The Love That Transcended Time

Chapter 5: Close Quarters

As usual, the start-of-term feast proved festive. Gryffindor had a lively set of new first years, and Lily joined the rest of the Gryffindors in cheering them as they joined their table after being sorted. Lily sat next to Alice and Frank, and enjoyed friendly conversation with them as they ate delicious food.

Lily had been a little flushed since the extremely hot kiss in the Prefects' carriage. Alice had noticed immediately, and had been on her for every detail. James sat a few seats down with his usual gang and was out of earshot, but she was hesitant to share details. She was afraid that he might be eavesdropping. "Prude," mocked Alice, teasingly.

James was unsurprisingly teased mercilessly by Remus, who had found the whole story (once he heard all of it) very amusing. James loved being with his friends, but at this moment he desired to be with Lily. He knew she wouldn't tease him. Well, that was a lie; she would certainly tease him in a few ways, not that she'd do it intentionally...

Just then Dumbledore stood up, and the usual hush consumed the crowd in the Great Hall. He prattled on about the usual restrictions and regulations until the announcements that James always loved to hear came up. "Quidditch tryouts for each of the houses will begin soon. Please contact the team captain to find out when these tryouts will be taking place." Dumbledore went down each of the tables, announcing the Quidditch captains for each house, ending with, "And James Potter is the captain for the Gryffindor team." James stood up, giving the genial wave of recognition each of the captains had given, and then sat down. Remus, Peter, and Sirius all pretended to be like drooling girls around him, their heads resting upon their hands, giving him a dreamy look. James rolled his eyes and turned back to listen to Dumbledore.

"Last but not least, before we go to enjoy the warmth of our beds, I would like to introduce you to our new Head Boy and Head Girl. James Potter and Lily Evans." The hall erupted into polite applause. The Slytherin side usually solicited a polite applause, but today was eerily silent. Professor Slughorn, head of Slytherin House, was clapping quite loudly however, whooping jovially. Lily smiled and looked around, turning quite red. She looked around the school, and then turned to her side to look at James. They caught each other's glance at about the same time, and gave each other a warm smile (Sirius pretended to throw up into his book bag) and both walked up to Dumbledore's podium at his request after he had dismissed the feast.

"James, Lily, it is very nice to see you. I'm told the Prefect meeting went extremely well on the train, and that all went very smoothly...or rather as smoothly as could be expected." Dumbledore's eyes flickered momentarily onto the obvious cut on James' face but said nothing about it. "Since it is often not an advertised fact here at Hogwarts, I'm here to tell you first that your usual beds will not be in Gryffindor Tower this year. Head Boy and Head Girl have their own private suite down the hall from me.

"This is of course because the castle is large, and in case of emergency I really need to have you two nearby. So anyways, we'll be having our meeting the first Sunday of every month, starting tomorrow evening. We will schedule the meeting for eight o'clock in the evening, and we will discuss what is necessary for you to know. More meetings will be scheduled if necessary.

"You two will of course be studying much to take your N.E.W.T.s, and I would like to disturb you as little as possible. You two were chosen mostly because of your ability to function under a lot of stress, making you far more reliable than some of your fellow classmates." Dumbledore gave them both a very significant look, and then continued, "Your suite is hidden behind the large picture down the hall from my office that depicts a Quidditch match. The password is 'snitch'." He winked meaningfully to James and then bid them both adieu.

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James and Lily exited the Great Hall together, the large and expansive halls of Hogwarts empty. Noise could be heard in small quiet eruptions here and there as they passed a common room, or Peeves causing mischief, but all in all James felt extremely comfortable in these halls. The year he and his friends had made the Marauder's Map was one of the best years James had experienced at Hogwarts. Hogwarts was sometimes almost more of a home to him than Godric's Hollow was. With Lily next to him momentarily, he felt strangely even more comfortable.

"James...when Dumbledore said 'suite', do you think he meant we're sharing a room?" James decided the thought that had just crossed his mind should probably not be shared with Lily, as it was very naughty indeed.

"He mentioned something about a suite, which I assume means there's more than one room. I'm sure there will be plenty of privacy." Much to my dismay, thought James to himself.

Lily turned to him, as they continued walking down the cold and empty corridor, still another two floors away from their desired destination. "Yes, Lily?" asked James curiously, noticing that she seemed to want to say something.

James had always been familiar with the expression that 'actions speak louder than words', and now fully believed it as Lily pinned him swiftly against the wall, planting a rather passionate kiss on his lips. They kissed for at least a good ten minutes, James restraining himself strongly from losing control, and doing something very inappropriate. He finally had to push her back gently, and she got the hint, stepping back to give him some space. He wrapped his robes tightly around him and sighed heavily. "Man, you are quick. You should try out for the Quidditch team."

Lily ignored the comment and said simply, "I do have something to say, James." She smiled, now standing with her hand on her hip. James gave her a look that said something like, please be gentle...

"It's clear you enjoyed that, correct?" James gave her a boyish little grin and nodded his head. "Yes well, if you don't tell me what's going on with that dog, and that rat I've been seeing so much of, you'll be sampling no more of it. I have my ideas, but I'd much rather here the truth from you."

DAMN she's good! James' mouth would have hung open, but he doubted it would have helped his present situation. He was pretty much being blue-balled, but he decided that that if he was going to be close with Lily Evans, he would probably have to open up to her a little bit. Now was not the time, however. "Let's get upstairs," said James quietly.

Lily raised an eyebrow, perhaps a little surprised he had not spilled immediately, impressed just the same. Clearly there were things on his mind other than snogging. She started walking, and then took a sudden turn at a tapestry and passed right through it. "Hmm, this should take us to the floor we want."

"Lily, you're amazing, did I ever tell you that?" James was astonished anybody knew this passage. He clearly was dealing with a very clever girl. How long would it be until she knew all his secrets? Bring it on...thought James.

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They finally reached the portrait of the Quidditch match. All the players were lying on their broomsticks in their pictures, snoozing. James smiled at the picture, clearly reveling in the fact their suite had a Quidditch themed entrance.

"Snitch," stated Lily quite plainly, and the Quidditch players all roused at once, beginning to zoom madly around as the portrait swung open. They both entered and looked around curiously.

They walked into a room that was lined with many bookshelves, a fireplace, and some tall windows. A few cozy couches and armchairs were scattered around the room, as well as a desk for each of them and a large conference table. On either side of the fireplace was a composite of pictures. One contained all the pictures of every single Head Boy since the school's opening, and the other of every single Head Girl. There was a staircase that led up to a small landing with three doors. The doors were all labeled clearly with a regal golden name plate. James, Lily, W.C.

Lily walked curiously up the stairs and into her room. It wasn't a large room but was quite cozy and had a very large bed and plenty of space for her belongings. James' room was similar. Next, they peered into the bathroom curiously. It was luxuriously furnished with a large tub, and all the normal bathroom amenities.

Their eyes met, and all they were thinking was the one thing...it was going to be interesting sharing a bathroom...