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 Seven

It was seventh year and James was falling fast.

He woke up on a particularly sunny day and smiled. He had been waiting for a sunny day, which was unusually hard to come by in England. But, after an extremely long wait, the sun was finally out and there was not a cloud in sight.

Today was the day.

"Everybody up!" he cried.

His three roommates and best friends immediately awoke.

"What's the matter, Prongs?" Remus asked, looking alarmed. "Is Hogwarts on fire?"

"Not quite, Moony," James replied. "Look outside and tell me what you see."

"A lot of sunshine," Peter offered.

"Exactly!"

"Damn it," Sirius whined, falling back onto his pillow. "You're really going to go through with this, aren't you?"

"Of course," James said. "I've been planning it for months. It will be perfect."

"Could you maybe do it without my help?" Sirius asked, burying his face in his pillow.

James looked at his other friends for help. They were already up and getting ready, but did not act like they were willing to help.

"Of course not, Padfoot," James tried again. "I need you to do your job. It's the most important one."

Instead of responding, Sirius began to snore.

Rolling his eyes, James lifted up Sirius's mattress and watched his friend fall off the bed.

"James!" Sirius cried from the floor. "What the hell was that for?"

"Get going, Sirius," James said, ignoring Sirius's curses. "There's a lot to be done. Hurry up!"

Once he was sure that all of his friends were doing what they were supposed to be doing, James started to prepare, too. He started writing down everything he could possibly think of but nothing was right. Hopefully something would come to him. He had waited a long time for this and nothing was going to mess it up.

Several hours later, after making sure everything was perfect, James stood waiting under the tree by the lake.

He briefly thought about running away but quickly decided against it. That was the cowardly, Hufflepuff thing to do. He was brave. He just had to keep telling himself that. He was brave. Although, he really wished he could trade in his Gryffindor bravery for some Ravenclaw wisdom right about now. It might help if he knew what he was doing. He had decided to wing it.

James looked up and saw Lily walking down the front steps of the castle. He unconsciously stopped breathing.

This had to be done. Seventh year was almost over and he could not leave without doing this. He would never forgive himself.

The distance between the two of them shortened as Lily slowly walked closer to where he was standing. Then, he blinked and she was right in front of him.

"Sirius said you wanted to speak with me," she said.

Lily and James had stopped fighting and arguing around Christmas of sixth year. They were never what you could call friends but more like civil acquaintances. James had stopped asking her out around that time and Lily had calmed down slightly because of it.

Of course, just because he had stopped asking her out did not mean he did not like her any more. It was quite the opposite, which was what brought the two together that bright sunny morning.

"Yeah," James started. "Do you want to sit down?"

"Sure," Lily said, taking a seat on the ground. "Is there something wrong?"

"No," he replied quickly, sitting down beside her. "Of course not."

Where was that stupid creature? That was Remus's job. He should not have put Remus in charge of something so important. Unfortunately, Remus was the most trustworthy of the Marauders.

There was a small squeal and a House Elf came flying around the corner of the castle, holding a basket and rubbing its backside. Sirius could be seen briefly in the direction the House Elf came from before fleeing again.

James dropped his head into his hand. This was already going horribly wrong.

Lily looked confused, but the House Elf approached them before she could say anything.

"Breakfast," the House Elf squeaked, casting evil glances at James. "Enjoy."

It left in a hurry without so much as a second look at the two.

"That was…odd," Lily said, eyeing the basket warily, as if afraid it was jinxed.

"Yeah," James mumbled. "Well, how about some breakfast then."

He handed Lily a muffin and instructed her to eat it. She did as she was told.

"Why aren't you eating?" she asked.

"I don't think I could keep food down right now," he replied.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm nervous."

"About NEWTs?"

"No, not exactly."

He paused, trying to think of how to approach this.

"It's like playing Quidditch," he started.

"You're nervous about Quidditch?" Lily asked. "You're never nervous about Quidditch."

"No, it's not Quidditch," he said. "It's like Quidditch."

"Oh."

James took a deep breath and tried again.

"It's like Quidditch because in Quidditch the Chasers have to make decisions. They have to decide in a split-second whether or not to make a shot and if they decide it's too risky, they don't take the chance. I'm in a position that Chasers find themselves in all the time. It's very risky. I can either take the shot and risk missing or pass up the opportunity and spend the rest of my life wondering if I would have made it.

Luckily, I've had more than a split-second to make up my mind, and I hope I've made the right choice. Toast?"

"No thanks," Lily muttered. "James, what are you-"

"Lily, will you be my girlfriend?" James rushed.

Lily was silent for what seemed like an eternity. So, James felt the need to explain himself.

"I know you never really liked me," he said. "You used to tell me I was a bully and a prat. `Bullying toerag' I believe were your exact words for me once, but I've changed and I know you've noticed. I changed for you because you meant that much to me. But I guess first impressions really do make a difference. I'm sorry for everything I've ever done to you. I'm sorry."

He paused before continuing.

"I'm really sorry. I took the shot and I missed. Oh well, at least I tried."

Lily quickly placed her hand over his mouth.

"Shut up and listen, Potter," she ordered. "Yes, I used to dislike you, but I never hated you. You simply had a habit of making me mad. You would run around with your friends pulling childish pranks and hexing Slytherins, but you always made me laugh."

"How so?"

"Because no matter what you were doing," she continued. "You always had time to stop and make a fool out of yourself in front of me."

"So…?"

"Yes," she replied. "I'll be your girlfriend."

An idiotic grin spread across his face.

"Ten points for Potter!" he exclaimed, punching the air.

Lily began to laugh.

"So you planned this?" she asked. "The breakfast and all?"

"Yes," he replied.

"What was wrong with that House Elf?" she continued, looking concerned. "Did you threaten it?"

"No," he said. "But I think Sirius might have."

"Aw, the poor thing," she sighed. "It's probably scared to death or scarred for life or both. We should go make sure it's alright."

"We can go later," James told her.

Lily seemed to accept this.

There was a rustling sound in the shrubs by the castle.

"Did you hear that?" she whispered urgently.

He narrowed his eyes in the direction of the noise and groaned when he caught sight of a large black dog.

"What is it?"

"An animal," he replied, hoping against hope that Sirius would not do something stupid. "A big fat stupid animal."

The dog growled causing Lily to start slightly. Then, it leapt from the bushes, pounced on Lily, and began licking her face.

"James!" she cried, laughing. "Help!"

James grabbed the bear-like dog by the neck and tried to pull it away.

"Get off, you stupid creature," he said. "She's my girlfriend."

The dog began to bark excitedly.

"We'll get it, Prongs," Remus cried, jogging into sight with Peter close behind him. They chased the animal around to the other side of the castle.

"Is that your dog?" Lily asked, confused.

"Sort of. It belongs to Sirius. He snuck it into the castle."

Just then, Sirius came walking around the corner from the same direction that Remus, Peter, and the big black dog had just gone in.

"Hey!" he greeted. "I nearly got run over by Remus, Peter, and some adorable puppy. What are you two up to today?"

"That `adorable puppy' is your dog, Sirius," James said through gritted teeth. "It's okay, I told Lily how you snuck it into the castle."

Sirius cast him a look of confusion, but realization soon dawned on him.

"Oh!" he exclaimed. "Right. Please don't tell on me, Lily."

"I won't," she said, laughing.

"Thank you!" He threw himself at her and wrapped her in a great hug.

"Sirius!" Lily cried. "Get off! I can't breathe!"

He released her and she shook her head.

"I don't suppose I could persuade you to forget about him?" she whispered to James.

He looked surprised at first, but then smiled. "No," he whispered back. "The Marauders come with the territory. Sorry."

"Damn."

"Hmm," Sirius interrupted. "Telling secrets. That's a very odd thing for the two of you to do. You didn't say yes, did you Evans?"

She nodded and did something James had only dreamed she would do. She placed her hand in his and put her head on his shoulder.

Sirius looked very surprised and very happy all at the same time. "What's wrong with you, Evans?" he asked, smiling. "I thought you had more sense than that."

Lily laughed and squeezed James's hand slightly.

"Moony! Wormtail!" Sirius cried. "It worked!"

Remus and Peter walked back around the corner, both looking very pleased.

"Finally."

"It's about time."

"You were all in on this?" Lily asked.

"We didn't exactly have a choice," Sirius muttered. "Your control freak of a boyfriend gave us instructions and ordered us to follow them."

"It had to be done somehow," James replied. "And I don't know anyone else who would have been willing to help."

"So, Sirius's job was to get me," Lily ticked off on her fingers.

"And Remus's job was to get the food and house elf," James continued. "And Peter's job would have been to run up to me if you said no and tell me that some first year wanted to tell me thanks for saving him from a gang of Slytherins or something."

Lily laughed. "You had everything planned out, didn't you?"

"I wasn't going to let you get away that easily."

Sirius made a gagging noise and Remus quickly suggested that the three of them go inside and get some breakfast so Lily and James could be alone.

"Do they always follow you everywhere?" Lily asked once they had left.

"You'll get used to it," James answered. "Just try not to beat Sirius up anymore."

"I haven't done that since…"

"Last week."

"Oh. Alright, I'll try."

James smiled and placed a kiss on the top of her head. Lily looked very surprised. Suddenly, James thought that maybe he should not have done that. Maybe she wasn't comfortable with that yet. But she simply smiled and put her head back on his shoulder.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Why did you wait so long to ask me out?" Lily asked suddenly.

"I was waiting for the sun to come out," James replied.

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to ask you outside by the lake."

"Why?"

"Because this is where we first met, remember?" She nodded. "And this is where I first asked you out. And this is where we've formed more than one peace treaty of sorts."

"We've had a lot of memories by this lake haven't we?" she asked.

"We have," he replied, looking into her eyes. "So I found it fitting to ask you here."

Lily smiled up at him and they lapsed into a comfortable silence.

They were walking around the lake now. James looked at the crystal clear water and thought of the giant squid somewhere underneath it.

"James," Lily said, breaking the silence. "Do you remember that time in first year when you-"

But James had cut her off by letting go of her hand and pushing her into the water.

"Potter!" she spluttered, coming up for air. "I can't believe you!"

He knew it wasn't the best thing to do, but he couldn't help it. He started to laugh. He was soon very happy to hear Lily's laugh joining his.

"Help me out," she said, extending her hand for him to pull her up. He took hold of it, but before he could do anything else, Lily gave an almighty tug and pulled him into the water with her.

"Merlin, Lily," he exclaimed when he resurfaced. "Was that really necessary?"

"Yes," she replied. "I've been waiting seven years to do that."

James smiled and took hold of a strand of her very wet auburn hair.

"You're a very spiteful person, Lily Evans," he said, tugging it gently.

"I know. And you're a prat."

"Some things can't be helped."

Without thinking, James leaned forward and kissed Lily slowly and gently. He was ecstatic when she returned the kiss.

She was his girlfriend. Finally. He would work so hard to never lose her. She was special and he wanted her forever.

Luckily, dreams do come true.

A/N: It's over! I hope everyone enjoyed this story. I certainly enjoyed writing it.

As for my future stories on Portkey, I have one other story up on Fanfiction (a one-shot). It will be up here by the end of the week. Then, in about a week from now, I'll post another one-shot up here (before Fanfiction) and hopefully more stories will follow. Some of my other stories will be non-shipping or other ships and will only be posted on Fanfiction.

Please don't forget about me just because this story is finished. I hope you will all read my future stories!

Thanks for reading this story! My reviewers have been very supportive. Thanks for your help! You guys are the best!

Thanks,

Cat

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