25 Top of the Tower

A/N

I wasn't super happy with this chapter, felt like their

"So, you two ready?" James asked.

"Y-yes," Peter stutterd in an unconvincing way.

"Can't wait for you guys to see my form," Sirius replied confidently.

James smirked, ignoring the usual worry.

It was September 20th, the Full Moon, and Remus was in the Shrieking Shack all alone. He had taken the advanced Wolfsbane Potion for the entire week, and for once didn't seem to be a moment away from keeling over and dying. The improved Wolfsbane potion from the future stopped the lethargy and pain that came from before a Full Moon, and it made the actual shifting process smoother, so it didn't feel like Remus's entire body was breaking just to remake itself.

But hopefully they would soon change the fact that he was alone. Not to mention the fact that turning into an animal at will was awesome.

They stood on the edge of the Astronomy tower. The Full Moon now peeking out from behind the clouds.

"Lets do this then," James said, then put the mandrake leaf in his mouth, the two others following behind.

At once they all made disgusted expressions.

"Thwat wis wawful," Sirius said.

"It twates thike rthrotting thirt," Peter said, trying not to spit the leaf out.

"No ithwea thut thu wust thaid," James replied.

"Thwames, thu wais twa twicking therm wouls help?" Sirius asked.

James took a few moments to decipher what he said, then nodded and took out his wand. He'd never done the Sticking Charm silently before, so it took him a few tries to do it for himself, sticking the leaf to the roof of his mouth. After that he had the other two open their mouths and he did the same for them.

"Twats better," Sisius said, still with a disgusted expression on his face.

"Yeah," Peter agreed, scratching his tongue as if to wipe away the taste.

"The Sticking Charm is all we can do, a Flattening Charm will make the potion fail and drinking any potion will influence it too. Oh, wit walso- bleh- including candy from Zonko's and Honeydukes and Firewhiskey.."

Sirius looked like a kicked dog.

"What! Damnit! I thwust got some candy from Hogsmeade," he complained, then muttered under his breath. "Not to mention the firewhiskey I wave stashed."

"You went to Hogsemede without me?" James said.

Sirius shrugged.

"You were tired after your "work out," and I didn't want to bother you," Sirius said in annoyance, then spit on the ground, hopefully from the taste of his mandrake leaf rather than anger.

James rolled his eyes. Honestly after Harry's death he had laxed on the workout routine his old son had him on. But after talking to Pandora he decided to get back on it. He couldn't say it was exactly the possible threat of Voldemort, more of the reminder of it, and his own mission.

So he had been working out in the mornings that he didn't have Quidditch practice, running around the Black Lake and summoning weights to workout with. It was startling to see how quickly he got out of shape.

"Lets get out of here," James said. "Prefects are probably gonna check here soo-"

No sooner had he said that then the stairs leading to the top of the Astronomy Tower creaked with footsteps.

The three of them went wide eyed and James dove for his Invisibility Cloak. He knew it was a stupid idea to go to the Astronomy Tower instead of just doing it in their rooms, but of course they decided to have a little adventure while they were at it.

James threw the cloak over the three of them. Years of similar occurrences making them move in sync. Then James felt the flow of air as it tickled his ankles and slid up his leg. Looking down he saw that a few inches of their feet were exposed.

They had all grown during the summer, even little Pete had gained a few inches.

Hopefully whoever was coming up wasn't thorough in their search.

"Is someone there?" A familiar, beautiful voice called.

"Shit," Sirius whispered.

Lily was unreasonably thorough in everything she did. And they were too big to hide properly behind anything.

"Crouch down," Peter hissed.

They did so, the cloak now covering their ankles, but James's butt hit a telescope and it toppled over, the crash loud in the night.

"Bloody hell," James grumbled.

"Really, why do people keep coming here to snog? It's the most obvious place," they heard Lily mumble as she stomped quickly up the stairs. "I can hear you!" she called, in the voice James found more annoying than endearing.

The three looked at one another in silent conversation for a few moments. Sirius rolled his eyes then smirked, Peter looked from James to Sirius, and James shook his head as he saw what the two were communicating to one another.

No come on! James said with wide eyes. I'm already in hot water with her.

Sorry James, you did knock over the telescope. Peter replied with a sad smile.

I'd rather not deal with Evans, don't know what you see in her James, bint is a bloody nightmare. Sirius shrugged.

Lil- Evans is amazing, what's wrong with wanting to do your duty properly? James defended. Remus has told us how much she's cooled tensions between the Houses by not letting Gryffindors get away with things.

Oh yes, the girl who rats out her friends is suuuuch a catch. Sirius replied with a raised eyebrow.

James I'm sure she is just as wonderful as you seem to think, but not to us, and we're running out of time. Sorry. Peter finalized.

Then both Sirius and Peter shoved James out from under the cloak.

James tumbled out, hitting the same telescope again.

"Oh Merlin, you guys aren't shagging are you?! Please be putting on your pants right now," Lily called, walking up the final few steps, face scrunched up like she was ready to shut her eyes.

When she saw James, on his butt, fully clothed in pajamas and a betrayed expression on his face she of course, scowled.

"Shouldn't be surprised, which poor girl is here with you?" Lily asked, looking around with narrowed eyes, ready to spot another soon to be detentioneer.

"Wha- no- I-"

"Or are you up here with Sirius again?"

James spluttered, and he heard Sirius do the same until something muffled him. Thankfully they were close enough that Lily couldn't tell there were two sounds.

Marauder Rule- The Cloak's existence will always be a secret, even at the detriment (detention) of a Marauder.

It wasn't the first time they had to throw someone under the bus, like when they were trying to find the Slytherin Common Room but Slughorn heard them talking and they threw Peter out and he had detention for a week. Or the time they were trying to break into the Restricted Section but were caught entering the library, again they threw Peter out. Then there was the time they threw Peter…. Hmm. James sensed a pattern.

Welp pattern broken.

"I- I don't have thwex with Sirius!" James yelled, the word "sex" being slurred thanks to the Mandrake leaf.

Lily opened her mouth then laughed. Were laughs supposed to light up rooms?

"Can't even say the word?" she teased.

"More like I can't believe you think Sirius and I were doing that."

Lily smiled.

"Oh I do believe it, most of the school does. There's a large betting pool about when you two will finally come out."

James gaped.

"There's no way,"

"Yup, got three Galleons on it happening Sixth year."

Lily seemed to realize who she was joking around with.

"So who else is here? Are they hiding behind one of the pillars? Homenum Revlio," Lily intoned, a soft blue pulse shooting out of her wand.

Her eyebrows rose when she only got feedback from James's presence.

"I see… What are you doing here on your arse Potter?" she asked, all seriousness again.

Darn, he missed her joking smile. James got to his feet, resisting the urge to dust off his butt.

"Well isn't it obvious?"

"No."

"I'm waiting for you, my Lilypad. Care to join me on this wonderful evening?"

"No, but I'll write you a love note if it will make you feel better."

"Really!" James said, failing to hide the excitement her words brought.

"Of course, it will have your name and Mr. Filch's on it."

Oh, duh, Prefect.

"Ah, while I do adore our dear Mr. Filch I don't think of him that way. Maybe if I was to serve it with you that would be a different story. How about next weekend, Ten AM to four PM. We could patrol the roads in Hogsmeade to make sure there are no mis-laid bricks. Wouldn't want excitable third-years to trip now would we?"

"Hmm," Lily said, looking like she was honestly thinking about it as she tapped her wand against her chin. "Actually that sounds great!"

James, despite his obvious crush, was not completely blind, he knew there was something more.

"Oh? Are you sure?" James said, running a hand through his hair in nervousness.

"Yes of course! Its a good thing you don't have any plans with anyone else to spend Hogsmeade with! After all, the only way we could spend it together is if you don't already have a date planned," Lily said with false cheer, batting her eyelashes at James.

Fuck.

"Oh…"

"Oh?" Lily asked with faked curiosity.

James's shoulders slumped.

"I do have a date," James grumbled.

If it had been a regular date with some random girl he would have dropped her in a moment for even the joke of going to Hogsmeade with Lily. Not that she would think better of him for doing that, he now realized.

But Pandora had done him a favor, and she was his- what did you call someone that was your son's mother in law? Fellow in-law? He couldn't just blow her off.

"Oh no! The tragedy!" Lily said, eyes growing a bit hard. "Too bad you won't be able to buy me a new dress and purse. Oh how I've wanted someone rich and handsome to go out and buy me stuff!"

James sucked in a breath through his teeth.

"Evans… you know I didn't mean, uh, that you were a gold digger or anything right?" James said, referencing their previous altercation.

"I know."

"What!"

"I know that you didn't mean it that way."

James glared at Lily, which she only raised an eyebrow at.

"So you just thought that guilt tripping me was a laugh then?"

"I didn't say anything to you, if you felt guilt that was all on you. I was angry because you said it in front of others, and the Hogwarts rumor mill is terrible. I'm not Heir to a Pureblood house like you. I need a good reputation if I want to get one of the Apprenticeships Professor Slughorn has been trying to set up," she said as if explaining to a child, then her face fell. "I was also disappointed in you."

That made James reel back. James knew that Lily was almost in a constant state of annoyance with James. Anger, resentment, embarrassment, those were all normal emotions for Lily to have toward James. Disappointment wasn't, not since first or second year.

"What? What did I do?"

"You didn't grow up as much as I thought you did. I thought this summer changed you, that Harry did something good for you, and yeah, you did change a bit. I'm really happy that you're not tormenting Severus anymore, but you still act like a child."

"I am a child," James said, rather curtly. "I don't know why you think I shouldn't act like one. But I want to enjoy my childhood."

Like our son never could.

Harry never went too deep into his childhood, especially the years before Hogwarts, but something terrible happened to him every year. James shook his head, thoughts of Harry would only distract him.

"Its not that I think you shouldn't. Its-" Lily tousled her deep red hair in a surprisingly James like fashion. "You have so much more opportunity. You can do so much good, and I sometimes see you do good, but you spend more time pranking than, well, anything of worth."

"Spending time with my friends is something of worth, and I do have a lot more opportunities than others," It was one of the reasons Harry went to James instead of Lily. James was Heir Potter, a Pureblood with many more rights and connections than her. "But I also will have a lot more responsibilities if I take those opportunities, and I will take them. But I want to choose to take responsibility, not have it thrust on me."

It was why James and Sirius got so along, and why he was so sympathetic toward Remus. Sirius was in the same position as him, only with a terrible family, one who had more influence than James's. And Remus had a responsibility thrust on him at the age of four, one he has done everything in his power to deal with appropriately.

James frowned at his own words. He did have more responsibility thrust on him actually. Just instead of by his parents it was by his geriatric son. A responsibility bigger than just the fate of his House. The thoughts of Harry were darkening his mood. Today was supposed to be the next step in a fun thing, Animagi, now he was having a rather deep discussion with a girl he fancied.

"I just wish you'd grow up," Lily said, the disappointment in her tone irking James.

"And I wish you'd act like a kid for once," James snapped. "You don't grow up by pretending to be an adult your entire childhood. You grow up by acting like a child and facing the consequences when you get older."

"Not everyone has the opportunity to be a child," Lily cut back.

Harry, Sirius, Snape, Remus. They didn't have the opportunity. Lily though?

"You do, you were brought into a world of magic, but you've never once tried to enjoy it. Instead it was always about rules, and grades. Do you even enjoy being a witch? Or are you just happy to have an excuse to get away from home?"

He knew it was a mistake the moment he said it. Merlin, why couldn't they just talk like normal people.

"What did you just- Potter!" She growled, hand gripping her wand hard. "There's nothing wrong with my home."

He should stop.

"Oh? Tuney finally decided that you were worth loving?"

Shit fuck bitch, stop stop stop. Wrong thing to say, wrong thing to say.

Lily opened her mouth to speak, then her teeth clacked shut and she visibly stopped herself from either cursing James with words or spells.

"Detention, Monday through Friday, with Filch, and, fifteen points from Gryffindor," she said in clipped words, then without looking back stormed down the stairs.

He heard the slamming of the door and James groaned, smacking his forehead against a pillar.

"James, I don't know what kind of hard-to-get play you're trying to work on Evans, but I don't think its working," Sirius said, still invisible next to James.

"Fuck you," James grumled.

"I don't think that would work either James," Peter said. "Though apparently some girls are into that."

James snorted, some of the tension leaving him.

"I don't see how you can talk to some random bird and have her want to drag you to the nearest broom closet within an hour, but you haven't been able to even get Evans to smile at you in a year."

James grumbled incoherently, smacking his head against the pillar again.

"He can flirt with them easily because he doesn't care about them. James cares too much about what Evans thinks and it gets in his head."

"Don't see why, bint is fit sure, but mad."

James kicked in the direction of Sirius's voice.

"Ow!" Peter yelped.

"Sorry Pete," James said half-heartedly.

Marauder rule- Never go after a Bird another Marauder fancies or has been with previously.

The rule was made after Sirius snogged a girl Peter liked.

Not that James thought Sirius was interested in Lily. He kind of feared redheads after a failed date with Amelia Bones in third-year. Even to this day Sirius wouldn't tell them what happened.

Sirius clapped an invisible hand on James's shoulder.

"She'll get over it mate."

"I don't think so, I think every interaction she's ever had with James has been piling up into a mountain of anger."

"Hmm, you're probably right there Peter. How tall you reckon the mountain is?"

"Maybe one or two more screaming matches away from Everest."

James kicked in their direction again.

"Ow!" Peter said again.

"Not sorry Pete."

—

A/N

I wasn't super happy with this chapter, felt like their fight wasn't really necessary. Its hard to write that Lily doesn't like James when current James is a nice guy and James from the year before was a bully. Especially when as readers you never really saw bully James and only heard about it.

Thats going to be part of the story though, where Lily still see's James as the boy who bullied her best friend, so anything he does she has a hard time trusting/liking at first. Also its a lot easier to write James because at least in Harry Potter we actually learned about Harry's father. Lily was just the smart girl who was friends with Snape and was good at Charms and that James had a crush on her.

So I want to write her to be more than just a smart pretty red-head girl, and have her actually have depth and goals. One of those things is that she doesn't like bullies and doesn't forgive easily. (Makes sense because she never forgave Snape for calling her a Mudblood.)