The Misadventures of Padfoot and Prongs

"Where have you three-" Remus started but cut himself off. "Never mind, I don't wanna know."

James, Sirius and Peter all wore similar grins. Remus just shook his head, bid Lily goodnight, and headed up to the dormitories followed by Peter. Seeing him do so, the few people in the common room, which was about a handful of forth and fifth year girls who were chatting, decided to copy Remus and head for bed as well.

Sirius smiled as he noticed the perfect oppertunity for his best friend and nudged James to the couch, nodding his head towards Lily, who was engrossed in her book.

James nodded and pat Sirius on the shoulder and the boys went their separate ways. Walking slowly toward the object of his affections, James mentally prepared himself for the confrontation.

"Hey, Lily," said James, moving to stand in front of the couch.

Lily gave the boy a glance, but returned to her book, muttering, "What do you want, Potter?"

"Nothing," he took a seat beside her on the couch, turning his body to face her so his back was
against the armrest. "Just being friendly. What book have you got there?"

Lily lifted up the black leather-bound book with a symbol-laden the cover, and said, "Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century, and I am nearly done." She gave him a pointed look.

"Anyone worth mentioning?" he asked in an attempt to start conversation.

"Well, there was Jocunda Sykes, who was the first witch to fly across the Atlantic on a broom," Lily said. "Then, of course, Gellert Grindelwald, who Professor Dumbledore defeated in 1945."

"Jocunda Sykes?" James thought to himself for a moment, "I know that name.." Suddenly he remembered, "Oh! There's a bust of her in the Entrance Hall. I must've passed it hundreds of times."

Lily nodded, "She was the reason I picked up the book. It bothered me not to know who she was. Of course I ended finding myself fascinated by so much more than just her."

"Who else?" asked James, curious to know who held Lily's interest. Maybe he could do some research and start a conversation on them with her at a later point.

Lily put down the book and pulled her knees up to her chest; wrapping her arms around her shins, she laid her head upon them.

"Well," Lily spoke, thinking for a second. "Like I mentioned before, about Professor Dumbledore and Grindelwald, I knew the basic idea of what happened, but reading the full story was absolutely amazing."

James leaned forward, "What did it say?"

"Grindelwald was a student of Durmstrang Institute, and even they found his taste in the Dark Arts a bit-ah-much. Although they love to dabble in the Dark Arts themselves, when Grindelwald nearly killed a few students, Durmstrang kicked him out. In fact, before his fall, Grindelwald was said to have nearly perfected the Dark Arts. For years he rose up an army, and began a reign of terror that spread through several European countries," Lily paused to see James hanging off her every word. She smiled, flushing slightly, and continued, "The man hated Muggles and killed many of them, along with wizards who stood in his way. Professor Dumbledore soon took action in 1945 and dueled him in what was considered the greatest duel fought by two wizards. He now resides in the topmost cell in the prison he built: Nurmengard."

"Wow. I had no idea his influence was that extensive. He sounds quite a bit like You-Know-Who," James was amazed at the similarities between Grindelwald and Lord Voldemort, the Dark Wizard of their time who was terrorizing the wizarding world at the present moment.

Lily looked down, worry etching her face, "Do-do you think he'll succeed?"

James' face softened as he looked at her. Leaning forward, he reached his hand toward her and grabbed onto her right hand. "No, I don't," he gave it a reassuring squeeze. To his
surprise, Lily didn't pull away. Instead, she held his hand tighter.

"I heard Dumbledore is planning on raising a resistance group," Lily spoke up after a moment.
"After school, I think I'll join. I wanna make sure he never harms anyone ever again."

James nodded once in agreement, not really knowing what else needed to be said.

"If he does gain power, he'll destroy everything I have ever worked hard for," said Lily, expressing her concerns out loud for the first time. "He hates Muggle-borns, and I know he'll try to round us all up and...and... well, I'm not entirely sure, but it can't be good. At the very most, we'll all die because of his pureblood ideas."

Lily looked toward the fire, her green eyes beginning to tear as the trepidation she'd been holding inside began to break through. She sniffed and wiped at her eyes, not wanting to cry in front of James Potter, of all people.

Without even making the conscious decision, James sat up and moved closer to Lily. He held his arms out for her and whispered, "Come here," gesticulating toward his person. Unable to resist the comfort his invitation could provide, Lily gave in and moved into James' arms, resting her head against his chest. He wrapped his arms protectively around her, and closed his eyes as he ran a hand through her red tresses. "Listen to me, Lily," he felt her move her head so she could see him more clearly, and he looked down at her. "I will die in this war if that's what it takes to keep Voldemort from winning. As long as I live, you won't have to worry about a thing."

Lily sniffed, wiping her eyes, "Thank you, James. Oh, you're shirt." James looked down to see a wet stain where Lily's saline tears hit his old tee-shirt. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean... You must think-"

"Don't worry about it, Lily," he smiled softly to convey that he really didn't mind. With Lily so close to him, James couldn't resist doing what he did next.

He lightly traced the curve of her cheek with his thumb, reveling in the feel of her smooth flesh. Her eyes stayed locked on him, absorbed in his every movement. She was so close; he could feel her breath on his face. His gaze darted first toward her lips, then back up to her impossibly beautiful green eyes. James didn't know who moved first, but suddenly his lips touched hers in a tender kiss.

James had kissed Lily before, but it was nothing like this. His passion was palpable, and she returned it in kind. Running one hand through her hair, he pulled Lily closer with the other.
Any inhibition that Lily Evans had left seemed to melt away as her hands clenched his shirt and brought his chest closer to her own as their lips moved in sync with one another.

For a few seconds, minutes, or hours, as neither knew or cared, they shared a bliss seemingly incomprehensible for any to understand. Lily Evans and James Potter placed everything they had within the moment: for Lily it was pain, fear and a need for comfort, and for James it was love, worry, and happiness. Yet for both, passion seemed to be the main constituent.

Finally the need for air was too great and the pair pulled apart, breathing heavily. James rested his forehead upon Lily's and sighed; his smile never faltered from his handsome face.

Lily, however, soon realized what exactly had occurred: she kissed James Potter. She kissed the boy who has been harassing her to date him for what seemed like forever.

But-as she now came to the conclusion- he kissed her first. He kissed her during a moment in which she was vulnerable enough to do something she'd never normally do.

Lily jumped up off the couch and gave James a hard glare, saying, "You think you are so smooth, Potter! Kissing a girl when she is in a time of need, really? I am not a slag, and I don't need to be comforted as such! And here I thought that maybe you were finally being mature, but instead you decide to attempt to shag me! Just-just stay away from me, Potter!"

James sat shocked as Lily huffed, turned her heel, and stormed up to her dormitory. Finally her words sank in and James groaned, rubbing his eyes and leaned his body back on the couch.

On the right side of him, the cushions sank a bit, and Sirius Black spoke in concern, "What the hell happened, mate?"

James gave another groan and recounted the whole story to the other.

"And then she just stormed off," James sighed. "How the hell am I gonna fix this one?"

"Honestly?" Sirius spoke up, "I'm not cut out to answer that. I've never cared enough about a girl to want her back after she stormed off like that, so I think we need to ask Remus about this. He's still up, so come on and lets get up to bed. Don't worry, you didn't do anything wrong. Evans is a bit mental-"

"She is not!" James retorted as the boys got up and made their way to their sleeping quarters. "I'm just a git. Who kisses a girl when she's crying?"

Sirius sighed and they made their way into the room.