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 Five
It was fifth year and James was hormone-driven.
He sat in the Gryffindor common room trying to finish up an essay. He still could not understand why teachers even gave essays when they knew people like him either would not do them or would only do them halfway and put as little effort as possible into them.
Scratching his head, he looked out the window. There was someone swimming in the lake. Nobody was stupid enough to swim in mid-November. Then he caught sight of the person's red hair and immediately understood.
He had heard earlier from one of Lily's friends that Lily had gotten drunk. She had told him that they had snuck off to Hogsmeade and that Lily had had too much firewhiskey.
James was having difficulty picturing Lily Evans, Gryffindor Prefect, drunk, but figured if he wanted to see her like that, he might as well go now before he missed his opportunity.
It took no great internal struggle to get himself to leave his essay and head down to the lake. He was there so fast you would have thought his essay had bitten him or something.
Sure enough, Lily was in the lake up to her waist. She certainly did not look very drunk.
Slightly disappointed, James cleared his throat. Lily spun around to see him.
"Oh, it's you," she muttered. "What do you want now?"
He shrugged. "I heard you were drunk and was wondering what kind of friends let their drunk friend play in the lake on a cold November afternoon."
"Drunk ones."
James nodded in understanding.
"You don't look that drunk to me," he said.
"Sobriety Charm."
He knew that Sobriety Charms did not usually work all the way when the performer of the charm was drunk. He assumed Lily had performed the charm herself.
"Come on in," she called. "The water's fine."
He chuckled. "No thanks. I'm perfectly happy on dry land."
Lily reached out and grabbed his hand. Pulling roughly, she managed to get him ankle-deep in the water. His shoes would be soaked, but he could dry them later. Right now, all he could think of was Lily's small hand in his. It was a shame she was still a little tipsy.
Before he had time to comprehend anything, she had taken her hand out of his and placed each of hers on either side of his face. She gently stroked his cheeks with her thumbs. James did not have the power to ask her to stop. He wanted her to continue.
Then, without warning, Lily pulled his face down to hers and kissed him. He could taste the firewhiskey still on her and was reminded that what he was doing was wrong, but, being a fifteen-year-old boy who just happened to think he was kissing the most beautiful girl in Hogwarts, he still did not try to stop her.
Instead, he gave in to the kiss and decided to face the consequences later.
Unfortunately, James Potter had a conscience and when Lily tried to deepen the kiss he pulled away.
She pouted for a moment before turning away from him.
"Why'd you stop?" she asked.
"You're drunk."
"No I'm not."
"Lily," James pleaded. "Don't be mad. If you were sober you never would have kissed me. You hate me!"
Lily remained silent.
James muttered a Sobriety Charm under his breath. Part of him hoped that it would work this time, but part of him didn't.
A moment after the charm hit her, Lily spun back around to face James. She narrowed her eyes at him and promptly slapped him across the face.
James winced, his hand flying to his cheek.
"Bloody hell, Evans," he exclaimed. "What was that for?"
"For taking advantage of me while I was drunk," she replied matter-of-factly.
He sighed. He had known there would be consequences eventually, but he hadn't known they would be so painful.
Lily gave a sigh of frustration and began to climb out of the lake, but James grabbed her wrist before she could make it to the bank.
"Why do you hate me?"
Lily looked into his eyes and for a split second forgot everything she was about to say. They were so sad and desperate. It was as if James was begging her not to hate him anymore, to say just one nice thing about him.
Then everything he had done to her in the past five years came flooding back to her. She had a list of reasons why she hated him. There was no end to the reasons.
"Do you really want to know why I hate you, Potter?" she asked hotly. "You're rude. You're conceited. You're terribly mean to innocent people. You don't care about other people's feelings. You're incredibly annoying. You don't do your schoolwork yet you seem to have perfect grades. I don't think I need to continue because I think I've made my point. Now if you'll excuse me, Potter, I have an essay that needs to be done."
Lily turned to go, but James held her back again.
"Actually," he said. "There was something I wanted to ask you."
She rolled her eyes but did not say anything.
"You know that roommate of yours?" James continued. "The one with the long blond hair?"
"Yes."
"Do you happen to know what she thinks of me?"
"I never talk to her," Lily replied. "She thinks she's better than everyone else in our dorm. She sounds like the perfect person for you."
"Yeah, but surely she's mentioned me?" he repeated. "Maybe in her sleep?"
Lily began to feel herself losing her temper again.
"You don't even know her name, do you?" she asked in a voice as calm and steady as she could muster.
"Well, I can't say I've ever asked," James floundered, seeing Lily's face and angry eyes. "But isn't it Debbie or something?"
Lily snorted.
"I can't believe you!" she cried. "You're only interested in looks. Personality means nothing to you, does it?"
She did not give him a chance to reply.
"And where did you come up with Debbie?" she continued hotly. "That isn't even close. Her name's Rebecca. Shows how much attention you pay."
"Everyone's name is Debbie," he muttered.
Lily threw up her hands in exasperation.
"I've had enough of you for today, Potter," she said. "I'm going to my dorm where you can't follow me."
James caught her wrist once again as she began to walk away.
"Wait, Evans," he said. "Will you talk to her for me?"
"No, Potter," she said gently. "I don't want to get involved in the insanity of your life. Get one of your friends to do it for you."
James held her gaze for a moment.
"No," he said softly. "I don't want them to do this. I want you to. I trust you, Lily."
She blinked, almost not recognizing the sound of her first name coming out of his mouth. It was almost like a foreign language. They had an unspoken agreement not to use each other's first names. She did not know why it was that way. Perhaps it was because of their unfriendliness towards one another.
Without thinking or realizing what she was doing, Lily nodded.
James smiled. That had been easier than he had expected it to be. So that was it? He just had to be nice to her and she would do what he wanted? He had never thought of that. If his mind didn't become mush when she was around, he would have tried it sooner and more often but that was practically impossible.
"And if she says no, will you go out with me?" he tried, unable to break the habit of asking every time he saw her.
"No, Potter," she said for what must have been the twelfth time that week.
"Whatever you say, Evans," he continued cockily. "We'll end up together someday. Besides, why would she say no? I'm me after all. I could get any girl in this school."
Lily rolled her eyes and snorted.
"You're such a big-headed prat," she said. "Honestly, I don't know how you fit through the doors to the Great Hall every day with that ego of yours."
"Just ask her and see what she says," James boasted. "She'll agree. Tell her she can meet me in the common room on Saturday morning."
"Tell her yourself. I won't do it."
Lily broke free of James's grasp and started running towards the castle.
"You have to!" James called after her. "You promised."
Lily stopped where she was and turned back to him.
"Fine," she snapped. "But don't ever say I owe you any favors. I don't like doing your dirty work."
"Thanks, Evans," he said, running his hand through his hair. "You're a life saver."
She rolled her eyes at him.
"I know," she muttered, and ran all the way back to the castle.
James sat by the lake for a little while longer. It was getting dark, but he didn't care.
He watched the giant squid swim around in the lake and threw stones at it. The squid actually caught two or three of them.
James simply did not understand Lily Evans. She was practically the only girl in the entire school (except for a few Slytherins) who did not faint when he spoke to her or fall down at his feet when he asked her out.
And yet, she was the one girl who drove him crazy.
At first, he had only asked her out to see what her reaction would be. She had been surprised to say the least, but she did not accept. That's what really got to him. He didn't think there was a girl in all of Hogwarts who could resist him, but Lily proved him wrong. What's more, she had proved him wrong close to eighty times over since the first time he had asked her.
In all honesty, James had not even known that he had had the perseverance to chase after one person for as long as he had been chasing after Lily, even though it had only been six months. Normally, he would have given up after the first five tries, but there was something about Lily that made him keep asking. He couldn't quite put his finger on it but something about her made him want to pursue her until she agreed to go out with him.
He would not quit until he succeeded.
James was reaching for another rock to throw at the squid when he grabbed something that was definitely not a rock. It was a stick.
He shrugged and was about to throw it in anyway when he realized it was not a stick at all, but a wand. It must have been Lily's.
Tucking it away in his pocket, he made a mental note to remember to give it back to her. With that, he turned back to his game with the squid.
Not much later, footsteps made James turn around to see Lily running towards him.
"Changed your mind, Evans?" he asked, smirking.
"Don't bet on it, Potter," she replied. "Have you seen my wand?"
James opened his mouth to say that he had it when he changed his mind.
"No, I haven't," he said. "But I'm willing to help you look for it. Perhaps it's in that rather large pile of sticks over there?"
"Perhaps," Lily said. "But how on earth would it have gotten over there?"
James shrugged. "You were drunk. Who knows what you did before I showed up."
"If I had my wand right now, I'd hex you into seventh year," she growled, starting towards the pile.
James smiled to himself and made sure her wand was still safe in his pocket before following her.
It was a very big pile of sticks. Hagrid must have needed them for something. The two Gryffindors began to shift through the pile, though James didn't know why he was bothering since he knew where the wand was.
Smirking, James found a stick that could have passed for a wand and tossed it to Lily saying, "Here, this might be it. Try this one."
She took the wand and waved it, but nothing happened so she threw it back in the reject pile and kept searching.
A few minutes later, James repeated the same trick. Once again, Lily took the stick and waved it, but to no avail.
After the third time, Lily began to grow suspicious, especially when James had to cover up his laugh with a cough when she tried to perform a simple spell with a regular stick.
Narrowing her eyes at him she said, "This is all some kind of twisted pleasure for you, isn't it? Are you amused by things like this often? If I took this stick and used it to poke your eye out, would you continue to laugh at me?"
"Temper, Evans," James said. "Watch your temper."
"That's easier said than done, Potter," she replied through gritted teeth. "Do you know how hard it is for me to control my temper with you here to make me angry? It's almost impossible!"
James was so afraid that he actually took a step back, completely forgetting that he had her wand and without it, she could do him very little damage. Remembering this, he smirked.
"You know you only get mad this easily because you don't want me to know about your true feelings for me," he said.
"True feelings?" Lily repeated. "True feelings? I'll show you my true feelings!"
With one swift kick to his shin, she succeeded in bringing him to the ground. With a second kick to the stomach, she had him curled up in a ball at her feet, begging her to stop.
"Is that enough for today, Potter?" she asked sweetly.
"Yes," James choked out. "Plenty."
"So you've learned your lesson?"
"I think so."
"And that was…?"
"Never hint that you know a girl's true feelings."
Lily promptly kicked him in the side.
"Ouch!"
"Wimp," she muttered to herself, abandoning the search for her wand. She figured she could have one of her roommates summon it for her.
"Wait!" James cried, scrambling to his feet.
"What now, Potter?" Lily snapped. "And make it quick or I'll miss curfew."
"Here."
He picked up what appeared to be yet another stick and tossed it to her.
"I'm not falling for another one of your stupid jokes," she hissed.
"Wait!" he cried, stopping her just before she snapped the wand in half. "W-what if that's your actual wand?"
Lily frowned and studied it as best she could in the dark.
"Lumos," she muttered.
She frowned even harder when a light actually shone from the twig in her hand.
"What have you been up to, Potter?" she asked.
"Nothing," James replied a little too quickly.
"Hm." She examined her wand closely. "What will happen to me if I try to use it?"
"Nothing, I swear!" James said.
"I don't know why, but I believe you."
James couldn't believe his ears. Lily Evans believed him. That had to be the first time ever.
"Thanks for your help, Potter," she said. "I owe you."
"Go out with me?"
"No," she snapped. "But I'll ask Rebecca for you."
He smiled. "Thanks."
Lily walked back to the castle and James followed seconds later, rubbing his side where she had bruised him. He would be adding a few more to his list of Evans-inflicted wounds.
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