Re: The Grand Staircase

[Hermione Granger]

Hermione walked down the grand staircase; it was luckily the last stop in her patrol and after she finished here, she was done for the night. She stopped suddenly when she saw a red blur on the bottom of the stairs. She ran down, immediately recognizing the figure as Arthur Weasley. She stifled a sob as she noticed he was shaking violently and saw the blood surrounding him, now staining the edges of her robes. She called out loudly, sending a Patronus to Professors McGonagall and Flitwick.

"Arthur," she whispered, gently tapping his shoulders. Arthur didn't answer her, which made Hermione nervous. Finally, after what seemed like ages to her, Professor Flitwick came running down the stairs. Flitwick summoned a stretcher, which Hermione gently levitated Arthur onto. Together, they brought Arthur to the hospital wing, where Madam Pompfrey promptly began to tend to him.

Professor McGonagall, who joined Flitwick and Hermione on their journey to the hospital wing, asked Hermione to find Arthur's family at Hogwarts. She decided to first find Molly and Ron, the two people he was closest to in the castle, and then Ted Tonks, for Hermione recognized the crushed iPod next to Arthur as a gift from Ted. The attack was likely due to Arthur's love of Muggles, and Ted was likely in danger if they were targeting people with Muggle connections. By that logic, Hermione was too, but she didn't want to dwell on the image of Arthur's pale and shaking body.

[James Potter]

Figured this would be a rather convenient spot to start.

James wandered the castle corridors, just finding ways to pass the time while everyone was away for Christmas. He had stuck around to hang out with the Marauders here, but the other three were still passed out back in their dormitory from an excess of amusements last night. Making his way to the main staircase of the castle, he paused at the top, staring out the window. It offered a nice view of the grounds from here, the courtyard outside. There were a few people wandering around, but it seemed that most had gone home for the holidays as they usually did.

He let his mind wander as his eyes wandered the landscape from the snow-covered grounds to the frosty forest and the frozen lake. Somehow his thoughts returned to the same scene he'd been dwelling on for the past few days: his last conversation with Lily before she had left for Christmas. It had ended strangely, to say the least. Of course, she knew now about them. He had no more great secrets from her, and it was almost a relief. Almost. He trusted that she would tell no one, completely, but he was still unsettled.

It was that damn kiss, and then the negation of it all with her words after it and the way she ran off. It had been wonderful, perfect, everything he'd figured kissing Lily Evans would be like. But he couldn't even tell Padfoot or the others about it, because she had to go and say it meant nothing, it was absolutely nothing, and she left. How could it have meant nothing? And why did she do it at all? That's what he wondered most of all. She had been so emphatic on the fact that she thought he was an arrogant toe rag with an ego to rival anyone's in the world, that she had no interest in him at all... but things had been changing too. She'd gone with him to Hogsmeade on Halloween, and they'd been finding themselves in each others company more and more often recently. But then that blasted conversation threw everything off again. And James was confused, and hurt. Hurt especially. She had felt so close, only to have her kiss him and tell him it was nothing. Nothing.

He sighed heavily, staring hard out the window as a light snow began to fall once again.

[Lily Evans]

Perfect. XD

Lily knew her parents were not amused with her for coming back to school earlier than she needed to, but she had stayed strong in the face of her Mum's best 'but Lily dear, we barely get to see you all year as it is!' guilt trip while she packed the small bag she'd brought home for the holidays and said her goodbyes for another term. She had apparated to Hogsmeade a couple of hours earlier and had returned to her dorm to settle in.

Now she wandered the castle, almost ghostlike in the silent way she drifted through the halls. Her stomach flip-flopped madly, somehow she managed to balance an overwhelming impatience that insisted she had to find James nownownowNOW and try and fix what she'd messed up, while still being completely and absolutely terrified of actually finding him. Lily had been so caught up in the moment that in her rush to get back to Hogwarts she still hadn't figured out what she was actually going to say.

It was so unlike her, really. Lily liked to plan her course of action before she began, to know what she was doing and what she hoped to achieve from it by the time all was said and done. But all the grand, heartfelt speeches she practised in her head while she walked the relatively deserted halls of Hogwarts at Christmas sounded like total rubbish even when they were just thoughts and Lily hated it. This wasn't her. How could she expect James to hear her out when she couldn't even explain herself to herself? Sighing and hopeless, Lily rounded the corner, heading for the Grand staircase to try the lower levels.

Her hand was on the banister, she had just reached the top step when she spotted him and she froze, fingers clenching on the wood while for just a few seconds she forgot to breathe. She bit her lip, indecisive. The sudden appearance of James was like a slap to the face, forcing the scene to run through her mind one more time, as if she hadn't been replaying it almost constantly anyway. He was facing the window, he hadn't turned around yet so who knew, maybe he hadn't noticed her and she could give in to the terror. She could cut and run and.... and be stuck feeling this way forever. Was facing James after what she'd done really more frightening than the thought of going the rest of her life without ever finding anyone else whose kiss still burned against her lips weeks later? No, Lily was going to be a Gryffindor about this and face it head on.

If she could just figure out what to say...

Finally, Lily pulled her hand from the banister and drifted towards James. She stopped a little bit behind him still, able to just make out the shape of his face reflected in the glass. The window seemed to frame him, and Lily found herself suddenly developing an uncharacteristic appreciation for the light snowfall beginning to dust the grounds beyond him. Lily nervously wet her lips.

"Quite a view there," she said softly.

[James Potter]

James was slightly startled at the voice behind him, even more so when he realized it was Lily's. He took a breath, paused a moment, and then gathered his thoughts to reply. He put on his easy smile again, reaching up to ruffle his hair like he always did. He looked sideways, only seeing her with his peripheral vision for a moment, extending his arm behind him and then resting his hand firmly on his arse. He answered her without looking at her, returning his eyes to the window, and though he had hoped to keep his voice light and playful, the darkness returned beneath his tones. "Yeah, and the snow on the grounds looks alright, too." His smile faded against his will as his hand fell to rest on the stone ledge again.

Somehow he couldn't just brush it off. Somehow, seeing her just made him remember it all. He nearly wondered if he should keep trying. He'd thought he was so close, so so very close to getting her to like him, maybe even love him after that kiss. But it had all been dashed away so quickly and without thought. It seemed obvious that she didn't and wouldn't care about him. He sighed without realizing it, a heavy sorrowful sound that did not frequent the air past his lips.

[Lily Evans]

Lily held her breath for a moment when James smiled. He'd turned his head just enough so she could clearly see his profile, but his expression was hidden. It wasn't hard to read the undertones to his voice, though; he'd tried for nonchalance but he couldn't hide his bitterness. She swallowed. Her body felt awkward, like the limbs she couldn't figure out what to do with didn't really belong to her and she felt so out of place in it that part of her wanted to crawl out of it somehow. As if she could shed her skin and leave herself behind to start over again. Folding her arms behind her, she grabbed her elbows and held on tight, squeezing as if to keep herself from disappearing somewhere in the depths of her mind.

"Yeah, I guess it's alright too," she tried to joke, but it felt stilted and off, sort of inappropriate as it fell flat to her ears.

James sighed, and Lily toed nervously at the stone floor with the point of her shoe. Maybe he didn't want to talk to her, she knew, it would be fair enough if he didn't want to her the sound of her voice ever again. He had given up even the weak attempt at lightness, focusing his attention on the scene outside the window and probably waiting for her to give up and go away without him having to tell her to bugger off. Escaping the awkwardness did sound tempting, the lack of words between them made the air seem hollow and hard to breathe, natural instincts for self-preservation were making her nerves twitch to run until she could breathe freely again. But she forced herself to hold firm - she wouldn't be Lily Evans if she ever gave something up without a fight. When she spoke again, her strangled attempts at normalcy filled the air between them with a voice a little too loud and her words a little too clipped to sound right in some places, but she couldn't control it. It was hard enough making any words at all happen, making sense just didn't seem like such a reasonable expectation on top.

"I came back. Early. From home, from Christmas I mean. I had to talk to you. I have something to say, I mean, and I know after the last thing I said to you you probably don't want to hear anything I've got to say but I wanted to say it anyway and I couldn't wait. Couldn't wait til after the holidays, I mean, because I should've said it ages ago. Should have said it instead of that other thing I said, really, and I know I buggered that right up and that's why I- I wanted to say..."

She trailed off, gathering her thoughts. Lily forced herself to keep focused on what little of James' face she could see. She wished he would turn around a bit more so she could see his face properly, but at the same time she was finding it hard enough to keep her nerve and she didn't know if she would completely lose it if she had to contend with that gaze, always expressive and alive with James' thoughts, at the same time. Lily began to pull herself together, trying to choose her words carefully and wondering how she was meant to give voice to feelings she wasn't even sure words existed for.

[James Potter]

I apologize in advance if any of this doesn't make sense as I am half dead currently and likely feverish as well.

James couldn't laugh at her response even if he had wanted to. He continued staring out the window, trying to see if it was possible to pick a snowflake and watch it fall from the skies to where it landed, but there were too many all swirling together, and his eyes got lost. The wind had picked up, sending whisps of snowdrift off the roofs, but what was then missing was quickly replaced as the snowfall increased in intensity. It was going to be a right blizzard tonight, if he had to guess, and only the bravest or stupidest would be out in it tomorrow. He vowed then and there that he would go sledding after tomorrow's lunch.

Suddenly Lily's voice pulled him from his thoughts again, but it didn't sound like Lily. Not really. She sounded forced, and unsure, and that wasn't like her at all. Usually words came quickly and easily to her, and she could spit out her feelings and thoughts as simply as anything, both good and bad. He didn't turn around to look at her, still feeling bitter and perhaps a little immature about it. Not much of what she said made sense, or formed a complete thought, and he got turned round and round trying to follow where she was going with her little speech that sounded half practiced and half improvised mixed up in all the wrong ways. He shook his head and turned to look at her as she stopped and did not continue.

"What are you getting at, Evans? Want to tell me to just stop again, not to get my hopes up after what happened? Like you've said before, there's nothing, won't be anything, that I should just learn and back off? I'm a big headed idiot who needs taking down a few notches, an arrogant toe rag who needs his ego stroked like a slug needs a pocketwatch?"

He took a step forward as he talked, his eyes nearly dead in expression. He'd worn himself out thinking over this, worrying over Lily and trying to figure out what it all meant. Girls were a foreign language, and Lily Evans was the most encrypted and confusing one he had ever thought of attempting.

"Plain english, Evans. Short sentences, small words. Spell it out for me, I'm a thick headed idiot, don't forget."

He wasn't sure where all the bitterness spilling out in the form of words was coming from, but he supposed it was what had built up over years of trying to win her favor and failing repetitively. It had to be stored up somewhere, and it had to pour back out sometime. He couldn't exactly feel sorry for it at this point, though with his brown eyes locked onto her viridian ones, there was still that tiny spark of hope in his heart. He knew no matter what, even after this, no matter what it was she had to say to him right now, he could never truly give up on Lily Evans.

[Lily Evans]

Feel better, love. (It was so perfect I screamed. <3)


Lily took half a step back as James rounded on her, the bitterness hitting her with an almost physical force. A moment later she regrouped, though, regaining the lost ground and refusing to back off even though he stepped forwards and made them just that little bit too close for her nerves not to spark. Her expression twitched, the hesitation in her eyes fading, subsumed by a much more natural and familiar reaction to James Potter: frustration. Her mouth dropped open a little, her cheeks flooding with heat, she shoved furiously at the hair daring to tumble into her eyes. He had it all backwards, it was all going wrong, why couldn't she just have found the right words straight off and show him it was different this time? There had to be a way to make him understand how she felt.

"I like you!" she cried. It came out loud and near hysterical, but it broke the drought and suddenly Lily was herself again. She let out a loud huff and shook her head, her hands flailing about a little in her exasperation. "You know what, James Potter? You are a big headed idiot who needs taking down a few notches, and you are an arrogant toe rag who needs his ego stroked like a slug needs a pocketwatch! And I like you. Alright? There, I said it. I LIKE YOU. Was that plain enough for you? Because I don't think I could be any clearer."

Her outburst shocked her into silence, and Lily was almost unnerved by the emptiness left once the sound of her voice faded away. Lily's shoes were suddenly very fascinating, too fascinating for her to tear her eyes away. She breathed deeply, figuring that she'd come this far, so she might as well finish the job and get it all out when she couldn't possibly humiliate herself any further for one day. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Lily wondered if anybody in the 'Will Evans and Potter Ever Get It Together?' betting pool had called her bellowing her feelings at him at the top of the Grand staircase, and if the payoff was any good. Finally, Lily looked up at James again.

"So... D'you fancy going out with me? You know, like on a date?" Even she had to admit it wasn't particularly smooth, especially with the way her nose wrinkled as if finding the nerve to get that out had been painful, and her teeth dug sharply into her lower lip. She wanted to brace herself for the blow of rejection she was suddenly certain would fall, but she couldn't tear her wide green eyes away from the uncharacteristically darkened depths of James' gaze.

[James Potter]

As Lily's ranting continued on, James felt the old smirk returning to his face. But behind it was something more than amusement. It was victory and pure elation and happiness like he hadn't really felt before, and hope and fulfillment of hopes that had been held onto far longer than others would have dared. She'd said it three times, 'I like you', and each time was even better than the last and even after she stopped, James could hear her voice saying it in his head over and over again. He watched as she stared at her shoes, and thought about reaching over to grab her chin and get her to look at him again, but just before he moved his hand to do it, she had done it herself.

He was slightly taken aback with her next proposition, and his eyebrows lifted on his forehead, his eyes widening behind his glasses. He chuckled softly, shaking his head at her.

"That's a little backwards, isn't it? Guys are meant to ask girls on dates, in case you weren't sure. And besides, I've asked you on several over the past years, in case you forgot. Anyway... why should I agree? You sure it won't mean just nothing to you? You gonna want to take all this back later when we're around our friends again?" He kept his tone light, but he meant all that he said. After all he'd gone through to get Lily Evans to like him, he didn't want to risk it not being for real. He didn't want this to be some trick, some fickle thing that she would say now while they were alone, only to reject later when it came down to it. "No takesies backsies on dates with James Potter. No refunds, or exchanges, or rain checks."

[Lily Evans]

Lily sighed, feeling a little of the apprehension dissolve at the smirk on James' face. It was comforting to see the familiar little twist to his lips, lit with that little spark of warmth his face held when he was being playful or happy, rather than the malicious scorn she'd feared. Her face smoothed out somewhat, relieved that he wasn't rebuffing her outright, although her spine remained in its rigid set; he'd not said yes, either.

"What does it matter if it's usually backwards?" she said hotly, her green eyes shining with the challenge of James' joke insinuating she should not have asked him out because she is a girl. She crossed her arms, folding them almost protectively across her stomach and she shifted her weight from one foot to another. Her jaw set. It almost made her want to laugh; even when she was asking him out, somehow every conversation between she and James had to be an argument of some kind.

"You should agree if you want to go out with me," she said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I don't know what you want me to say... I want to go out with you, so I asked you out. Not exactly the Invasion of Normandy, I was just asking you on a date, James; not a promise, not a guarantee, not an IOU. A date. Yes or no?" A split second after she'd spoken, it occurred to Lily that blank ultimatums and refusals to promise that if he agreed everything would be perfect forever were likely even less traditional in date-request etiquette than the girl doing the asking, but she wasn't about to take it back. She'd learned her lesson about taking honest words and deeds back. She unlocked her arms and shrugged, turning them palm up as if she were offering whatever she could. She hated the feeling of vulnerability, it went against every instinct she had to offer herself up for rejection this way, but her face was honest and bordering on imploring. "I came back from Christmas early, I left my family to see you. I'm not messing around and I'm not changing my mind. What do you want? We could go right now, if that's what it takes. Would that be enough to convince you?"

[James Potter]

James's face broke into a grin as she crossed her arms and went on, and finally held her hands out in an almost helpless way. "Alright, alright. Let's go on a date, Evans." He laughed, taking a few steps toward her and hardly able to believe this was actually happening. "But since you asked me, you've got to plan it. So where are we going, and when? Now would be nice indeed, I think. Most people are gone or sleeping so we could have wherever we went mostly to ourselves." He waggled his eyebrows for comic effect. "Oh," he paused, giving her a serious look. "As long as you don't pick Madam Puddifoots. I do have a line I won't cross, even for you, Lily Evans."


[omg it's so short I'm sorry but idk what else to really put in it and it would all be forced if I added to it and at this point I think they could easily head into a new scene anyway so uhhhhh apologies and I'm just gonna press send]

[Lily Evans]

[Haha that's ok - there was really nothing else to say! ]

Lily smiled her first true smile in days when James agreed to the date. She rolled her eyes, scoffing playfully and resisting the urge to hit him for his teasing. "Puddifoots? Please, it's like you don't even know me at all," she said, sticking her nose primly in the air. Really, though, she liked a creative and thoughtful date. Any old tosser could take someone for tea, but it showed real consideration to try and plan something outside the norm that you really think someone will enjoy.
She glanced at her watch. "Tell you what, why don't you meet me in the Astronomy tower in an hour? And come alone," she added in an exaggerated ominous voice, widening her eyes for effect.
Not giving James a chance to reply, she turned and ran off. There was a light-hearted little skip in her step, despite not giving him time to react she was certain he'd be there. His sense of curiosity, if nothing else, would compel him. In the meantime, she had a lot to take care of in the next hour...


[Alright so I cracked & couldn't wait. >.> *RPing at me desk with people sitting RIGHT next to me* pokerface.jpeg Will next post Lils in the Astronomy tower ready for you so you can finish here & start there whenever. XD]

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