Then she saw him. He was in robes of brightest yellow, like a wasp, and Lily could tell from her position below that he had tried to tame his unruly hair. That attempt was proving to be futile, because his damp locks were springing back up to their unmanageable mess. But he was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. And his hazel eyes had found hers. He was beaming down at her.
“You look gorgeous, Lily,” he said, descending the last few steps and kissing her.
“You as well,” Lily replied a little breathlessly, kissing him back, thankfully keeping most of her composure whilst her heart beat madly.
“Now, you’ll keep the cooing down to a minimum, I hope?” Sirius said from behind James, grinning as Lily jumped. She hadn’t even realized that he was with James.
“Yes. Well,” she said, minorly disgruntled. “Shall we go?”
The three of them set off for Professor Slughorn’s classroom in the dungeons. The corridor leading to the classroom had been festively decorated with what looked like tiny bottles of glowing white potion. On the way, Lily listened to Sirius and James banter back and forth. She found it difficult to refrain from bursting out in laughter. Separately, they were funny, but when together, the boys were hilarious. Why had she never noticed how funny they were? Oh, that’s right, Lily reminded herself, I was too busy loathing and snubbing them to care.
They had arrived at the dungeons, which were crowded with people. Lily stood on tiptoe and peered around. Most of the professors were there, along with every member of the Slug Club, it appeared, plus a guest for each of them. The classroom was overflowing with people. Christmas music played softly in the background, mingling with the many voices of chattering people, and tiny fairies were flying around the ceiling, lighting the room with a creamy warmth. Alice, standing with Frank near the fireplace, spotted Lily and waved. Lily happily waved back. Lily hadn’t revealed the contents of her prophecy just yet, but she was eager to begin repairing the friendship she and Alice had once shared.
Lily became aware of the sensation that someone was watching her. She glanced around, her eyes roaming over James and Sirius talking with Fabian Prewett from Hufflepuff, Bellatrix Black apparently eating Rodolphus Lestrange’s face, and stopping to rest on the face of Severus Snape. Her heart gave a leap as if it had been jolted. His eyes were boring into her face, and Lily was startled at the intensity of his gaze. He was purposefully giving her a glimpse of his current feelings. Why? Severus’ eyes shifted to the left of Lily, and she turned her head slightly, following his line of vision. They landed on James. She felt as though something boiled beneath the surface, a sudden, indescribeable hatred that only ceased when Severus' eyes returned to rest upon her own face.* She tore her own eyes away, unable to witness his raw emotion. He knew.
Lily tried to focus her attention on James, who was now speaking to her.
“Lily, are you hungry? Would you like punch or something to eat?” he asked.
“Uh, sure,” she murmured, still very aware of Severus’ gaze on the side of her head. “I’ll go with you,” she added as an afterthought.
“I’ll just stay here, thanks!” Sirius called cheerfully after them. He was already eyeing Dorcas Meadowes and sliding casually over to her. Lily smirked over her shoulder.
She and James filled their goblets with iced pumpkin juice and stood several feet from the dessert table, observing the other guests in comfortable silence. As Lily watched Dorcas flirt with Sirius, James unexpectedly put his arm around Lily’s waist and pulled her closer to him.
“You look so beautiful tonight,” he murmured into her hair.
“Thanks.” Lily’s voice was muffled in James’ fluorescent robes and her nostrils filled with the smell of him.
They mingled with the other students for a while. As Lily and Alice laughed at James, Sirius, Frank and Will and John Parry**, amazingly Gryffindor-like Slytherins, about halfway through the party, Professor Slughorn accosted them.
“Ah, Lily, James, Frank!” Slughorn boomed, barely acknowledging the others in the group, “Having a good time?”
“Yes,” they chorused.
“Good, good!”
At that moment, Lily saw Severus out of the corner of her eye. He was trying to leave unnoticed, Rodolphus, Bellatrix and Regulus Black in tow. What’s he doing with them? Lily wondered. Severus was a loner, always had been. He didn’t usually socialize with anyone else, not even his fellow Slytherins. Moreover, Bellatrix, Sirius’ cousin, was not known for her kindness. She and Severus had rarely spoken. Something felt wrong.
“Umm…”Lily directed vaguely at the group in general. James and Alice looked over at her. “I’ll”I’m going to the loo. I’ll be right back.” James said, “Okay” and Alice just nodded, but Lily was already leaving the party, weaving her way through the laughing students. She made her way back to Gryffindor Tower as fast as she could without actually running, taking all of the shortcuts.
She gave the Fat Lady the password and hurried past the students in the ‘G-com’ as Sirius had so ‘hip-ly’ put it, up the stairs to her dormitory. Lily dug through her trunk, throwing books, clothes and potions supplies haphazardously on the floor until she found what she was looking for. Lily looked around quickly to make sure she was really alone, then swirled James’ silvery Invisibility Cloak over her head. She raced down the stairs as quietly as she could, but she needn’t have worried. The occupants of the ‘G-com’ were loudly getting a head start on holiday celebrations. Lily had just heard the Fat Lady close behind her when her logic caught up with her. She stopped. Where had Severus and the others gone? She hadn’t noticed any sign of them when she had raced to the Tower, and she had no way of knowing where they were…She began to feel slightly stupid. What could she do now? Footsteps from the corridor in front of her broke Lily out of her thoughts. It was James. What was he doing away from the party? She had told him she would be right back; there was nothing suspicious about going to the ladies’ room.
Lily held her breath as James halted in front of her. He was looking down at a slightly crumpled piece of parchment, puzzled. He looked around and said hesitantly, “Lily?”
Lily’s heart jumped to her throat. How did he…? Well, it was no use trying to hide; he knew she was there, so she might as well show herself.
“How did you know I was standing there?” Lily voiced her thoughts, baffled, as she removed James’ cloak.
James debated for a moment before answering. “I can’t really hide it from you, but you can’t tell anyone.” Lily nodded, interested. James held out the piece of parchment to her and Lily took it. She just stared down at it confusedly, then her eyes widened as she watched the specks moving across the paper. As Lily stared, captivated by a tiny dot on the second floor labelled ‘Argus Filch’, James said, “That’s the Marauder’s Map. Sirius, Peter, Remus and I invented it. It’s--”
“But it says here,” Lily interrupted, pointing to the top of the page, “that ‘Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present’--”
“Yes, well,” James said hastily, “No time to explain that now. The Map shows everyone in the castle, whether they’re under the Polyjuice Potion or an Invisibility Cloak. We even included secret passageways out of the castle that we’ve discovered. If you’ll look on the grounds, near the Whomping--”
“Severus,” Lily breathed, eyes trained on his tiny pinprick moving quickly toward the Whomping Willow, along with Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Regulus, and a few others that had joined the group, before disappearing completely off the Map.
“Yes, him,” said James, peering over Lily’s shoulder. “I was looking for you--”
“I told you I was going to the loo!” Lily exclaimed indignantly. “You could tell that I was lying?”
“I can read you like a book, Lily,” James said affectionately. “I could tell from the look on your face that something was wrong. Anyway,” he continued, his voice resuming its brisk urgency. “I was looking for you on the Map and I saw Sni”Snape join up with other, uh sketchy members of his House--”
Bellatrix, Lily thought grimly.
“”and I figured that this could be the rumoured Death Eater meeting.”
Lily gasped. “Oh, I’d suspected that! You don’t really think it plausible that You-Know-Who--”
“Voldemort, Lily.”
“Yes, him. You don’t think that V-Voldemort would want to recruit mere teenagers not even out of school yet, do you?”
“I can’t fathom the ways of Voldemort,” said James flatly, his hazel eyes hardening behind his glasses. “I was coming to see if I could persuade you to give me back my Cloak so I could--”
“We need to leave quickly,” Lily said. “Their meeting may be over by the time we get there.”
“We?” James questioned. “You’re not coming with me.”
“I am!” Lily burst out. “You don’t have a choice in the matter.” When James opened his mouth furiously, Lily said, “Let’s not waste time arguing, James. I’m coming with you. C’mon, let’s just go!” She held out a cloak-draped arm to him. James reached for the Cloak and Lily let go of it as they began to walk quickly, clumsily bumping each other, neither really yet used to being in such close proximity with the other.
“So,” said Lily awkwardly as they padded down a flight of stairs, “Where do you think they were heading? Why did Severus just disappear once he went by the Whomping Willow?”
“There’s a secret passageway that begins at the base of the Willow,” James panted. They were almost in the entrance hall. “It opens into the Shrieking Shack.”
“The Shrieking Shack?” Lily halted suddenly, almost pulling the Cloak off James’ head. “But isn’t that--?”
“No, it’s not haunted,” James said impatiently, pulling Lily’s arm so they were once again in step with each other.
“I’m not stupid; I know that,” Lily said hotly. “It’s just”not a full moon,” she finished, relaxing minutely.The light from the half-moon spilled over them as they stepped into the cold winter’s air.
“No, it’s not,” James said carefully, looking over at her. “Why would that matter?”
“You don’t need to pretend with me, James,” Lily told him, her breath rising in clouds. “I know that Remus transforms into a werewolf in the Shack, and as one of his best friends, I would hope that you know that as well. If you didn’t, and I have just blabbed his deepest, darkest secret, please hold still while I 'Obliviate' you. Remus told me in fifth year when we were both prefects.”
“Oh,” James said simply, looking both amused and impressed. “I should have known that you’d know.”
“Humph,” Lily said.
“Is that all that he told you?”
“Well-no, we talked a good deal during--”
“Did he say anything about me?”
Lily just looked at him underneath the Cloak.
“Of course he mentioned you-”
“He didn’t say anything about…well, he didn’t mention any special, uh, talents of mine, did he?”
Lily stifled a laugh. “Special talents? What, snoring, jinxing, your wonderful ability to attract attention wherever you go? Which ‘talent’ are you referring to exactly, James?”
“Nothing,” James just muttered. “Forget it.”
Lily giggled to herself, imagining James’ ‘talents’.
They trudged on through the snow in silence. They were nearing the Whomping Willow. James stopped their trek.
“Stay here,” he said as he lifted the Cloak, sending cold air in to nip Lily’s flushed face. She shivered suddenly and wished she had thought to grab her travelling Cloak. She hugged her arms to her chest and watched as James picked up a stick from the ground and prodded a knothole in the tree. The willow froze.
“C’mon,” James beckoned to her. Lily hurried over to him. “We’ll have to take the Cloak off until we’re inside. Even then, we’ll probably have to leave it off. The tunnel’s not exactly huge.”
“Okay,” Lily said a bit apprehensively. James held out his hand, and Lily handed over the Cloak. “I’ve been missing this; bit hard getting ‘round the castle without it,” he said, smiling widely as he stuffed it into his pocket. “I’ll go first.”
“Okay,” she said again.
James crawled headfirst through the gap in the tree’s roots. As soon as his feet disappeared into the darkness, Lily followed. She slid down an earthy slope to the bottom of a very low tunnel.*** James was waiting at the bottom, his eyes glittering in the light from his wand and shadows flickering across his face. He extended his hand to her and Lily took it. Once they were both righted, James said, “Ready?”
Lily nodded but then stuck out her hand. “Wait, James,” she whispered. “What’ll we do once we find them? We can’t just go barging in on potential Death Eaters”they’ll probably have alarmed the place --”
James thought a moment; Lily’s mind was racing as well. Now that she was thinking on it, this was a very stupid thing to be doing. What were they supposed to do against possible Death Eaters?
Lily was momentarily distracted from her frantic thoughts by James rummaging around in his robes.
“Where is it?” he muttered, searching his pockets, his jerking wand sending up crazy shadows. “Just had it a few nights ago…Aha!” he cried triumphantly.
“Shhh!” Lily hissed. “Keep your voice down. They could hear us, and what a cute spot we’d be in then-”
“Quit your fretting,” James said. He held up a small object. Lily hastily lit her wand and saw that it was a small mirror.
“We’re saved!” she said sarcastically. “The Mirror of Doom!”
James just smirked at her attitude and held the mirror close to his mouth. “Sirius!” he whispered, his breath fogging the smooth surface. “Sirius, are you there?”
There was silence.
“Sirius!” James said as loudly as he dared.
“What-” Lily began, but Sirius’ all-too-loud voice interrupted.
“Mate, where are you?” They could hear music and loud voices. Sirius was still at Slughorn’s party. “Oh,” Lily said desperately. “The noise--Muffliato!” She cast the spell toward the end of the tunnel they had yet to access.
“The tunnel to the Shrieking Shack. Look, Sirius, I don’t have time to explain, but there may be Death Eaters in the Shack”
“What?!” Sirius exclaimed. “How... Not Snape?”
“Yeah, Snape. I think Lily and I could use some help”just in case.”
“Lily?” Sirius paused. “I’ll bring Peter and Remus,” he said. “We’ll be there A.S.A.P.”
“Thanks.” The mirror went blank again, and James slipped it back into his pocket.
“I’m not even going to ask about that thing,” Lily said to him, impressed.
James just smiled at her.
“Let’s go,” he said. He took her unoccupied hand. “They’ll be a while and the tunnel is long.”
A/N: * “She felt as though something boiled beneath the surface, a sudden, indescribeable hatred that only ceased when Severus' eyes returned to rest upon her own face.” This sentence is an extremely helpful suggestion from my awesome Beta, lumos_aeternum.
** “Will and John Parry””This is my way of alluding to my favourite non-Harry Potter series, His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman.
*** She slid down an earthy slope to the bottom of a very low tunnel. This is an excerpt taken from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, page 336, American paperback version.