Rendezvous by the Lake
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. These characters belong to JK Rowling. The plot, however, belongs to me...well, most of it.
Summary: Lily and James had many rendezvous by the lake over their years at Hogwarts. Some were more pleasant than others.
Year One
It was first year and James was troublesome.
It was the second week of school and he had decided to abandon his friends for a little while and explore the grounds a bit.
He had not strayed far from the castle when he noticed a girl sitting under a beech tree by the lake. He had noticed her once or twice before around school. She was a first year Gryffindor along with him. That was the extent of his knowledge of her, he was afraid. He did not even know her name.
He took a moment to examine her from afar. She was very pretty. Even he had to admit that. She had thick auburn hair that reached her shoulders. Her skin would normally be considered pale, but it suited her. It would have looked awkward had it been just a shade darker. She looked short and petite, but it was hard to tell considering she was sitting down.
He studied her for a minute or two trying to figure out if she was worth talking to.
James was a good judge of character and he prided himself on the fact that he could tell a person's personality before even meeting said person. He could tell she was studious and a bit bookish just by the fact that she was reading a book. Judging by her red hair, she would probably have a ghastly temper.
Keeping all of these things in mind, he approached her cautiously.
"Hullo," he greeted, stepping out in front of her.
She looked up from her book slowly.
"May I help you?" she asked simply.
James was about to respond when he noticed her eyes. They were they most striking shade of green he had ever seen before. They reminded him of emeralds, newly polished and shined.
Finally, he remembered his purpose for being there.
"Yes," he replied, hoping he did not sound as stupid as he felt. "I don't believe we've met. I'm James Potter."
He held out a hand for her to shake. She grasped it gently. He had been right in assuming she was petite. His hands were twice the size of hers.
"I'm Lily Evans," she said.
Releasing his hand and raising it to shield her eyes from the sun, Lily studied James briefly before giving a short huff of indignation.
"I know who you are," she said in an angry tone. "You set my owl on fire just last week."
James gaped.
"That was your owl?"
"Yes, that was my owl," she cried. "Would it have really made a difference whose owl it was? That fact of the matter is, you set it on fire!"
He had been right about her temper.
"I'm terribly sorry about that," he bumbled. "It wasn't my idea. Sirius-"
"I don't want to hear any excuses," she interrupted. "I don't care whose idea it was. However, I wouldn't mind an apology."
He sighed.
"I'm really sorry about your owl, Lily," he said, hoping he sounded sincere. "I hope you can find it in yourself to forgive me."
"I suppose," she sighed after an elongated pause.
He flashed her a smile.
"Thanks," he said. "No hard feelings then?"
She shook her head.
"Good." He nodded in approval. "So how is your owl doing?"
She glared daggers at him. If looks could kill, he would have died immediately after posing his last question.
"It died," she spat. "It died from the burns your little fire caused."
He felt his jaw drop yet again.
"Lily," he whispered, crouching down next to her. "I'm sorry. I am really sorry."
She merely turned her head away from him.
"I thought you said no hard feelings," James joked, trying to catch her attention once again.
"I lied," she said through clenched teeth.
James was taken aback.
"This is all some kind of sick joke to you, isn't it Potter?" she accused, turning her head back in his direction and piercing him with her gaze once again.
"N-no," he faltered. He wished she would close her eyes so he would not be able to see the fire within them.
"Yes it is," she continued. "I've heard about you. You and your friends pride yourselves on your little pranks. I'm just another statistic in your book. I'm just one more person you've pranked. What are you doing here? Do you always interrogate your victims to see how they are affected by your pranks? Would you like to know how I feel?"
"Um, I'm pretty sure you're mad," he whimpered.
"Of course I'm mad," she cried. "You killed by brand new owl by setting fire to it and then come and rub it in my face."
Lily paused to catch her breath. While she was calming, James took the opportunity to speak up.
"I did not come to rub anything in your face," he began. "Nor did I set your owl on fire. That was entirely the doing of one Sirius Black. He is the one you should be yelling at. I just happen to be his best friend who was sitting next to him at the time. I had nothing to do with it. Honest."
That seemed to settle Lily down a bit.
"But everyone says that you and your friends are nothing but a troublesome group of pranksters," she told him.
James snorted.
It was only the second week of school and already his reputation preceded him. That had to be a record.
"That's a lie," he said, crossing his fingers behind his back. "I'm sure Hogwarts is no different than any other school. People love to spread rumors, though I fail to see the excitement in it."
Lily nodded.
"I suppose you're right," she agreed. "I had no right to assume you were a bad person, though you'll be sure to tell your friend Sirius Black that he is on my blacklist. No pun intended."
James laughed. He had once again been right in guessing that he would like this girl. Lily Evans was certainly fun to talk to. He decided to see what else he could learn about her before his friends came in search of him.
"So," he began, wildly searching for a topic for conversation. He once again noticed the tome in her hand. "What are you reading?"
She held it up for him to see. It was her Charms textbook. So he had been right in assuming she was studious. Damn, he was good at that.
"Charms," he read with a slight laugh. "I don't like the subject very much myself. I think Transfiguration is more my style."
Lily wrinkled her nose.
"No," she said. "Charms seems very interesting. So far, it's my favorite. I've been reading about it every chance I get. It will be challenging, but fun. Transfiguration looks like entirely too much work. It seems rather difficult and not at all interesting."
"History of Magic doesn't seem like much fun either," James added.
"Actually," Lily stated matter-of-factly. "The actual history behind it is terribly interesting, but the way in which it is taught is what makes it so unpopular."
"Erm, no," James said, leaning up against the tree. "It's definitely a waste of time. It's not like we've never heard all those stories before."
"I haven't," Lily said. "I'm Muggle-born."
"Oh!" This surprised James. "So this is only your second week in the magical world?"
"Basically."
"What do you think of it all?" he asked, gesturing to the castle and everything around it.
"It's like something from a story," Lily sighed. "I half expect to wake up one morning to find that it's all been a dream and that none of this exists. But if that's the case, I don't want to wake up."
James gazed at her for a moment. She seemed lost in her thoughts.
Deciding to break the silence, James reached over and pinched Lily on the arm.
"Ouch!" she cried. "James Potter, what was that for?"
"Now you know you're not dreaming," he said with a grin.
She couldn't help but smile back.
"Thanks," she whispered.
"No problem," he said casually. "So what's it like being a Muggle? I've always wondered how they manage to get on without magic."
"They adjust," Lily told him. "It's not hard to survive without magic when you don't even know it exists. They simply have to work harder in everything they do. They can't just wave a wand and the dishes will be clean. They have to wash them by hand. They can't just apparate or floo anywhere they want to go. They have to take the time to get there by foot or car or plane or something. It's not easy, but they don't know any different. That's just their way of life."
James shook his head in disbelief.
"It amazes me," he said. "Just how little they notice. I'm surprised we've been able to keep our world a secret from them."
Lily nodded.
"I'm sure there have been accidents when Muggles have found out things they weren't supposed to," she said. "But the ministry takes care of that don't they?"
"Yeah," James replied. "My dad works for the ministry. He has to go behind people and clean up their messes all the time. When a Muggle sees something they aren't supposed to, he has to put a Memory Charm on them. It's a lot of work."
"You seem very interested in Muggles," Lily observed.
"Muggles are very interesting creatures," James responded. "I'm going to take Muggle Studies in third year to learn about them."
"Muggle Studies?" Lily frowned. "That's actually a class?"
James nodded.
"And you just sit around and learn about Muggles?" she continued. "Like they're some kind of animal?"
"Yes," James responded coolly. " But it's not like we dissect them and dig in their brains or anything. In Muggle Studies, you learn about how they live and interact and stuff. It sounds interesting, but I guess since you're Muggle-born it's a lot less interesting to you. It's just like how you want to learn about the magical world because you know so little about it. Well, I want to learn about the Muggle world because I know close to nothing about it."
"I guess I understand," Lily said slowly. "But I don't think I would take that class."
"No," James said, studying Lily a bit. "I think you would like Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmancy."
"How could you possibly know that?" Lily questioned.
"I can just tell by your personality." James shrugged. "You would like Care of Magical Creatures because you're so interested in learning about our world and learning about the creatures in it and that class would be something to help you learn about it. You would like Arithmancy because you like to learn and Arithmancy is a difficult class. It would be a challenge even for you."
She watched him closely.
"How is it you can tell that much about me after only knowing me for a few minutes?" she asked.
"It's a gift," he said cockily. "Actually, before I met you I could tell that you were studious and had a frightful temper."
"How could you tell?"
"Well, you were reading a book and you have red hair."
Lily glanced down at her book.
"And just from that, you knew what I was like?" she asked.
He nodded.
"That's interesting," she said. "You must watch people all the time."
"Not really," he said. "But watch."
He pointed to a girl who had just hurried out of the castle.
"She gets upset easily," James told Lily. "And she's always punctual."
"How-"
"See how she's rushing around?" he asked.
Lily nodded.
"She must have somewhere to go," he told her. "And now she's looking around frantically. She's getting upset over something."
The girl caught sight of Lily and James by the lake and hurried over.
"Excuse me," she said in a voice that hinted she was very near hysterics. "Have either of you seen a magazine out here?"
"No," Lily and James answered simultaneously.
The girl all but burst into tears.
"I can't seem to find my latest copy of Witch Weekly and I'm scheduled to be a tutoring session in less than ten minutes," she sobbed. "I don't know what I will do if I don't find it before then."
"Er, do you need the magazine for your tutoring session?" Lily asked out of curiosity.
"No," the girl replied. "But I need to find it because I haven't read it yet and I don't want to be late-"
"Well good luck then," James interrupted. "I'm sure if you keep looking, you'll find it somewhere."
The girl started crying and ran back to the castle.
"See?" he asked, poking Lily in the arm.
"That was scary," she told him. "You're really good at that."
"Yep." He leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes.
"You know what I find incredible?" Lily asked.
"What?"
"That the sunset always manages to look like that with or without magic," Lily said breathlessly.
James opened his eyes to see the sun setting behind the lake. Hundreds of different shades of reds and oranges and yellows blended together in a way that no artist could capture.
James looked at Lily who was staring listlessly out at the lake.
"So about your owl…" James started.
He succeeded in accomplishing what he had been trying to do.
Lily stiffened next to him.
"Don't start with that bloody owl again Potter," she said warningly.
"Okay," he surrendered. "Fine."
He noticed the few students who had been outside starting to head back to the castle. I was probably dinnertime.
"I think it's time for supper," he said. "You want to walk back to the Great Hall?"
She nodded and he helped her stand.
As they were passing by the lake, Lily looked down at the darkening water.
"Is there really a giant squid in there?" she asked.
"Of course there is," James told her. "Why would anyone lie about a giant squid?"
"I don't know."
"Do you want to see it?" he asked.
"Not really," she began, but before she had a chance to finish, James had shoved her so hard she fell into the water.
"Have fun with the squid, Evans," he called to her.
"Potter!" she spluttered. "You said all those things people say are just rumors. I trusted you!"
"Well, Evans," he said slowly. "It would appear that I lied to you. Welcome to Hogwarts."
Laughing to himself and ignoring her curses, he jogged back to the castle for supper.
He would have to tell Sirius about this one. It was one of the best pranks he had pulled so far. Poor unsuspecting Lily.
When he had reached the castle doors, he looked back to see her drying herself with a charm.
It had certainly been funny even if she didn't think so.
He entered the Great Hall fully aware of the fact that he would have to face the wrath of Lily Evans later but also fully intent on buying her a new owl first thing in the morning.
And this time, he would not set it on fire.
- - - -
A/N: For those of you who have not been reading this story on Fanfiction, it will be a total of seven chapters long. There is one chapter for each year at Hogwarts. The completed version is on FF.net. The next chapter should be up in a few days.
Thanks for reading. Please review and tell me what you think!
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