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 Six

It was sixth year and Lily was afraid.

She did not feel the cold wind whipping around her or the cold wet snow that was soaking through her robes. She did not feel anything.

Lily pulled her knees up to her chest and leaned back against the tree, willing herself not to cry. There was no reason to cry. Nothing had happened- yet.

She inhaled shakily and blinked furiously to clear her eyes.

It was Christmas day and Lily was stuck at Hogwarts over the holidays for the first time in her life. The lake was frozen. She wondered vaguely where the squid went when it was so cold. He probably hibernated deep in the lake or something.

The reason Lily could not go home for Christmas was because Dumbledore had thought it would be safer if she stayed at school. That did not exactly help in comforting Lily. She brushed it aside by thinking that she was probably better off not at home anyway. It would be chaos in the Evans house. Her sister, Petunia, was busy planning her wedding. Yes, she actually intended to marry her brainless oaf of a boyfriend.

Their wedding was to be held in early January. If Lily knew her sister like she thought she did, there would still be a long list of things to prepare. Why, Lily would be surprised if Petunia had her dress already.

But Lily was not upset because she had to stay at school for Christmas. She was upset because she was afraid for her family.

The Daily Prophet had articles on the front-page every so often about attacks on innocent Muggles. These articles were becoming more and more frequent as the attacker, Lord Voldemort, gained power. In fact, even Witches and Wizards were beginning to be included in the death rates more, mostly Muggle-borns.

Of course, Lily would have reason to worry, being Muggle-born, but she was brave. She was not afraid for her life but more for her family's. They were out there in the Muggle world, completely un-expecting and defenseless. Lily would blame herself if anything happened to them.

She felt like it was her duty to warn them, but Dumbledore had warned her against it. He had called Lily to his office several days before the holidays started. He had told her that he thought it best that she stay at Hogwarts for the holidays because he had an idea of exactly what this Voldemort was up to. Dumbledore said that Voldemort wanted to gather followers and that she was exactly the kind of person he would go after. Lily was a smart, young, talented witch who could use her brain to get out of tough situations.

When Lily had expressed that she would never join Voldemort, Dumbledore had said that Voldemort was not beyond killing anyone who denied him or threatening the lives of loved ones to get his way. This is what had convinced Lily to stay.

She could not put the lives of her family members on the line just because she did not want to be alone on Christmas. She may have been as stubborn as a mule, but she was not selfish.

Dumbledore had also told her not to mention any of what was going on in the Wizarding world as far as death and destruction went to her parents. He said it would cause panic among the Muggles. No, it was better that they did not know anything about it because if something did happen to them, there was nothing they could do anyway.

The crunching of snow caused her to turn around.

Unfortunately, Dumbledore had told James Potter to stay at Hogwarts as well. That was just Lily's luck. At least at home she would be away from him, even if she was hiding from a heartless murdering psychopath.

At that very moment, as James Potter was approaching her, Lily wished desperately to be invisible. In fact, she had never wanted anything more.

He had stopped her three times that morning and pointed out that she was standing under mistletoe. Lily hated James, but she also hated breaking tradition. So, deciding that tradition was more important and that she could tolerate James for the quick second it took to kiss him. Unfortunately for him, she had grown suspicious after the third mistletoe incident and had taken refuge outside by the lake where there was definitely no mistletoe hanging over her head.

She wanted to fall into the snow and let it cover her up completely. It would be a thousand times better than facing Potter after that morning.

Unfortunately, wishes don't always come true, not even in the Wizarding world.

"Happy Christmas, Evans!" James greeted.

"Happy Christmas, Potter," Lily muttered. "Again," she added as an afterthought.

"Have you had a good holiday so far?" he asked cheerfully.

Lily nodded and James frowned.

"No, you're not," he said, a lot less cheerful than he had been only seconds before. "Something's bothering you. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Lily snapped. "Why do you care anyway?"

James sighed. "Contrary to what you may believe, I actually do care about you, and if you're unhappy, I'm unhappy as well."

"You're such a liar."

"I am not," he said defensively. "Now, come on. What's the matter?"

"Nothing," Lily said, trying her hardest not to start crying. "I don't know why you think there's anything wrong."

James gave her a knowing look and she had to look away.

He turned her face back to look at him. A lone tear fell down her cheek. Much to Lily's surprise, James brushed the tear away with his thumb. She had never imagined that he could be so kind and sensitive. Only two days before he had laughed as he hexed various Slytherins to sing Christmas carols every time he pointed to them. It was a very crude take on the way the teachers fixed the suits of armors in the very same way every Christmas.

But now he was not hexing Slytherins or setting people's owls on fire or even asking her out on a date. Now, he was comforting her in her time of need and it frightened her to find that she wanted nothing more than to fall into his arms and cry into his shoulder while he held her.

Of course, that would never happen. He was still James Potter and that would never change.

"Lily?" he said quietly, tearing her from her thoughts and back to the real world. "What's wrong? And don't tell me nothing or I'll be forced to go steal Truth Serum from the Potions room."

Lily stared for a moment. No, he could not be serious. But there was no smile on his face and she definitely would not put it past him. Merlin knows how much he had already stolen from their poor Potions professor.

Finally, she decided it would be safer to just tell him the truth.

She pulled several articles she had cut from the Daily Prophet from her pocket and handed them to him wordlessly. He studied them for a moment before giving her a sympathetic look.

"I should have known this would effect you," he said. "I just didn't know it would upset you so much. Nothing's happened to your family, has it?"

Lily shook her head.

"And you haven't been threatened?"

She shook her head again.

James smiled slightly. "Then I don't know what you're so worried about. Everything will work out. You'll see."

Lily inhaled shakily again, but could feel herself calming down.

James put a comforting arm around her.

"We still have a year and a half at Hogwarts," he said. "We're safe here. It may be the only safe place in the world, but at least we're safe."

"You're right," Lily said, speaking for the first time in a while. "I don't know why I was upset. It was stupid."

James frowned again. "Don't say that," he said. "It wasn't stupid. You aren't stupid. You had every right to be worried. It is dangerous out there. We can't ignore that fact. But you really shouldn't be beating yourself up over something you can't help."

"That's the problem!" Lily cried. "I want to help! I want to fight, but I can't because I'm just a kid. I feel so helpless trapped in this school while innocent people are dying every day. When my parents are among those innocent people, there won't be anything the ministry can do to stop me. I'll run away from school and find Voldemort myself if I have to."

James laughed nervously. "Whoa, kid," he said. "Wait a minute. What makes you think you can stop Voldemort by yourself?"

"I don't know," she said. "I probably can't, but at least I'll die feeling like I at least tried."

"Better men than you have tried," he said solemnly. "I've lost too many family members to even count to Lord Voldemort. I don't need to lose you, too. I don't know what I'd do then."

Lily watched him closely, but his eyes were serious. He was not joking. She sniffed to hold back the tears that she felt coming again.

"It's okay," James said softly. "You can cry if you want to."

That was all he needed to say. Lily knew that even if he had told her she was not allowed to cry, there wasn't anything that could have stopped her.

She began to sob into her hands and James pulled her to him. Resting her head against his chest, she cried harder than she had ever cried before. He wrapped his arms around her and just let her cry.

After a long time, Lily finally stopped crying. She pulled back away from James and wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

"Thanks," she muttered. "But I still won't go out with you."

James laughed. "I wouldn't dream of asking you now. I'm not that mean."

"Oh, look," a sneering voice from behind them called. "The Mudblood's crying."

Lily did not have to turn around to know who it was.

"No one invited you Snape," James said.

As he stood up and readied his wand, he saw where Snape was looking and put his foot down on the now damp articles still sitting on the ground. He was too late.

"So she's worried about her family," Snape jeered. "How nice. Too bad worrying won't save them. Their condemned because their helpless Muggles."

Lily could not stand much more of this.

"Shut up Snape or I'll-" James began, but he did not finish.

Unable to control her temper, Lily had leapt up and thrown the first hex she could think of. Snape now had flowers growing out of his ears.

James laughed and even Lily calmed down enough to smile a little.

"Looks good, Snape," James said. "But be careful. The grease from your hair will drip down and kill the flowers. It's bad for the environment, you know."

Snape muttered something incoherent and began to walk away.

"You and your Mudblood girlfriend should watch out," he called over his shoulder.

That was one thing that always made James mad. He had never failed to defend Lily, even when she did not want to be defended.

He was raising his wand when Lily appeared at his side.

"No," she whispered. "He's not worth it."

James nodded and sat down again.

"Where do you expect to be in ten years?" Lily asked suddenly, in an attempt to lighten the mood.

This caught James off guard, but he quickly recovered.

"I don't know," he said. "I don't even know what I'll be having for breakfast tomorrow morning."

"Well that's natural," Lily said. "We don't sit around and plan our breakfasts out. Unless of course, you've written down every meal you want to eat on every day for the rest of your life. In which case, I'd consider you a bit of a freak."

"No," James laughed. "I don't plan out my meals weeks ahead of time."

"But surely you have some plans for the future."

James sighed. "Of course I do. I want to be a professional Quidditch player. I want to get married and have fifteen kids. I want to be rich. Fame isn't important. I just want to be able to support my family."

"Fifteen kids in ten years?" Lily said, laughing. "That's pretty impressive."

"Fifteen kids total. Eventually," James clarified. "Not right away."

"I pity any woman who is stupid enough to marry you," Lily said. "Of course, she would probably only do it because you're rich and famous."

"Shut up, Evans," he said lightly. "What about you?"

"Well," she began. "I've always wanted to be a journalist, but now I'm beginning to look at other careers."

"Like what?"

"I think being an Auror would be great. I'd be able to help…for once."

James smiled. "I'm sure you'd make a great Auror," he said. "If you don't break in half during training."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she cried.

"Well, you're just so thin, you might break," he said. "It can't be healthy."

He poked her in the ribs, causing her to squeak.

"Hey, you make a funny noise when I poke you," he said, laughing and poking her again.

"You'd make a funny noise too if I poked you," Lily exclaimed, trying to get away from his finger.

"Not like you," he said, chasing after her when she got up and started running.

Not watching where she was going, Lily stepped out onto the frozen lake. As soon as she did, her foot slipped out from underneath her and she fell. Whether fortunately or not, James was there to catch her.

"Thanks," she mumbled. Then out of nowhere, "Would you be the kind of father who abandons his children and tells them he'll be home later to play with them but doesn't get home until they've been asleep for hours and can't play?"

"What?" James stared. "Why do you ask?"

"Because you strike me as either being a father who didn't give a care about his children or one who wants to spend every waking minute with them and only leaves to go to work so he can feed them."

James sat down by the lake, sinking slightly in the snow.

"I like kids," he said when Lily had sat down next to him. "I want to have more kids than I can keep up with. I'll do anything for them. I would hope I wouldn't ignore them or become too busy to play with them. I want to be there for everything. I want to hear the first word, see the first step and catch them when they fall down, teach them how to ride a broom, congratulate them when they get their first Hogwarts letter, and be there for their graduations, weddings, and the births of their children. If it happens, I want to be there."

Lily smiled. "You'll make a good dad some day."

This was a side of James Potter Lily had never seen before. She wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh at him or hug him. Fortunately, she didn't do either.

"I'm an only child, Evans," James continued. "Do you know what it's like having nobody to play with? It's boring. Not fun at all. Luckily, I have friends who keep me amused."

"I have one sister," Lily said, nodding. "But we never really got along. Sure, she was someone for me to play with when we were both really small, but eventually she got too old for me. At some point around when she turned nine, she decided it wasn't cool to play with younger kids. That's when she became snooty and mean. No, it's not fun being alone."

"What about you?" James asked. "Do you want kids?"

Lily sighed. "Eventually, yes, but definitely not fifteen. No, I couldn't handle fifteen. I just want one or two to raise right. I want to teach them to be good kind people. I'll even use you as an example of what not to be."

"I'm being perfectly nice to you."

"Now, yes," she said. "But what about tomorrow? Tomorrow, if not sooner, you'll go right back to asking me out every chance you get."

"Why are we talking about having kids anyway?" James asked. "We're only sixteen. We still have lots of time to grow up."

"No we don't," Lily said, growing sad again. "Not anymore."

James saw her gaze flicked towards the articles and sighed. He placed his hand over hers and looked into her eyes.

"You have my permission to take your time in growing up," he said gently. "Merlin knows I've taken mine."

She smiled slightly. "Thanks," she muttered. "But some of us don't have a choice."

"Is there something else bothering you?"

She blinked back more tears.

"No," she choked.

He immediately saw through her.

"What's wrong now?" he asked. "Are you still worried about saving your family? Because I thought we had cleared that up."

"No, it's not that," Lily said.

"Then what?"

"It's just-" She paused. "My mother would never forget about me, not even if I was stuck at school for Christmas or if she's busy planning my sister's wedding. She would never forget about me."

"Did she?"

Lily nodded. "That's what I hope happened. I didn't hear from her at all today. She didn't send presents or even a Christmas card."

"And you're afraid something happened," James finished for her.

She nodded again.

"I'm sure she's fine," he comforted. "If you don't hear from her by tonight, I will personally go with you to see Dumbledore first thing in the morning."

Lily smiled, wiping her eyes once again.

"Thanks, James," she said, hugging him and not even realizing she had used his first name.

"Oi! Who died?"

Lily let go of James and they both turned around to see who had spoken.

"What are you doing out here?" James asked his best friend.

"I was looking for you," Sirius said. "Merlin, it's cold out here. I hate living in England. I personally think I'd do much better in Mexico or some place like that."

For the first time, Lily and James realized just how cold and wet they were.

"Anyway," Sirius continued. "I know you've told me a hundred times before that if you're getting along with Evans I shouldn't interrupt, but I thought you should know that the Slytherins have a full-out choir performance going in the Great Hall. They're singing every Christmas carol known to man and it doesn't seem like Dumbledore is going to make them stop anytime soon. Of course, they look like want to stop, but that's out of their control."

"Why doesn't McGonagall do something?" Lily asked.

"Well, it seems she got locked in her office somehow," Sirius said with a twinkle in his eye. "And no bit of magic can get her out. It's incredibly coincidental. Half the staff is trying to get her out."

James laughed and even Lily had to smile.

"Hurry up, Prongs," Sirius said urgently. "You don't want to miss their big finale. Moony and Wormtail are in there making sure everything goes according to plan."

James stood up and dried his robes. Then, he offered a hand to Lily.

"Coming?" he asked.

She smiled and let him help her up.

"I guess so," she sighed. "I could use some entertainment."

A/N: Aww, they're being nice. Isn't it cute?

So, Lily and James are getting closer. What could possibly happen next? Hmm...

There's only one more chapter left!

Thanks for reading! I'll see you at chapter 7 (the last)!

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