hugging potted plants
The next thing James knew, he and Lily were sitting side by side on one of the ledges sticking off of the astronomy tower. Lily had managed two rather difficult spells to make their spying a bit easier. First, Amplificandi Potentia, which had allowed her to magnify the image of the telescope, so it was hovering like a television (that’s what those boxes with the people in them that muggles watch are called, right?) in front of them. Second, she cast Auditus Recta, which allowed Sirius and Remus’ conversation to be amplified so that the two of them could hear it from their perch, but no one else could. James would have been even more impressed if this wasn’t Lily Evans, the smartest fucking girl he had ever laid eyes on.
“Alright,” She extended the last syllable of the word as she moved her wand in one last motion, fully concentrated on her work. “There! We should be able to hear them now.”
James waited for a moment, and finally, his two best friend's voices grew to full clarity.
“Do you remember the last time we were out here?” Remus turned his head towards the boy next to him as he placed his water cup back on the ground from taking a sip.
“Um, two weeks ago, right? The last game before my birthday.”
“Yeah, you almost lost it for us.”
“What?! Did not!”
“Wow, great works Evans!” James turned to face her, a wide smile spreading across his cheeks.
“Thanks, not too difficult if you know the right spell.” Her cheeks were flushed a bit pink as she looked back at him, her green eyes piercing into his own hazel ones.
She must be cold, with all the wind whipping her face and making it all red.
“Oh, hold on.” James quickly pulled his own wand out and cast a quick heating spell around the two teenagers sitting on the edge of the tower.
“Oh, thanks.” She smiled up at him again, her cheeks still a bit pink.
He felt like he could look at her forever and still find new things to love.
After a moment, though, he realized he had been staring and clearing his throat, looking away from her and towards the floating image of his fellow Marauders.
“No way, Remus, you must have seen Perry push me! He almost knocked me off! You’re the bloody commentator! How did you miss it?”
“That’s what I’m saying, Pads, I didn’t miss it. It didn’t happen. You just lost your balance and can’t admit to having made a mistake apparently.” Remus’ words were a bit garbled, having taken a bite of something right before he had started speaking.
“Oh, shove it, Moony.”
“Me shove it? Why don’t you shove it, baby!”
“Aw, terms of endearment Moons, how sweet. Under any other circumstances, I would think you were flirting with me.”
Remus just chuckled and lightly threw a roll of bread at the other boy’s chest.
“You know what I meant. You’re being a baby.”
“Am not.”
The pouty lip said otherwise.
“That’s good,” James’ voice was quiet, even though he knew there was no chance they could hear him. “Flirting is good.”
“And annoying.” Lily’s voice was equally quiet, mirroring his example.
James chuckled.
“Sirius, I’m sorry, but you can’t admit when you’re wrong. It’s okay though, we all still love you. It’s just a part of who you are.” The sass was practically oozing from every bit of Remus’ voice, just trying to egg Sirius on.
“I can admit to being wrong!”
"Really?"
"Really, really."
“Fine, admit James was actually right about that whole, giant squid vs. thestral ‘who would win in a fight?’ debate the two of you had the other day.”
“Now, see, I would Remus,” Sirius shifted his seating position, so instead of being shoulder to shoulder with the werewolf, he was facing him, allowing them to look one another in the eye. “But you know James. If he ever found out, he wouldn’t shut up about it. Oh, and he’d do that awful ‘I’m James, and I was right!’ dance he always does.”
Remus burst out laughing, spitting out the water he had just taken a sip of all over Sirius' face.
“The ‘I’m James, and I was right!’ dance?” Lily giggled beside him.
“Shut up!” He playfully bumped her on the shoulder with his own.
“No, no. I think it’s cute.” James could practically feel his heart stop, his whole brain blank, his entire soul malfunctioning inside his body.
Lily Evans just called you cute James. LILY EVANS. AND SHE WASN’T BEING SARCASTIC! Oh wait, or was she?
Before he had a chance to ask, though, Lily was pulling at his sleeve and pointing to the screen again.
“James, look!”
James reluctantly looked back at the screen, trying to get his brain and heart to both re-start as quickly as possible.
Remus had his hand resting on Sirius’ cheek, laughing while attempting to wipe away some of the water.
“I hate you.”
“Oh come on, it’s hilarious.”
“It doesn’t feel hilarious, Moons. It feels wet.”
Remus laughed again, leaning closer to Sirius and trying to wipe more of the water off his cheeks. As they got closer, his laugh faded out slowly. They were both staring at one another, just inches away.
"Oh my god, it's gonna happen," Lily whispered, fixated on the screen.
"No, Lily, look." James knew his fellow Marauder too well and pointed to Sirius' hands.
From behind his back, Sirius was reaching his hand out for his own water. His long fingers with the painted black nails slowly wrapping around the glass.
“No, no,” Lily was leaning forward as if to try and stop Sirius before he could ruin the moment. “Come on Sirius. Don’t do it.”
“Remus, just kiss him already before he sprays you!” James said a bit louder than he would have wanted.
He quickly clapped his hand over his mouth, but, as expected, nothing happened. They were much too far away.
“Remus,” Sirius’ voice was just a whisper.
“Sirius?” Remus matched Sirius.
His voice remained at the same volume and tone. “Suck it, asshole.”
“Wha-”
In a blur, Sirius leaned back quickly and threw his own glass of water into the other boy’s face.
“WHAT THE FUCK SIRIUS?!”
“NO!” James and Lily both shouted at the screen, not caring anymore if the other Marauders heard.
“Damn it!” Lily pounded her fist on the stone underneath them.
“And the fucking moron has the audacity to complain that they aren’t together yet.”
By the time they had both cursed a bit and cooled down from their frustration enough to look back, an all-out food fight had started.
Sirius grabbed a handful of something from a container, and the little pieces fell all over Remus, getting stuck in his hair and under his shirt. He laughed loudly before scooting away.
“You’re not funny Sirius!” Remus catapulted something orange and creamy at the other boy using a spoon, but just missed him by a few inches. “Now, we’re both wet!”
“So it’s funny when it happens to me, but when I do it, it’s 'Oh, you're not funny Sirius!'?”
A second spoonful of mush flew at Sirius, this time hitting him right in the middle of his forehead, sliding down his nose until he shook it off.
“You still suck at impressions.”
“Oh, that’s it.”
Sirius launched himself at Remus, knocking him onto his back, and began tickling up the sides of his body, lifting his jumper a bit to get access to his ribcage.
“Ah! Stop it!” He could barely speak in between the fits of giggles.
“Ready to apologize?” Sirius stopped for a brief moment, to allow the other boy to speak, which was his biggest mistake.
Catching him off guard, Remus looped his own leg around Sirius’ knee and used all of his body weight to flip them over, so he was now kneeling over the animagus.
“Not gonna happen.”
Sirius didn’t move or even blink, still in shock from his defeat.
Remus laughed, reaching above Sirius’ head and grabbed a handful of the same mushy food from before, spreading it all over his face. Sirius, finally processing what happened, tried to squirm away from Remus, attempting to cover his face with an arm. The werewolf just sat on his chest and pinned down his arms to the best of his ability.
“Are you ready to apologize?!”
“Mmmahhhphleh!” Sirius tried to spit out some of the food covering his mouth.
Remus grabbed another handful, this time getting it all over his forehead and hair.
“What was that? I can’t seem to understand you?”
“Fine! Fine! I’m sorry!”
“For what?” Remus smirked, grabbing his third handful, holding it threateningly above Sirius’ face.
“For spraying you with water, for throwing things at you, for stealing some of your chocolate the other day, for-”
“THAT WAS YOU?!” Remus dropped the mush he was holding right on Sirius’ nose. “I KNEW I WASN’T CRAZY! I HAD FIFTEEN WHOLE BARS AND 6 SQUARES ON WEDNESDAY AND WOKE UP WITH FIFTEEN BARS AND 2 SQUARES! YOU GIT!”
“I still think you’re crazy,” He was shaking his head like a dog, still trying to get the food off his face. “I mean, you count each individual square, Rem. Only insane people do that.”
“Oh, shut up!”
Remus lifted Sirius’ shirt and started tickling him the same way Padfoot had done.
Sirius sounded like a little girl, his voice suddenly becoming high pitched with giggles and shrieks.
“Stop it!” He managed to get out before erupting into a fit of giggles again, still flailing around in an attempt to escape the werewolf’s grasp. Eventually, he managed to release one of his arms. He quickly reached up and grabbed a handful of Remus’ jumper, pulling down and forcing his body weight on top of his hands, so he was unable to continue tickling the animagus.
Their faces were now only inches apart once again, and they had both stopped laughing. They were just sitting, totally still, staring at one another. Moments passed, and everything seemed to freeze. They both refused to move even a bit, seeming to be afraid of what would happen if they did.
After what felt like an eternity, Sirius finally did something.
“Do you, ahem, do you know why I wanted to come here?” His voice was breaking and no louder than a whisper.
“Why?”
“Because I...um.”
"Tell him." Lily's voice was only a whisper.
"You've got this, Pads." James was leaning so far forward he wouldn't have been surprised if he had fallen right through the screen.
“Sirius?”
“I...um" He paused. "I...I wanted to teach you quidditch!” Sirius practically shouted into Remus’ face, letting go of his jumper.
Remus only blinked at first but then quickly turned a bright shade of red and stood up.
“Oh, um, you don’t have to do that. Really, it’s fine. We can just head back if you’d like.”
“No, no, I don’t mind. It should be fun.” Sirius stood up as well, turning away from Remus, grimacing and mouthing something to himself that looked close to 'Quidditch?! What’s wrong with me?!'.
They quickly packed up their things, both trying hard not to look the other in the eye, before finally walking down the steps of the platform to the pitch.
“What...the fuck...did we just watch?” Lily still hadn’t turned away from the screen, just staring at it, as if waiting for something to change, for it to say this was all a joke.
Nothing happened.
“THOSE GODDAMN IDIOTS!” James stood up, throwing his hands in the air and screaming, not caring if anyone heard. “I’M GOING TO PITCH MYSELF OFF THIS TOWER! I CAN’T TAKE THIS ANYMORE! MAYBE GO TRY AND DROWN MYSELF IN THE SHOWERS OR SOMETHING! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM?! AAAHHHHH!”
It felt good to finally be able to scream away his frustration for his friend's situation.
“How…?” Lily’s voice was still quiet, and she hadn’t moved, as if in shock. “How do they not know...? How don’t they realize…?”
“I don’t know.” James walked back over to Lily, standing next to her, confused by her calm demeanor.
“They...he…” “Lils?” He placed a hand on her shoulder.
She turned her head slowly to look James in the eye.
“THIS FUCKING MORON HAS TWO CHANCES TO KISS THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE, AND HE BLOWS THEM BOTH?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIM?!”
James practically jumped in the air at her sudden outburst. She forcefully stood up the same way he had done only moments earlier and began to pace as she screamed, her red hair almost matching the same shade her face had turned. James pressed himself against the wall in fear. No matter how much he flirted with her and acted all suave, he was still terrified of Lily Evans.
In reality, who isn't at least a little afraid of her?
“OH, AND REMUS WITH HIS TICKLING?! STOP FOCUSING ON COVERING HIM WITH FOOD AND JUST SNOG HIM ALREADY! DEAR LORD! I MEAN THE AMOUNT OF TENSION BETWEEN THOSE TWO, THAT WAS LIKE WATCHING A MOVIE! AND THEY THINK THEY’RE ‘JUST FRIENDS’?! ‘JUST FRIENDS’ MY FUCKING ASS YOU WANKERS!” By the end, she was shouting at the screen and gesturing at it aggressively, even though the images of their friends were long gone.
James waited a moment before speaking, not wanting to be on the receiving end of any residual anger she hadn't burned off yet. She seemed to be mostly done, just breathing heavily, her face resting in her hands.
“You know, if Pete were here, he probably would have pulled all his hair out by now. I swear those two are going to make him bald before he turns eighteen.”
Lily turned back to James, now the calm one of the two, and after a moment of silence burst out laughing.
Her laughter was probably the most beautiful thing he had ever heard. He began to smile, and it quickly turned into laughter too, both of them buckled over and clutching their stomachs. James’ cheeks and jaw began to burn from smiling, but he didn’t care.
He laughed and laughed until his thoughts finally set into place, like puzzle pieces. The laughter cut out, his face suddenly falling.
Lily noticed this and looked up at him, her eyebrows beginning to knit together in concern.
“Shit, Lily…” James could see the moment her thoughts came together as well, her face changing with the realization.
“Peter…” Her voice was a shocked whisper. “James, we left them alone. WE LEFT OUR HIGH AS BALLS FRIENDS ALONE IN A GREENHOUSE FULL OF WEED AND MAGICAL PLANTS!”
“FUCK!”
They both began sprinting down the stairway, Lily ending both spells with a flick of her wand behind her. They ran through the long grass in the dark, cold wind whipped at their faces and started to burn their cheeks. Lily began to fall behind James as they got closer, not having the same stamina as him, coming from years of playing quidditch. He tried to slow down to wait for her, but she just yelled for him to hurry and get there as fast as possible. She would catch up.
He did as told and tried to push himself to go even faster, his feet digging into the dirt as he ran. When he finally reached the glass door, he practically ripped it off its hinges, throwing it open with such speed and force. He stumbled into the greenhouse, whipping his head around to try and find his friends. His eyes finally caught them, and he almost burst out laughing again.
The six teens were all curled up in a heap on the floor, sound asleep.
Peter was lying on his side hugging, what appeared to be, a small potted plant close to his chest. The three Hufflepuffs he didn’t know were leaning against one another, propped up by the wall behind them, one drooling onto another's shoulder and the third laughing a bit in their sleep. Lastly, Marlene and Dorcas were cuddled up together on the floor, arms around each other, and foreheads pressed together gently. Those two were almost as perfect for each other as Remus and Sirius, and almost as naive.
Lily finally burst in the door behind him, looking frantic and hyperventilating.
“Hey, Lils,” James put his hands on her shoulders calmingly. “Breathe, okay? Everything’s fine.”
She took a few deep breaths, moving her eyes up to look at him.
“They didn’t die?”
James chuckled, pulling Lily close with one arm, in a sort-of side hug. Something he had seen his Dad do with his Mum when she got panic-y many times growing up.
“They’re fine. Look.” With his free hand, he pointed to the sleeping mass of teenagers.
Lily’s eyes fell on their friends, and she sighed, leaning more into James and moving her head to rest on the side of his upper arm (the highest place on him she could rest her head, given their large height difference), and was finally able to calm down. James just pulled her in tighter, rubbing his thumb up and down her arm reassuringly.
They really looked like the parents he had wanted to be, standing together, arms around each other, and laughing lightly at their crazy, sleeping children.