Disc.: All this, I own naught.
Hide and Seek
James rolled his eyes as his mother kissed Sirius's cheek, warning him to be good while they were at the beach. She had embraced Sirius as a second son since his arrival over a month previous, and there had been relatively little friction in their family. James laughed as Sirius shared the same look James had in regards to Mrs. Potter's mushy, motherly good-bye.
"Now, I want you guys to remember…" Mrs. Potter said as she stepped back and looked at them.
"We know, we know," James said. "Behave."
"Actually, I was going to tell you guys to remember not to use your wands," Mrs. Potters said shaking her head. "I'd take them away from you if I wasn't afraid that you'd need them."
"Oh, yeah," James said grinning.
"You two are under age until your next birthday," Mrs. Potter reminded.
"Now, honey, they know that," Mr. Potter said quiet. Mrs. Potter smiled and nodded.
"Right, right," Mrs. Potter said nodding again. "I just worry about you both. Wouldn't you rather just stay home?"
"Not really, Mum," James said. He hugged her tightly. "We're going to be fine. Two weeks at the beach. Nothing bad is going to happen."
"Famous last words," Mrs. Potter said laughing. "Always your famous last words."
"Mum, we've already pushed it back nearly a month as it is," James said as kissed her cheek. "We will drive safe, have fun, and be home in two weeks. I'll call you when get to the beach."
"Remember when you two get back, we have to start shopping for Hogwarts," she reminded them gently as she finally stepped back enough that James could get into his father's car.
"Yes ma'am," they both said as they climbed into the car. They waved one last time as James put the car into gear and began to head away from his childhood home.
"Let's get inside," Mr. Potter said as he gently took his wife's arm.
"I just want to watch them a few more minutes," Mrs. Potter said wistfully. "Just until they disappear from sight."
"Alright, dear," Mr. Potter said as they watched the car turn down a street and out of sight.
"Your mum is such a worrier," Sirius teased as the two headed out of town and towards the main highway.
"I know," James laughed.
"It's not a bad thing, mind you," Sirius added after a second.
"I think we deserve a little mischievousness, since we've been perfect angels for a month now," James grinned as he hiked the radio up loudly.
"I love this song!" Sirius shouted as the song `She May Have Got My Cauldron, But She'll Never Get My Heart' came on.
"Who sings this?" James yelled as the chorus blared loudly through the speakers.
"Broomstick Britches," Sirius shouted back. It was a catchy tune, James had to admit, and a right clever name. He had listened to the classics growing up with such old parents, and while he was aware that there was current music that he liked, it had taken Sirius for him to really take the time to learn some of the newer tunes.
"It's like muggle country," James murmured as another song came on, about the time they were hitting some major traffic.
"Yeah, sort of," Sirius said as he turned it down a bit. "Can't have the muggles catching on, y'know."
"Remus had me listening to some song by the Twister Cysts," James said. Sirius laughed and shook his head.
"I could never get into them, though their song `Knut In My Pants' was funny as hell," Sirius said as he pointed at a petrol station. James glanced down at the gage and turned off, realizing that his marker was nearly on empty.
"Grab me something to drink, will you?" James told Sirius as he began to fill the tank.
"Sure," Sirius said.
Within an hour, the two were back on the road and nearly at the beach house. They had lucked out that Frank Longbottom didn't mind them switching the week. He could have been a real jerk and said no, but the boy didn't want to get on the bad side of his roommates, and plus it increased the likelihood they might ditch Peter and let him join the foursome.
The house was unremarkable in the sense it looked like any other weathered house on the beach, the white paint peeling and the steps rickety. James adored it. He spied a hammock and vowed to sleep in it at least one night, even if it belonged to the next door neighbors. Sirius had already climbed from the car and James scrambled after him, not wanting to look like an idiot sitting behind the wheel and grinning at an old rope hammock. Remus and Peter came out of the house.
"You're looking peaked," James called to Remus, waving as he pulled his luggage free.
"You're so funny," Remus said grinning.
Once the luggage was half-assed put away in the bedroom Sirius and James were sharing, the group of five guys stripped down to their trunks, grabbed their towels, and headed down to the beach. They dumped their stuff in a sandy pile and tore off into the surf. The five of them laughed and goofed off as the jumped and dove in the surf, depantsing Peter no less than three times. The final time, James took the chubby boy's trunks and ran back up to the house.
"Give them back!" Peter whined as he ran, trying to catch up with his dorm mates. The five pulled to stop, frozen in place as Mrs. Longbottom brought Alice and Lily out on to the deck.
"I forgot to mention," Frank whispered to James. "Lily and Alice are staying in the beach house next door."
"Fantastic," James grinned.
"James Potter, I swear with friends like you," Lily snapped as she snatched away Peter's swim trunks. "Who needs enemies?"
James laughed as Lily averted her eyes and went to thrust the swim trunks into Peter's spare hand. He grabbed at it with the hand he had been using to cover himself with. Alice screeched and covered her eyes. Peter blushed bright red as he climbed back into his trunks. James and Sirius laughed until they were nearly breathless.
"Frank, did you tell them about our fun plans?" Alice asked as she continued to keep her eyes covered.
"He's decent, and no I haven't," Franks said. Alice sighed audibly and dropped her hand.
"Since we knew that none of you would come up with good activities, Lily and I came up with a whole list of activities," Alice said happily. Everyone groaned, not fond of Alice's idea of fun.
"Like?" James asked as he grinned. "I can think of a few things that we could do."
"Ugh," Lily frowned as she stepped closer to Alice.
"A full island scavenger hunt," Alice said clapping. It was James' turn to frown.
"We're not on an island," James reminded her. Alice grinned and pointed to a speck in the distance.
"That is the Bayle Island Chain," Alice said. "Hope you boys like sailing."
"Don't worry, Potter," Lily said patting his shoulder as she walked by. "We won't let you drown."
"I can swim," James said smugly. "But if you want to brush up on your CPR skills, I'll let you practice a little mouth to mouth, preferably underneath a starry sky."
"You are so infuriating," Lily huffed as she and Alice headed through the screen door to where Mrs. Longbottom was preparing meat for the grill.
"You two are staying for dinner right?" Mrs. Longbottom asked. Alice looked at Lily pleadingly as Lily shook her head at Alice.
"Please Lily," Alice whispered, her hands clasped before her. "I really, really want to eat dinner with Frank. Please Lily."
"Alright," Lily folded and made a face at James who was currently focused on a pair of blonds with Sirius. James wasn't stupid. He knew she was looking at him, but he knew that it was more likely to make her jealous if she thought that he wasn't interested, or as interested.
"Thank you Lily," Alice said embracing her best friend.
The seven of them sat around the table outside, the ocean breeze rocking the boughs of the trees. James chose to sit between Remus and Sirius, away from Lily. Though no one said anything aloud, it was much to all of their surprise. Sirius raised an eyebrow at James but said nothing. James smirked to himself. Had he been sitting next to her, he wouldn't have gotten to catch her eye from time to time. James didn't have it all planned out yet, but he was forming the plan quickly in his mind.
"So, a scavenger hunt?" James asked as he wiped his mouth. "Doesn't that sounds a little juvenile?"
"No, it'll be great. We'll break up into three teams and hit the island with our list, and by the time lunch starts, we'll all meet back and the team who gets the most items on the list wins," Alice said brightly.
"Uh," James said. "So there are an odd number of us, won't one team be at an advantage over the other."
"There is no way I am getting into a boat with you," Peter said quickly as he shook his head. "I don't know how to swim and there is no way I am getting into water that goes over my chest."
"So, pretty much nothing deeper than a puddle," Sirius teased. James laughed even though Lily shot him a dirty look.
"Well, inequality fixed," James said as he grinned at Lily. He looked away first, returning to his meal. Alice and Lily shot each other a look but said nothing. The rest of the meal went uneventful. James jumped up and offered to do the dishes for Mrs. Longbottom, who was slightly taken aback but smiled and nodded.
"That would be a big help since Alice's mother and I were planning on heading into town to do a little shopping and catch a movie," Mrs. Longbottom said. James smiled at her and nodded.
"You cooked this wonderful meal," James said shrugging. "It's the least that I could do."
James was alone in the kitchen, frowning at the plates. He personally hated doing the dishes, but he had heard that women took notice of a man willing to roll up his selves and do a little women's work. While he wasn't obsessed with Lily, he was still interested in her. If this would get him closer to a `yes' he'd do it in a heartbeat. While he didn't have sleeves to roll up, he still threw himself into the task of scrubbing and cleaning. The door behind him opened loudly and he glanced over his shoulder to see Lily standing there, her arms crossed.
"What are you doing?" Lily accused. James turned back to the sink of soapy water.
"Obviously the dishes, Lil," James said coolly. He grinned at the frothy soap bubbles.
"I know that, but why?" Lily asked. She had stepped closer, leaning against the counter top closest to James.
"I appreciate all of the hard work Mrs. Longbottom went through to cook dinner," James said honestly. "It's her vacation, too."
"Really?" Lily said skeptically. "That is your only motive."
"I don't have to have ulterior motives to be nice to others," James said quietly as he placed a freshly scrubbed plate on top of several others. "I'm a really nice guy, whether you want to believe it or not."
"Oh," Lily said quietly. She stared at him for a second as he stayed silent. James could practically hear the internal struggle within her head and he silently cheered. He was making her have second thoughts about him. It was one step closer to him being where he wanted to be.
"C'mon guys," Sirius called through the screen door. "We're going to play hide and seek while the parents are out."
"Go on and do a round or two," James told him. "I've got dishes to do."
"Fine, man," Sirius said as he headed out of the door way.
"You ought to go play," James said as he nudged her shoulder gently with his own. He forced a smile, knowing damn well he liked having her standing so close.
"Wouldn't you want some help?" Lily asked. For a moment, James thought he almost heard a bit of hopefulness in her voice. He grinned and patted the drying towel over his shoulder, the red towel a stark contrast to the white shirt he was wearing.
"I've got it, Lil. You go and have fun," James said as he dropped another plate into the sink. Lily hesitated.
"It'd go faster with the two of us," Lily suggested. James laughed.
"Fine, fine," James said shrugging. "If you insist, stay and help, but no funny business, ok?"
"Like what?" Lily asked as she took the towel, beginning to rinse and dry the dishes.
"I don't know," James said as he scratched the back of his head, leaving soap foam clinging to his dark hair. "Don't like shove me up against the kitchen surfaces intending to take advantage of this poor, lonely only child."
"As if!" Lily exclaimed in disbelief. James laughed.
"I was only kidding," James said grinning. "It's summertime, and time to put aside for the season my undying pursuit to make you mine."
"That's more like it," Lily said as she continued to work alongside of James. The pair worked in silence until the last dish was put away and the wash bin was drained. James took the drying towel and draped it over the edge of the sink.
"Shall we join the others for a pickup game of hide and seek?" James asked offering her his arm. She looked at him suspiciously. "It's just a friendly gesture, Lil. I'm not asking to walk you down the aisle. If I was doing that, I'd hope I was the one standing at the altar."
"Um," Lily said pressing her lips together, expecting him to retract that last statement, but he looked at her expectantly. She reluctantly took his arm and he led her outside of the weathered beach house.
"You're finally joining us," Sirius panted as he held his side and gripped the rail. "Oh, and I am on base, damn it. Stop tapping me, Peter, and go find Remus."
"Bollocks," Peter swore as he took off into the darkness again in search of others. James dropped Lily's arm, much to her surprise and headed over towards Sirius.
"Base!" Remus cheered loudly into the darkness as his hand slapped down on the rail next to Sirius's hand. "Though that Peter would never leave base."
"I sent him off towards the dunes looking for Alice and Frank," Sirius said grinning. "Those two are tucked inside that rubbish bin."
"Ewe, really?" Lily said shaking her head. Sure enough, the two popped out of the can looking mighty guilty as Peter rounded the bend. He saw them the moment that they saw him, and it was an all out race to see who would make it to base first. Poor Peter lost and all he had to blame was his stumpy little legs.
"Ok, Pete," James said. "Count to a hundred and come and find us!"
"I don't want to play anymore," Peter said pouting.
"How about a different game?" Lily suggested gently. "One we'd play back when I was a kid. Hide and go kill."
"How's that go?" Sirius asked curiously as he looked like an eager boy ready to play a violent game.
"Everyone but the murder hides," Lily said dropping her voice for affect. Everyone leaned in closer. "The murder then starts his killing spree. Once you hide, you can't move unless the murder moves you. The murder then pretends to stab you in the chest with a close fist and you've been murdered. Once everyone has been murdered, the last victim is it."
"Ooh, Lils," Sirius laughed. "You had a positively violent childhood didn't you?"
"No," Lily laughed. "Just a lot of free time on our hands. So, you guy interested."
"I'm it," Sirius insisted. Everyone agreed and Sirius began counting…
James took off in the same direction that Lily was in, but then second guessed himself. He was confident that things were looking hopeful, but he didn't want to rush things. He had his entire life to make her realize she and he would be a good, fun match. Instead, James headed towards the sand dunes and tall grass. He hoped that Sirius wouldn't sniff him out among the smells of the ocean as he dove over one of the dunes and tucked himself into a patch of grass.
James waited in still silence, and then out of nowhere a body landed next to him. James glanced over to see Lily crouching down beside him. He went to open his mouth and say something but Sirius called out that he was starting his rampage. She took his hand. James felt his heart start pounding and she looked at him, pressing her finger to her mouth. It was no good. They were Sirius's first victims and by `law' had to remain still and there, hand in hand, until the game was over. Not that James minded much. He thought she had some of the softest hands.
"So you know," James whispered. "That's my hand you're holding."
"Dead people don't talk, James," Lily whispered back as she flashed him a disarming smile. James felt his resolve not to rush things melt just a little bit.
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