Once Upon a Walk in Hogsmeade

"Lily? Are you coming?" Arabella Figg, one of Lily Evan's roommates asked as she stood up.

"No, I think I'll stay in the Common Room a little longer. I want to finish my book," Lily said, holding it up.

"Okay, don't stay up too late, hon," Arabella said, hugging Lily.

"'Kay, goodnight."

Arabella made her way up the girl's staircase and once Lily heard the soft click of the door closing, she closed her book. Looking around the Common Room to see the if anyone else decided to stay up, she pulled out the invisibility cloak that James had let her borrow for tonight.

She needed to be alone, away from everybody. Hogwarts couples met everywhere at night. There was nowhere on the school grounds where she knew she would be alone, and she didn't want to get lost looking for one.

She threw the cloak over her and made sure that her feet were covered before she cautiously opened the common room entrance. Gently closing it back again, she saw that the Fat Lady was startled.

"Who's there?" the Fat Lady called.

Lily silently giggled to herself as she slipped down the hall away from the portrait.

Silently and swiftly she made her way through corridors and staircases and passages, making sure that she was hidden.

Finally she made it all the way to the castle's front entrance. Very luckily she hadn't run into Mrs. Norris, Filch, or Peeves along the way.

Opening the door as little as she could, she was thankful that she was thin. Carefully she slipped out of the castle.

Looking out at the grounds, she saw a couple circling the lake. Remus and Amanda... She chuckled to herself. There was also a couple flying over the quidditch pitch. Arabella and Sirius... Sirius must've picked her up at the dormitory window. She giggled some more.

She jogged down the front steps and sprinted across the grounds, once accidentally kicking a rock, which caused Remus to jump in surprise. She almost choked as she tried to stifle a giggle as Remus hissed, "Prongs?"

Swiftly she passe them and headed towards the school gates. Once she arrived at the gates, she found that the gate was too heavy for her to open. With all of her pushing and pulling, she couldn't get it open. In the end, she slipped through one of the bars.

After walking and walking along the pathway to Hogsmeade, she finally made it to the small town. The streets were lantern-lit and had a very romantic setting.

As she slowly explored the streets, she found that she couldn't even be alone here. On every street there seemed to be a couple getting back from the new fancy restaurant that just opened.

'Jeez,' she thought, sarcastically. 'Do they HAVE to linger? Don't they think that going back home would be so much better?'

Lily continued her lonely stroll, marveling at the displays in the little shops' windows. Once, she even entered one of the 'open 24-hours' stores to look around at the merchandise. There was nothing really to do in Hogsmeade this late in the night, which left her to her thoughts.

She thought of Hogwarts. In no less than a fortnight, her sixth year would come to an end. After summer, she would only have one more year left in the place that she had come to call her home. Only one more year.

Then she thought about all of her friends, the ones that she probably would scarcely see after graduation, the ones that she might not see at all. She thought about Amanda and Arabella, the first friends that she had made at Hogwarts. She thought about The Four Marauders that had befriended her not long after. Peter, whom thought too much about what other people thought of him, therefore, needing constant reassurance. Sirius, comical and jovial, always loved cheering everyone up. Remus, the mediator of the group, in her opinion, the most sane. And James... James, almost as comical and jovial as Sirius, he had at least some sanity in him. He seemed like the best at comforting people when they are in need.

She thought back to last year, when her parents had been killed. James had stayed up all night with her in the common room, just talking and crying with her.

All of a sudden, she bumped into something. "What was that?" the person cried out in surprise.

It was then that Lily remembered that she hadn't taken off the invisibility cloak.

"Lily?" the person hissed.

"James?" she asked, making sure that no one was looking before she took off the cloak.

"So is this where you go whenever you ask to use the invisibility cloak?" he asked, amused.

"No," she stated simply. "Let's walk, shall we?"

"Okay," he replied.

After walking for about just one minute, Lily asked, "How did you get here without the cloak?"

"Broom. Flew out of the dormitory," he said, grinning.

"Are you crazy? Anyone could have seen you!" Lily scolded him.

"Don't worry. No one saw. And you're not exactly toeing the line either, Lily," he reminded her.

"Yeah, well..." her voice trailed off.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" he asked.

"I should ask you the same thing, you know," she said before replying, "I'm thinking."

"I'm here only because I didn't think that anybody would be here," he said, just as a laughing couple passed by the two.

"So did I. I guess we were wrong," she giggled, as they passed a park bench with a couple making out. He laughed too.

After a moment of silence, he asked, "Penny for you thoughts?"

Glancing up at him, she answered, "I was thinking about everything. School, friends..." She paused and looked up at him. "You."

"Oh," was all James said.

"Did you come out here to think too?"

"Yeah, I guess," he replied.

"About what?" she asked, curiously.

"Lots of things... " James said.

"Lots of things like what?" I asked, prompting him on.

"Well... Girls, I guess... Well, maybe A girl," he said. It was too dark to know for sure, but Lily swore that she saw him blush.

"Oh," she whispered, her heart sinking considerably. "You were thinking about a girl..."

After another moment of silence, she asked, "About, you know, the one?"

"Yeah, maybe," he said, looking down at his shoes as they continued to walk. "The only thing is, she doesn't know. And I don't know how she'll react if I tell her."

"Well, who is she? Maybe I can help you or something," Lily said, not really meaning to help.

"You know her, actually. You know her quite well..." he started.

"It isn't Amanda or Arabella, is it? Remus and Sirius would-" but James cut her off.

"No, no... It isn't either of them." He took a deep breath, and asked, "Can I take you somewhere?"

"O-okay," Lily answered, confused.

"Come on," he said, taking her hand and running toward the end of the street.

When they finally stopped running, Lily panted, "What is this about, James?"

Lily looked around. It was just a deserted alley.

James looked into her eyes and said, "It's you."

"What's me?" she asked, confusion written all over her.

"The girl... It's you," he said again, looking down at the floor.

"I-it's me? Really?" she asked, her heart jumping.

James looked at her, and seeing her smile, a grin spread across his face as well.

Lily giggled and James chuckled. Looking at each other, the burst into peals of laughter.

"We were just being corny a second ago, weren't we?" Lily asked between her peals of laughter.

James laughed harder.

Then they collapsed into each other arms, laughing, not knowing why.

When they finally stopped laughing, they kissed...

~FIN~