TRENTE DEUX

the bearnaise is lily's edgiest move, to date!

"YOU HAVE A pop quiz in History of Magic!" Nyah Thomas yelled as she approached the big group of friends. They were all seated and doing their work on several picnic blankets in the middle of the quidditch pitch that James had booked for the sole reason of hanging out. 

"What?" Lysander shouted back at her, eyes furrowed in confusion.

"Pop quiz in History of Magic!" she exclaimed again. "I'm in the first class and we just had it!"

"Oh shit, what's it on?" Lily mumbled as she started to grab for the books in her bag, knowing she had it next.

"The wizard's renaissance in Nigeria," she replied as Charlie came bounding out of the castle, trying to find the group of friends on the quidditch pitch, to tell them the exact same thing. 

"Well the pop quiz can wait because we're announcing the start of the tournament at lunch! We've already notified the captains and the first game is this weekend!" James protested.

"It's a quiz James," Lily seethed as she rummaged through her notes.

"Exactly, Lils, it's a quiz," he reminded her. "Put the books down or I'll hide them with my invisibility cloak." 

"Are you trying to make me fail?" she asked frantically.

"No, but I am trying to save your sanity," he urged as he reached for her school supplies, which she was trying to inch away from him.

Once she found the book she was looking for, in a victorious burst of energy, she got up and started to run across the pitch. She had a head start and since Lily had started dating James, she'd had to get into shape based on how much he dragged her along for adventures, usually on foot. 

She laughed as her hair flew behind her and the group of friends watched with knowing smiles as James got up with a smile just as big and chased after her.

"You can't spend your life buried in books!" he yelled after her.

"But I certainly can try!" she shot back as she sprinted near one of the stands in hopes of losing him.

She, however, overestimated her speed and underestimated his stamina as she felt arms wrap around her waist and her pull her back. She laughed hysterically as he caught her and hugged her to his chest, but their lovely moment was soon cut short when he lost his balance.

Lily and James went tumbling onto the grass in a tangle of limbs and Hogwarts uniform pieces. She made sure that he was safe before frantically searching for her book. She stopped, however, when she saw it waved in front of her — safely in James's hand. 

"I'm not getting that back until the end of the day am I?" she deadpanned as she pushed herself up. 

"Nope," he replied as he stood up and held out a hand for her to take.

She did and he hoisted her up from the ground, both of them brushing themselves off. She tried to sneak the book away from him numerous times, in vain, as he always saw it from the corner of his eye and jerked it away. 

"You're brilliant, Lils," he reminded her. "You don't need to study for it. I bet you could tell me about the entire Renaissance right now. If anyone needs to study it's me."

"Well then I'll help you!" she tried.

"But luckily for me, I don't need to know the History of Magic in order to be a wicked quidditch player," he said with a smug smile.

She rolled her eyes and walked back to the blanket, their friends waiting for them. James trailed after her, still on a high after winning the book and ran a little to catch up. When she felt him close to her, she lightly hit him in the stomach to show her annoyance.

He smirked and snuck up behind her. He then reached out and tickled her insides causing her gasp and flail in shock. She laughed at the sensation and soon they tumbled to the ground again in a pile of limbs and laughter. 

She hit him enough times that he let up and she scrambled to her feet, desperately looking for the book that he must have dropped in his attack, but found nothing. He rolled over onto his back with a content smile on his face, muttered a spell and the book was back in his hand.

That little bitch.

"You can't use magic to make it to make it go away!" Lily huffed as she tried to reach for it again. "It's against the rules!"

"There are no rules, you're just angry that I thought of it first," he said smugly as he closed his eyes and felt the spring breeze move his curls.

Lily almost retorted, but stopped when she really saw how angelic he looked. At the sight of the easy smile on his face and his curls dancing in the breeze, something short circuited inside of her so she could only stare at him. 

She thought she had never seen anything more beautiful. All of the couture and ornate ballrooms from books that her father had bought wouldn't and couldn't compare to what was in front of her. 

She heard a click and a flash and looked up to see a grinning Nyah Thomas. Lily held no emotion on her face, still elsewhere, but looked at her expectantly. Nyah just smiled as she waved the freshly printed polaroid and handed it to Henry who looked at it and smiled. 

Lily came back down to earth and reached for it, wanting to see, but Henry pulled the polaroid away.

"No, no," Henry tutted. "This one is for the wedding day." 

Lily breathed in deeply and sent him an annoyed look, but relented. 

"What's for the wedding day?" James asked as one eye popped open to see what all the ruckus was about. 

"You'll see," Henry sang as he and Nyah, hand in hand, sat back down on the blanket. 

"Well, class starts soon and it's not a short way from here back to the castle, so we had better start going," Lily instructed to the group and she bent down and started to collect her things.

"Yes mum," Ben and Lysander groaned in unison.

In the beginning, the attachment of Ben and Lysander creeped everyone out a little as they would do and say things in unison, without intending it. However, after a couple months of Ben and Lysander being absolute besties, everyone either had to get over it or get used to it. 

"Good, come along!" she cheered as she hoisted her bag onto her shoulder.

She looked over and saw James, smiling and ready to go to class.

"Jesus shit," Fred groaned. "She's turned you into something else, mate." 

"Well I want to walk her to class in case Rosier tries anything," James replied.

"How many times do I have to tell you, that happened two years ago," Lily groaned.

"It still happened and a quidditch rival is a quidditch rival and like fuck I'm going to let some skinny ignorant officious debutante have any chance of stealing the girl I've been fighting 7 years for," he shot back.

"That's sweet," Lily hummed. "Possessive, but sweet nonetheless." 

He smiled sarcastically, grabbed her hand and started dragging her towards the castle. 

"The others?" she asked after him.

"They have legs," he replied gruffly.

"But you don't have to walk so fast," she called as she struggled in his grip. "Why are you so riled up?"

He then stopped walking and swung around, facing her and pulling her close.

"Because you're mine," he growled as he glared into her eyes.

Lily's face lit aflame and she swallowed thickly at how quickly things had changed and all the signals that were going off in her brain. A blaring announcement was the only thing that she heard, shouting 'hot' over and over. Just a moment ago she was admiring his innocent beauty, but now?  

However, Lily Edwards was feeling brave that day. And she decided that she didn't mind being a teensy bit late to class. She looked around briefly to make sure that no one was looking and mustered all the courage inside of her.

She had a blank, yet innocent look on her face as she grabbed ahold of his belt and pulled him into her body. She heard his breath hitch and she smirked slightly.

"Prove it," she whispered, her eyes never leaving his as she looked intensely into them.

He just gulped and a victorious look flooded into her eyes. She let go, stepped back and continued back into the castle like nothing had happened. Best part was, she got to class with 30 seconds to spare. 

She hummed as she waited for her friends to join her as they all filed in.

"No James?" Estelle asked as she plopped down in the seat next to Lily.

"Said he had something he needed to do," Lily sighed. "Dunno, I think he might be in the loo or something."

"Weird," Lorcan replied. "Though this is his least favorite class. Might be ditching." 

"Ah," Lily hummed. "Oh look there he is!" 

In strolled James Sirius Potter, put together and with an easy smile on his face as Professor Binns looked at him disapprovingly. He winked at the ghost and continued over to the table, looking expectantly at Estelle. She rolled her eyes, but moved next to Lorcan as James plopped down next to Lily.

He leaned forward so no one else would hear him, just near Lily's ear as Binns droned on about something to do with Ancient Greece.

"Never do anything like that again," he growled, causing Lily to smile victoriously as she continued staring out. "Or I swear to Merlin."

Lily smirked and turned in her seat, innocent as ever and looked him straight in the eye. 

"You swear to Merlin what, James?" she asked, so Lorcan and Estelle could hear her. 

He knew he couldn't say it in front of them, so he remained silent, clenching his jaw as he stared at her with hard eyes. 

"Trouble in paradise?" Estelle asked. "Because I could've sworn — "

"Nothing of the sort," Lily dismissed. "It's just someone's being a belligerent baby."

"Nothing new then," Lorcan sighed as he tried to listen to Binns' lecture. 

"Nope," Lily said as she turned back around. 

"It's time for a pop quiz," Binns drawled as he snapped his fingers and a stack of papers appeared in front of him. "No talking to your seat partner or using modified quills please." 

The papers neatly placed themselves in front of each student and they all set to work, trying to remember the renaissance. 

"What's the answer to number 3?" Estelle whispered to the table.

"B," both Lily and Lorcan replied at the same time. 

Out of the corner of her eye, Lily saw James scratch out his answer and put in the correct one. A small smile found its place on her face as she reached out and grabbed his hand. He intertwined their fingers and squeezed as they continued taking the quiz. 

"You wanna get out of here?" James whispered to her.

"James, we're in the middle of class!" she whispered back. "And a quiz!"

"So what?" he asked a little bit louder ( but only a little bit louder ). "We're graduating in a couple of months."

"So, even more motivation to get good grades!" she whispered back. "Focus on your quiz!"

"You're nervous about the St. Mungo's position aren't you?" he asked.

"If you must know, yes," she replied. "Now go back to your quiz!" 

"You're brilliant Lil — " James started to say.

"Is there a problem? Mr. Potter? Ms. Edwards?" Professor Binns asked as he floated over to them.

"No sir," she replied quickly. 

"I heard talking and I've administered a quiz," he drawled. 

"Lily snapped her quill and I was giving her a new one," James quickly lied.

Estelle and Lorcan shared a look as James tried to wriggle out of the situation.

"Her quill looks to be perfectly intact, Mr. Potter," Binns drawled. "Ms. Edwards, you are a model student so I doubt you had anything to do with it. Mr. Potter on the other hand you can go to the Headmistress's office." 

James didn't look at Lily as he packed up his things, a small smile on his face. 

"It was my fault," Lily blurted. "I didn't know the answer to number 3." 

"This is highly unusual," Binns drawled.

"Well it's what happened," Lily said with more assertion. "If anyone should be going to the Headmistress's it's me." 

"Both of you go," Professor Binns dismissed. 

James was just staring at Lily at her defiance. A couple months ago she would have gladly let him take the downfall. But then again, a couple months ago, everything was different. 

"Come on," James whispered as he helped her gather her things. 

Once they exited the room, he led her towards McGonagall's office, looking at her worriedly every few seconds.

"You haven't spoken in 5 minutes," he observed.

"I can't believe I just did that," she breathed out.

"Honest, not the most rebellious thing you've done," he reminded her. "The sauce was much edgier."

"Yeah, but no one go caught for that," she replied, "fuck."

"Well look on the bright side, we get to see Minnie!" James exclaimed as they walked up to the phoenix. 

The door opened for them and they quickly walked up the stairs to find Minerva McGonagall with her hand pinching her nose.

"Sit," she instructed.

The both silently sat down in the seat opposite her desk.

"Why is this the second time a perfectly nice Head Girl by the name of Lily has been corrupted by James Potter?" she asked. 

"History has a funny way of repeating itself," James said smugly. 

Lily sent him a hard glare and smacked his stomach.

"Professor, I promise — " she exclaimed.

"I'm not even angry, I just want to know why," McGonagall said with exasperation.

"Professor?" Lily asked curiously.

"I'm getting too old for this job," she mumbled. "Go — go — go back to class." 

"Yes, Professor," James said as he grinned and grabbed Lily's hand, leading her out of the office.

Once they were outside and down the stairs, he turned to her with a smile.

"See?" he asked. "She loves me."

"She's overwhelmed by you," Lily corrected. "That's what. Poor woman."

"She loves me," James corrected. "Because Minnie McGee loves two things in this world — quidditch and Transfiguration and what are the two things that I'm fan-fucking-tastic at?"

"Fair point," she grumbled. "And your family are all of her adoptive children."

"There we go," James replied. "You're getting it. You know, just a ring and the words 'I do' and you'd never get in trouble again." 

Lily smiled and shook her head and continued walking. It wasn't a no. 

"Do you want to ditch?" she blurted.

"What?" James asked.

"Ditch class," she repeated. "You can't get in trouble and we're only at Hogwarts for a couple more months, which is only so many weeks for like ever. So, let's ditch History of fucking Magic aka the worst class in existence."

James stared at her with a brilliant smile and joyous eyes.

"Have I told you I love you?" he asked.

"I mean, Binns'd never know. It's not like she told him that we were supposed to go back to class," Lily reasoned. 

"Sounds brilliant, where to?" James asked as Lily opened her mouth. "And no, the library's not an option."

"No, it is," she said with a smirk. "We're going to the library."

"I thought we were ditching class!" he complained.

"Stop whining," she tutted. "I'll make it worth your while, promise." 

"Worth my while?" he repeated with a smirk.

"Oh hush," she whispered as her cheeks went red. 

She led him to the library and through the doors. She set her bag down on one of the tables and started taking her books out. 

"Again, thought we were ditching class," he grumbled.

"Haven't you ever snuck out like ever?" Lily asked. "You have to leave a diversion! If anyone comes looking for us, they'll think we're studying and went to get books!" 

"Why did I doubt you?" James asked as he started to unload the contents of his bag onto the table. 

"No idea," Lily mumbled as she finished opening books and started writing an essay to make it more believable. 

A smile crept onto her face and James smiled himself at the sight of it. 

"That looks believable," she remarked quietly. "Ok let's go!" 

"Still not going to tell me?" James asked.

"It would ruin the date," she replied.

"Since when was this a date?" he asked.

"Since right now," she replied as she pulled him to the back of the library.

She then shoved him into one of the last rows of books and they were surrounded in books filled with knowledge on obscure troll diseases. James's arms were holding her waist as she placed her hands on his chest, looking behind her.

"What is it?" he asked in a harsh whisper.

"I think I saw Ben and Lysander," she replied. "They have a free period. I should've known. Ben always drags him down here to study." 

"So?" James asked.

"There's something a little fun in it being a secret and we did just skip class," she revealed as she turned back towards him and shrugged shyly. 

He smiled and raised an eyebrow. He dipped down and captured her lips in a sweet kiss, one of his hands holding her face as her hands stayed on his chest. Lily, not liking how much taller he was, turned around, breaking the kiss and hopped onto the ledge of the stained glass, murky window behind them. 

He stood in between her legs and grabbed a hold of her chin and pulled her in again. He smiled into the kiss, his mind becoming hazy as he placed his hands delicately on her knees and slowly slid them up. They were just underneath her skirt when she smirked into the kiss.

"Don't act like you're the top," she mumbled onto his lips.

"Yes ma'am," he replied as she blushed deeply as his hands kept going up her thighs. 

She bit her lip to suppress a moan and James's mind went wild as he sucked in a breath. He attempted to go further up, but one of her hands stopped him.  

"James!" she scolded quietly, her face tinged red. "We're in public!" 

"No one knows we're here, Lils. You made sure of that," he replied. "Relax!"

She then heard a couple of pelts against the window and the one turned to two and then a whole flood. Her mind immediately went elsewhere as she sat up straighter, her energy changing. 

"Oh fuck," she said with a smile. "It's raining. That means we have to go to the courtyard!"

"The what?" James asked.

"You'll see," she said quickly as she hoped down and straightened her skirt.

"But what about...?" James asked, but he could see she was too excited about it raining in this courtyard place, so he relented. 

She quickly left the bookshelves, not noticing James wasn't behind her. His face was red and he ran a hand through his hair as he tried to collect himself.

"The fuck is she doing to me?" he whispered to himself.

He then saw just her head and brunette hair hanging to the side as she popped out from the other side of the book shelf.

"Are you coming?" she asked.

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered as he cleared his throat and followed her to the very back of the library.

He was confused when he was met with a wall.

"Look, I know every secret passageway in this school and this isn't — " he complained as Lily shot him a bored look and pulled one of the books out of the shelves.

An archway then revealed itself and James stood there in awe.

"You know about every secret passageway that your grandad knew about," she corrected. "And this is different. This wasn't there during his time."

She throughout the archway and James followed her. It was a small courtyard that held a fountain with an angel on top in the middle. Water was flowing from the jug that it held. The ground was laid with uneven pieces of stone that matched the ones that made up the castle. 

There were a couple of rusty, white chairs on either end of a matching table on the opposite side of the fountain. The courtyard itself was in a half moon shape, the flat side being against the castle, growing more circular as it extended beyond. 

On the farther edges of the courtyard, evenly spaced stood white columns ( though they looked more grey and green than white anymore ) with white sticks connecting them, ivy crawling over every surface. The space smelled like the minerals in the water and petrichor. 

The rain poured down, but didn't touch them. James looked up and saw an invisible roof of sorts. Based on the way the water was cascading down, it looked round. 

"That's the forbidden forest," Lily said as she pointed to trees to the side of them. "In front of us is obviously the Black lake. Can you place where we are?" 

"And there's Hagrid's hut," James mumbled as he stared at the smoke crawling up from the makeshift chimney. "Are we near the Divination tower?"

"Bingo," she said softly. "We're right below it."

"You said it wasn't made when my dad's dad — " James said as he looked back at her. 

"They made it after the Battle of Hogwarts. Originally, this was a sacred room for headmasters. The grounds have immense potential for magic, but this part of the building wouldn't rebuild itself. No one knows why. It's now called the Headmaster's Courtyard. I found it by accident in 3rd year," she explained.

"That's ... wicked," James replied.

"Yes, it's 'wicked', but come here," she said as she gingerly took his hand and led him over to the rusty chairs and table.

He gave her a funny look, thinking they might get tetanus or something, but once she touched it, the table sprung to life. 

The chairs transformed to look like new, now adorned with pillows, the table the same. A pot of steaming tea suddenly appeared on the table as well as a small plate of jammy dodgers. 

Lily looked up at James with a smile.

"Ok this is the most brilliant thing I've ever seen," he exclaimed. 

Lily sat down in one of the chairs, James in the opposite one and she poured them each some tea. He put milk and sugar in his and crinkled his nose, remembering, when she didn't make a move to add any, instead bringing it to her lips. 

It was chilly out there from the rain, so the tea felt like a warm hug, shooting through their insides and making them feel tingly. Per usual, with the food at Hogwarts, the biscuits were some of the best ones that they'd ever had and they munched happily as they listened to the rain pattering down. 

Lily crossed her leg over her other and every once in a while nudged James's leg with her foot. She smiled and blushed a little as she did and he found it adorable. 

They sat in a comfortable silence, the tea refilling itself for as long as they wanted it. She hummed a little bit with the melody of the rain splattering down and they felt at peace. They would never grow tired of each other's presence. 

Lily and James heard first years splashing about in the puddles made by the water and dancing in the rain, remembering the times when they would do that. 

"Do you want to dance?" James asked suddenly, snapping Lily out of her thoughts. 

"There's no music," Lily replied with furrowed eyebrows. 

James pulled out his wand, waved it and slow jazz music started to play.

"You were saying?" he asked as he walked to the side of her chair and held his hand out. 

She rolled her eyes, but took his hand as he lifted her from the chair and in one swift motion, he immediately brought her in as they swayed to the melody, slowly inching out of the covered space. They both hummed to the tune, breaking out into laughter ever so often.

Soon, they were under the full downpour and James was spinning, lifting and dipping her to the slow jazz music. They laughed joyously at the cool sensation of the rain. Everywhere from their noses to their finger tips to their toes were red and freezing, but they didn't care. 

Minerva McGonagall stopped as she looked out into the hidden courtyard during her daily stroll around the castle. The very one that she had set Lily up to find in 3rd year, knowing she'd need it eventually. A faint smile found itself on her face, remembering the old days of unrestricted laughter, rebellion and young love. Her gaze lingered on the dancing pair before she resumed her rounds. 

However, after James had cracked a joke and Lily was doubled over laughing, a scroll of parchment came into view and was headed their way in the talons of a great owl, out from the storm clouds. 

Lily was the first to spot it and knew the look of the owl. That was the owl from St. Mungo's. She reached forward, summoned treats and opened the letter. 

Her smile immediately dropped and she felt the world crashing around her. The rain no longer felt soft, but rather daggers stabbing at her continuously and she felt the cold all over her body. 

Lily Edwards was someone who worked for goals. She set expectations for herself that she had to meet in order to maintain sanity and when she didn't, things got bad. That was why she worked tirelessly — to prove to someone that deserved to be there. That she deserved all of the things she'd gotten in her life. 

James noticed her shift and wrapped his arms around her waist, reading the letter. He felt her chest constrict and her breathing become shorter.

"Everything," she whispered. "All of the extra courses I took. Being Head Girl. Wasn't enough. Why wasn't I enough?" 

"Lily, it's not no," James said gently as he carefully turned her body towards him. "It's just a deferral." 

"That's worse," Lily breathed out. "That's saying you nearly made it, but you were a smidge not good enough."

"No," James corrected. "It means you are good enough, but not needed at that moment in time."

She shook her head as she felt the tears well in her eyes. This was what she had strived for, what she had staked her entire future on since 4th year. But, with her eyes cast to the ground, she could see James's arms and the way they held her. 

That was her entire future in 4th year and in 4th year she didn't have James. She couldn't see a future outside of work because she didn't have an alternative. But now, she did. She had something to live for and strive for alongside academic achievement and her professional future. 

Because now, she had James. And he was enough.