Serendipity (S. Black)

THIRTY-FIVE

"Shut up, Potter," Lily said, letting her red hair fall in front of her face to hide the blush creeping up her cheeks. "Now that you're up, you could do me a favor and wake the others, though. We need to catch our Portkey soon. If you guys don't get up in five minutes, your mum's going to let us send Marlene in, and trust me, you don't want that."

James pretended to cower dramatically. "Well, I certainly don't want McKinnon to dent my rather lovely face today. Do me a favor, though."

"I'm not going to snog you, so don't even ask."

James laughed out loud. It sounded warm and comforting, like firewhiskey on a cold night. "No, nothing like that."

"Oh." She cleared her throat, embarrassed.

"Is that all you think I am? Someone who hangs around you for nothing more than a good kiss? Because I can assure you, if I was only looking for a snog, I wouldn't have stuck around this long."

While the tone of his voice was easygoing, she saw a brief glimpse of hurt flicker in his hazel eyes before he hid it and tilted his head at her. For a second, Lily forgot how to breathe. Then, she found her voice, but it lacked a cocky comeback she usually pulled from her arsenal. "What do you need?"

"Can you help me find my glasses? I can't see anything."

His question made her smile, although he could barely see it. Making sure not to step on Sirius once again, she carefully picked up James' glasses and set them on his nose. "Better?"

"Absolutely. You're not a little ginger blur anymore." She offered him a hand and pulled him up. "Mind you, you do make a cute little ginger blur, Evans."

"That's the first time you've flirted with me in months," she commented as she walked toward the door.

James leaned on the wall. "I'll stop if it bothers you." The expression on his face showed her that he really meant it.

"Chance it every once in a while. My life's getting boring." Lily smiled a bit, and so did he.

*

"We're actually here! At the Quidditch World Cup!" Eva had to stop herself from jumping up and down. Sirius grinned and swung her hand wildly back and forth, a gesture she returned with just as much enthusiasm.

"James, where're we setting up camp?" Peter asked, jogging up next to the bespectacled boy, who consulted the tickets.

"Right up here." He dropped two tents on the grassy plot labeled POTTER and with a quick wave of his wand, set both of them up. "Wala!"

"Nicely done," Remus congratulated, ducking into one of the tents to stash his bag.

Eva eyed the two tents curiously. "Aren't these too small?" She whispered to Kriss, who laughed and shook her head.

"Probably not. Go on in, you first."

Eva rolled her eyes and lifted the flap of the tent to find a comfortably sized room with space for the girls to lay out sleeping bags. She stared in shock. Next to her, Lily seemed to be experiencing similar emotions, while Marlene and Kriss only laughed, took their bags, and threw them on the carpeted floor.