That Was Then

Chapter 2

Best Friends

James rolled over and glanced at the bed next to his. Empty. Sirius must be up he thought. He lay there in his bed for a few more seconds, hoping against hope that Sirius would come back so James didn't have to go find him.

Sirius didn't come back after five minutes, or ten minutes, and when twenty minutes rolled around James stopped resisting and crawled out of bed. He didn't bother putting on a shirt. He tiptoed across the room, as he opened the door it squeaked loudly.

"James?" a groggy voice emerged from the bed nearest to the door.

"Go to sleep, Frankie," James said softly to his friend.

"You sneaking out?" Frank asked in a voice that told James he was already close to sleeping.

"No, I'm just looking for Sirius."

"Right, I hope you find him," said Frank. James waited a moment until Frank's snores once again filled the room.

James tiptoed quietly down the stairs into the common room. The first thing he saw when he entered was Lily Evans asleep in a chair. Her long auburn hair was down around her shoulders and she was holding a novel in her hand. James cleared his throat loudly, causing Lily to jerk awake.

"Teya?" she asked sitting up straight and looking around. Her eyes landed on James.

"Oh hi, is Sirius still out?" she asked.

James and Lily had known each other for a long time now, almost three months. Ever since Sirius had started taking his midnight walks, Lily waited up for her best friend Teya Green. Teya apparently had a taste for dangerous people. More specifically, she liked to date people anyone with half a brain wanted to avoid.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

James strolled over and sat in the chair next to Lily. Lily glanced at him then quickly looked away. He wasn't wearing a shirt! She'd noticed it when he'd first come in but hadn't really given it any thought. Now, however, she gave it lots of thought. His chest was rippled with firm muscles - not freakish bodybuilder muscles but the kind that comes from regular exercise, long and lean, sculpted over his bones. Lily knew he played as a Seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Not just any Seeker. He was brilliant. The team had won the cup three years running since James had joined, an impressive record by anyone's standards. In fact there was even talk of him becoming team captain next year once Mundungus Fletcher left. Clearly Quidditch had done nothing but good for James Potter.

"So where's Teya tonight?" James asked. Lily looked at him wondering if she should answer with her usual "out" or tell James the truth. She had the strongest urge to tell him how worried she was. She knew Teya was powerful, but was she powerful enough? Lily had heard of the Malfoys - they were dangerous. Lily opened her mouth.

"She, she's breaking up with Lucius Malfoy," she said as tears spilled from her eyes. James gaped at her. Lily could see the horror on his face through her tears.

"I'm so afraid for her. The Malfoys are dangerous. Lucius will be so angry," Lily whispered still crying and shaking a little bit.

To Lily's surprise James moved over to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Hey, don't cry. Remember, Lucius can't hurt her, he'd be expelled," James said comfortingly. Lily sniffed and fought to stay the flow of tears.

"I'm s-sorry James, I didn't mean to cry," she stuttered through her tears, still shaking. James shook his head.

"It's fine, cry as much as you want," he said softly. Lily noticed how close his face was to hers. They were almost touching. As James comforted her Lily couldn't help but think how nice it would be if he kissed her. Apparently he was thinking along the same lines because his lips met hers. It was a gentle kiss, his lips barely brushing over hers before he pulled back. James hesitated a moment then kissed Lily again a tiny bit less gently than before.

Teya had once told Lily a real kiss made it like your whole body is coursing with fire and need. Lily had never felt like that, and before today hadn't understood what Teya meant. Now Lily understood. Along with the fire and need, however, there was something Teya had not described, something Lily was certain Teya had never felt... safety. While James kissed and held her she felt sure nothing would harm her or those she loved.

In that instant Lily felt truly sorry for Teya. She knew Teya had never felt safe and quite possibly never would. Lily knew safety was the reason Teya ran around with dangerous men. She was searching, looking desperately for safety for someone who could protect her.

Teya, Lily thought to herself, you're looking in the wrong places, my protector was right here in the common room all along. Maybe yours is too, then Lily stopped thinking about Teya, in fact she stopped thinking about anything at all and just let herself get lost in James's embrace.

They continued kissing for a little over half an hour. At some point they'd moved to the couch but Lily couldn't remember when. After kissing Lily snuggled up to James's chest and drifted off into the most peaceful sleep she'd had in weeks.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Teya whispered the password and climbed through the portrait hole. Lily would be up as usual waiting for her, so Teya went over what she would tell Lily about that night. Leave out the yelling; the curses definitely had to go, Lily might faint.

To Teya's surprise, however, Lily did not run to her the second Teya entered the portrait hole. Teya looked around and saw Lily nestled up close to the bare chest of none other then James Potter.

Teya smiled. "Lily you vixen, I knew you had it in you," she whispered softly. She shook her head. Lily was quite the little prude. It's about time she had some fun, Teya thought to herself. Then, quietly, she tiptoed upstairs to the dormitory, changed, and went to bed.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Sirius wandered the halls thinking about what he'd seen. This Teya girl was pretty - and strong too.

After a while, Sirius found his way back to the common room. To his immense surprise he found James snuggled up on the couch, shirtless with an auburn haired girl.

James didn't go out with many girls, Sirius could only remember about three clearly; he'd dated maybe three girls since they started at Hogwarts. Sirius, of course, dated a different girl every week. James could have done the same with his Quidditch score, but he had decided to wait. Wait for what, Sirius wasn't sure, but James was waiting. "I guess he got sick of waiting," Sirius whispered. Then he quickly left the common room. He changed hurriedly, hoping against hope that he wouldn't have the dream again.