James and Lily: It Took A While

12

A/N

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Chapter 12
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Sunday night, I was walking home from dinner and a late library visit around 9:15, when I noticed a trail of mud leading out of the portrait hole. I rolled my eyes at the stupidity of the person who managed to track mud from INSIDE the dorms. Of course, as a Prefect, I had duties to attend to, so I shouldered my bag and followed it. I had fifteen minutes until curfew, so I figured I'd be able to wrangle this quickly enough and still be in Gryffindor Tower before then.

That is, until I realized that the trail lead out of the castle. Containing a frustrated groan, I looked around for Filch, but didn't see him, nor did I see anyone else. James's Invisibility Cloak would really come in handy right about now, but I had to make do with what I had, so I cast a hasty Disillusionment Charm on myself and eased the front doors open.

I followed the path of mud all the way down the lawn and across the grounds. Checking over my shoulder every five seconds, I followed the trail around to the back of the castle. There, the trail stopped. I glanced around, wondering what had happened to the person with the muddy shoes. Just as I was about to give up, a hand grabbed my shoulder.

"Agh!" I screamed. I couldn't help it. If something crept up on you in the dark, you'd scream too. Plus, they'd see me in my Disillusionment Charm, which meant that others could probably see me too.

I shot a spell over my shoulder and twisted away from whomever had grabbed me as he fell to the ground. I ran about ten feet, looking over my shoulder at my attacker. He was laying on the ground, clutching his face. A closer look told me that this person was James Potter.

I mentally facepalmed myself.

Crud, I thought, and raced to his side. I took the Disillusionment Charm off, then surveyed the damage.

He had tilted his head up, and was trying to stem the flow of blood coming from his nose.

"I'm sorry!" I apologized. "So sorry!" I had my hand cupped over my mouth in shock. I knelt down beside him as he sat up. "I can stop the bleeding!" I quickly cast another spell to stop the bleeding. I wasn't sure if it would work, my hands were shaking so bad, but it did. He stood up, and we both noticed the blood covering him.

I raised my wand and thought, 'Tergeo,' to siphon all the blood off.

"Thanks," he said.

Cue awkward silence.

I looked around. There was a blue blanket laying on the ground, with a basket next to it. Two plates were laid out on the blanket. I eyed James. "What is all this?"

He looked sheepish. "Well... My plan was to get you out here to hang out. I know I asked you to Hogsmeade and that we're going, but that's in like, four months, and I can't wait that long." He blushed.

I was speechless, but not annoyed, and I was definitely not disgusted, which was what I would be if I were twelve years old. I'd probably have stomped on his foot and ran away, cursing him as I went. But, as it was, I was seventeen, and therefore very able to avoid stamping on someone's foot and then stomping off.

I smiled. "Cool. I've been kind of excited myself," I admitted.

His face broke into a grin. "But what about Miss Perfect Prefect, hmmm? It's already past curfew. You could get detention." He smirked.