The Transfiguration Assignment

Chapter Ten

Lance's lips had barely brushed hers before Lily felt him being thrust away from her. Suddenly she was free, leaning against the tree by herself. She heard something land with a thud onto the ground a few feet away.

Eyes snapping open, Lily started in disbelief to see James standing over Lance, his arms akimbo as her date groaned in pain on the ground. No hint of humor or jollity was on James' face; instead, he seemed almost overcome by a dark look of fury. Lily shivered.

"I believe she said no," James said through gritted teeth.

Lance sat up on the ground, glaring at James and rubbing his shoulder. Then, straightening his tie, he spoke. "I don't remember that," he said, a sneer twisting his lips. "I think you're talking about yourself, Potter. Lily said yes to me--I'm the one on the date with her, aren't I?"

Lily's eyes shot to James' face. Her stomach plummeted as she realized that he obviously thought she'd told Lance about the scene in the library from the night before. She wished she could somehow let him know that Lance didn't know about it, that it was just a usual insult addressing her years of rejecting him--not that that made it any more pleasant, really.

James tried to act as though the barb didn't sting. He shrugged. "Yeah, but just now Lily didn't seem to want you to kiss her," he said. "I believe her exact words were 'Let go of me! I said no!'" He crossed his arms against his chest and Lily suddenly realized he wasn't wearing a robe, or even a school jumper, just his button-down shirt. Wasn't he cold?

Lance slowly rose to his feet. "What's it to you? What happens on our date is no business of yours--and what were you doing, anyway?" he asked suddenly, eyes narrowing. "Following us around?" His eyes were locked with James'. Neither boy moved, faces set in anger. Lily thought James looked ready to spring. In fact, she thought he just might at Lance's next words. "Bet you wished you were in my spot."

James inhaled deeply through his nose, and though he clenched his fists, he didn't move toward Lance. "Lily can decide for herself who she wants to go out with," he said softly, though his words were impossible to miss.

"Well, looks like she already decided on me, doesn't it?" Lance asked, a smarmy smile on his lips. Lily wanted to smack him.

"Actually," a voice said, "it looks a bit different than that."

Lily started, looking over to see Remus standing not far from James, still on the pathway. She hadn't even been aware of his presence before then. The two boys had obviously just been walking back to school when they'd come upon Lily's predicament with Lance. She felt herself blush, realizing that Remus was now privy to much of her recent private life.

"I believe Lily said something about how she never should have said yes to you," Remus continued calmly, ignoring the venomous look Lance gave him.

"I did," Lily said, finally pushing herself away from the tree. Both James and Lance swung about to face her, though they were still eyeing each other.

Lily walked over to Lance, drew back her hand and slapped him. Hard.

James started in surprise. Lance grasped his face and took a step back.

"You're an arsehole," she said, her voice trembling. With fury or with nerves, she couldn't tell. "I said let go. I told you to stop it." Lance's eyes flickered from her face to James, who stood slightly behind her. Lily's eyes narrowed. "When a girl says no, she means it, Lance. I don't know what's wrong with you." Lance continued to glare behind her. Merlin, he wasn't even paying attention to her!

"I told you not to kiss me!" she cried.

"What, but Potter can?" Lance returned.

Lily's mouth dropped open and she tried desperately not to look at James. For some reason she started blushing furiously. "What?! Why would you ever assume--we never--what are you talking about?"

Lance rubbed his cheek. "You're obviously choosing him," he said bitterly. "I thought you were better than that, Lily."

"Just because I don't want to kiss you doesn't mean I'm choosing anybody," Lily cried, baffled by where he'd led the conversation.

"I don't care," Lance said, ignoring her. He turned to James, the look on his face somewhere between jealousy and monumental disgust. "You can have her, Potter," he spat. "You obviously have before. Why else would she--ugh!" He started swaggering away. "I don't want your castoffs."

The remaining three stood still for a few moments after he disappeared down the path. Lily's heart was racing, her stomach twisting, and her temples throbbing. Had she ever been more embarrassed? A boy had attacked her, another--one who was perpetually pursing her and being rejected--had saved her, they'd argued, she'd slapped someone, and a friend had seen the whole thing. This was positively the worst date she'd ever been on. Who knew what Lance would say when he got back to school? What would he tell his friends? Her handprint on his face was rather obvious . . .

Shakily raising her hands to smooth her hair, Lily realized she was still clutching her bottle of ink. She stared at it, slightly surprised she hadn't cracked it against Lance's skull while struggling against his embrace. The close proximity of the tree of shame, the ink bottle, and James standing a few feet away, made the situation all the more vibrant and absurd to her. Why had this happened? Angrily realizing she didn't have a pocket to put her stupid bottle of ink into, Lily suddenly let out a hysterical laugh.

James took a concerned stop towards her. "Lily, what--are you alright?"

She shook her head, not knowing if she was laughing or sobbing.

"Castoffs!" she gasped, trying to catch her breath. "Castoffs? I was never your castoffs!" Lily wiped a tear from her eye. "Lance is--why would he--ha ha ha!" It took a minute to control the laughter again. When she could, she felt rather sick. "I never even went out with you!" she finally cried, not knowing if this was a good or a bad thing. What if she had said yes yesterday in the library? What if this had been their date instead of hers and Lance's? It was very ironic, Lance's last taunt--as if James would ever cast her aside! He'd never had the chance; she'd never given him the chance.

"Don't I know it," James mumbled.

Lily finally looked at him. His hands were in his pockets and he was kicking the ground with his scuffed trainers. He looked pensive. Lily felt resentment boiling. How could he just stand there, after what had happened?

"Yes, you should," she said bitingly. James looked over at her swiftly. "Today should have put that into perspective if you didn't get it already. I was with Lance today, as you obviously know. Were you following us around the whole time?"

James gaped at her in disbelief. "I didn't follow you," he protested. At her snort, he took a step closer, his mouth hardening. "Albani is obviously delusional. I wasn't following you today, Lily."

"Then how did you interrupt us when you did?" she asked hotly.

"Interrupt you?" James let out an exasperated sound. "I wasn't aware that your struggling tête-à-tête against the tree was by choice." He scowled. "And I don't have to explain myself to you."

"Then you're just admitting that you were following me," she said angrily. What was his problem? How far would he go? Actually, Lily felt she was being somewhat irrational, but it felt good to yell at someone, anyone, just the same. "I say no and you decide to stalk me on my date? Merlin, you're just like Lance! No means no! How did you even know I was with him?"

"I didn't until I saw him pushing you up against a tree," James snapped. "And for the last time, I wasn't following you. Remus and I have been in Hogsmeade all day and just now decided to walk back to school." His face seemed to soften for a moment. "It seems to me that we got here just in time."

The two stared at each other for a moment, but as the second ticked away and Lily's mouth didn't open with a reply, a mask seemed to slip back into place on James' face. He lowered his voice when he next spoke, apparently conscious of Remus' presence. "Contrary to what you may believe, my life doesn't revolve around you."

Lily blinked. Then she turned from him and started marching off down the path to school.

How insufferable! Like she actually thought his life revolved around her! Did he really think she was that egotistical? Who cared what he thought, she brooded angrily. He was just--just--being James! Ugh, the thought made her want to slap someone again. She wanted to turn around and stomp back up to him and yell at him some more. Or take his face in her hands and speak quietly but strongly and make him look at her. Or give him a good kick in the--

"So, what did you--er--do in Hogsmeade?" Remus' voice said from her shoulder.

Lily turned and saw that Remus had caught up to her. A quick glance behind saw James trudging up the path behind them, his hands in his pockets, a scowl on his face.

Looking back at Remus, who clearly had noticed her perusal of James, but was ignoring it politely (one of the many things she loved about Remus), Lily replied, "Oh, we, uh, went to the Three Broomsticks. And I got some ink from Scrivenshaft's."

"Was the one that broke in Transfiguration your last one?"

"Yeah." Lily ducked her head, remembering all the commotion that was made over a single bottle of ink shattering.

Remus seemed to pick up on her mood and changed the subject. "Yeah, we went to the Three Broomsticks too, and Zonko's but they didn't have anything new. And I got some chocolate at Honeyduke's," he motioned to the bag he was carrying, "and then we decided to leave." He paused.

Lily nodded, knowing that Remus, in his own way, was letting her know that James was telling the truth: that they hadn't been following her on her date. Lily already knew this. She'd known Lance had pulled that excuse out his arse the moment the accusation had passed his lips . . . She didn't know why she'd gotten so angry as to repeat it.

Sighing, Lily shivered against the chill.

"It's awfully cold," she said, drawing her cloak tighter around her arms.

"Wouldn't be surprised if it started snowing soon," Remus commented. "And it's not even November."

Lily glanced back at James, who was still following at a distance.

"Why doesn't James have a cloak?" she blurted. Lily looked quickly at her feet.

She didn't see Remus raise an eyebrow. "Because he doesn't want one," he said. "Believe it or not, James doesn't think it's cold. He thinks this is just 'the crispness of autumn.'" Remus shook his head.

Lily looked at him in disbelief. "What does he do in the summer, then?" she asked.

Remus smiled. "Oh, he doesn't mind the heat, either. James is very easy going when it comes to the weather. I went with him to Marseille last summer, and I don't think he complained once about how hot it was. When the rest of us swam to cool off, he swam just because he wanted to."

"Do you often spend holidays with James' family?" Lily asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

Remus looked surprised at her question. He shrugged. "Sometimes." He tried changing the subject. "Do you know what you're doing for Christmas, yet?"

Lily waved her hand dismissively. "Going home." She looked innocently at Remus. "Are you going to James' house?"

They had entered a small clearing and the trees were farther apart. Lily was surprised at how dark it was getting and started when she noticed the waning moon straight ahead; it was visible near the tree tops, glowing brightly.

Remus bit his lip. "N--no," he said softly, weakly. "My aunt's ill. I'll--I'll be going to visit her." Lily saw that his eyes lingered on the sky.

She let herself examine the half moon, its luminescent surface pearly and eye-catching. It was ironic that something so beautiful could cause so much pain. Remus didn't deserve it; he was one of the nicest boys she knew. "A full moon during Christmas . . ." she murmured to herself. It wasn't really fair.

She was suddenly aware that Remus had stopped short beside her, his body tense, his eyes no longer fixed on the moon, but on her face.

"What?" he asked in a hoarse, quiet voice. His body was frozen. "What did you say?"

Lily felt a blush spread over her face, bright and hot. Lily, you're an idiot, you're an idiot! she chided frantically. It was impossible to unlock her eyes from Remus' intense gaze.

"Oh. I . . . um . . . I, well, know," she said, slightly grimacing.

Remus stared at her for a second, inhaled sharply through his nose, then turned to James, who was standing slightly behind him. Lily wondered when he had caught up to them. She met his shocked gaze only to blush more brightly.

Then, three things seemed to happen simultaneously. Remus' face took on a ferocious look of betrayal, James took a step closer to them, thoughts racing across his face, and Lily was suddenly aware that Remus thought her knowing his secret was James' fault. Merlin, Lily! she thought to herself. Can't you keep your mouth shut? She was about to reassure Remus that her statement had nothing to do with James, but Remus beat her to the punch.

"You told her?!" Remus let out furiously. He took a step back from his friend, trembling with rage. If he wasn't normally so reserved and easy going, he probably would have leapt on James and started a brawl.

James turned his head so fast Lily thought he might hurt his neck. "What? No!" he vehemently denied. Once again he found himself rebuffing a completely unfounded accusation.

"I can't believe that you would tell--"

"Remus, please! I wouldn't! I didn't!"

Remus shook his head. "And I thought things couldn't get any worse than last spring--"

"Remus," Lily said, trying to calm him down, "James didn't tell me. I guessed on my own. I've known ever since--"

But Remus was having none of it. "Have you spilled any other Marauder secrets, James?" Remus asked bitingly, his normally complaisant face screwed up in anger. "I thought that after what happened last June--" he broke off, the thought too painful to voice aloud, glaring at both of them. "I know you two did Animagi for your Transfiguration assignment," he said quietly. "Sirius was worried last night that you might tell--" he let out a strangled laugh devoid of humor, "and I told him not to worry! I said 'James will never let something out'! Merlin, James! Did you tell Lily anything else? Does she know which animal you are? Did you change right in front of her? I can't believe you!"

Lily tried to make sense of what he said.

"I never told her anything!" James denied hotly.

"Then how did she know?" Remus shot back.

"I don't know! Why don't you ask her?"

"Like she wouldn't try to protect you--"

"Protect me? Remus, did you hear her before? She was yelling at me!"

"Probably to make me feel uncomfortable so that I'd leave and she wouldn't have to see my tainted face again--"

"For Merlin's sake!" Lily cried shrilly, cutting the two boys off. "James didn't tell me anything! I've known since we studied werewolves in fifth year!" Her loud declaration seemed to catch Remus off guard. Both boys stared at her. Taking a calming breath, she went on. "When we went over the characteristics and warning signs plus the lunar schedule--which was impossible for me to forget, what with Divination beating it into my brain--" Lily grimaced, then shrugged, somewhat apologetically, "it wasn't hard for me to put two and two together."

Remus couldn't seem to take his eyes off her, the fight suddenly draining out of him. After a moment he swallowed convulsively. "You've known . . . all this time, you've known. And you've never said anything?"

"It's not exactly something you bring up in a crowded Common Room," Lily said gently.

Remus shook his head. "I never thought . . . you don't think I'm--damaged? Or an animal?"

"Remus!" James said shortly.

"Of course not!" Lily exclaimed. "You're still you!" Lily moved forward. "You're still the same old Remus. It's not the end of the world. You just have a condition . . . a--a problem . . ."

There was a pause as Remus seemed to try to accept what she was saying. Then, turning to James, Remus grinned weakly. "A furry little problem."

As James grinned back, apology accepted, and the tenseness of the situation dissolved, the pieces suddenly clicked into place.

"Furry?" she repeated, her face freezing. Lily felt like she'd been looking through a frosted window before and now everything was clear. The air was crisp, the leaves crunching underfoot as she shifted her weight. It all made sense.

Lily turned to James, who had grasped Remus' arm and was still grinning. "Animagi?" she asked blankly, raising an eyebrow.

The smile slowly slipped off James' face.

Remus looked between the two of them. He cleared his throat "Um . . .right. Well, now that that's cleared up, I think I'll go back to the castle now," he said, starting to walk away. "I'll, um, see you two later, shall I?" And with that he was gone, smiling to himself, even though he knew James was in for it, because someone else knew his secret now, and didn't seem to care.

Said someone, Lily Evans, cared very much about the current topic, however, and was now glaring at James, her former fury rising to the surface once again as he continued to keep his mouth closed.

"Animagi, James?" she asked.

Suddenly, for seemingly no reason at all, she burst into tears. James stared in shock as Lily cried, her face screwing up, tears dripping down her cheeks, her nose turning pink.

"Lily," he said weakly. He tried to comfort her, but she only pushed him away and hit him in the arm with something hard that she held in her hand.

"Animagi!" she cried angrily. "You stupid idiot!" She hit him again with her ink bottle. "You must think I'm unbelievably thick. It was so obvious. Were you having a laugh at me the entire time?"

"No!" James cried, trying to grab her hand. "Of course not!"

"Oh, please! I bet you were! Pick a topic you know more about than anyone in the entire school--except perhaps McGonagall--and conveniently show up with all these books detailing how to do it, and write the best parts of the report yourself and go off and laugh with your mates about how stupid your partner is!"

"Lily, I don't think you're stupid," James said seriously. "And I certainly didn't laugh about it with my mates."

"Yes you did!" Lily cried irrationally. He must have. Why else would he have picked the topic? She couldn't believe she'd agreed to it. He was so stupid. She was so stupid. And she'd thought things couldn't have gotten any worse. Of course they could! She mustn't forget that she was dealing with James bloody Potter! Lily furiously wiped tears off her face with her fist.

"Why didn't you tell me you were an unregistered Animagi?" she asked hotly. She let out a laugh. "Unregistered! You're such an idiot! I can't believe this! Do you know what the Ministry will do to you if they find out?" Before he could answer she quickly went on. "Of course you do! You know exactly what they'll do! You just wrote a bloody report on it!" She hiccupped. "Was this all part of your plan?" James tried to interrupt but she went chugging on. "Charm her with a difficult magical theory, then prove you've done the practical application successfully, ask her to--"

"I never had a plan! And I could explain it all if you'd just shut up," James said.

Lily hiccupped again. James ran a shaking hand through his hair.

"I never had a plan," he repeated. "When we brainstormed for ideas you kept shooting down everything that came out of my mouth. Even Animagi. But I defended it, because I knew how hard it was. Because," he swallowed, "because I can do it. I am an Animagi."

Lily hadn't wanted to believe it. But now that the words were out of James' mouth, she felt something within her deflate.

"I--" James cleared his throat. "I didn't think . . . When we finally worked on it, I was scared you'd figure it out."

"How could I have possibly figured it out?" Lily asked. "You acted like you'd never heard the steps before in your life. Bravo on your part. I really had no idea."

"Lily--"

"No, really, hats off to you. You've duped us all."

"Lily, please--"

"Another thing to check off on your grand list of accomplishments," Lily said scathingly. "Quidditch Captain, Head Boy, Unregistered Animagi, Marauder--" Lily broke off, abruptly. "Do the rest of them know?" she asked.

James nodded.

Lily let out a breath as the murkiness of the situation disappeared and everything became clear, even things she hadn't known she'd known. This was unbelievable.

"I thought Sirius was taken off guard when he heard we were doing Animagi," she said. "I just didn't know why."

James didn't say anything.

"Was this another Marauder thing?" she asked. "Were you all board one day and decided to attempt incredibly complex magic just because you had nothing better to do?"

"It wasn't like that," James said sharply. At her look of disbelief, he went on. "It was for Remus. We--we did it so that when he transformed, we could be with him."

Lily gasped. How could there be more? "Are you serious? Do you know how dangerous that is? If one of you--"

"Don't you think we haven't already thought of that?" he interrupted hotly. "Do you think we haven't thought of the danger? Do you think Remus hasn't?" He shook his head. "It took us years to get the magic right. We didn't do it for kicks. We did it--partly--so that Remus would stop questioning if we really liked him. We--we're friends," he ended, a little sadly.

Lily tried to absorb it all, but was having difficulty. It was hard to believe they'd successfully become Animagi. It was hard to believe they'd done it by themselves. That nothing had gone horribly wrong. That even Peter could do it. That their friendship was so strong, so real that three of them would risk their lives every month just to help another. That no one had noticed. That it had been going on who knew how long.

"I . . . I just can't believe it," Lily said after a moment. "Three unregistered Animagi . . . and no one has ever found out." She suddenly remembered how he'd been late to their first partner meeting for the Transfiguration assignment, and how he'd mentioned something about a full moon when she'd jumped down his throat. Lily sighed, shaking her head. "James . . ."

Their gazes locked, James staring at her with that same hot, fierce look in his eyes that he'd had when he'd asked her to go with him to Hogsmeade. He was firm in what he'd done, no regrets whatsoever. He wasn't ashamed, he was proud and noble and wanted her to know he took responsibility seriously and thought about consequences and was now trusting her and sharing secrets with her that till that very moment had only ever been shared with three other boys. Lily felt her breath catch and was unable to look away. His eyes were hazel, a mix of green and brown and gold; beautiful and fierce and mesmerizing. Her stomach was suddenly watery with butterflies. Strange, that argument the night before seemed so long ago . . .

"I'm a stag," he said hoarsely after a moment, wrenching his gaze from hers and staring off into the trees.

Lily shivered at his admission, though she couldn't help the part of her that longed to see him in his Animagus form.

The last piece finally clicked into place.

Lily let out a breath. "Prongs?" she whispered incredulously.

He gave a jerky nod. "I'm sorry," he said hoarsely.

"Why didn't you tell me, then?" she asked. "Before?"

James blew out a shaky breath. "I thought about it. A lot. But it's not exactly something you tell just anyone." He caught her gaze again. "I thought I might tell you someday, if you ever gave me the chance."

"Are we back to that?" Lily asked softly. "Hogsmeade? James, you make me--"

"I make you what?" he interrupted hotly, something within him seeming to have snapped. A torrent of emotion crossed his face. "Don't tell me I make you sick. I've heard it enough, thank you. You make me sick sometimes, too, Lily Evans, but I don't go yelling it to your face."

Lily bit her lip but let her protest go unvoiced. She probably deserved that. Merlin knew she'd yelled enough at him the past two days.

The two continued on in silence on the path towards Hogsmeade, twilight slowly seeping out of the sky, the sun having set some time before. As they walked, Lily could sense the tension seeping out of James with every step. He'd never been able to stay cross with her, though she'd managed to hold grudges for years. And discovering his secret of being an unregistered Animagi was something she once would have held against him. But now . . . Lily glanced at James as they trudged along. Now, after hearing why he and his friends had undertaken the project, and knowing firsthand how deep the Marauders' friendship ran, Lily was finding it impossible to continue fuming.

She also was wondering with a raging curiosity what James looked like in his Animagus form. Lily peered at James again from the corner of her eye, taking in his untidy hair, bespeckled face, and hands in his trouser pockets. Two weeks ago she wouldn't have been able to picture him as a stag, but now, after working so closely with him, Lily honestly didn't find it that surprising. He was handsome, he was imperial at times, he was well liked, and, she'd even told him so, he was noble.

Lily stumbled as a thought crossed her mind. Hoping desperately that James hadn't noticed or wouldn't say anything, Lily felt her heart start to pound. James' Animagus form was a stag. Was it a coincidence that her patronus was a doe? She could barely breathe at the thought. Lily had always been proud of her patronus, but matching so neatly with James . . . a stag and a doe . . . Did that mean anything?

Trying to block the implications from flooding her mind, Lily shivered as the castle came into view.

"Cold?" James' voice sounded from near her shoulder. Lily lifted her face to him.

"A little," she admitted, trying to draw her coat more tightly around her.

"Here," he said softly, "let me." Stepping closer, James wrapped his arms around her and started rubbing his hands up and down her arms, creating friction and heat. After a moment his hands slowed, softly brushing until they stopped, his hands resting on her arms, his eyes locked on her face.

Lily tried not to tremble from his closeness. She was standing almost chest to chest with James, their faces inches apart, alone on the grounds when everyone else was most likely at supper.

"I didn't follow you, you know," James whispered. "Today. I was in Hogsmeade with Remus. It was entirely a coincidence that we found you on the path." His tone implied, however, that he was very glad they had.

Lily averted her eyes, staring instead at his throat, which was revealed by the undone top button of his shirt. Lily again briefly wondered how he could not need a cloak.

"I know," she said. "I know you didn't follow me. I was just being stupid."

"You could never be stupid," James replied softly.

"About some things I can be," Lily said.

Shifting slightly, Lily grasped James' hand in hers. Her heart was pounding in her ears.

"James?" she said breathlessly.

"Yeah?"

"I think--you were right."

James looked as though she'd just wacked a Bludger into his stomach.

Lily bit her lip. "If I'd gone to Hogsmeade with you, I--I reckon I would have had fun."

There. The words were finally out. The words that had been beating around in her skull ever since he'd uttered them. Lily more than thought them to be true, she knew they were--she was having a better time now--apologizing and walking in silence and learning James' secrets--than she'd had on her stupid date with Lance.

Lily looked up at him to gauge his reaction only to see that same fiery, fierce look in James' eyes again. The intenseness of that look caused her to blush furiously, though neither of them broke the eye contact. Lily felt her stomach flutter.

"When you asked me last night," she whispered, "I--I thought it was a joke--a trick--"

"It wasn't," James said hoarsely, sadly. She felt him shiver. "It isn't."

"I know," she said, giving his hand a squeeze. Lily smiled weakly. "I've been an idiot."

James didn't deny her words, but his eyes were soft and his hand was warm around hers.

"I just--" Lily tried to find the words to explain. "You were always so . . . and I never knew if you were serious or not, or if you even liked me. And I know you're different--I know you've changed--"

"I know," James said. He knew she was apologizing for more than last night or even about her accusations from an hour ago. She was apologizing for her behavior the entire time he'd known her. He shrugged in acceptance. "And I think we've established that I've been an idiot as well."

Lily couldn't stop her smile and when James grinned back, she let herself go, stepping into his arms and pulling him close. Wrapping his arms about her, James slowly relaxed, the hug healing him in more ways than one.

When they finally pulled apart, the two started walking again to the castle, both very much aware of their clasped hands. James was marveling over her apology and trying to soak in the moment. Lily was wondering why it had taken her so long to realize what a good person he was. Thoughts racing in their respective heads, both denied eye contact, though their hands bespoke their deeper connection. When they reached the courtyard, which was empty, since dinner had already started, James paused.

He turned to her. "Sit by me?" he asked, hope blatantly showing on his face. He was passed trying to pretend he didn't care. He was passed jokes and feigned calm. She knew how he felt. And if there was a chance . . .

Lily smiled, nodding. And she knew she'd always remember the brilliance of the smile he'd returned.

As they continued to the door again, Lily realized she was still holding her ink bottle.

"Do you have a pocket you could keep this in for me?" she asked, handing the bottle to him.

"Sure," he said, taking the ink from her. Lily's fingers tingled where they touched his.

James paused, a puzzled frown marring his forehead. "Why'd you get invisible ink?" he asked curiously.

Lily froze. She grabbed the ink from him. Sure enough, the label read "Invisible Ink" in neat, precise lettering.

"Merlin's pants!" she cried. "Invisible ink!" She choked on any remaining words.

James tried to stifle his laughter. He took the bottle again. "Here, I can hold it. And you can have one of my bottles. I have lots."

Lily looked at him for a moment. Then, without thinking, she stepped up to him, wrapped her arms about his neck, and pressed her lips to his.

James froze for about a second in surprised astonishment. A moment later, his hand gently touched her cheek as she kissed him. His lips were warm and soft and kissing him felt so right. Lily pressed herself closer to his body as their lips continued brushing softly against each other. She opened her mouth to sigh and James immediately took advantage of it, his tongue gently sweeping into her mouth, hot and wet and good.

Then, he suddenly clasped her to him, his arms powerful and strong, one hand rubbing up and down her back, leaving trails of fire, the other buried in her hair, angling her head to deepen the kiss. When Lily cautiously moved her tongue against his, he let out a groan, one she could feel rumbling in his chest as he pressed her closer, his kiss heating her. All of Lily's senses were focused on this kiss. She wasn't aware of anything but James and how right it felt to be in his arms.

A few minutes later, breathless, they both broke the kiss, panting slightly. Lily smiled at him, her face happy and dreamy and wonderful. The intense look was back in James' eyes. She blushed in pleasure.

"Do you want to go in for supper?" she asked.

James leaned in and brushed his lips against hers with his answer.