You wish Potter : A Jily Fanfiction

Nowhere to Hide

James looked warily around the Great Hall the next day at breakfast: his friends sat hunched over their picked-at scrambled eggs, purple in the face and straining as if the eggs were causing some kind of problem with their bowel movements. They weren't- that damp and dreary afternoon, the Gryffindor and Slytherin seventh years had to duel using non-verbal spells for their Defence Against the Dark Arts exam. Peter was straining so hard that his round face was shining with sweat. James sighed miserably and nodded to his friends, who barely noticed him get up from the table.

The Entrance Hall was swarming with students making their way to their first lessons of the day: shedding their robes as they climbed the winding staircases to the Divination classroom, or pulling them more closely around their shoulders as they braced the chill, making their way across the grounds to the greenhouses. James wished he'd been bothered to take his own cloak to breakfast that morning but, without it, he slunk out of the castle behind a group of enthusiastic first years carrying the school's scruffy Cleansweeps.

Lily had also been sitting with her face screwed up in concentration practicing non-verbal charms on her jiggling orange juice. Remus watched as he slurped up his eggs, half expecting steam to come pouring from her ears like a boiling kettle.

"You know," he said innocently. "Some of the team are getting quite miffed that James, being captain and all, hasn't so much as looked at a broom in two weeks." He swallowed a mouthful of eggs and continued casually. "If he doesn't get back to practice soon, Sirius reckons this obnoxious sixth year is going to stage a takeover."

Lily looked up from her orange juice, which stopped jiggling straightaway. Her eyes narrowed at Remus, who continued to look suspiciously wide-eyed and innocent.

"This isn't going to be the moment you've been waiting for, Remus, where I realise that I'm madly in love with James just because I smelt him in some bogus potion!" Lily warned.

"I didn't mention any bogus potions! Did you hear me mention any bogus potions?" Remus replied with a boyish grin. Secretly, however, he believed he would be ten galleons better off by the end of the week. Not that he'd admit that of course.

Lily absent-mindedly picked the bacon out of her teeth. "Really... two weeks? Not even a little polish?"

Remus nodded, a small grin appearing on his lips.

As James left the hall, Lily seemed to be the only one notice him go; a few moments later she got up silently, grabbed her things as she watched him pause outside the doors and follow the first years out of the castle, and went after him. Somehow, she could sense that something was wrong.

James wandered the grounds, not really sure where he was headed or even why he was so certain that he didn't want to go to this exam, but sure that something about this one was different, and he didn't like it. He still didn't know where he was going when he arrived there, but he stopped on the wooden bridge, where he often found himself, and saw a flash of red hair as Lily turned away from the view and leant against the side.

"Hey," she called casually.

James laughed at her attempt at being aloof. "Hey," he nodded back continuing to walk down the bridge towards her, his hands shoved in his pockets and his eyes on the ground. Lily matched his stride as he walked past.

"How could you know where I would go, before I did?" He asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

"You're easy to find," Lily nudged him in the arm. "Even when you want to be invisible. So, what'cha up to?" she asked.

James chuckled to himself again. "You should go back," he said, stopping and looking back towards the disappearing castle. "You'll be late for the exam."

"And what about you?"

James looked at her. "I'm not going," he said turning away and walking further away from the grounds.

Lily didn't reply, she just walked wordlessly by his side for a while, looking out at the dense green land beneath the bridge.

"Lily, what happens if I fail this?" James looked into her eyes, his thick eyebrows knitted in thought.

Searching his face, Lily shrugged. "It doesn't matter. None of this really matters. And I don't think that's why you're out here and not in that exam non-verbally kicking some butt, because I know you can, James. And so do you."

James walked over to the railings and leant his forearms against it. Looking down at his fists he shook his heavy head. "You're right," he sighed.

"So what is it?" Lily asked softly.

He looked out and after a while he answered her. "We've got a fight coming, Evans, a big one, a big, real one." He took a deep breath. "Some of the people in that hall will fight with us, and some will fight against us. How can I take that exam without thinking about who my next curse will be aimed at, or what my next spell will defend me from? I don't know what's going to happen to me and the people that I care about...I just can't watch this now not knowing who they'll face next time, when it does matter."

Lily joined him at the bridge; her voice was soft and sincere, as if she'd known exactly what he was thinking. "I've always admired your courage James, and your loyalty. When the time comes, you'll do the right thing, I know you will. You'll do whatever it takes to protect the ones you love, because that's who you are." She took a deep breath, a blush creeping into her cheeks.

James squeezed her cold hand very gently; that was his way of telling her how brilliant he thought she was. Lily laughed softly, her smile lighting up her pink cheeks.

"Come on," James smiled. "Or we'll be too late!"

They walked briskly back towards the castle, Lily's cloak flapping loudly behind her in the wind. When they reached the castle James looked back quickly to check Lily was still behind him, ran his fingers nervously through his windswept hair, and slowed down. "So I hear you weren't wearing any wear perfume yesterday," he mumbled quickly.

"Um, not as such, no," Lily replied, finding it very difficult to look at him, and so playing with her fingers instead. She chose her next words carefully and tried to sound dismissive as she said, "I think it's great that you gave up Quidditch during these exams!"

They both stopped walking at the bottom of a staircase. James turned round to face Lily, who was smiling rather awkwardly, his eyes were wide and his brow furrowed curiously.

"Remus," she said.

"But you don't think...?" James scoffed.

"Oh! No, probably not, right?"

They smiled at each other again and James pushed his glasses up his nose. As they ran up the stone staircase to the third floor classroom, James's hand slipped into hers.

*****

"Snivellus?" James cried hysterically. His face was flushed red with rage and he looked ready to storm into the classroom after Severus and the new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, Professor Graves.

"I don't need you to protect me from Snape, James. I think can handle him," Lily said holding James back by his arm, and following Graves into the classroom for her exam.

As soon as the door closed, James pressed his ear up against the wood, desperately trying to hear what was happening inside.

"Non-verbal spells, dear," Marlene reminded him leaning against the wall beside him. "Lily's fine Potter, don't worry, she's good at these duels."

"I know, she's brilliant! It's that slimy git I don't trust!"