Two days after the boys� final transformation practice was complete, Remus did indeed vanish. But that night, Lily sat at her window, one foot tucked underneath her, watching a large black shaggy dog, a silvery, spindly stag, and a small beetling speck she knew to be a rat romping around with a large werewolf. She almost wished she could join in when she heard several growls that couldn�t stand for anything but laughter.
Christmas Eve was spent downstairs in the common room. The boys knew, or thought they knew, that nights spent by herself in the girls� dormitory tower were terribly lonely, so they had pooled as many blankets, covers, and pillows together as they could and dragged them into the common room, creating five makeshift beds that were stacked at least two inches high. True, they�d had to strip almost every bed in the Gryffindor Tower, but, James added, with a wave of his hand, the house-elves would be delighted to clean their mess up.
So, at about ten o�clock at night, they were sitting around the fire, each in their respective stacks of comforters, with an almost full bottle of butterbeer next to each of them and an interesting sort of bread the house-elves had prepared for the next day; Stollen, it was called; Lily recognized it as a celebrated German winter holiday food. It was a sort of cake-like bread made with raisins and topped with quite a bit of powdered sugar; also quite undescribable.
Lily was leaning against a fender on the fireplace; Sirius and Peter were sprawled all over the floor and all five beds; Remus was lying on his stomach, resting his chin on a fist, and James was sitting tailor-style on his pillow. They had just finished laughing at a narrow escape Sirius had had while bringing the butterbeer back from Hogsmeade; he had run into Professor McGonagall and dropped the bottles. The story he had given her was that one of the house-elves was currently undergoing severe depression and supplying himself with butterbeer, and Sirius had been asked to confiscate it. Without giving Professor McGonagall a chance to open her mouth to take points away from Gryffindor, Sirius had given her a cheery �Merry Christmas!� and vanished around the corner. At the moment, he was entertaining his friends with an imitation of Professor McGonagall�s face when he freely handed out the information about a drunk house-elf. And for some reason, the image of a reeling, swaying, hiccupping green bat with tennis-ball eyes kept popping up in front of Lily�s eyes.
Peter dropped off at about ten-fifteen; Remus� head was sinking quickly, as this was his first day back after the Shrieking Shack; he was exhausted. And Sirius had accompanied him back to the Shrieking Shack while James had to take Peter back to the castle, so, quite soon, only James, and Lily were left awake.
Lily suppressed a yawn. �I don�t want to think about what McGonagall might think if she came in here and saw us.�
�Why? We�re not doing anything disgusting or illegal.�
Lily smirked at the word �illegal�. �She�d find a way.�
Falsely, James gasped and held a hand to his throat. �Lily Evans, talking rudely about a teacher? The world is coming to an end!�
Lily scowled. �Thanks to you, my world is going to come to an end quicker than I ever thought it would.�
�Oh, really?� He stemmed his fists in his sides. �Pray explain.�
Snorting, Lily pulled her necklace out of her robes. �What do you call this?�
�Hey now, that�s not my fault!�
�It isn�t? It�s your fault that I got locked in that dungeon in first year and came out with this!�
�So?�
�And it�s you that would have gotten both of us killed if I had left you alone with Tom for just a minute more.�
�Oh.� James dropped his head. �True. But unknowingly!�
�We�d still be dead, genius! Not that I�d mind, but I don�t� think I�d like to go without the sensation of eating.�
He pushed himself up to sit back on his heels. �Lily, I want to talk to you.�
�You are.�
�I�m laughing myself sick. No, really, this is serious.�
�I�m not stopping you. In case, of course, you say something I don�t want to hear, in which case I will stop you. But proceed.�
�All right.� He shifted his balance. �Lily, it�s about-well, you, really. Remember when you got hit over the head last summer and had to get stitches?�
�Yes.�
�Well, the thing that hit you on the head-when I picked it up from the bottom of the pool-it-�
�It what? Come out with it already! You have no idea how maddening this is!�
�All right.� James got straight to the point.
�It was some sort of magical message.�
Lily could make nothing of that. �That makes sense!�
�Sorry. No-I mean, I picked it up off of the bottom of the pool and fumbled with it-and then one side burst open. It was some sort of message I didn�t understand now, but I think I do now.�
Lily was still completely confused. �You mean Sirius threw a bit of parchment inside a cement elephant and threw it over Amanda�s fence?�
�No!� James slipped his hand inside his pocket, pulling out a scrap of paper. Unfolding it, he read:
�L.,
Developments here are rapid. M.O.M. attacking. Tom won�t ask for help. Can you do something? Battle raging. Come quickly-Lith.�
He looked up. �That must have been the day the Ministry of Magic first attacked the Alendoren Cove. And your criminal�s fianc�e sent you this. I think an owl must have dropped it.�
Lily was musing. �That�s it, of course. I only wonder why she didn�t send a regular letter.�
�Too easy for anyone else to read.�
�True. But you read this one.�
�Right. I guess so. She must have been really flustered.�
�Must have been.�
They stayed up late that night, talking about the Alendoren Cove and Tom�s battles-James wanted to hear over and over again the story about the first battle Lily attended; it seemed to interest him quite a bit, though for what reason Lily didn�t know. They had to keep shooting careful glances over at their snoring companions, to make sure they were still asleep and not listening. James wondered at this the first time Lily had done so.
�You don�t want them to hear this?�
�No.� Lily was firm.
�Why not?�
�I don�t want this spread all over school, can�t you understand? I might be expelled!�
�Not to mention arrested.�
�Oh, right.� Lily waved that away. �No, but seriously, if you four talk about this amongst yourselves, you�ve got more of a chance of being overheard.�
James stroked his chin thoughtfully. �You have a point. Still, they�re my best friends-�
�And Eva�s mine. And she doesn�t know all that I�ve told you.�
�I see. But still-�
�James Potter.�
�Okay, okay. Point taken. But what do you think would happen if anyone like Dumbledore found out?�
�I�d probably be arrested.�
�How bad would that be for you?�
�It would be most disturbing.�
James gaped. �Really, Lily, there are over a million red-hot adjectives in the English language, and the words you choose to describe your arrest and placement in Azkaban are �most disturbing.� Honestly, can�t you think of anything better?�
�Cataclysmical, then.�
�Humph.�
�You�ve got something against my choice of words?�
�Nooo�never...�
�Good.
�Because you do?�
�Exactly.�
�But-� James picked at a loose thread in one of the blankets-�but, Lily, you really can�t go down there again-it�s dangerous, and you know it.�
Lily tossed her head, flinging the waist-length auburn hair everywhere. �I don�t care what happens to me, don�t you know that? And, besides, who would care if I did die? Father�d get over it, and I don�t think Petunia would die of a heart attack herself.�
James shrugged. �Well-I know-er-well, Eva�d mind quite a bit, and Amanda, and those Slytherin gits-and-well,--erm-all four of us Marauders would. You know that.�
�To be honest, no, I don�t.�
�You should.�
�Um.� She suppressed a yawn.
James glanced over at her quizzically. �You tired?�
�No; at two in the morning I�m always as fit as a pineapple in the freezer.�
�I like the simile. But seriously, do you want to go to sleep?�
�I wouldn�t mind that, no,� Lily admitted.�
�Okay then. See you in the morning.�
�Night.�
�Night.�
Lily rolled over and pulled her blankets up to her shoulders. Then, apparently thinking of something new, she sat back up.
�James?�
�Hum? What?� He opened his eyes lazily.
�Merry Christmas Eve.�
James grinned and flopped over on his back. �You, too.�
�Thanks.�
The next morning, the boys were rudely awakened by Minky�s effective poking at Lily�s request. However, when they sat up in indignation, the only person they saw was Lily, sitting cross-legged on her pillow, the black jazz pants almost covered with strands of dark red. She grinned when she looked up and closed her book.
�Hullo! Merry Christmas!�
Sirius scowled. �You woke us up like that?�
�Yes and no.�
�Pray explain.�
�I asked Minky to do it for me.�
�Umph.� Sirius groaned. �Keep that in mind. If ever angry at Lily Evans, ask house-elf to wake her up.�
�What? What�s wrong with the way she did it?�
�She poked her fingers almost inside my rib cage!�
�If I had done that and had been angry at you, I would have gotten inside your rib cage and your heart would be a shapeless mass at the base of Gryffindor Tower. Be happy.�
Sirius and Remus sat up quickly. �I am!� they grinned in unison.
Wiping sleep out of his eyes, Peter sat up lethargically. �Mornin�.�
�Merry Christmas!� the three friends replied.
James grinned as he walked into the common room from the bathroom. �Exactly. What they said. Morning, everyone! Ooh, presents!� he exclaimed as he caught sight of the bundles piled up on a couch.
Lily smiled. �I didn�t dig in first-thought that would be kind of rude.�
�It would have been, too. Come on; first one there is a rotten egg plastered on a cat�s privates!�
Lily decided to ignore that comment. However, it didn�t prevent her from picking up a small package sent to her from her father.
Wrapped in green paper with small blue ornaments on it, the present was flat and square. Lily removed the paper as best she could without tearing it. She smiled when she saw the contents. A new sketchbook and pack of pencils. She had complained, last time she was home, that she ran out of space in her book too quickly.
Petunia had sent her a pair of earrings; fool�s gold with false diamonds. Lily was touched at the thought, though she didn�t especially care for the earrings much. Gold didn�t appeal to her as much as silver did, still, it was nice of Petunia to think of her.
Peter�s present was a singularly uninteresting one. Owl Treats and a packet of Sugar Quills. James� was much more interesting. A small model of Hogwarts surrounded by the most lifelike Forbidden Forest and encased by a crystal globe sat on her lap. She had mentioned to him once how nice it would be to be able to draw Hogwarts, but that she couldn�t because she never was close enough or as far from it as she needed to be. This small model included every detail, including the cracked windowsill in the Divination tower, and it was small enough for her to get the general shape, size, and placement of all of the towers. She shot a grateful glance over to James. �Thank you!�
�No problem. Like it?�
Lily smiled. �Of course. Did you make it?�
He laughed. �Turn it over.�
With rather more care than was necessary, Lily obeyed. On the small stand of carved bronze, something was written into the bronze. A Marauders Selection Original Masterpiece. Made by James Potter.
She smiled. �Thanks! This is-well, it�s wonderful!�
�I know. I made it.�
�Oh, hush!�
�What�ll you pay me?�
�Potter!�
He backed away from what promised to be a most interesting fight rather quickly. �Say, before we completely empty this pile, anyone up for Minky�s hot chocolate?�
A unanimous �Sure!� echoed from his four friends, with noticeably more enthusiasm than echoes normally have. James grinned and stood up, heading for his dormitory. Seconds later, a something invisible opened the portrait door and sped downstairs, where it slipped four mugs, two pitchers of hot chocolate, about ten �clairs, and a good number of sausages into a box specially designed for this purpose. His friends were delighted.
�Oh, wonderful! �clairs!�
�And two pitchers!�
�And pig guts!�
�Sirius!�
�Okay, okay. No bacon?�
�Prongs, this is wonderful!�
The whole common room fell silent. Lily was the first to speak.
�Peter, what�d you just call James?�
�Er-�
�You said �Prongs�. Quite clearly. I heard you.�
�Er-�
�Peter.�
�Er-�
�PETER! A response that makes sense is not illegal, you know!�
James cut in. �Lil, never mind. He just calls me that because I headbutted him in the stomach once and he swore I had pointy antlers. Leave off already.�
Lily wasn�t mollified. �Liar.�
�Lily!�
�That�s the weakest thing I�ve ever heard. Liar.�
�Lily, it�s no big deal! It�s just a nickname. Come on, you haven�t opened Sirius� present yet!�
Lily allowed herself to be distracted, though she would have loved to pursue the topic. Sirius� present turned out to be a journal whose contents she could erase whenever she left it alone, which, Lily reflected, was a useful thing to have.
Besides those gifts, she received several hundred books, it seemed like, a few articles of winter clothing, i.e: scarves and gloves. People seemed to have this odd obsession with giving her black velvet gloves reaching to her elbows. Not that she minded; quite the contrary! It was nice to have five pairs!
Otherwise, her largest present was several lengths of black velvet. Lily had written her father, asking for material to make herself something while she was hopelessly bored, and he sent her several needles, patterns from Madam Malkin�s, and black thread, along with quite a few yards of the black velvet. Lily had several things in mind, including a dress she could move around in while following the Marauders or at the Alendoren Cove. Then again, a riding habit wouldn�t be that bad. She�d have to think about it.
Her last present-well, wasn�t a present. It was a letter, written on sheet of silver parchment and dated from the Alendoren Cove.
Lily,
I�m trying to think of a mark or something that would symbolize my army. If you�re ever hopelessly bored, could you come up with something? I�ve got something for Christmas for you, too, but I don�t dare send it by owl. Too risky. Come down here tonight at around eleven your time?
--Tom
Lily smiled and pushed the boys away, who were all trying to read the letter, obviously assuming that Severus or Lucius had written it. After the tenth �Lil! Let us see!�, she finally got fed up, though.
�Prongs, keep your mind in your own business, all right?�
He instantly shut up.
That night, after managing to eat as little as possible of the Christmas feast, Lily was rummaging through her trunk and her brain, trying to come up with something Tom would like to have as a symbol. Sighing, she threw aside several more pairs of school robes and dislodged some of her old birthday presents. Her eyes lit up for a moment and she sifted through them, looking for one thing she knew she had been given by Eva two and a half years ago. Seconds later, she held it up to the torchlight, grinned wickedly, pulled her necklace out, and hit it against the stone wall. Instantly, she landed right in front of Tom, who was sitting on one of the rocks in the cove, staring over the waves.
Right in front of Tom being in the water, that was where she ended up. Spluttering a bit, and with Tom�s help, she managed to crawl onto his rock.
�Well? Did you get my owl?�
�I did.�
�You have any bright ideas?�
�I did.�
�Tell me! Please!�
�All right.� Lily brought out a tiara from under her robes. It was the old one Eva had given her; silver with a skull in front, from whose mouth a snake issued. Tom�s eyes lit up.
�Lily! That�s brilliant! I love it!� He took it from her hands and examined it closely. �Wonderful!�
Lily grinned. �Thanks.�
He tucked it inside his own robes. �Mind if I borrow this for a day or so?�
�I don�t mind.�
�Good. I�ve got your present at Litharelen�s mansion, by the way. Come with me?�
�Sure!�
Quickly, they dived off of their rock, into the dewy, iridescent watery mass, down to the beautiful castle-like palace Litharelen called home.
It took them next to no time to reach her home, both of them being wonderful swimmers. They landed in front of large, beautifully sculptured gates, and, casually unlocking them and swinging one open, Tom bowed to Lily.
�My lady.�
�I wouldn�t exactly call me that��
�Tough. I already did. Come on inside-your present�s with Lith.�
�With Lith-that rhymed.�
Tom grinned and spread his arms out wide. �Ladies and gentlemen, you are now gazing at the Poetic Genius! Autographs will be given after the appreciative dinner!�
Lily couldn�t help but laugh. It was just too amusing-an outlawed criminal, a poetic genius.
They walked inside-well, Tom did. Lily was swimming. She found it more amusing than walking-plus you couldn�t walk very well in iridescent dew. Yes, Tom could do that, but then again, he was part elf-nymph. Lily suddenly found herself wondering what male elf-nymphs were called. Elf-sprites? She didn�t think so�
But she didn�t have that much time to ponder on it. Litharelen, in her mermaid-like form with a dark green tunic thrown over her, was sitting on the edge of a fountain�s basin, staring dreamily into the water. She jumped up, however, when she saw Lily and Tom approaching.
�Lily! I haven�t seen you in ages!� She hugged the fourteen-year-old tightly and then looked up to her fianc�. �Or you, Tom. I�ve been down here by myself mostly.� Litharelen�s beautiful face was more than a bit disappointed.
Tom smiled at her. �Don�t worry, Lith. The Ministry�s nowhere close to catching me.�
�Tom-I just don�t know-I just don�t know.�
He cupped his hand underneath her chin and raised it slightly. �Lith, whatever happens, they�re not killing me. You�ve got to trust me on that. And they�re not getting you, either.�
Lily made several waves in the fountain�s contents as Tom lightly kissed his fianc�e. Then, letting her go, he seemed to remember Lily.
�Lith-I gave you Lily�s present to hold for me. Do you have it with you?�
Litharelen�s crimson cheeks were reverting to their original color as she pulled a small bottle out of her tunic, a bottle that glistened like a diamond. It itself seemed to be made out of a diamond; the small cork at the opening was of the same green stone with the swirling silver mist inside as Litharelen�s necklace. She held it out to Tom, who pressed it into Lily�s hand.
�Lily, this is for you-it�s made out of crystallized litaleter. If you pour water inside here, it�ll immediately acquire all the qualities of a healing potion. It�s very useful in times of war.�
Lily�s face lit up and she hugged Tom around the waist. �Tom! I don�t know how to say thank you for this!�
�Don�t,� he advised. �I�m actually giving this to you in case another battle pops up and we don�t have that much time to heal people.� At that, he shot a glance over to Litharelen and gently touched the almost invisible scar running between her eye and ear.
Lily smiled to see them, and, before slipping the bottle into one of her own pockets, she filled it with the liquid from the fountain.
While she was at the mansion, she was supplied with drawing materials, as she had asked to be the one to convert the tiara�s design onto paper. It took some time, as this was rather important, but when she was done, no one could have been more pleased with the results than Tom was. However, she had to cut his thank yous short so she could return to Hogwarts and still get a reasonable amount of sleep, which she did rapidly.
The next morning, having gone to sleep at four, she woke up at noon to James shaking her.
�What? What! What is it?�
He bent over her. �You were in the Alendoren Cove again.�
She shot up in bed. �What?�
�Lily, I don�t know how many times I�ve told you that it�s dangerous!�
�Why do you care? And for another thing, I�d greatly appreciate it if you�d stop being so bloody overprotective!�
He winced. �Look, I�m sorry. I just don�t want you to die-can�t you understand that?�
Impatiently, she shrugged his hand off of her shoulder. �No. I don�t see why you should care. It�s my life, and they�re my friends. Just don�t bother about me, all right?�
Rather downcast, he let his hand fall. �All right. All right-all right. Fine. I�ll leave you alone.� He turned to leave, with an exceedingly hurt look on his face. Lily cringed.
�James-wait!�
He turned around. �Wait for what?�
She stood up, throwing her dressing gown around her shoulders and walking over to him. �James, I�m sorry. I didn�t mean it the way it came out.�
He didn�t respond.
�James, I just can�t stand being watched over too closely. Please-you have to understand.� Pleading, she stared up at him. He couldn�t help but give in.
�All right-all right. I�m sorry about the overprotectiveness. It just seems to me that you�re like my little sister-and even though we fight a lot, I don�t know what I�d do if you died.�
She smiled. �Then we�re friends?�
�Exactly. Shake?�
She held out her hand and he shook it with mock seriousness. Then, however, he seemed to think of something else.
�Lily?�
�Yes?� Lily knew it was something important-the sparkle had gone from his eyes. �What?�
�I want you to know something. Whatever happens, no matter in how much trouble you are, and no matter how badly you feel or where you are, know that I�ll be there for you.�
Two tears spilled over her cheeks as he told her that, and she blinked several times before looking up at him.
�James?�
�What?�
�It�s your mission in life to make me cry, isn�t it?�
He grinned as he reached out and wiped the tear strands away from her face. �You could say that.�
Even though she was crying, she couldn�t help but laugh. �You evil creature.�
�Why so?�
�You make me think you�re a terribly nice, kind, and sympathetic person, and then you choose that moment to reveal your true self.�
He considered this, stroking his chin a bit. �True.�
�Humph.�
�Say, Lily?�
�What?�
He was a bit uncomfortable when he tried to say this. �Do you mind if-if-�
�If what?�
�If we go to the Alendoren Cove today? I�d really like to meet Tom more-and that funny unicorn-and besides, Hogwarts gets a bit boring after a while.�
Lily laughed. �All right. But if Sirius or any of those three find out, it would be less painful for you to be impaled on a large rabid werewolf than to meet me.�
�Deal!�
They shook hands laughing, but then Lily remembered something.
�James.�
�Hum?�
�What�re we going to tell them as to where we�re going?�
James grinned. �Leave it to me.�
Groaning, Lily dropped her head back. �Why does my common sense protest so strongly against this?�
They went down to breakfast, and, seating themselves, started to heap their plates. When James and Sirius started talking, Lily didn�t pay attention, till one remark slipped out from James. Then her head snapped up.
�Say, Sirius, do you mind lending me a couple Galleons? I�m taking Lily to Hogsmeade today and I�d like to be able to buy her something nice.�
Lily wasn�t the only one that was astounded, though she was the one that collected herself first. Sirius resembled nothing more than a large, overstuffed hippopotamus that had just been given a large smack over the side of the head with an oar.
�Excuse me?�
�What? I just asked you for a couple Galleons!�
�You-you�re taking Lily to Hogsmeade?�
�Yeah, what about it?�
�You?�
�Me.�
�Are?�
�Is.�
�Taking?�
�Taking. No-wait, make that �escorting�.�
�Lily?�
�Lily.�
�To Hogsmeade?�
�To Hogsmeade.�
Sirius was still resembling a hippopotamus, only now the hippopotamus was angry. �Why?�
�Because I asked her and she said yes.�
Sirius turned to Lily, who was trying to look as unconcerned as possible as she spilled the pitcher of milk. �Lily!�
�What?!� Now the biscuits had been upset, too.
�You�re going to Hogsmeade with James?�
James shot something between a glare and a warning look and a �yes� at Lily.
�Er-sure, why not?�
Sirius threw his napkin on the table. �I�ve had enough.� Disgustedly, he left the Great Hall, leaving Lily and James with extremely guilty faces as Peter and Remus stared at them.
Peter was the first to snap out of his trance. Which was a first.
�Way to go, Prongs!�
James shrugged. �Pete, in the nicest way possible, shut up.�
Peter obeyed instantly. Remus, however, had not been told to shut up, so, well, he didn�t.
�Say, James, is it a boy or a girl?�
Lily kicked James when she recognized the look on his face. �I�m a girl, Remus dearest; if you don�t believe me, you�re welcome to check.�
Remus pushed his chair back. �I�ll leave that to your boyfriend.�
Lily grinned wickedly. �He�s not my boyfriend, he�s not coming that close, and it�s a good thing you decided not to; if you had, you�d be running if you still could.�
Remus rolled his eyes. �Point taken. So, James, when did you ask her out?�
James arranged his fork in such a position that if he let go of the prongs, a piece of sausage topped with jelly would go flying straight at Remus. �I didn�t. I only asked her to come to Hogsmeade with me.�
�Oh.� Remus frowned. �I�ll go see about Sirius, then.�
He pushed his chair back and left the Great Hall. Peter was still there, but when Peter was eating, he was as oblivious to his surroundings as if he had just had carrots stuck up every opening his body had. And Peter was eating.
Lily was staring at James as if she doubted that a greater idiot existed on the face of the earth. There probably didn�t, by the way.
�Potter, that was one of the most idiotic things you�ve ever done.�
�Oh, so you could have done it better?!�
�He has caught on!�
�And how, may I ask?�
Lily pointed over to the teacher�s table. �See Filch? Tracking snow over the floors will get one a detention.�
�So?�
�So one conveniently invents a detention. This avoids the kind of spectacle you have just created.�
�Oh.� James slumped down in his chair. �I feel dumb now.�
�You should.� With the characteristic toss of her head, Lily resumed the task of trying to kick the biscuit-and-milk mess underneath the tablecloth before a teacher noticed.
That afternoon, quite as unplanned, but expected, Sirius was avoiding them as much as possible, to the extent of hexing himself and leaving the Great Hall for the hospital wing. Somewhat depressed, Lily and James met in Lily�s dormitory. She had asked him to wear something inconspicuous, such as gray robes. Not everyone in the Alendoren Cove knew him, and it would be safest for him if he didn�t barge in on several elf-nymph teenagers getting changed in one of the coral reef�s rooms and then be attacked because he was a stranger. James had agreed. Lily herself was a well-known figure down in the Albanian inlet, and so were her dark articles of clothing; therefore, she donned her usual black jazz pants, shirt, and cloak, along with a relatively new pair of shoes she could move quietly in. If she was to be around Svordsja, it was in her best interests to keep silent, unless she wanted a kick in the head. If she did, that could be arranged easily; all she needed to do was show up in a fluffy tutu. Sadly, though, Lily had more self-respect than that. Shame. The blackmail photos would have come out so nicely otherwise.
Anyway, Lily pulled James inside the room quickly, shutting the door. His eyebrows went up.
�This looks highly suspicious.�
�Get your sick mind away from where I know it�s dwelling. Come here.�
He obeyed with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. Squaring her chin and setting her mouth firmly, she swerved in front of him.
�James Potter, in case you were wondering, no, I�m not throwing my necklace around your neck. Hold onto my arm or something.�
Before she could protest, her breath was knocked out of her by an extremely strong grip around her waist, with James� fist digging into her stomach. She managed to gasp a few words.
�Not that hard!�
He released his hold a bit. �Look, can�t you see I�m a bit nervous about what might happen if I lost hold of you and started flying into oblivion?�
She studied him critically. �No, I can�t say that I do. I�ve received the impression that you enjoy suffocating me.�
�Sorry.�
�It�s all right. Just�just allow my blood to flow normally, and we�ll be all right. Normally.�
He grinned shamefacedly. �Ready, then?�
�Sure, why not.� Lily groaned. �I�m going to die.� She let out an involuntary gasp as he caught her around the waist again; she tensed up quickly, but it wasn�t needed.
�Thanks.�
�For what?�
�Allowing me to breathe.�
�Oh, that. Anytime.�
�Hmph.� She sniffed, but she couldn�t repress a smile. �Hold on. Loosely.�
�I�ve been ready!�
�Okay.� Lily pulled the necklace out from under her robes and looked around critically for a hard something. They were in the middle of the room. Lily decided to improvise.
�James!�
�What?� His eyes were closed.
�Wimp. Bend you head down, will you?�
�Huh?�
�Just do it!�
He shrugged, but let his head fall onto her shoulder.
With a wicked smirk on her face, Lily dashed the stone as hard as she could against his skull. Before he could yelp in pain, they were spinning through darkness, and had landed in somewhat deepish water before James could get out his �Ouch!�
He outed with it as soon as they surfaced, letting go of her rather quickly, holding his head, then grabbing frantically for her as soon as he realized that his feet weren�t touching anything.
�Lily! Where are we?� He dunked her, hard.
She came up. �Alen�� He pushed her down again, in his struggles to stay on the surface.
�Where are we?�
He let her up. �The Alendor�� Down again.
�AAH!�
�Alendoren��
�I�m drowning!�
�The A��
�I�m dying!�
�Mmph!�
�Help!�
�Ja��
�Someone help me!�
�Potter, I�
�I�m dying!�
Lily gave up and let him hold her underneath the dewy water. She could breathe it anyway; it wasn�t like she�d be drowned. But James didn�t know that.
He pushed himself up to the surface, using her as a banister of sorts, till he started treading water calmly. Then he seemed surprised when Lily didn�t surface. And when she did, it was with her face downward. She was having a bit of fun.
�Lily! Oh, my gosh�Lily! You all right--?�
She didn�t move. Meanwhile, she was discovering that one of the interesting aspects of this odd Alendoren Cove water was that she could hear everything James was saying.
�Lily! Oh, my God! I�I�oh, help, what�d I do! Lily!�
He tried turning her over; she flopped lazily onto her back, eyes wide open, glazed, and staring before she slowly started to sink. James panicked.
�Lily! Lily! Oh, my--! Lily!�
No response. Lily floated a few feet further down. He decided to dive. About time, Lily thought.
After a good thirty seconds, he caught up with her and managed to drag her up to the surface. When they reached it, her arms were folded and her eyes were wide open.
�Now, really, James, that was one pathetic rescue mission.�
It was a good thing that he had nerves holding his eyeballs in place, she reflected, because he certainly was setting a new world record as to the amount his eyes were popping out. He managed to gasp out a few mumbles that were barely recognizable as English.
�Lily! You�re alive!�
�That is quite possibly the stupidest remark I�ve ever heard. Why do you have me pinned so close to you?�
He let out a snort. �I thought you were dead!�
�You also thought you were dying when you were in the process of killing me. Kindly let me go.�
He obeyed, scowling a bit. �Do you know how scared you had me?�
�As a matter of fact, no. Didn�t think you cared.�
�Well, I thought I�d killed you.�
�If it weren�t for the fact that one can breathe in this liquid, you would have.�
James gaped. �You can breathe in this water?�
Lily sighed. �Technically, my friend, this isn�t water. Watch.� Quickly, she sank under the surface, not bothering to take a breath. She stayed there for a good minute and a half, and James could clearly see her chest moving up and down with each breath she took. When she came back up to the top, she had to resist the crazy urge to try to hit his eyes to see if they�d pop back into their sockets.
They didn�t, and she did. She resisted, that is, contenting herself with simply smacking him on the back of the head.
�Potter, of all the stupid things to do, you had to try and drown me!�
�I said I was sorry.�
�Actually, no, you didn�t.�
He scowled. �Fine. I�m terribly sorry for almost murdering you. Can we get to dry land now?�
Lily sighed, but gave in. �All right.� Just then, James gave an odd start.
�What did you just say?�
He touched the tips of her ears. �You is what. Look at your ears!�
�Mm-hm. I know. I also noticed that, while breathing this liquid when I was playing dead, that I�m forming odd sorts of fins on my hands.�
James gaped and snatched both of her palms, spreading them out. It was true; she was forming a small, delicate, silver web between each finger. It didn�t look so bad, come to that, but what was rather frightening were the silver strands forming across her hair, reminding him of zillions of small lightning bolts.
He took a deep breath. �Lily?�
�Hm?�
�You ready to go to shore?�
She shrugged. �Sure, if you say so.� Instantly, she had kicked upwards, hard, and had dived into the water a good five feet in front of him. From time to time she surfaced, streaking the water with her silver lightning bolts cutting across her hair. He followed her quickly.
James knew the only reason Lily reached the shore at the same time she did was because she�d purposefully dawdled, but he appreciated it just the same. He swung himself out of the waves and held a hand out for her.
