Beyond the Lake

Chapter Three

***

She flopped on her bed, wondering what had happened in Transfiguration. James Potter had asked her out again, and for once, she said yes. "Why the hell did I do that?" was a question that constantly went through her head. Maybe it was the sincerity in his tone, or maybe, she was beginning to have feelings for him. Whatever it was, she couldn't do anything about it now. Not wanting to think about it anymore, she headed for the common room.

James was in some far off corner with his friends, so Lily headed to the opposite side of the room to join Marissa.

"Well," she started. "Did he ask you during Transfiguration?"

"Yeah."

"And what did you say?"

"Yes."

"Oh my gosh! Finally! All right, we have three days to plan your wardrobe for this date. You need to have a sort of flair, a glamour..."

Lily instantly began to tune out her ridiculous ramblings of what to wear. This wasn't hard, as James soon came over to her.

"Hi, Lily."

Lily? He actually called her Lily?

"Hey, James, how are you?"

"Fine, thanks, you?"

"Great."

The conversation didn't get much farther than that until James asked, "So, when do you want to meet on Saturday?"

"Um, how about here, in the common room, around one o'clock?"

"Sure, sounds great."

They paused in uncomfortable silence until Lily finally thought of something to say. "Well, it's ten, and I was going to go to bed. We have that Potions exam tomorrow."

"Shit, you're kidding. What potion are we supposed to study?"

"He never told us. Just study everything we've done so far," she told him.

"Great. Well, see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, goodnight."

***

Even through Friday, he couldn't believe his luck. She had said yes, and he was going out with her Saturday...tomorrow! Anything and everything except Lily was out of his head, and he definitely failed his Potions exam. He didn't really care, though. The only important thing was Lily and Saturday night's exploit.

"Say, Sirius, we're planning tomorrow night today, right?"

"No. We're doing it on Saturday while everyone is at Hogsmeade. Is that a problem?"

James stopped, remembering that he never told Sirius or Remus and Peter about Lily. "Actually, it is."

"Why? Do you need something at Hogsmeade?"

"No. I'm going with Evans- I mean Lily," he corrected himself quickly."

"Are you serious?" asked Sirius, surprised.

"Yeah, but how about I meet the three of you in the Shrieking Shack, although E- Lily may be there, too."

"Whatever. I don't think anyone will mind her knowing. I think we can trust her."

"Great!" James exclaimed, relieved everything still managed to work out. "Will you tell Moony and Wormtail for me?"

"Course," he said as James was walking away. Then he shouted after him, "Congratulations!"

The rest of the day dragged by as slowly as possible, much to his dismay. He just couldn't wait until Saturday, which was destined to be an absolutely perfect day.

***

"C'mon, hurry up Lily! It's twelve fifty, so get going and do your hair!" shouted Marissa.

"Sorry, but it just won't cooperate!" Saturday had come much sooner than she had wished it to. What was she supposed to say and do on this date? "Oh, to hell with it," she thought about her hair. "I'll just leave it down."

"Hurry up, you have to meet him in five minutes!"

She was sure that Marissa was more excited about this than she was.

"Done!" she announced.

"Have fun, good luck, and don't go too far!" shouted Marissa after her.

Lily just laughed at her friend's comment more out of nervousness than anything else. She still couldn't believe she was going out with James Potter, after years of wishing she could turn him into a blob. She reached the common room, searched for James, and found him waiting at the portrait hole.

"Hi, James," she said as she approached him.

"Hey. Ready to go?"

"Yeah."

They walked side by side, silent. Lily was surprised at how he looked. Except for his rumpled hair, which had been that way for as long as she could remember, he was quite good looking, being skinny yet muscular, which was probably due to Quidditch, and he just had this aura about him. And his dark eyes and nice facial features helped his appearance too, so much that she felt herself becoming more comfortable with him by the minute.

"So, where do you want to go? I have to meet my friends at four, but you're welcome to come along," James almost babbled when they reached the main road.

"It doesn't matter, just not the Three Broomsticks. It's going to be so crowded because it's so cold out here."

"All right, I guess that narrows down the selection," he joked.

She smiled at him and said, "How about Honeyduke's? I need one of those sugar quills so I can have something to do during Transfiguration."

"So all my help has been for nothing?"

"Well, if you want to look at it that way, yes. And what about my help during Charms? You're still hopeless!"

"Hopeless, maybe, but I'm still better than some," he said, defending himself.

"Like who?" she challenged.

"How about Sirius? I daresay he's always had more women about him than IQ points."

Lily laughed outright. "And you call yourself his friend?"

"As if he's never insulted me! I've had no peace about you for a while now and-" he broke off, suddenly looking flushed.

They stopped walking, having gone far past any of the shops, let alone Honeyduke's, and were now on a little path alone. Lily took the pause as an opportunity to ask, "About me?"

"This is really embarrassing, but you'll probably find out anyway. You see, I've had a little crush on you since our third year, and, well...yeah. But you already knew that I'm pathetic."

"Actually," she said, a little stunned, "I'm more flattered than anything, but, yes, maybe you are a bit pathetic, though not as much as you think."

"Really? I mean..." he trailed off.

"Well, I'm a little stunned. I've always assumed you teased me for the hell of it."

"No, that was never the case. In fact, I was always a bit disappointed when you turned me down."

"Really? Honestly, I..." now she trailed off, thinking of what he just said. So he had always liked her and still did? Had she really been that blind? This confession had raised him in her eyes, and she no longer felt nervous or uncomfortable. She soon found herself leaning into him, wanting to hold him in her arms, just to be near him. They stayed together in an embrace for what felt like hours, and when they turned around back towards Honeyduke's, his arm slipped around her waist and they walked on that way until they reached the shop.

"Lily, I have to go meet some friends. Do you want to come along?" he asked a bit later, hoping she would agree.

"Sure, why not? Where are we going?"

"The Shrieking Shack."

"Isn't that place supposed to be haunted?" she asked warily.

"Actually, no, it's not. Whatever sounds the villagers hear are made by a werewolf."

"A werewolf? Wait, you don't mean Remus Lupin, do you?"

"How- I mean, no," he said with a little more uncertainty than he would've liked to have heard in his voice.

"Please, it's rather obvious to those of us with a brain. His mother is always sick around the full moon; it's been that way for years now."

"Fine, you're right. He was going to tell you anyway. But there is more to the story than that. I'll tell you when we get inside."

They went inside the little house, first checking to see that no one noticed them. To James, this place was almost a second home, a sort of headquarters for the Marauders: Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and himself. But upon seeing Lily's face when she first came in, he could understand why it wasn't that to others. All of the furnishings were scratched by Moony, and it was rather dusty, messy, and just about everything else that made a house terrible. Nevertheless, he escorted her into it, getting ready to tell her what he had told no one else.

"Okay, you know that Remus is a werewolf, but I still have something to show you. Turn around and close your eyes," he said.

"Whatever you say," she replied, obviously confused.

James then willed himself to transform, and nudged her with his nose. When she turned around, she gasped, seeing a stag where James had just stood. The stag was beautiful, with smooth and sleek fur and long antlers. Its only imperfection was a tuft of fur that just wouldn't stay neat.

"James?" she questioned, reaching out and touching the stag's head, stroking it down its snout, completely amazed.

He then transformed back into his regular self, saying, "Sirius is Padfoot, a huge black dog, and Peter is Wormtail, a rat. My own nickname is Prongs, obviously,

because I can turn into a stag."

"You're all Animagi? That's remarkable! When did you do this?"

"It took us up to our fifth year to research it and finally pull through with it."

"I can't get over it. Your fifth year? And I'd bet you aren't even registered, not to mention that you probably run around with a werewolf as Animagi, too!"

"Don't give me a talk about how dangerous it is," he warned.

"So, you do then? I just don't want anything to happen to you! And, anyway, what can you do to stop me if I want to lecture you? " she exclaimed, rather distressed.

"I can kiss you."

She stared at him in disbelief, but he leaned in, putting his arms around her and pulling her closer to him. Their lips met, it was nothing like either of them had ever felt before. He pressed on her, bending her back into a perfect arch as her arms reached up around his neck. It lasted for what each thought to be hours until they heard a voice say,

"Enough of that, you two. We need to get to work," said Sirius, just becoming visible.

The two jumped and pulled back, both quite embarrassed. "Decided to borrow my Invisibility Cloak, I see," said James.

"Sorry, but we needed it, just in case," said Remus as he and Peter stepped out from under the cloak.

"More like so you could spy on us," he retorted.

"Whatever. Anyway, I'm assuming you told her all?" asked Sirius.

"Yeah, the basics. Although, Lily, you can't tell anyone whatsoever."

"That was obvious, James. Three unregistered Animagi running around Hogwarts? Yeah, that'll go over well."

"Exactly," said Sirius. "And now you get to watch us at work, breaking thousands of school rules, not to mention Ministry rules." He paused and concluded playfully, "Gentlemen, it's time to plan."

***