Chapter 1- In Still of the Night
James ran along the corridors. He still could hear Mrs. Norris's soft padded footsteps behind him. Damn beast, he thought. Filch can't be far away.
Sirius, Remus, and Peter had split up. There was a chance that none of them had gotten caught. James wasn't worried if Filch would catch him. He could say that he was on patrol even though it sounded boring to him as he had said it a million times before.
But this time was different. If Filch got him he was as good as dead. The caretaker had confiscated the Marauder's Map just a few weeks ago. Okay, Filch was a Squib and couldn't work out the secret but he wasn't that stupid. James saw how the caretaker had sniffed suspiciously at the blank parchment and had felt the surface like something was engraved.
Also it was in the middle of the night, way past the end of all patrols, and even the dimmest person in the world wouldn't believe his lame excuse. Well if you don't count Wormtail, James thought and turned around a corner.
But Mrs. Norris was waiting for him.
"How do you to that?" he asked angrily while he acknowledged the tousled cat. "You were right behind me!"
Again she mewed.
"If that was an answer I will kiss Evans," he said.
Once again Mrs. Norris mewed.
"Hey! You know that is impossible for me to do," Prongs rebuked her before smacking himself on the head, "Why I'm talking to you anyway?"
But suddenly he could hear steps and low swearing. James took flight. In great hurry he rushed off, and around a corner he saw a tapestry. It just took him a second of thinking before he yanked it aside and stepped into the secret passage. James wasn't sure if Filch knew about this passage, and if so, he still wouldn't find him because there was a second hideout not far from the other end of the passage.
Nobody will find that cabinet, James told himself proudly.
He walked down the passage that led to another corridor, but Prongs thought it would be good to hide for a little while. He felt along the rough wall till he found the invisible doorknob. Even with light he wouldn't have found it faster so he didn't bother taking his wand out and saying Lumos. He opened the door and stepped inside the small cabinet.
There he leaned against the wall. His breath was pacing.
"Well that was close," he said to himself.
"Really?" asked a quiet voice.
"Ahhh!" he yelled jumping about a foot in the air before searching for the owner of the other voice.
"Hush!" said the soft voice before a hand was laid on his arm to calm him down. "Be quiet."
The shock was deep for James. "Do you want to kill me?" his heart was racing. He took several slow steady breaths to calm his heart down.
"I'm sorry," the other voice said sheepishly, "I was scared myself when you opened the door."
"Well I didn't mean to scare you on purpose." James slowly continued to calm down.
"Okay, then we are even," said the friendly female voice as she took her hand off his arm.
"What are you doing here?" James wanted to know.
"What does it look like?" she laughed.
"Oh, right. Stupid question," he agreed and joined in her laughing. "How do you know about this passage?"
"Once I leaned on the tapestry and I fell trough it," she replied quietly and James could tell she was grinning.
"Really?" he smirked remembering how he and his friends had found it in a similar fashion, "How did you found the cabinet?"
"I made my way along the wall and I bumped into the doorknob. I'll never forget the pain," she trailed off.
Silence fell over them.
"Who are you hiding from?" she asked trying to fill the awkward silence that had fallen over them.
"Mrs. Norris," James answered. "She was about to call Filch and I had to run to save my ass."
"Yah, that damn beast," she hissed. For a short moment James thought the hissing voice sounded really familiar, but then she spoke again in that soft tone, "I would love to hex that mangy excuse for a feline."
"Oh, there are many things you can do," grinned James. "How about pimples, hair loss or a second tail? Color would be good for her a well. Or one could try and get a bloodthirsty dog. I'm sure Hagrid got one." His mind trailed off.
Again she laughed. "I'll think about it. Thanks."
"Your welcome, I'm always at the service for those looking to torture that meddlesome cat," James said charmingly and he knew she smiled.
A few more minutes passed and they decided the coast was clear. They stepped out of the cabinet into the passage.
"It was nice talking to you," she said and she sounded honest. "It's not every day that I hide with a charming guy in a secret cabinet."
"My pleasure," James thanked her. "I need to go this way," and he pointed in front of him.
"I need to go this way," she answered and made a few steps forward.
It was still pitch black in the passage and neither of them saw the other's gesture and they bumped into each other. For a few seconds, James held onto her to keep her from falling over. He was instantly enchanted as he smelled her bewitching fresh perfume.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she mumbled a little bit embarrassed.
"Don't worry. Neither of us was hurt, I'll see you around," he joked.
"Yeah, maybe we meet again." When she left she brushed his arm and was gone.
Nice, James thought for a moment. When he stepped out into one of the main corridors, the torches momentarily blinded him. He listened intently but no sound came to his ears and he walked off to Gryffindor Tower.
"Password", asked the Fat Lady grumpy before she murmured something that sounded like "Another one out of bed."
"Calipoli", James answered and the portrait swung forward. He yawned loudly as he crossed the common room.
"Why are you still up?" asked someone snidely. The voice sounded really familiar and he turned around to face his inquisitor.
"That's none of your business Evans," he replied as he once again turned toward the boys' dorms.
"Sure it is. You are Head Boy and I'm Head Girl! We both can get into trouble."
"If it makes you happy," he said coolly "I haven't done anything! I was on a patrol. Satisfied?"
Lily stood up from her armchair near the fireplace and glared at him skeptically. "Who would believe that?"
"You wouldn't."
"Of course, I wouldn't."
"Then nothing changed."
"No, it hasn't."
"Well then, night Evans."
"Night, Potter." And she went and walked up to the girl's dormitories.
When James went up to his own dorm something shot trough his head. Why was Evans wearing a school robe in the middle of the night.
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