Unofficial Portkey Archive

Rendezvous by the Lake

Disclaimer: JKR makes all of the money off of these characters. I just mess with her ideas…for free.

Summary: Sitting in front of the Hogwarts lake was an eleven-year-old redhead. James was immediately intrigued by her. Six years later, he was just as intrigued, if not more. The two of them spent quite some time by that lake. They fought, they laughed, they fell in love. This story takes you through their seven years of rendezvous by the lake.

Year Four

It was fourth year and Lily was confused.

She sat alone by the lake staring into the forest and thinking. There were so many things to think about. She wanted to just get school over with so she would not have to worry so much anymore.

There were OWLS next year. Lily was not looking forward to those very much. Of course, she had already started preparing. It was almost summer, after all. She should have started preparing ages ago, but simply had not had the time. If she did not score well on those exams, she could blow her chances of becoming Head Girl and getting a decent job after she graduated.

And what if she did not get prefect in her fifth year? That would simply be disastrous. She had worked her whole life (or at least since first year) dedicating herself to her studies to ensure that she would become a prefect. But, of course, there were others who were equally good students. Lily could not think of any off the top of her head, but she was sure they existed. They were probably in the library studying all of the time, and that's why she did not know who they were.

And what would her parents say if she did not do the very best in everything? They would probably be very upset with her and disown her as a daughter. In reality, they probably would not care, as long as Lily did her best, but Lily was too consumed in her thoughts to think clearly.

Then, there was her sister. Petunia had been dating a particularly horrible man by the name of Vernon Dursley. Lily could not stand him. He was mean and rude and everything that Petunia was but on a much higher scale. Petunia had once been tolerable, but Vernon had influenced her far too much, causing her to be completely unbearable. If he knew Lily was a witch, he would probably want her burned at the stake.

Recently, Petunia and Vernon had been a lot closer. This caused Lily to think that perhaps they would be getting married soon.

She shuddered at the thought. The last thing she wanted was to be related to a man who resembled a large purple pig, not even by marriage. The only good thing about the thought of the couple getting married was that it would give them an excuse to move across the country and get as far away from Lily and her "freakish ways" as possible (which they would unquestionably do without hesitation).

Lily looked into the woods across the lake and wondered if she could run away. If she did, how long would it be before anybody even noticed she was missing? She could run into the woods and hide there until night when she would sneak into Hogsmeade and ride home on the Knight Bus. But, that would put her right back with Petunia, which is not where, she wanted to be. Never mind.

But that still was not everything on Lily's mind as she gazed at the rippling water of the lake. There were a certain four boys on her mind. How could they not be? Hardly a day passed when one of the four did not bother her just to get a reaction.

Sirius Black amused her. He was funny and entertaining almost constantly, but there were times when Lily felt he was a bit over the top. Sirius did not mean to be annoying, but it was sometimes unavoidable. He simply did not know when something was funny and when it was not. Lily almost felt sorry for Sirius. Of course, she felt sorry for anyone who considered James Potter his best friend, but she also felt sorry for Sirius because of his childish ways. His idea of a good time was pranking the Slytherins, sneaking into the school kitchens, and playing Quidditch. She would probably never understand him, but sometimes she wished she could.

Then there was Peter Pettigrew. Lily did not like him very much, but not for the same reasons she disliked James. Peter was odd. He was unusually stupid. It was amazing how he interpreted his lessons. If it said to add a newt's tail to the potion, chances are he would add a Mandrake root. Lily honestly thought that if he did not have the friends he did, he would still be in the second year. His friends were bright, she had to give them that, but he was not, and she, along with every teacher and student at Hogwarts, knew that Peter would not be able to keep up in school without them. Another thing she disliked about the unusual boy was the way he acted. His personality was like that of a small child. He was not very mature for his age, and she would not have doubted it if someone were to tell her that he cried at the start of every term when he was forced to leave his mother at home and return to school. All in all, Peter Pettigrew was a wimp.

Lily's personal favorite of the group of friends was Remus Lupin. He was not like the other three. He was kind and considerate of other people's feelings. Although he seemed to have trouble standing up to his friends, he knew right from wrong. Lily wondered why he never tried to stop them. Unlike his friends, Remus tried to do well in school. Sirius and James managed to breeze through on nothing but pure luck and natural talent. It made Lily sick. But Remus seemed like an actual human being. He studied and did his homework ahead of time, while his two aforementioned friends scribbled something on a spare piece of parchment two seconds before the bell and managed to get full points for it. Again unlike his friends, Remus treated Lily with respect. He did not call out, "Hey, Evans! I think your head's on fire!" in the middle of Potions. Remus was much more likeable than, say, James Potter.

Here was the one person Lily could stand the least. He was the only one in the entire school that she simply could not stand. He was exactly the opposite of Remus Lupin and five times worse than Sirius Black. James Potter had an enormously large head, especially since he made the Quidditch team in third year. Unfortunately for Lily and the other sane students at Hogwarts, his head had only increased in size since then. Girls practically threw themselves at his feet. James seemed to think this was permission to act even more like a prat. In third year, he had stopped directing his pranks towards Lily. She had thought it would make him more tolerable, but she was wrong. He had begun acting like he owned the school, taking it upon himself to punish the Slytherins whenever he felt they deserved it (which was every time they came into his line of vision). It was cruel and unfair, as Lily made sure to tell him every day. Her complaints and insults did not affect him though. Apparently, there must have been a filter in his abnormally large head that caused her words to change before he interpreted them. He seemed to think it was her way of flirting with him. James Potter infuriated her to no end. There were times when Lily thought that Azkaban could not be half as bad as Hogwarts with James.

A rustle of leaves in the Forbidden Forest brought her back to her senses. Looking up just in time, she saw the four boys who plagued her thoughts coming out of the forest. They were laughing at something and not paying her a bit of attention. They had probably just pulled some enormously immature practical joke and were now laughing at somebody else's expense. That was just like them to-

Wait a minute.

Lily did a double take. They had just exited the Forbidden Forest. Any one who could understand English would know that this particular forest was forbidden. Sure, these boys were known to do some pretty mean and stupid things, but Lily didn't think they were stupid enough to do something that dangerous. You were practically committing suicide just by stepping into the forest. Merlin knows how many times they had taken that risk.

She was fuming by this point and had half a mind to tell them exactly what she thought about their latest little prank. As quickly as this idea came, it passed. No, that would involve having to come face-to-face with Potter. Lily did not want to spend any more time around him than absolutely necessary.

Keeping her comments to herself, Lily frantically searched for a place to hide. If James saw her he would definitely come to talk to her. Unfortunately, she was sitting by the lake with nothing to hide behind except the thin tree, which would not do the trick. She was considering diving into the lake and hiding there until the four Gryffindors passed when James saw her sitting by herself and took it upon himself to keep her company.

She watched him say something to his friends. They all looked over to the lake and waved. Lily raised her hand half-heartedly in response. Then, James separated from the rest of the group and jogged over to her.

Lily cursed under her breath as he sat down beside her.

"Hola, Evans!" he greeted.

Lily hated his smile. Most girls swooned when he flashed his infamous lopsided grin, but not Lily. She was different. She seemed to be the only girl in Hogwarts smart enough to see through Potter. He just wanted the attention.

Lily rolled her eyes. "You speak Spanish now, Potter?"

"Of course not," he said, laughing.

"No, that would require effort," she muttered. "Not even you can learn a language instantly."

James laughed. "That was funny. I like your sense of humor, Evans."

"What do you want?"

"Nothing. I just thought I'd come practice my Spanish on you," he replied innocently. "My family is going to Spain this summer."

"Here to brag now, Potter?" Lily spat.

She hated people who bragged. Everyone knew Lily did not come from a wealthy family. It did not bother her, but when people rubbed it in her face that they could afford things she could not (like vacations in Spain), she got angry and defensive.

James looked utterly shocked.

"N-no!" he spluttered. "Of course not. Lily, I didn't mean it like that. Honestly I-"

But Lily was on her feet by now. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Of course you meant it," she hissed. "Everyone means it. Isn't it fun to pick on poor Lily? You couldn't live without your abnormally large sums of money and you can't understand how other people do. We manage, Potter. I don't live in an alley or eat out of garbage cans. In fact, I've even been to France."

She conveniently left out the fact that the reason she had gone to France was for he grandmother's funeral. She would let James believe her family could afford vacations too.

"Lily, you don't understand," James said quickly, but he was beginning to lose his temper also. "I never meant to rub it in your face."

"But you did and you don't feel sorry at all, do you?"

"Of course I do!" he cried.

Lily could feel her cheeks getting red with anger. "That's okay, Potter. I forgive you. Why, if I were rich and spoiled I'd go around making fun of less fortunate people, too. It's what all rich people do, right?"

"Shut up!" he exclaimed suddenly. "What's wrong with you? I never said anything to insult you. You're just…insane. I don't understand you. I come to practice Spanish and you bite my head off."

Lily bit her lip.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"It's okay," James said, sighing and sitting back down as Lily did the same. "Would it make you feel better if I said you could come with us?"

Lily's eyes flashed dangerously and he immediately regretted asking the question.

"I'm joking of course," he said quickly. "You don't need to come."

Lily began to swirl her finger around in the water, watching the ripples move across the surface of the lake.

She sighed. If only James Potter would act like a human being for once in his life. He might actually be tolerable if he could just learn to control what comes out of his mouth. No, that would never happen because then he would not be James Potter.

Out of the corner of her eye Lily could him watching her. He was probably trying to think of something else he could say to make her mad.

"Hey Evans."

Here it comes, Lily thought.

"Did you know that your left eye twitches when you're really angry?"

She sighed but found herself laughing.

James looked confused.

"Why are you laughing?" he asked.

"Because you're ridiculous," she said in between bouts of laughter. "You're the only person I know who can make me scream and yell until I'm red in the face and then turn around and make me laugh by telling me my eye twitches."

James smiled uncertainly.

"Is that a good thing?"

Lily waited until she was finished laughing to answer. She fell back and looked up at the sky.

"I don't know," she said slowly. "One would assume it was not because of how dangerously close I am to killing you every time you make me mad, but then, I suppose it's good that you can usually calm me down. That way I don't actually murder you."

He nodded, still not quite understanding.

"Some day you'll say something really terrible," Lily continued. "Then you'll regret ever having bothered me. I am top of our year in Charms. That could come in handy. Does that cloud look like the gallows to you?"

"No," he said quickly, not even looking up at the sky.

"Hm." Lily watched the cloud float by.

Suddenly, an owl flew over, dropping a letter on her face.

"Ouch!"

Lily pushed herself up to a sitting position and picked up the letter.

"Who's it from?" James asked.

"I don't know," she said through gritted teeth. "Let me open it and find out first."

She opened the letter slowly, trying to keep it from James's prying eyes. She angled it away from him and read it.

Dear Lily,

I have watched you from afar for several years and have come to find that you fascinate me. After much too long, I have finally gathered up the courage to ask you to be my girlfriend. I am afraid I cannot say much in a letter for fear of it being intercepted by certain mischievous students. (Lily glanced at James who was waiting patiently for her to finish.) Please meet me by the lake in ten minutes.

Love,

Your Secret Admirer

Lily read the letter again quickly. It was incredibly corny and unfortunately did not have the effect on her that it was obviously meant to have had.

She would meet this mysterious stranger in ten minutes, but first she had to get rid of James.

She sighed and prepared to be asked a series of questions. Fortunately, James's attention was being held by something other than Lily. He was staring at the sky. Lily followed his gaze to see another owl flying over them. It dropped a single lily in her lap.

Lily supposed this was some poor confused soul's way of being romantic. Since her name was Lily, obviously she should be given lilies. Unfortunately, she did not care for lilies. She preferred tulips.

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she missed the look of jealousy on James's face. He eyed the letter and flower suspiciously. Unfortunately for Lily, he was smart. He had everything figured out in a matter of seconds.

"So who's the lucky guy?" he asked.

"I don't know," she whispered, not completely there.

James felt the need to bring her back to reality. So, he took it upon himself to do so.

He cleared his throat. "Evans, will you go out with me?"

Lily blinked and spun around to face him, confusion written on her face. He could not be serious. She searched his eyes frantically for the familiar glint of mischief, but his eyes were cold and emotionless.

Of course he was not serious. James Potter had never been serious before in his life. Lily shook her head and forced herself to laugh out loud, as if she wanted him to know that she knew he was not serious.

"How about on Saturday?" he asked.

"No."

"Sunday?"

Lily frowned. "Why are you being so stupid, Potter? Why would I go out with you? We don't even get along."

James forced a slight laugh. "I was only joking. I'll leave you alone now so you can go on your little date."

She watched in amazement as he got up and walked away with a smile and a wave. That had been easier than she had expected.

Collapsing back into the grass again, she stared at the sky. Who could this secret admirer be? If it was another of the Marauders' practical jokes…

"Lily?"

Lily sat up.

"Hi," she said. She did not recognize this boy. In fact, she was pretty sure she had never seen him before in her life.

He shifted uneasily. "I guess you know why I'm here."

"Yes," she replied. "Do I know you?"

The conversation was getting tenser by the minute.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I'm Jeremy Taylor. I'm in sixth year in Hufflepuff."

Lily stared. "Sixth year?" She repeated. "Why are you even bothering with me then?"

He chuckled. "Like I said in my letter, you fascinate me."

She nodded, but said nothing.

There was an awkward silence during which Lily stared out at the lake. Finally, Jeremy cleared his throat.

"So will you?" he asked. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

Lily hesitated. "I don't know," she said slowly. "I hardly know you. You're two years older than me. I have so much I need to do. I don't know if I could handle a boyfriend right now."

"Lily," he began. "I've fancied you for so long I can't even remember when it all started. I think it was that time I saw you hex Potter in the middle of the Great Hall. I marveled at how you didn't even flinch when McGonagall gave you both detentions. Please, say `yes' and I'll be the happiest man alive."

She stared. That had happened at the end of her third year. It had been over a year ago. He had liked her for that long and he was just now getting the courage to ask her out?

She pitied him and that was what led her to say yes.

Smiling broadly, he kissed the back of her hand and said something about seeing her at dinner. She didn't hear him.

Flopping back into the grass once again, Lily began to regret her decision. She knew close to nothing about Jeremy. She was so busy with schoolwork that she probably would never see him since they were not in the same house. Why, she was better off dating James Potter.

Of course, she would rather be thrown into a pit of man-eating flobberworms than be James Potter's girlfriend.

"Oh, I was hoping you'd still be here."

Lily turned her head in the direction of the voice and groaned.

James sat down next to her like he had before and started up a conversation as if she had wanted him to be there.

"I didn't know you associated with Hufflepuffs," he said.

"This one is different," she said simply.

"New boyfriend?"

Lily eyed him closely and nodded.

"That's fine," he said. "I have no problem with being rejected. I just want you to know that I don't give up very easily. So why him and not me?"

She sighed. "I pitied him. Here, read his letter." She tossed the letter into his lap. "He seemed so desperate and I was afraid I'd hurt his feelings if I said no."

"Not afraid to hurt my feelings, are you Evans?" he asked absently while reading the letter.

"You weren't serious though," Lily replied. "You're never serious."

"Uh huh." James finished the letter and tossed it back at her. "Wow, he does seem like a desperate guy. You're relationship sounds promising. I'm willing to bet it doesn't last more than a month."

"Don't bet on my relationship!" she snapped.

"Why not? Because you know it's true?" His eyes danced with mischief.

"No, I-yes." She sighed. "You're right."

"Care to repeat that, Evans?"

She sighed. "I said `You're right', Potter."

James chuckled. "That sounded nice. You should say it more often."

"Don't push your luck, Potter," she warned. "I should- wait a minute. Were you spying on us?"

James shifted slightly. "Why would you think that?"

"Because you knew so much about what was going on," she said, starting to get angry again. "Were you? And don't say no because I know you were."

"Maybe."

"James Potter, you are the most insufferable prat I've ever met!" she cried.

Lily sprang to her feet and pulled out her wand. James was immediately up too. He was used to this by now.

"I'll give you three to run, Potter.

Three.

Two.

One."

But he was already gone with Lily not far behind.

A/N: I'm glad everyone liked chapter 3. It is my favorite chapter of the whole story. Chapter four, however, is not. This one is probably my least favorite chapter out of the seven. I like it up until the characters start speaking. Then, it becomes rubbish (at least to me. Feel free to contradict me by saying you loved it.)

I normally try to avoid other characters at all cost, but Jeremy was unavoidable. He had to be there to spur some kind of jealousy in James. Don't worry, their relationship doesn't last long and he won't appear again.

Yes, there was definitely some flirting in chapter three. Watch as it picks up in this chapter and the next.

Thanks for reading!

My reviewers never cease to make me smile!

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