, urgently. “Put that back right now!”
“No, look,” said Neala, quietly, her bright blue eyes scanning the few lines of information at the bottom of the photograph. “Look at the name here…”
She thrust the picture under Lily’s nose. Lily peered at it, the writing at the bottom was scrawled hastily but it was just clear enough to read the words: Bellatrix Black: wanted for the murder of two Muggles and one Ministry Auror “ July 4th
“What’s your point?” said Lily, passing it back to her.
“The name “ Black? Sirius? The way he always says his family are a bunch of Dark Art worshippers?” she whispered, flapping the photograph around. “Maybe he wasn’t exaggerating!”
“It’s possible…” said Lily, trying to get her round what Neala was suggesting. “But…those murders happened a month ago…why wouldn’t he have told us?”
“Would you tell us?” asked Neala. Lily couldn’t help but feel that Neala was being slightly melodramatic but it was odd all the same. “And what’s this doing in James’ dad’s study?”
Lily shook her head.
“I don’t know…”
She wandered towards the desk.
“Look at this…”
Lily had caught sight of a piece if paper with the words ‘Suspected Death Eaters “ August 1st’ written at the top.
“What are Death Eaters?” asked Neala, who had been reading over her shoulder.
“I’m not sure…” muttered Lily. “But they don’t sound very nice…”
Below the title was a list of names and various crimes they were accused of.
“That’s horrible,” murmured Neala. “Murder, use of Imperius curse, murder, murder, use of Cruciatus curse-”
“How come we’ve never heard about all this?” whispered Lily, staring awe struck at the paper. “Why hasn’t it been in the Prophet?”
“Maybe they don’t want to scare people. Or maybe…maybe “ well, it doesn’t look like they’ve caught many of these people, does it?” Neala waved her hands vaguely at the wall of photos. “They’re all wanted for something or other…”
“Maybe the Ministry doesn’t wanted to look bad…” said Lily, more to herself than to Neala.
A cry from downstairs made them jump. Lily dropped the paper and Neala hastened over to the wall to fix the photograph back up.
“Girls! Suppertime!”
“Quick,” said Neala, as Lily picked up the paper and placed it back on the desk.
The girls hurried out of the room and Neala quietly closed the door behind them. They didn’t say anything as they made their way downstairs because Mrs Potter was waiting for them at the bottom, absent mindedly clearing dust off the banister with her wand.
“Ah, good, you heard me,” she said, stowing her wand away and beckoning to them to follow her. “Now, we’re eating in the garden room seeing as it’s such a lovely evening.”
They followed her down the hall and she opened a door opposite the kitchen. Lily stepped into the large, white walled room and smiled; the French doors had been flung open so that the room was warm and airy, allowing the whit linen curtains to flutter lightly in the breeze. The boys, apart from James who was lighting the candles, were already sitting around the table, looking hungry. Neala pushed gently past Lily and skipped round the table to sit next to Sirius who kissed her on the cheek as she sat down.
James finished lighting the candles and walked over to Lily; taking her hand, he led her to the table and, smiling, pulled out her chair. Lily smiled back and sat down between him and Remus. She looked around at her friends, all of whom were chatting happily amongst themselves. James leant in towards her and whispered in her ear.
“You look beautiful.”
Lily laughed and looked into his hazel eyes. Everything she’d seen in that mysterious room went straight out of he mind; happiness seemed to flood her body all the way down to her fingertips. It all just seemed so perfect “ the weather, the setting, the company. She threw her arms around him.
“Thank you,” she whispered, snuggling into his neck.
“You’re welcome.”
*
James leant back in his chair, full of chicken, salad and home-made apple crumble, listening to the quiet voices of his friends around him. To his right sat Lily who was talking animatedly with Remus about something or other and Neala and Sirius, on the other side of the table, were trying to teach Peter how to balance a spoon on his nose.
The sky outside had now grown a deep, star strewn, navy blue and so the only real light was from the moon and the warm glow of the candles placed around the room. He looked at Lily; her pale face was illuminated and her eyes flickered like the flames as she folded her napkin, listening to Remus. After a while, the chatter died down and they sat there, each of them just enjoying the moment. James was about to suggest clearing the table when Neala began to speak.
“James,” she said, slowly. “What’s that room on the first floor?”
“What?” asked James, who had not been expected such a random question.
“That green door…the one at the end of the first floor corridor?”
“Oh, it’s my dad’s study,” he replied, reaching out to pick up Lily’s plate but noticing that the girls were exchanging odd looks. “Why?” he said, suspicion creeping into his voice.
“Oh, Lily and I were just wondering,” Neala said, trying to sound casual.
“What’s all this?” asked Sirius, sitting up straighter and yawning. He had been making moulds of his fingertips in the hot wax.
“Nothing,” said Lily, quickly.
“That means it is something.”
Sirius looked at her from across the table, eyes narrowed.
“No, really,” said Neala, looking slightly uncomfortable. “We just saw the door and wondered.”
“Nell, why-”
Before James could go any further, Mrs Potter burst in.
“It’s getting late, you lot,” she said and immediately began gathering up the plates. “You should really think about getting to bed soon.”
No one seemed to respond to this.
“Come on,” she said, briskly. “Up you get.”
“Ah, Mum,” replied James, lazily. “You have no power without Dad.”
Mrs Potter looked at her son disapprovingly.
“Where is Dad, anyway?” asked James, getting to his feet and stretching.
“Well, he’s not home yet,” she said while she picked up a fork that had fallen on the floor. “He must have been held up at work.”
With that, she pulled out her wand, flicked it in the direction of the plates and levitated them out of the room.
“Bed within the hour!” she called as she followed the floating crockery.
James turned back to his friends; Peter and Remus were talking quietly whilst Sirius and Neala had found another way to keep themselves amused. James looked for Lily and saw her standing just outside the French doors, looking up at the sky.
“Come and see the stars,” she called, gently.
As the others stood up to follow her, James walked around the edge of the table and stepped outside, stopping just behind her. He slipped his arms around her waist and squeezed her gently; she sighed and put her head back on his shoulder, looking at him for a moment and smiling before gazing back up at the sky.
“It just goes on and on, doesn’t it?” she whispered.
“Mm.”
He bent forward and kissed her lightly on the forehead, breathing in her familiar scent, and making her sigh again. Then, he looked up at the inky blue sky, dotted with white, twinkling lights; to him, it had never looked more beautiful.
Learning to Love by There you are Peter
Chapter Notes: Ok, so third time lucky with getting this chapter up. It's been a while, I know...
So the Marauders, Lily and Neala are all reunited at James' in the height of a summer drought. Everything's perfect and thing couldn't get any better. But then, the discovery of a dark secret hints at everything, I mean, everything, that's to come. Little do they know that they just heard the first about the very thing that will kill them...