The Next Great Adventure (A Marauders Fan Fic)

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

Lily nearly dropped her books as the hand dragged her behind one of the tapestries on the fourth floor corridor; her heart pounded in her chest as she squealed in surprise and she screamed again as she saw James standing in front of her, his tall frame and the very small space in which they were standing blocking her view of anything other than his chest. “Oh my god Potter!” she cried. “What was that for?”

“James,” he corrected her.

“I don’t care!” she shouted back. “Let me go!”

“I need to talk to you Lily,” he said, reaching out to grab her arms as she tried to extricate herself from him and the tapestry.

“I don’t care. Why couldn’t you have just come up to me in the common room like a normal person?” She glared at him and he quailed under the fury in her gaze.

“I’m sorry Lily!” he spluttered. “I just really needed to talk to you and I saw you walk past and I know you have a free period because we’re in all the same classes and I have one now so I thought I’d talk to you but I agree, in hindsight I should have just come up to you normally.” As his words tumbled out of his mouth he fiddled with the collar of his shirt and the two buttons which he had left open there, leaving his neck bare, before moving on to adjust his glasses and run his hands through his hair. He was obviously nervous and Lily felt a little bad for him; it was kind of sweet. Suddenly she realised that he had finished talking and that he was gazing at her earnestly, waiting for her to say something. “Um… fine,” she sighed, sure that she was going to regret it later, “what did you want to talk to me about?”

James’ face broke into a wide smile, the smile which had charmed so many professors and students, and he said, “Well it’s actually about Sirius.”

Lily wrinkled her brow in bewilderment. “Sirius?” she questioned.

“Yes,” he replied as Lily ducked under his arm and turned to leave, “wait, where are you going?”

She shook her head and said, “Out, James. Or do we have to conduct the whole of this conversation behind this tapestry?” James ruffled his hair and said, “Well I quite like the atmosphere of this alcove…” He dropped the sarcasm as soon as he saw Lily glare at him and roll her eyes and he continued, “But you know, it’s fine, wherever! Let’s go then,” and held the tapestry out for her.

“I just don’t understand how you know about places like this James,” she muttered as they headed back along the corridor.

“Well Sirius and I found this one when we were hiding from Filch one night in our second year,” he said with a blithe smile.

“Right.” She pursed her lips and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear as they headed up the stairs. “Well I don’t really know how you expect me to help with Sirius; he’s your friend.”

“Oh well it’s not so much about Sirius as about Cassie and Sirius,” James replied.

“Did he put you up to this?” she asked warily.

“No, of course not. Why?”

“I don’t know but I feel like there’s something suspicious happening here,” she said.

James ran his hands through his hair and gave her a stunning smile. “No, of course not. I just… I just wanted to talk to you because he likes her but now Rob’s… interested in her and I wanted to know whether you think that will go anywhere… or you know, whether you might be able to steer her towards him instead.”

Lily stopped dead and clutched her books tighter; her hands were itching to go to her hips but she couldn’t because of all the textbooks she was carrying. It took a moment for James to realise that she was no longer walking alongside him and when he did he turned to face her, his lanky frame illuminated by the candles which flickered in the halls. “What?”