by PetalsToFish on archiveofourown.org
A long line had formed along the cafeteria's back wall.
Lily Evans wasn't very surprised, as half the female (and even some of the male) population had noticed the boys with the cute smiles and wicked hair at the ice cream station. There were four of them all-together, the ones causing the holdup at the small ice cream freezer.
Lily knew one of the boys from around campus-he was the soccer Captain. Potter, she believed, was his surname. He had messy black hair that always looked perfectly windswept, thick-framed glasses, and rather large feet to coincide with his tall figure. Potter was at the head of the line of girls, scooping out ice cream for each girl like a gentleman.
At Potter's side was a better-looking boy with a pure white smile. Lily had only seen him in her English class once and she didn't know how he could possibly be passing now that they were five weeks into the term. His good looks were hard to ignore. He had long black hair that matched the black scruff covering his jaw. He was attractive in an unkempt way compared to Potter. He looked like a model as he leaned against the ice cream fridge nonchalantly, talking to Potter like he was egging the soccer Captain on.
Eating ice cream and loyally watching with enthralled eyes at the line forming behind Potter were the two other boys in that friend group. Both weren't nearly as attractive, but they're smiles were kind as they laughed at their mates. The shortest and stoutest one said something and Potter shot him a glance, looking quite charmed.
"Hey," Lily prodded her friend, "let's go get ice cream."
Mary MacDonald lifted her head from the study booklet she was observing for her Anatomy and Physiology class. She took one look at the long line in the back of the Café and shook her head no. Mary pushed her blond braid over her shoulder in vain.
" Everyone's over there getting ice cream. I saw Miss Norris put the pumpkin ice cream inside five minutes ago."
Lily snorted like a horse, "Please, none of those girls are over there for the pumpkin ice cream."
Mary lifted her gaze again and grasped what Lily had realized five minutes before when the whole line started. Potter winked at one of the blokes he handed a bowl of the ice cream too. Mary adjusted her pencil in her grip before maintaining her original position.
"No thanks."
Lily poked Mary in the side playfully but then stood up, stretching out her legs. Mary looked up again and rolled her eyes once at Lily's playful smirk before muttering, "Play nice with the other kids."
"Will do mum." Lily flashed a smirk before strolling over to the ice cream bin.
The bin itself always held four to five different types of ice cream. The entire school population had been waiting weeks for the seasonal pumpkin flavored ice cream and finally, the school delivered one giant tub of the pumpkin flavored sweet that week.
Lily herself had been one of the students waiting weeks for the pumpkin ice cream and as she neared the ice cream stand she spotted what had started the line in the first place. There, in the middle of the freezer, sat a brand new tub of pumpkin flavored ice cream. Of course, being brand new, it was stubborn to scoop. In fact, it looked frozen solid.
Potter was standing there, calmer as can be, taking plastic bowls from the girls lining up and scooping them their ice cream. At his side it appeared that his mate was judging the rate at which he scooped. It was the looniest thing she'd seen all week.
"Pathetic scoop," the gorgeous one verified as James pulled out a measly scoop of the pumpkin sweet, "my grandmother could scoop ice cream better than that."
Lily stepped back towards the other two boys who were snickering as they watched Potter and his mate. The boy closest to Lily's left was wearing an argyle sweater that had a hole in a sleeve and an old university hat that was faded and covered in what appeared to be dirt. He noticed Lily watching the ice cream debacle too and spoke up.
"Getting in line or enjoying the show?" He questioned her.
She stared as Potter's bicep was squeezed, literally squeezed, by one of the cheerleaders after he passed her a cup of the ice cream. Potter grinned stupid as she also slipped her number into the leather jacket of the unnamed handsome one.
"I don't know whether to be repulsed or charmed." She finally said truthfully.
The argyle sweater boy chortled and delivered her a toothy smile, "you hang around those two idiots enough and the lines become quite blurred."
She smiled at his wit and stuck her hand out, "I'm Lily."
The boy shook her hand while nodding, "I'm Remus, and I already know you." He confessed, "you're one of the Resident Assistants in our dorm."
"Am I?" She said shockingly, "why haven't we met?"
"We live in room 12." The stout one said, butting into the conversation from Remus' side.
"Ah." Lily said, knowing now why she never saw them.
The dorm she helped supervise was three levels of rooms that also included a creepy basement level where everyone did laundry. If one went past the laundry room and behind a creepy looking door-room 12 existed. It was an overflow room most often used to place unused furniture in but more recently the college needed more rooms…so room 12 was invented. Lily never went down to the basement on rounds, it wasn't an all-together interesting area and most kids caused trouble inside the dorm common room-not their own dorm room.
"How does it feel, living in a storage room?" She asked presently.
Remus shoved his hands into his tan pockets and shrugged, "don't really notice to be honest, the hardest part so far has been sharing a communal bathroom with those two."
Lily glanced back at the two in question. The line had gotten shorter and almost all the pumpkin ice cream was gone. Lily slid into line and waited her turn. When it was time to step up there was only enough ice cream for one tiny spoonful. Potter was staring at the measly looking tub and glanced up to tell his next customer likely that he was almost out but one minute he was all smooth and cunning-the next he was adorable and dorky.
His hazel eyes met Lily's green ones and his suave smile was replaced with a looked of wholesome disbelief. He dropped the ice cream scoop and it landed in the freezer, causing a loud crash to echo through the cafeteria. All students in the vicinity went silent and looked up from their dinners. Lily covered the smile on her face with a cough as Potter went red and quickly fished the ice cream scoop from the bottom of the freezer. By the time he'd reached for it, mostly everyone had gone back to dinner, the moment passed. Lily bit her lip to keep from smiling as Potter muttered an apology to Lily.
At Potter's side the nameless fetching boy from Lily's English class looked quite interested.
"Sloppy fingers mate?" The boy teased Potter who hit him with a deadly glare before turning back to look at Lily with broad hazel eyes.
"Did you want pumpkin?" He asked, half-heartedly motioning down to the ice cream with his scoop.
"It looks like I was too late and you'd have to scrap the bottom of the barrel for me." Lily admitted gently, "I'll just pass, thanks."
"She's a liar, she wants ice cream." Remus said loudly and unabashedly, "I saw her staring as you scooped it, give her some James."
"I think she was looking at something other than the ice cream, eh James?" The boy in the bun laughed as he nudged Potter's shoulder playfully.
"Sirius." James muttered, smiling at Lily ruefully.
Lily lifted her nose smugly at the one called Sirius before placing her hand kindly on James' to lower the scoop he was holding, "I'm fine, I just thought I would try to come get some of the pumpkin ice cream." She shrugged, "the other half of the school's female population just beat me to it."
James looked disappointed and Lily was about to walk away when Sirius insisted, "I'm sure they've got more tubs in the walk-in freezer in the kitchen."
"Have you ever asked Chef Filch for anything ever?" Lily asked Sirius in disbelief, "he'll eat your head off."
"That's why I wouldn't ask." Sirius offered back with a trouble-making laugh.
Lily raised her eyebrow at Sirius, "really?"
James nodded, looking pleased that they'd captured her interest, "it's easy to sneak into the back kitchens; we do it all the time to steal pudding on Thursdays."
"And biscuits on Sunday's." The stout one beside Remus added.
"And tacos on Tuesday." James seemed to be recalling a very good taco Tuesday because he looked a little happy-go-lucky.
Lily crossed her arms and ogled at all four boys, "you seriously have been able to sneak into the back kitchens-and get out with food—with not a single knife thrown at your back by Filch?"
"We're marauders," James used the term affectionately, "it's what we do."
"For the good of all mankind," Sirius added.
"And womankind," the stout one grinned.
"Amen Peter," Sirius saluted Peter proudly, "what a woman wants, she gets."
Lily raised her hand. "So?" They all stared at her with fluctuating expressions, "this woman would like you four to teach her how to break into that kitchen to steal a tub of pumpkin ice cream."
All four boys looked excited at the prospect of causing trouble. James was all for dragging Lily off to the dorm immediately to start planning out their adventure but Lily managed to curve his eagerness with a weak pull of her hand from his. She'd almost agreed because his charming grin was pretty hard to resist.
"I'll meet you boys there," she told them, "I have to go grab my things and Mary."
Peter itched his ear, "whom are you marrying?"
"Me I hope." James remarked boldly, earning laughs from all the boys and a blush from Lily.
"Mary's my best friend." Lily told them, "I have to walk back with her or she'll suspect something."
"You aren't going to tell Mary about our secret are you?" Sirius insisted nippily.
Lily stuck out her pinky finger and Sirius' grey eyes examined it for a minute before hooking his pinky with hers. She felt like she was back on a playground at home, five years old, swearing to her older sister that she'd never admit to Mum that Petunia broke the holiday china.
"Secrets safe with me." She vowed, unhooking her finger from Sirius' before waving goodbye to them.
"Twenty minutes," Sirius pointed to a watch on his wrist, "we'll rendezvous at Base Alpha."
At Lily's muddled expression James took pity and enlightened, "meet us in our room in twenty minutes."
Lily turned away but James stopped her.
"Wait!"
She turned back to look at him.
"I'm James." He smiled a cute dimpled smile that made her knees go weak.
Lily tucked a strand of her red hair behind her ear, "Lily Evans."
His hazel eyes twinkled behind his glasses, "nice to meet you, Lily."
Lily nodded and turned on her heel back to the table where Mary sat, meal finished, waiting for Lily. Mary looked up at her when Lily returned and scowled.
"The line was that long?" Mary moaned, "I finished my burger like twenty minutes ago."
"Sorry," Lily said.
Then Mary noted Lily's empty hands, "did you even get ice cream?" She criticized.
Lily hummed noncommittally, picking her shoulder bag up and off the dirty cafe floor while Mary simultaneously stood and gathered her notes.
Mary shot an annoyed glance at Lily, "Lily."
With a secretive smile Lily hooked her arm in Mary's and leaned on her friend like a child as they walked. "Mary there was no pumpkin ice cream left," she explained, "that's the whole reason I went over there."
"You're full of shite Lily Evans." Mary snickered, clutching Lily's arm, "you were over there for more than just a sweet tooth."
Lily smiled but said nothing.
What was wrong with thinking the school soccer Captain was incredibly attractive?
Absolutely nothing.
Lily and Mary switched topics to the ecology club trip happening in a few weeks. Mary was organizing the trip for the entire club and was running her plans by Lily slowly and agonizingly longer than customary.
They stood outside the door to Lily's dorm room located on the first floor. The flowers that covered the door gave away whose room it was by spelling out her name. At Lily's feet sat a small carpet that she had placed in front of the door to catch mud from visitors. Lily was scrapping her feet along the rug as the cell phone in her hand dangerously ticked closer and closer to the time she was set to meet the boys.
"So I told Josh Lickerman that if he wants us all to do a kayak course than he needs to fork up six hundred-"
"Mary?" Lily winced as she cut Mary off mid sentence, "er, I forgot I left my Chemistry notes in the Cafe, mind if I dash off?"
Mary looked taken aback. "You left notes?" She twisted her blond hair around her finger; "I guess I'll see you late-"
"Thanks!" Lily was already half way down the hall by the time Mary got her goodbye in.
Lily pushed open the doors that led outside and walked around the back half of the building until she saw the window lit by a dim yellow light protruding through the base of the soil. Lily knew that the window was the only source of light in living space 12. It also served as an escape route incase of a fire in the laundry room.
Lily got on her stomach and tapped on the window before sliding her cell phone into the back pocket of her jeans. It took a moment before the window was pushed open and she sat up in her elbows a bit in surprise when James Potter's face was only inches from hers. He looked tickled pink that she was laying flat on her stomach in the grass outside their shared dorm.
"Were the stairs too complicated for you to navigate?" James asked cleverly.
"On the contrary," Lily teased back, "the stairs weren't stealthy enough for this operation."
Sirius' face appeared beside James' in the window sill, "I like you already." He affirmed, "dedicated to the sneak."
"The sneak?" She questioned.
Remus' voice came from somewhere inside the room, "he means that he's impressed you felt strongly enough to ward off any suspicion by coming to our window when it's dark out..."
"What's that RomCom we were learning about in English?" Sirius questioned.
Lily stared at him in disbelief, "you mean Romeo and Juliet?"
James also looked at Sirius in disbelief, "Sirius, it's not a romantic comedy if the main characters die."
Sirius shrugged, "seemed funny enough for me." And then he dramatically shouted so everyone in a fifty-foot radius could hear, "Romeo, Romeo, let down your hair!"
James placed a hand on his face and Lily looked at Sirius in pure wonderment.
"So much for stealth." Lily commented dryly.
"Sirius that's from Rapunzel." James sighed, "You really need to start going to English."
"How are you passing English?" She asked Sirius, utterly confused.
Sirius grinned wickedly; "I turn in all of Remus' papers from last semester."
James looked at Lily as Sirius disappeared from the window and shook his head at her when she was about to speak.
"It's no use arguing with him about it," James told her, "he likes to fuck shite up, it makes him happy."
James reached a hand out to her and she took it, easing herself through the window. James grabbed a hold of her shoulders as she slid down into their room, less graceful and more like a fish out of water. James was strong though and made sure she didn't hit the ground as she slid in. He even steadied her when she finally got both feet in and wobbled a bit as she righted herself.
"Normally girls try to sneak out of our dorm, never into it." Peter announced from his bed, closest to the window and covered in the most clothes and books.
Remus spoke up from a desk in the corner of the room that separated space between two beds with matching black comforters.
"I can't believe you just came in through the window."
Lily grinned at her new friend, "I couldn't let Mary have any idea what I was up too, I told her I left tutoring notes in the cafe."
"You tutor?" James looked surprised.
"Chemistry and English." She replied with a nod.
"James tutors organic chemistry." Sirius said from where he stood by the front door wearing black jeans and a black hoodie, "nerd that he is."
James ran his fingers through his hair and bit his lip, "I'm just good at Chem, and my dad's a chemist."
Lily liked that James seemed to want to impress her, like he wanted her high opinion. He didn't know it yet, but he certainly had it.
"So here's the plan." Sirius had a ruler in his hand like a mallet and he kept hitting it against the palm of his hand as he spoke diligently, "We have an hour, starting at 9pm to successfully pull off operation pumpkin spice."
"Pumpkin spice?" Lily snorted.
"That's our code name." Sirius told her seriously, "from now on you can refer to me as Padfoot. James is Prongs, Pete you're Wormtail ("hey!" Peter complained loudly) and Remus you are now called Moony."
Lily furrowed her brow at Sirius' insanity babbles while the other boys appeared entertained and almost affectionate of the code names.
Lily elevated her hand, "what if I don't like the code names? Or can't remember them?"
"Stick to surnames then, Red." Sirius ordered.
Lily was suddenly wondering if she ought to be regretting her idea to play along with the boys. James saw her upturned expression and chuckled deeply beside her, winking when she looked over at him. Her stomach flipped and she knew she was already in too deep to turn back now.
"We have to hit hard and fast." Sirius dictated, "Wormtail, you and Remus are going to create a diversion in the cafeteria."
"What kind of diversion?" Remus asked idly, like Sirius set up operations like this everyday.
"You're both fans of the melodramatic." James proposed, "pretend Peter is choking on a grape."
"Why do I have to be the one to choke?" Peter demanded.
"Because you're the better actor apparently." Remus rolled his eyes.
Sirius continued his plan, "While Wormtail chokes on a grape…Prongs, Red, and I will sneak in through the back door in the kitchen. We are well aware that Miss Norris will be waiting for us when we arrive inside the kitchen-but I will take one for the team and distract her with my bodily ways."
Lily snorted, "we're relying on you to make it past the same woman who works with burning oil for a living?"
"I mean she can't throw the oil at us," James consoled Lily, "that's about one hundred lawsuits she couldn't afford to deal with."
Sirius hit his ruler against the desk Remus was sitting at and Lily jumped a bit as Sirius continued, "as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, I will distract Norris and while she's otherwise occupied...Prongs and Red will swoop into the freezer...get the pumpkin ice cream...and get the Hell out of the kitchen before Chef Filch gets back from saving Peter from choking on the grape."
Lily uncrossed her arms, "I mean in theory-"
Sirius brandished the ruler like a sword, "move out troops, it's almost eight fifty-five!"
James grinned and grabbed Lily's hand, pulling her towards their door. He didn't let go of her hand until they had successfully managed to jog from their dorm to the cafeteria unspotted by anyone except a squirrel eating a discarded apple by a bench. Her hand felt chilly when he let go so he could back up against the brick wall of the cafe. Lily backed herself up against the wall too, giggling when she saw Sirius had his hands formed in the shape of a gun and he was scanning the darkness quite dramatically.
She honestly hadn't had this much fun in ages.
James put a finger to his lips, motioning for her to be quiet and follow him. Lily watched Remus and Peter as she backed away towards the back of the building. They were heading for the front doors, talking to each other like Lily, James, and Sirius weren't sneaking around the back. They looked totally calm, like they were discussing the weather.
"Let's go, Red!" Sirius hissed at her and Lily jogged to catch up with James and Sirius.
They ducked under the large windows that looked out at a field, until they reached the last window near a propped open door. Through the door wafted the smell of chef Filch's tuna casserole and Lily wrinkled her nose as she and the two boys peered through the window.
Remus and Peter were at the salad bar, talking to one another. Remus suddenly looked up and spotted three heads in the window, he sent them thumbs up before saying something to Peter.
That's when Peter started coughing dramatically over the salad bar, clutching his throat. Students left in the café turned to stare at Peter, who was going red in the face. Lily could hear Remus shouting for help and she had to hand it to the pair, they were very convincing. Nasty old Chef Filch rounded the corner from the grill and started yelling at the boys. Students were standing up to watch as Remus gestured desperately at Peter who ceremoniously dropped on the floor just as Filch walked up.
"That's our cue!"
Lily felt her arm grabbed and suddenly she was following two boys she'd just met into the back kitchens of the school café. To their left, the walk-in freezer storage where any spare pumpkin ice cream would be kept. To the right was an old woman with frizzled hair frying fries in sizzling oil, keeping an eye behind her on the scene in the dining room. Peter was bellowing like a dying whale.
Sirius walked casually over to Miss Norris, as James pulled Lily behind a cart of dishware and silverware. Lily watched between freshly cleaned plates and bowls as Sirius tapped Miss Norris on the shoulder briefly.
Lily didn't know if Sirius was mad or simply didn't have a care in the world.
"What are you doing back here, Black?" Miss Norris demanded answers from Sirius who simply gave her a shit-eating grin.
"Ah, 'lo Norris, was just dropping in for a quick chat about cooking and all that."
Miss Norris put a hand on her hip and snapped, "Get out of my kitchen."
"Norris—" Sirius drawled out her name cleverly.
"We have to go now," James' lips brushed against her ear when he whispered to her and shivers went up her spine as he grabbed her hand against and pulled her, half running, behind a table laden with leftover casseroles.
Behind them, the freezer door was closed, the silver handle pressed in and likely hard to pull. Lily glanced back to see Sirius was losing his ability to keep Norris pacified and James jumped forward, yanking on the freezer door open, slipping inside and dragging Lily with him. The freezer door closed behind them. The cold air hit her lungs and she realized it was also pitch black in the freezer. She waited, shivering, for her eyes to grow accustomed to the dark. James still had a hold of her hand but he dropped it suddenly and she yelped, jumping forward to grab him, not bashful one bit that she had grabbed onto him so tightly.
Suddenly a bright light overtook her eyes and as they adjusted she saw James had pulled out his phone. Over the light from his phone James' eyes were sparkling, matching his shimmering breath in the cold air. Lily looked down at her hand, gripping his arm with a force to be reckoned with. She looked back up at him to see a powerful smile on his face, a look that should be reserved for someone special, not a girl he'd just met.
"How's your first mission with us going?" he whispered, lips growing paler with the cold.
She laughed lightly, unable to really focus on anything other than the fact that he'd stepped forward, his body flush against hers. She was welcome for the warmth but was also welcome that he seemed to feel the sparks between them like she did. James winked and reached forward, she closed her eyes, ready for him to kiss her and when he didn't her green eyes flashed open. In his hand he held a tub of pumpkin ice cream.
"Expecting something else?" he remarked friskily, noticing her dissatisfied look.
Lily hummed and tugged a bit at his grey shirt with her free hands. "A little less pumpkin," she told him, placing her lips gently against his own before pulling away, "a little more spice."
He glowed exuberance and leaned forward to kiss her tersely in the middle of the café freezer, the pumpkin ice cream tub squeezed between them. Despite the frozen air circling around them, Lily felt warmth to the tips of her toes as his free hand not holding the ice cream cupped her face and pulled her lips firmer against his own. He only pulled away to place a small kiss on her cheek, indulgently.
"I'd love to continue this," he whispered, "but it's quite cold and we've got to finish Operation Pumpkin Spice or Sirius will never forgive us."
Lily sighed but her expression gave away how eager she was. Lily was certain if she looked in the mirror her cheeks would be as red as her hair. James led the way, Lily placed her hands on his back as he peered around the freezer door to evaluate their escape options. She tried to see for herself but his tall frame blocked her view. James was frowning when he turned back to look at her.
"Sirius is M.I.A." he murmured.
"Filch and Norris?" Lily's teeth chattered as she answered back, the freezer was becoming unbearable without James wrapped around her.
"Also M.I.A." he whispered, "we have to run for it."
"Okay."
Lily prepared herself to run. James swapped the ice cream to his right arm so he could grab her hand with his left as they raced out of the freezer with their stolen goods. As they raced to the back door they heard a commotion from the main dining area. James halted to a stop and Lily looked to where his eyes had drifted.
"You three get out of this café immediately or we'll call Headmaster Dumbledore!" Filch was bellowing.
"My friend is choking!" Remus disputed marvelously.
"I just wanted to talk to Norris!" Sirius winked at Norris, who looked horrified.
Lily had to stifle a giggle as Remus and Sirius were holding up Peter; Peter had his eyes rolled into the back of his head and was moaning.
"You boys are nothing but scoundrels and you've ruined the salad bar!" Filch pointed to the bar and Lily clapped a hand over her mouth when she saw that the dressings had fallen from their containers and were now pouring all over the floor. Ranch and Caesar mixed on a pool on the café floor.
Sirius' grey eyes, they were sparkling mischievously as he replied nonchalantly, "I told you I saw a rat." He shrugged, "I was just trying to save the food, don't want health inspectors in here, do you? They might actually have to fire you for your cooking."
"OUT!"
"But—" Sirius was about to continue causing a scene when his eyes spotted James waving at him from the kitchen grille. Sirius immediately dropped his defensive attitude, "Okay, okay, we're going..."
Norris had noticed Sirius' eyes shift and she didn't trust him, like clockwork she turned to look back at the grille but before she could open her mouth to warn Filch of the intruders, James started running, almost yanking Lily's arm out of the socket.
"Time to go!" he guffawed, as Lily matched her steps into running paces out of the back door and into the cool fall air.
Halfway back to the dorm Sirius, Remus, and Peter caught up.
"Did you get it?!" Sirius asked, half shouting and half panting as they continued running.
James let go of Lily's hand to hold up the ice cream tub like a trophy over his head. The three boys whooped loudly and Lily let her head fall back as she laughed louder than she'd laughed in ages. They didn't stop running until they'd raced into the dorms, through the laundry room filled with the questioning eyes of freshman, and into the bedroom the boys shared together. They all collapsed on the floor together and laughed until their stomachs hurt.
"I have to say," Sirius announced from Lily's left as they all stared at the ceiling, "I've never seen finer acting in my life, three cheers to Peter!"
Peter made his fake choking sounds and they all laughed gaily. James got up from the floor first and walked over to a plastic red cup on the desk that held plastic spoons and forks. Lily watched from the floor as he reached into the cup and pulled out five spoons, one for each of them. Lily sat up and crossed her legs, smiling at James as he sat down next to her and pulled the cold carton of ice cream closer to open it.
The other boys sat up at the sound of the container seal breaking and the smell of pumpkin filled the air. James held up a spoon to Lily first, she reached for the spoon and happily dug into the ice cream. The boys were just as greedy and each moaned when the sweet pumpkin flavored cream hit their mouths.
"I love pumpkin ice cream." Lily said after her third spoonful, smiling at James happily, "this is amazing."
"You've got ice cream on your face," he said and she missed the mischievous look in his eyes as he leaned forward.
Instead of brushing the ice cream off with his finger, he pressed a kiss onto the corner of her mouth, then her cheek, and then her forehead. When he finally pulled away and she gave him an exasperated look he grinned. His friends didn't even seem fazed, it seemed they had expected nothing less.
"It was a lot of ice cream." He swore, lying through his teeth.
"Now we know why they were in the freezer for so long." Remus baited, shaking his spoon at Lily and James.
"That's disgusting." Peter said, licking his own spoon, "I didn't waste my night choking for you two to get together in the freezer."
"Eat your ice cream Wormtail." Sirius told the boy, "and just be happy they made it out of that freezer completely clothed."
"Hey!" Lily raised her voice and Remus stood up, cutting in before an argument happened.
"How about a movie?" he clapped his hands, heading for a small TV stand in the corner of the room.
"Jaws!" James announced his pick before scooting closer to Lily and draping an arm around her shoulders.
"Yes!" Sirius agreed, raising his spoon in the air, "sharks eating people!"
"That's morbid, Sirius." Peter said, moving towards a bed and landing on it while licking his spoon of ice cream.
"Says the boy who thought The Hunger Games seemed like a great idea in retrospect." Sirius scoffed.
Smiling, Lily leaned into James' hold and took another spoonful of ice cream. She felt right at home with the boys, especially wrapped up in James' warm grasp.
The next day Lily was at dinner with Mary, who still hadn't been told about the innovative night Lily ended up having. Lily was reading out of her organic chemistry book when two arms slid around Lily's waist and someone was suddenly nuzzling her neck adoringly as he had done during the movie the night before. Sirius and Peter fell into the seats in front of Lily and Mary, both arguing the capability of a shark to bust out of an aquarium. Mary looked at Lily, completely flabbergasted, especially at the boy currently nuzzling quite inappropriately into her neck.
"Want me to get you ice cream?" James murmured into her ear.
Lily laughed and looked up as he pulled away from nuzzling her neck to look into her eyes. "No thanks," she smiled, "I had enough last night."
James looked thoughtful, "One can never have enough ice cream." Then his hazel eyes turned to Mary at Lily's side. Mary wore an expression of skepticism. "You must be Mary," he stuck out a hand, "I'm Lily's boyfriend, James."
"Lily?" Mary interrogated with her tone, blue eyes wide.
But before Lily could answer Chef Filch, who had been mopping up a section by the repaired salad bar, spotted Sirius and Peter.
"Oi!" Filch shouted, pointing his mop at the boys, "I told you to stay out!"
"Shite." Sirius laughed, grinning at Peter, "I think we've been spotted."
Peter and Sirius jumped up from their seats; saluted James, Lily, and Mary; and then hightailed it out while Filch followed them shouting and calling them hooligans. No sooner had Filch chased out Peter and Sirius; Miss Norris came around the café picking up empty plates. When she saw Lily and James her eyes got wide and she pointed at them reproachfully.
"You two!" she shouted and Lily jumped up in surprise, "You were sneaking around my kitchen last night!"
"Were we Lily?" James asked her.
"Can't quite recall James," she answered as she stuffed her book in her bag, "Mary?"
Mary, who was following their example and putting her things in her bag alleged, "you'd better have a good as Hell excuse for this, Evans."
Miss Norris came closer, "I'd know that black hair anywhere!"
James sighed and ran his fingers through his trademark messy hair endearingly, "gee thanks, it's attractive isn't it? It's a family heirloom."
"You should consider brushing it." Lily bantered, playing off his lighthearted mood as they slowly backed away from Miss Norris' evil eyes.
James put a hand on his heart; looking insulted, "how dare you."
"You both took something, I know you did." Norris accused, stepping closer, "I saw you run away with something."
"It definitely wasn't the tuna casserole," Lily said cleverly.
Again, not even giving her a warning James yanked on her arm, "Time to go!"
Lily reached down and yanked Mary off with them, pulling her best friend along for the run.
As they sprinted out of the Café Mary shouted at both of them, "what the hell is going on?"
Lily laughed as they raced through the front doors of the café, "we kind of stole ice cream last night!"
"You what?!" Mary yelped.
"You said yourself the line was too long!" Lily shot back a grin as her friend raced behind them, "so I took matters into my own hands."
As they slowed James added, "or rather, my hands."
Lily beamed and tightened her grip to his hand. Mary hugged her book bag to her chest as her eyes went back and forth between the two. Sirius and Peter appeared from behind looking quite put out. Lily stayed staring at Mary, watching her friends face shift from puzzlement to disbelief.
"Guess we can't eat dinner tonight." Peter looked disappointed and kicked at the dirt.
James used his other arm to pull Lily into his chest as she waited for Mary to say something.
"So," Mary frowned, "Why—" she stopped again then finally, "So, suddenly you're dating a complete stranger?"
"I can't believe she's dating him either." Sirius said with a cool shrug of his shoulders, "he snores and his feet smell awful, I would've been the better pick."
"Not a chance Sirius," Lily grinned at the boy wearing a ponytail that almost matched her hair in length.
Mary lifted her book bag over her shoulder as she said, "have you been with him long?"
Lily flushed. "Well, not exactly…" She could feel James' shoulders shaking from laughter. "I met him when he was scooping ice cream yesterday."
"And now you're dating?" Mary seemed to be waiting for someone to shout 'surprise' and tell her the entire thing was a joke.
"It was a pretty crazy night." Lily grinned as James leaned over to place a shaking kiss on her neck again, "I almost froze to death in a freezer."
"And I nearly choked to death," Peter added.
"You deserved an Oscar for sure," Sirius clapped at Peter, "but never forget that I'm the one who planned the rat in the salad bar."
Mary blinked owlishly before deciding, "I think I'm going to go back to my dorm."
Lily laughed at her friend's exasperated expression. "I'll explain to you later." She promised Mary, "I promised James I'd go watch some superhero movie…"
"Spiderman is not 'some superhero movie'." James scoffed.
Sirius rolled his eyes, "here we go."
Mary shook her head, her blond hair shimmering in the sunlight fading behind the trees, "alright, later Lily."
"Sorry to disrupt your dinner," James told Mary.
Mary shrugged and sighed, "I 'spect I'll have to get used to it?"
James nodded, "I'm sure we'll get to know each other better."
Mary nodded, her blues eyes examining the way Lily and James were wrapped up in each other's arms, "oh, I'm sure."
They all grinned at each other until Mary walked away, waving goodbye. Lily leaned back into James' chest and smiled happily when he squeezed her tightly. She could understand Mary's confusion because all of a sudden Lily had a wonderfully funny boyfriend who was into superhero movies, stealing ice cream from freezers, and showering his girlfriend in kisses. It was not exactly how she expected her weekend to go, but she certainly couldn't complain.