under the cloak

Lily whirled around, her heart beating fast. Quick steps were coming towards her.

'Come on, my sweet. I can smell it...we're getting near,'

Filch, but of course. Never in her seven years at Hogwarts had she been caught out of bed at inappropriate hours, never. She knew for a fact that Filch wouldn't care at all that she was Head Girl; his liking for punishment dismissed all boundaries or preferences.

She looked around: an unused classrom stood, inviting, as the perfect hiding place to her left. She ran as quietly and quickly as she could to get there, and hid as best as she could.

Filch was coming nearer though, Mrs. Norris meowing pretentiously at her feet. There weren't too many hiding places, either.

'Oh, up to something, are we? But not for long...' Filch growled, much closer than before. Lily was struggling with her breath, starting to panic. And suddely...

Something of a very particular consistence draped over her, all around her. It felt flowy as water against her skin. She opened her mouth to gasp, but a hand clapped against her mouth smoothly. At that very second, Filch's head appeared past the doorway, looking around, his blotchy nose inches from Lily's.

What was going on? He wasn't looking at her: he was looking past her. Heh growled and scurried back through the corridor, Mrs. Norris giving her one last look as though she, after all, could see her. Lily stood still and held her breath until she could no longer hear Filch, and quickly broke free and turned, still under the cloth, her wand out.

'Sorry I had to do that,'

A grinning James Potter stood in front of her. Lily's face relaxed.

'Oh, it's you,' she sighed in relief, 'for a moment I thought you could be one of those Death Eaters!' she added rather angrily.

James let out a soft laugh. 'Nah, don't be silly. Death Eaters don't know how to get into Hogwarts,' he said, with an air of thinking that he, given de situation, could have mastered it.

'What is this - is this an Invisibility Cloak? They're supposed to be really rare...is it yours?' Lily said all of this very fast, remembering what had happened all of a sudden and with an air of extreme curiosity to her voice.

'Actually yes, it is,' he replied. Lily raised an eyebrow at him that was clearly inquiring how he had come across it. 'Family inheritance,' he added, and Lily looked pleasantly surprised.

'Oh, well...thanks..thanks for the help,' she said, looking at him. He looked absolutely charming in the dim torchlit coming from the corridor. Lily tried to shake these thoughts from her mind fruitlessly. The entire year, James Potter had been nothing but nice in her presence and in general; on top of that, he was now more handsome than ever.

His grin widened, and she furrowed her brow suddenly, 'what are you doing down here, anyway?' she asked.

James' hand jumped automatically to his hair; he recovered quickly, though. He leaned forward slightly and whispered in her ear, 'I won't ask questions if you don't, Head Girl.'

This caused Lily to blush and giggle in response. He went back to looking at her in the eye from behind his glasses. She bit her lip but played along with him. Boldly, she raised her hands and took his glasses off delicately.

'Much better, Head Boy,' she said softly, 'now there's nothing between us.'

James raised his eyebrows high, so that they almost got lost in his fringe. He looked completely pleased and disconcerted at the same time. He surveyed her one last time, Lily Evans, the girl who had said 'no' for six years, from the almond-shaped green eyes to each lock of dark red hair framing her face. He had suspected the moment was near, but this? This was beyond anything he'd ever dreamed of; it seemed his good behaviour had paid off after all.

Words failed him; 'that, that's nice,' he breathed, and then, at long last, they kissed.



I hope you like this! came up to me with this totally amazing concept for Lily/James, and I just had to do it! Besides, one of you requested a kissing couple . And naturally, I just had to narrate the episode that built in my head while I drew this.