"I can't believe you'd do this James! I thought that you had grown up!" Lily yelled at a bewildered looking James.
"Lily' Lily.. wait, this isn't what it looks like. I didn't know that they were going to be here. " James said as he looked accusingly at the sight that had gotten Lily upset. Sitting under the Great Oak tree at the top of the hill, having what appeared to be a picnic, was Padfoot, Moony and Wormtail.
Lily stopped on her way back down the hill, tears close to her eyes. I will not cry in front of that buffoon, was the thought that kept running through her mind as soon as she saw the trio at the top of the hill. Thinking that she had once again fallen for another one of the famous James Potter pranks was too much to bear for Lily. Especially as she had finally admitted to herself that she had genuine, strong feelings for James.
Remus who had noticed the sight from his perch under the tree, saw James and Lily at the edge of the clearing. Immediately he stood up and went over to help James, who seemed to be stunned by the fact that Lily had turned to leave.
"Lily, wait up" Remus yelled, as he jogged to the spot that they both stood. Sirius and Peter following closely.
"This isn't James fault. He had no idea that we were going to be here. In fact we didn't even know that he was going to be here. Please believe us."
Lily stared at Remus. As a fellow prefect she had enormous respect for him and refused to believe that he would lie to her now. Added to that the look on James face clearly told the story of his surprise and a hint of fear that she was leaving. Gathering her wits about her, Lily put a tentative smile back on her face.
"I'm sorry I overreacted a bit there James. However, you must understand that this is very much like the prank you pulled in second year, when you convinced me to follow you up to the Owlery''" Lily playfully stared at James, letting the sentence hang unfinished between them.
Sheepishly James flushed as he remembered the incident in question. Full of embarrassment now for the imp that he was, he offered Lily an apologetic smile. However, simultaneously, Sirius also remembering the incident, burst into peals of laughter. Soon enough however they all joined in and the moment of tension had passed.
Abandoning all hope of a nice quite romantic date now, James and Lily and the rest of the unwanted clan settled under the Oak tree, and began to recount the fond times they had spent together over the years. They all laughed at the impromptu plan that James had thought up that would have gone perfectly had he told them not to be here. As the conversation followed, it began to dawn on Lily that some of the more memorable moments that she had experienced at Hogwarts, whether good or bad, were in some way intertwined with the "Marauders" as Lily learnt they referred to themselves.
As the hours flew by, and the gang started to prepare to return to the school, James realized that the day had turned out to be an unexpected surprise. He had looked forward to this outing with Lily for so long and to have spent the afternoon in her company and that of his best mates was an extraordinary revelation. Seeing Lily laughing at Sirius' antics and having Remus tease Lily good naturedly about her Potions exploits, brought a smile to James face, eyes and heart.
This, he thought, is what need protecting in these dark and trying times. Love.
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