“I don’t get this,” Sirius muttered, crouching low behind a bookshelf and peering over.
“Yeah, me either,” grumbled Remus, who was sitting by Sirius’s feet, his back against the bookshelf, pulling a long thread out of his robes. “She’s not doing anything, Padfoot, besides her homework.”
Sirius’s shoulders tensed as he squinted across the library. “Yeah,” he said dryly, “with a bunch of Ravenclaws.”
“Sound the alarm!” Remus yawned. “Inter-house communication, oh no!”
Sirius frowned at him. “You said you’d tail Annabelle with me,” he said petulantly.
“Well, yeah,” Remus said. “Days ago. When I still thought you might be on to something. But so far all we’ve seen her do is hang out with Leda and those Ravenclaw fourth-years. Honestly, maybe you should just ask Peter to follow her around, he can do the rat thing, get a little closer.”
“No,” said Sirius stubbornly, “this is my project. Besides, what I meant was, well, don’t you realize who those two Ravenclaws are?”
Remus craned his neck to look over the bookcases and sighed heavily. “Yes, I know who they are,” he recited. “Michael Kingsbury and Nathaniel Rafferty.”
Sirius looked at him, frustrated. “They’re the ones””
“”who you’re absolutely convinced are pulling really lame pranks on the school, Sirius, I know,” Remus finished exasperatedly. “But honestly, there’s no proof.”
“Lily saw them coming into the Great Hall right before those Bludgers tore it apart!” Sirius reminded him.
“Call the Daily Prophet!” said Remus.
Sirius eyed him reproachfully before turning to look back at Annabelle in the Ravenclaws. “You know, you’re being really cheeky today,” he sniffed.
“Probably because the full moon’s only a week away,” Remus muttered, then flicked his wand at Sirius’s shoes, magically tying his shoelaces together.
“I wonder why Annabelle’s hanging out with them,” Sirius said.
At the table so many feet away, Annabelle leaned forward, laughing, her hand on Michael Kingsbury’s forearm as the handsome boy drew something on a piece of parchment. He looked only vaguely interested, although, at the other end of the table, weedy Nathaniel Rafferty peered over at then almost rabidly.
“She seems kind of into that Michael kid,” Sirius remarked.
“Why do you even care?” Remus asked, and Sirius frowned.
“Because that girl is trouble,” he said, “and so are they. No good can come of them all hanging out together, I’ll promise you that.”
Sirius turned to stride out of the library, but, not noticing that Remus had tied his shoelaces together, tripped and landed on his face with a loud crash. Behind them, both Annabelle and Michael’s heads snapped up as they squinted towards the source of the sound.
“Whoops,” Remus said, and skipping over to help Sirius to his feet. “Let’s go.”
---
“Hold still,” Mary snapped, “unless you want me to burn you!”
She and Lily were in their dormitory, Mary curling a tendril of Lily’s hair around her wand, the tip of which smoked slightly. Lily, who had been fidgeting, tried to be as still as possible.
“Good,” Mary said, a few minutes later, sounding satisfied. “Hair’s done. Now we just have to do your makeup!”
“What?” Lily squeaked. “The hair wasn’t enough?”
Mary rolled her eyes. “Do you even expect me to answer that question?”
“Come on,” Lily begged. “James knows what I look like, you don’t need to do all of this, it’s ridiculous.”
Mary put her hand on her hip. “Lil, you know I love you,” she said, “but you don’t know the first thing about boys or dating, and there’s no way I’m going to let you go off on what is finally your first date with this boy looking like you’re just going to Potions class or something.”
“I like Potions class,” Lily muttered, but she submitted as Mary shot her a look.
“Now come here,” Mary said violently, “and close your eyes.”
Lily did so as Mary set to work. “So where’s he taking you, anyway?” she asked.
“I don’t know, actually,” Lily said. “Hogsmeade somewhere, but he wouldn’t tell me what we’re doing. Apparently it’s a surprise.”
“Points for style,” Mary said, “especially if it ends up being a good surprise. I expect full details later.”
Lily squirmed again, and Mary blew on her face. “Stop that,” she said. “Anyway, this is all part of being a girl. You should try it sometime.”
“Hey!” Lily began to protest, but Mary silenced her yet again.
“Shut up. I have to do your lips.” She was silent for a minute, focused on her work, but then, with a final flourish, sat back on her heels and looked at Lily appreciatively. “You’ll do,” she said. “So, what’s your excuse, anyway?”
“What do you mean?” Lily asked her, trying to talk carefully so as not to smudge whatever Mary had just smeared all over her face.
“Well I mean, you’re sneaking out of the castle, and we’re definitely not supposed to be going to Hogsmeade when a visit isn’t scheduled. And you’ll probably be getting back late, too, so what if you get caught?”
Privately, Lily had a feeling that James’s invisibility cloak was going to come into play, but seeing as Mary didn’t know about that, she simply shrugged and said, “I’ll probably just say I’m looking for a quiet place to study or something.”
There was a short, sharp laugh from the doorway, and Mary and Lily both looked up to see, for the second time in as many days, Leda standing just beyond the doorframe, watching them. “Looking like that?” she said. “No one’s going to believe you’re just studying.” And she sauntered into the room with an expression that Lily couldn’t read.
Lily, wondering how much Leda had heard of their conversation, realized that the other girl seemed to be making a habit out of sneaking up on them, and she was frustrated with herself for not paying more attention. She was at a loss for a moment, then turned to Mary, sighing.
“I look ridiculous, don’t I? You’re so never allowed to try out new hairstyles on me again!”
Mary, catching on, said quickly, “My hair doesn’t curl half as well as yours, what was I supposed to do? Anyway, you don’t look ridiculous, go look in the mirror.”
“It’s ridiculous if you’re just studying,” Leda put in from the other side of the room. “But not if you have, you know, a hot date or something.”
Lily, wondering again just how much Leda had overheard, shot her a look, but Leda merely turned a page in her magazine, looking uninterested.
Shrugging, Lily looked down at her watch, realizing it was about time for her to go meet James. “Well, anyway,” she said, “I’m going to go.” She meant to leave the room as quickly as possible”for whatever reason, Leda was making her skin crawl”but she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror as she did so, and caught her breath.
Mary had applied her vast collection of cosmetics to Lily with a much lighter hand than Lily was expecting”much lighter, indeed, than Mary used on her own face. It was just enough to make Lily’s eyes seem brighter, to emphasize the lines of her cheekbones, and the gentle curve of her jaw. Her hair, half pinned up, the other half curling loosely over her shoulders, made her look older, but somehow more vulnerable. It had not, really, been what she was expecting.
Lily looked over her shoulder at Mary, unsure of how to thank her, but Mary was already waving at her, looking amused. “Yeah, yeah,” she said, before Lily could speak. “You’re welcome, you’re a hottie, get lost already.”
Lily bit her lip, grinning, and without another word, turned and disappeared down the stairs, feeling a slight lurch in her stomach. She’d been so focused on the getting ready that she’d barely thought about the date itself, and only now did she start to panic”what if they got caught? Or, worse, what if they ran out of things to say to each other?
But the jitters in her stomach turned to more of a thrill when she walked into the common room and saw James standing by the fire, waiting for her. “Oh, hi,” he said, smiling. “Fancy seeing you here.”
---
Peter, from his vantage point near the back of the common room, watched James and Lily greet each other near the fireplace. He smiled, watching them as they spoke to each other, Lily ducking her head shyly, James fidgeting with his robes. Peter had been the only one in the dorm when James was getting ready, and James had nearly talked his ear off, bubbling with nervousness about the impending date.
“Is it because you have to sneak off the grounds to do it?” Peter had asked, and James had laughed at him.
“Oh, no,” he’d scoffed. “I mean, how many times have we done that? No, it’s just that it’s a first date. With a girl who really matters.”
Peter hadn’t understood. “Well, yeah, but it’s not like you just met her or anything…I’d say you know each other pretty well after the past year and a half, right?”
“Yeah,” James had sighed, furrowing his brow at himself in a mirror, “but not like this.”
“Like what? Like now you have to spend half an hour getting ready every time you’re going to see her?”
James, amused, had finally turned away from his reflection to grin at Peter. “One day,” he’d said, “you will fall in love. And then, you too, will suddenly start to be nervous about whether or not your hair is sticking up in the back.”
“No thank you,” Peter had shuddered. “Not worth it. You’ve been all over the place with all that relationship stuff this year, and maybe this time it’s real but for the most part, it’s too much. And,” he paused, then added, “your hair always sticks up in the back.”
James made a face at him. “If I wasn’t about to be late,” he had said, “I would stay and argue with you.”
Now, watching them across the common room, Peter could see how nervous they both were. It was funny, almost, to see them adjust to this new way of knowing each other, and Peter thought that maybe it was a good thing, this anxious giddiness”it showed how much they both cared, how much this mattered. And for a moment, despite whatever he had told James, he felt a pang, watching them, wondering if, by being safe like this, maybe he was missing something after all.
As they turned to leave the tower, Peter saw Lily slip her hand through the crook of James’s elbow, and smiled, shaking off the feeling. Maybe he was just lonely”James was off with his head in the clouds these days, and Sirius and Remus kept disappearing on some crazy jaunts that Peter never managed to join, and he was desperately curious about what they were doing. He thought, for a moment, about turning into his rat form and hiding in the dormitory, to see if they talked about it, but that seemed dishonest, somehow, and besides, James’s cat was up there anyway. He just needed a distraction, that was all.
Sighing, Peter sunk lower into his seat at the table, pulling a Charms book forward and preparing for a long night.
---
“So where are we going, anyway?” Lily asked as they strolled casually down the corridors, the torchlights flickering in the winter near-darkness. “And how are we getting there?”
James grinned at her. “Come on,” he said, “it’s a surprise! I have all the supplies we need though.”
Lily raised her eyes. “Supplies?”
“Yeah,” James said, looking furtively around the corridor, then pulling her into an empty classroom. “Okay. Come here. Time to put this on.”
Lily looked up to see him pulling out his silvery invisibility cloak as he caught her eye, grinning roguishly. Lily reached out, taking it, the fabric pooling in her hands. Then she slung the cloak over her shoulders, disappearing from the room, still with that little thrill in her stomach that came from breaking the rules.
“Hey!” James objected, looking around the classroom. “I need to get under there, too, you know!”
Lily, quietly as she could, snuck up behind him and blew in his ear. “Catch me if you can,” she said, then backed up with a giggle.
James, to her surprise, pulled a piece of parchment from his pocket, whispered, “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,” stared intently at it for a moment, then whirled around, his hand catching the end of the cloak. In a flash, he’d ducked under it, and they were standing face-to-face, pressed together and warm beneath the fabric.
“Cheater,” Lily said. “Was that that map thing?”
“Yep,” James said smugly. “That’s my backup, in case we run into any trouble getting out of the castle.”
“What kind of trouble?” asked Lily.
“Trouble like this,” James told her. “You’re turning into quite a rebel, you know.”
She grinned. “Aw,” she said, “you’d have found me eventually.”
“That’s the problem,” James said. “I can never really be sure when you’re going to let me catch you.”
In answer, she turned and slipped her fingers through his. “To Hogsmeade?” she said.
“To Hogsmeade,” he smiled back.
They made it out of the castle without incident, James deciding that it was safe for them to remove the cloak once they were in the village. “But what if someone sees us?” Lily hissed, acutely aware that she was breaking the rules.
James had just laughed. “So what if they do?” he asked. “Even if they can tell we’re students, I promise you, no one here is going to give us detention.
Lily elbowed him. “Oh, shut up,” she muttered as he pushed open the door of the Three Broomsticks. “You know, I have been here before, if this is the surprise.”
“Three Broomsticks?” James said. “Yeah, I know. But I’m betting you haven’t been here at night. Or for dinner. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised, they do good food.”
“Really,” Lily teased as they slid into seats at the bar. “How do you know that? Do this every Valentine’s Day?”
James opened his mouth to reply, but before he did, Madame Rosmerta slid down the bar towards them, her heels clacking below. “Mr. Potter,” she said, arching one perfectly shaped eyebrow at him. “I didn’t realize it was a Hogsmeade weekend. Bit late, isn’t it?”
Lily looked between them nervously, but James only smiled languorously. “Nah,” he said. “My bedtime’s a whole hour later this year!”
Madame Rosmerta, to Lily’s surprise, laughed lightly. “Where’s Sirius tonight?” she asked. “The two of you are usually together.” But then she nodded towards Lily and winked. “She’s a bit prettier than he is, though,” she said.
“Ha, I’m so telling him she said that,” Lily whispered under her breath, and James chuckled.
“She’s the one you’ve been talking about forever? I can see why.” Madame Rosmerta asked James, who looked suddenly embarrassed.
“You eavesdrop too much,” he told her.
She shrugged, smirking. “It’s my job, sugar,” she said. “Now let me get you two some drinks.”
“She’s very…blunt,” Lily said, as soon as Rosmerta was out of hearing range.
“No kidding,” James muttered.
“So,” Lily said, after a moment’s pause, “when have you been talking about me?”
James rolled his eyes. “Really?” he said. “You’re going to make me say it?”
Lily leaned forward, chin in hands, grinning.
“Well, Sirius and I have been sneaking down here pretty regularly since about the third year,” James said. “And, obviously, we talked a lot about girls, and Madame Rosmerta was always overly fond of giving us advice, but she also always laughed about how I only ever seemed to talk about one girl.”
“Me?” Lily asked, with an affected little gasp.
“No,” James told her sarcastically, “the Fat Lady.”
Lily smiled, taking a sip out of the Butterbeer that had somehow appeared at her elbow in the past couple of minutes. “So how does this dinner thing work?” she asked. “There aren’t any menus.”
“No,” James said. “You get whatever Rosmerta feels like whipping up tonight, but I can promise you, it’s always good. By the way, have I told you yet how pretty you look tonight?”
Lily blushed, and he laughed. “Have I told you yet,” he said, “how much I like it when you blush?”
“Cut it out!” Lily said, swatting him. “I’m a redhead, it’s easy!”
“Yeah, but I like it.”
They continued to banter throughout dinner”James had been right, it was delicious”and afterwards, they wandered lazily up and down the streets of Hogsmeade. It was late; the stores were all closed, and Lily murmured almost sleepily, “It’s strange seeing it like this.”
“Hogsmeade?” James asked, looking down at her.
“Yeah,” Lily said. “So empty.”
“Funny,” James grinned. “This is how I see it most of the time. It’s Hogsmeade weekends that are strange for me.”
“Oh, that’s weird to think about,” Lily said, shaking her head. Then she paused, and asked, “Does it scare you at all now?”
“Why would it?” James asked, surprised.
She shrugged. “I don’t know, just because this is where the…the Death Eaters attacked, and everything.”
“Oh. Right, that,” James said. “You know, in an odd way, that makes me feel safer. I know we still don’t really know the details on the first attack, but security’s got to be higher now, in some ways, and now that that’s been done already…well, it would be hard to sneak something past Dumbledore twice, wouldn’t it?”
“True,” Lily said, feeling comforted. Then she asked, “So now what? Do we sneak back into the castle?”
“Go back?” James asked. “Of course not, who do you think I am? We haven’t even done dessert yet.”
“Wha-” Lily started to say, but was cut off as he grabbed her by the hand and yanked her around the corner of a building. Before she realized what was going on, he had surreptitiously slid open the back window and slipped through it, before popping around to push open the door for her.
“Hurry up!” he whispered. “Don’t want anyone to see.”
Curiously, she followed him through, surprised to find that they were in the familiar, sugar-scented air of Honeydukes. “Lumos!” James whispered, and his wandtip ignited.
“What are we doing in here?” Lily asked. “And how did you know to get in?”
James waved a hand at her. “Oh, Sirius and I have””
“”been doing this for ages,” Lily finished dryly.
“Pretty much,” he said. “And don’t worry, I always leave money for everything we snitch.”
“Good,” Lily said. “I was already feeling guilty.”
She couldn’t really see him in the dim light, but she guessed he was rolling his eyes. “Yeah, yeah,” he said. “I know you were. Now sit down and close your eyes, we’re having a taste test.”
“A what?”
“You heard me.”
Slightly bewildered, Lily did as he asked. When he next spoke, his voice was startlingly close to her. “Here,” he said, pressing something to her lips. “Guess what this is.”
A moment later, she was laughing in surprise as she levitated several inches off the ground. “Fizzing Whizbees,” she choked out. “Easy.”
“Just getting warmed up,” James said as she thumped back down. “But shhh, the owners live right above the store.”
“Gotcha,” Lily said. “Anyway”my turn.”
For awhile, they entertained themselves with just a bag of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans; the darkness made it difficult to ascertain color, even with both their wands lit, and it was even harder to guess just what it was they might be tasting.
“Okay, okay, new game!” James protested, after swallowing an unfortunate run of mud, monkey hair, and toilet paper.
Wrinkling her nose at him, Lily closed her eyes. A moment later, he had placed something in her mouth that she had never tried before, crunchy and sweet with a slightly nutty flavor. “I have no idea what this is,” she said. “It’s good, though.”
“Heh,” James chuckled. “Cockroach Cluster.”
Her eyes flew open. “It is not!” she hissed.
In response, James held up the bottle, and Lily’s mouth dropped open. “James!” she said. “Disgusting!”
“Oh, come on!” he protested, still chuckling. “You liked it before you knew what it was!”
“So not the point,” she frowned playfully at him. “I’m so getting you back for that. Close your eyes and look out.”
He did so, and she looked at him for a long moment, half debating Acid Pops. James just stood there, his collar crooked, eyes closed, hands clasped together behind his back, and instead of going back to the candy counters, Lily walked softly a few steps forward and kissed him, slow and sweet and long.
“Wow,” he said a few moments later when they pulled apart, his hands lingering at her waist, “I didn’t realize they sold that at Honeydukes.”
“Oh, shut up,” she told him, her arms finding their way around his necks, and their lips had just met again when there was a noise above them.
“Oops,” James said, grabbing his wand. “Time to go. Owners are up.”
Lily started towards the door, but James shook his head. “This way,” he said, setting a handful of Sickles on the counter and motioning towards the back. She followed him, turning the corner just as he was sliding away a loose stone from the floor.
“I’ll ask later,” she said, hurrying down the passageway, and he followed her, sliding the stone back into place, and together, they ran.
Once they had gotten a significant distance away, Lily, panting, asked, “So where does this go, anyway?”
“Right back to school!” James said cheerfully, and sure enough, they were soon sliding out the hump of a one-eyed witch, back in Hogwarts again.
“Well, that was definitely an adventure,” Lily said quietly. James looked at her, taking her hand familiarly as they walked back towards Gryffindor Tower.
“Yeah,” James said. “I’ve been planning that one for awhile.”
“Really?” Lily asked.
“Well, yeah,” James said, almost shyly.
“And here I was thinking that that was just the kind of thing you came up with on the spot.”
“Well, sometimes it is,” James admitted. “But it doesn’t always work out as well if we’re just making it up as we go. Some things you have to orchestrate.”
“Well, I’m impressed,” Lily said, as they approached the Fat Lady. “Everything went perfectly.”
Just then, the first ropes fell from the ceiling, wrapping themselves tightly around her.