“So I had to tell him, no, I only just broke up with your best friend, I can’t go out with you for at least another week.”
Lily chuckled to herself, only half-listening to Mary talk. Most of her concentration was on mouse sitting on the desk in front of her, which she was supposed to be Transfiguring. This was how most of her in-class conversations with Mary went; the other girl would be happy talking to a brick wall, and Lily had long ago perfected the art of a well-placed “yeah” or a gasp.
So she was surprised, this time, when Mary’s speech was punctuated by frequent tinkles of laughter. Finding this more distracting then Mary’s stream of dialogue, Lily looked over at her friend to see Leda on her other side, listening to Mary’s story intently.
Annoyed by this but not entirely sure why, Lily turned back to the mouse she had trapped between her hands. She was supposed to be growing it a pair of wings, but so far all she had managed to do was make its ears triple in size.
It was a particularly feisty mouse as well, and as soon as Lily relaxed her hands, it scurried out of her grip and down the table past Mary, who ignored it, and over Leda’s arm. Leda squealed loudly and leapt up, causing people all through the room to look at her, and Lily rolled her eyes and got to her own feet, leaning over to scoop up the mouse from where it stood by Leda’s elbow.
“Sorry,” she muttered to Leda, who was smoothing down her hair.
“Keep a hold on that thing, would you?” Leda asked with a shudder. “I hate rodents.”
Lily thought she saw Peter, who was at the next table over, turn his head slightly, and she smiled sadly to herself as Leda went back to the toad she was supposed to be Transfiguring. Walking back to her seat, Lily glanced quickly at Mary and Leda, who had bent their heads together to talk softly, and scooted a little farther down the table.
“I was wondering how long you’d be able to stand it.”
Lily looked up in surprise to see that Sirius had come over to sit across from her. “What do you mean?” she asked, and he jerked his head towards Leda and Mary.
“You lasted way longer hanging around the Giggle Twins than I would have,” he said, shrugging.
“Stop it,” Lily said, exasperated and tired of the old argument. “I’ve told you before, they’re not that bad. And they’re my friends.” She heard Leda’s tinkling little laugh again, and couldn’t help but wince. “Mary is, anyway.”
“Mm-hmm,” Sirius said noncommittally, fiddling with his wand.
Lily eyed him. “What are you doing over here anyway, if you can’t stand them?” she asked.
His face tightened. “I’m here,” he said briskly, “on an exceedingly thrilling and dangerous mission of espionage.”
“Peter wanted you to check up on Leda for him, huh?” Lily asked ruefully, figuring it out, and Sirius nodded resignedly.
“Not,” he said, “that I have to do much. I already know what happened.”
“You do?” Lily asked, surprised. “I haven’t been able to get a handle on her lately.”
Sirius snorted. “It’s easy,” he said darkly. “She figured out that she’s pretty. Then she decided that she could do better than Peter.”
“Please,” Lily scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it?” Sirius asked innocently, poking his own, slightly sluggish, mouse with his wandtip.
Lily opened her mouth to retort, but then glanced back at the two girls. Leda, who had always been more of a tomboy, had let her hair grow out, and it curled in dark, thick waves down her back. She was styling it like Mary’s, in fact, and Lily had seen the two of them swapping makeup at breaks. “Huh,” she said, surprised she hadn’t noticed this sooner.
“Told you,” Sirius said without looking up. “She’s like another version of Mary.”
“So, what,” Lily said slowly, “she thinks she can do better than Peter?”
“Something like that,” Sirius said. “Why do you think she’s hanging out with Mary so much these days? She’s trying to pick up tips.”
“Sirius Black,” Lily said, mock-sternly, “you sure do notice a lot about a couple of girls you claim you can’t stand.”
“I can’t stand them,” Sirius said matter-of-factly. “It’s just, ah, well, Leda’s started hanging around recently, and I just kind of realized…”
“She’s been around?” Lily said, startled. “I hadn’t noticed.”
“Well,” Sirius admitted, almost apologetically. “It’s mostly when you aren’t around.”
“Why…” Lily started to ask, then trailed off, realizing. “Her idea of upgrading from Peter is the rest of you?”
“Talk about ridiculous,” Sirius said, a little sadly. “I couldn’t tell Peter.”
“It’s not like she has a chance with any of you, though, right?” Lily said.
“Well, you know me,” Sirius grinned. “The less time I spend with Leda, the better. And Moony never dates anyone anyway, so that’s barely an issue.”
He paused just long enough for Lily to register that there was a pause. “And James?” she asked tentatively.
“Well,” Sirius said slowly, “if I’m being honest? It’s probably James that she would have the best chance with, normally, since he’s always had a weakness for people fawning over him. But, well, you know.”
“Know what?” Lily said, rather aggressively, wondering why it suddenly gotten so much hotter in the room.
Sirius rolled his eyes. “Two things,” he said, with the air of explaining something to a very small child. “One, James would never do that to Peter. And two, you know as well as I do that as long as you’re around, our Jamie-boy is never going to look at another girl.”
Lily flushed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she stammered.
“Oh, come on, Evans,” Sirius grinned. “It’s not like it’s a secret.” When she protested, he just held up his hands. “I just call it like I see it,” he said.
Lily bit her lip and looked across the room to the table where James sat with Peter and Remus. James had managed the tricky Transfiguration spell, and was watching happily as his mouse flew in circles around his head. She’d been avoiding one-on-one interaction with him, she knew, and if she was honest with herself, it was because she was nervous of what might happen. Maybe, she thought haltingly, maybe it’s time to change that.
---
James came down to the common room a few nights later looking exhausted.
“Where have you been?” Sirius asked, looking up from where he sat between Remus and Peter by the window.
“Somebody released a bunch of tarantulas in the first year boys’ dorm,” James yawned, missing the armchair and slumping down on the floor instead. “I’ve been tracking them down for hours.”
Peter made a face. “Ew,” he said.
“No kidding,” murmured James, closing his eyes. “The were all terrified.”
“Oh, come on,” Sirius scoffed. “Pansies. Spiders aren’t scary.”
“Giant spiders,” corrected James.
Peter scowled darkly. “Clearly you’re never come face-to-face with one when you’re the size of a rat,” he told Sirius. “It’s enough to give you nightmares.”
“I guess some of those first years are barely bigger than your average rat,” Sirius mused, tilting his head, causing Peter to mutter angrily under his breath.
“What I want to know,” James said, “is why the girls aren’t having problems like this.”
“They are,” Remus said, his eyes appearing suddenly over the top of his Charms book. “Someone released a bunch of toads in there the other day, she was up all night dealing with it.”
“Toads?” Sirius asked, looking exasperated. “I’m willing to concede on the spiders thing, but toads are definitely not scary. Also they’d be much easier to catch. Just set James’s cat on them.”
“That’s what I did with the tarantulas,” James said vaguely, but he was looking at Remus. “How do you know that, Moony?” he asked.
“Know what?” Remus asked, peering down at him.
“About the toads in the girls’ dormitory.”
“Oh,” Remus said, looking distinctly uncomfortable. “Lily mentioned it in Charms this morning, when I asked why she looked so tired.”
“She didn’t say anything to me,” James said softly.
“I wouldn’t read anything into it,” Remus advised him, and James pondered this for a moment.
Sirius leaned over to Peter. “Wait for it…” he muttered, and Peter grinned.
“Has she said anything about me?” James asked suddenly, and Sirius groaned.
James looked at him. “It just seems like she’s been avoiding me lately!” he said defensively. “I mean, sure, she comes around when we’re all in a group, but I don’t think I’ve had an actual conversation with her since the first day back, and that was weeks ago…I wish I knew what was going on.”
“Drop it,” Sirius said abruptly, and James looked up, wounded.
“Come on, Padfoot,” he said. “It’s not like I’ve been talking about it that””
“I said drop it,” Sirius said more forcefully, then looked past James and raised his voice. “Hey, Evans, know where I can get a handful of toads for a good price?”
“Oh,” James said meekly as Lily came up, looking as exhausted as he felt, and sat down on the floor beside him.
“Very funny,” she said to Sirius. “If I never see another toad again, it will be too soon.”
“Could be worse,” Sirius said cheerfully. “Prongs here got tarantulas.”
Lily wrinkled her nose. “Ewww.”
“That’s what I said!” called Peter.
“Honestly, the amount of petty pranks this year…it’s ridiculous,” sighed Lily.
Sirius frowned. “They aren’t even fun ones,” he said. “I mean, all whoever is doing this has accomplished is keeping you two on your feet all the time.”
“You’re not wrong,” Lily said thoughtfully. “And you’re absolutely sure””
“I. Am. Not. Doing. It,” Sirius said through gritted teeth, and Remus laughed.
“He’s not, Lily, I’ll vouch for him,” he said. “If Sirius was doing it, you’d be even busier cleaning the mess up.”
“But you’d be laughing more,” Peter pointed out, and Sirius looked smug.
James watched the four of them from where he was, sprawled on the floor, feeling slightly separate. Lily fit in so well with his friends”more than ever, these days. Part of him was thrilled about that; he had”and probably always would be, he thought”glad for any opportunity to be around her. But as he watched her joking around with Sirius, he felt oddly distant, and, he had to admit it, more than a little jealous. How long had it been since he had spent time with her alone?
It was just as he was thinking this, however, that he felt someone nudge him in the back, and rolled over to see Lily gazing at him intently. “We’re really falling down on our duties, you know,” she said.
“What do you mean?” he asked indignantly. “After all the hours I spent chasing after giant spiders…”
“I know, I know,” she grinned at him. “But we’re supposed to be patrolling the halls, too, you know, and we haven’t done that yet.”
“Oh yeah,” he said. “I’d forgotten about that. What, we just go keep an eye out for troublemakers like Padfoot?”
“That joke isn’t funny anymore!” Sirius inserted. “It was never funny!”
“Yeah,” Lily said, her grin widening. “That’s what we do. Want to go?”
“What, now?” James asked, propping himself up on his elbow.
“Why not now?” Lily shrugged. “Unless you have other plans…”
“Not me,” James said hastily, jumping to his feet, unable to deny the quick glimmer of excitement that ran through him. “Let’s go.”
---
A few hours later, the two of them strolling through the empty, torch-lit corridors, Lily was beginning to feel comfortable again. This is nice, she thought. Just the two of us, being friends. It’s like it was before. And it was”nice, comfortable, and safe. And if she felt anything else as she cast her mind back to last June and how he had kissed her, she shoved it to the back of her mind.
“So there’s not much going on here at night, is there?”
James’s voice startled her from her reverie, and she looked at him, laughing. “It’s nighttime,” she said. “After hours. What did you expect?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” James shrugged. “A little more troublemaking, maybe. Sirius and I used to own these corridors after dark! And you know how Remus gets when the moon comes out.”
“Not everyone has an Invisibility Cloak,” Lily reminded him, smiling. And most students aren’t Animagi.
“Still,” James protested. “I’m disappointed in the youth of today!”
“I think all the professors will sleep easier once you’re gone,” she told him, and he was about to protest when she stopped abruptly. She flung her arm out into his chest and he stopped alongside her.
“What is it?” he whispered.
“I thought I saw something move up there,” she hissed back, squinting through the dim torchlight. Another flicker of movement near a statue of armor caught her eye, and she took a hesitant step forward. “Lumos,” she whispered, stretching her arm out as her wandtip ignited and taking another step.
Suddenly, ropes appeared out of nowhere, wrapping themselves around her wrists. She yelled in surprise, dropping her wand, which went out as it clattered across the stone floor. The ropes jerked, and Lily found herself dangling in midair, twenty feet above the ground.
Beneath her, James was laughing so hard that he had had to sit down.
“Is this enough troublemaking for you?” Lily grunted, looking up; the rope that was tightening around her wrists seemed to be somehow attached the ceiling.
“Yeah,” James called. “That’ll do it.” Recovering himself, he stood up and walked in a circle below her. “That really is pretty impressive magic,” he said admiringly. “It’s like a snare or a booby trap or something…I wonder how you set it off in the fir””
“Theorize later,” Lily begged. “Get me down now. And remind me to never drop my wand again.”
“Never drop your wand again,” James parroted, picking hers up off the floor and putting it in his pocket. Then he raised his own wand, squinting up at her.
“Wait,” said Lily, spotting a potential problem. “What are you going to do?”
“Severing Charm?” James shrugged. “It makes the most sense.”
“And then a Cushioning Spell or something, right?” Lily pleaded. “So I don’t break every bone in my body?”
“Oh, relax,” James said. “It’s not that far. I’ll just catch you.”
“No!” Her hands scrabbled uselessly against the rope. “James, this is not going to end well.”
“Come on!” he said airily, waving a hand. “I’m a great catcher. You aren’t that much bigger than Quaffle…”
“Yes I am!” Lily said wildly. “I’m a lot bigger than a Quaffle! Please, for both our sakes””
But too late; James had already pointed, aimed, and muttered the spell, and Lily felt the rope jerk and then slacken, and she barely had time to close her eyes as she plummeted towards the ground.
The force with which she slammed into him sent both of them flying, landing heavily in a tangle of limbs. Lily felt her forehead slam into James’s shoulder and for a moment she just lay there, completely winded.
She felt him breathing beneath her, and propped herself up, looking down at him. “Nice catch,” she said sarcastically, and he just grinned up at her roguishly, his hair tousled, and his hazel eyes clear behind his glasses.
Suddenly uncomfortably aware of how close they were, Lily scrambled to her feet, brushing her robes off and turning awkwardly away. “I forgot you were afraid of heights,” James said behind her, and she looked around at him.
“Also falling,” she said dryly, and then offered him her hand. He took it, hoisting himself to his feet, and holding on a moment too long.
Flustered, she pulled her hand away and started walking down the hall. “We should get going,” she said. “It’s late.”
“You’re not wrong,” James said, yawning, as he caught up to her. “So what do we do, report that?”
“I guess so,” Lily said. “I wasn’t actually expecting anything to happen.”
“You know,” James said, “I’m starting to wonder if we’re being targeted. Us, specifically, I mean, not just Gryffindors in general.”
“Us?” Lily asked dubiously. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, you know, all the disasters in the dorms, this thing…we are authority figures, you know, Evans.” James elbowed her teasingly in the ribs.
She swatted at him, grinning, but then looked back down the hallway, considering. “I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe. I can’t remember Marlene ever having this much trouble…and Remus and I never noticed half as many pranks as this when we were prefects.”
“We’ll keep an eye out, then,” James said as they turned a corner, heading towards Gryffindor Tower. “Oh, and Lily? I think I have a solution to this fear-of-falling you have.”
“Oh, really?” asked Lily suspiciously.
“Yeah,” James said confidently. “I’m going to have to teach you how to fly.”
Lily stopped in her tracks, looking a little squeamish, as he continued to stride down the hall. James, smirking, pretended not to notice.