When dark magic had been used at Hogwarts, it didn't bode well for anyone… especially those who had a nasty habit of staying out past curfew. Prefects and Head students were no longer granted amnesty when they were out- rounds were now done in the presence of a teacher. It was even more inconvenient when one misses dinner and gets too caught up over a textbook in the kitchens. Lily silently cursed herself for her stupidity. Wasn't she supposed to be clever? Maybe that was a mistake. Clever girls didn't put themselves into positions where they had to sneak from the kitchens and up to the seventh floor. She wasn't blessed with James' uncanny ability to creep around without ever being caught. She wasn't skilled enough to know when the coast was clear. Secret passages could only get you so far.

It was on the third floor that she finally admitted to her doom. Mrs. Norris trotted happily down the stairs towards her, mewling and purring with joy at catching a student out of bed. She heard Filch from the level below, approaching as if he had some strange connection with the feline. She booked it, taking the stairs two at a time and turning onto the fifth floor where she could take a shortcut to the seventh.

Her strategy had been flawless, and it even worked for some time until she slipped behind a tapestry and rammed straight into an invisible force- hard. Two groans of pain echoed down the secret corridor. Lily looked around frantically to find where the other voice had come from. She was alone.

"Fancy seeing you here Lils," came the familiar voice from nowhere. Lily spun in a full circle, much to the amusement of the disembodied voice. "You're cute when you're nervous," he said all too close to her ear.

"Where the bloody hell are you, Potter? This isn't funny; Filch is onto me!"

There was another chuckle from in front of her and then movement behind her. Lily gave up and stood stalk still, waiting for him to show himself instead of giving in to his odd sense of humor. But then there was a quiet flutter of clothe and the softest press of a pair of lips on the back of her neck. Lily swung around in horror, every intention on beating the air until she hit something, only to find James visible to her, grinning like the Cheshire cat and laughing low at her obvious dishevelment.

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked in a fierce whisper. True to keeping her secret (which just so happened to be a secret from herself) she didn't admit that her heart was fluttering for an entirely different reason than nervousness.

"I'm just feeling a bit… mischievous," he said in a tone that had Lily's hairs rising. "So I came down to meet you in a dark, deserted corridor."

"And what did you think would happen?" Lily fumed, heart beating furiously. "That you would catch me off my guard and you would have your wicked way with me?" The look in James' eye was as wild as his smile. In the low light, Lily saw him drop his cloak and take a threatening step forward.

"That's exactly what I think," he said matter-of-factly. "You would too if you'd been getting the same looks you've been giving me all month. Did you think I would just ignore it when you look like that?"

Lily very badly wanted to ask what look because she had been sure that she had been being careful with every glance and movement that was affected by thoughts of James. Obviously she hadn't been as discrete as she had fooled herself into thinking. It was hard to lie to herself when her body was betraying her deepest secret. James saw it in her and it brought out the Marauder in him- the bad boy side that built on his charming smile and nice demeanor and made her knees weak when he looked at her with such fire. He took another step forward to show his confidence in reading her. Lily had half a mind to stomp off indignantly but, once again, her body betrayed her.

Maybe it had been James that had pulled her into his arms or maybe it had been Lily who what backed them into the wall. And maybe it had been James who had kissed her or Lily whose hands had traveled dangerously to his sensitive hairline. Either way, Lily had been swept up into his touch and James had been pulled down even further than he thought possible.

And maybe it was the way his hot, calloused hand had pulled her thigh up roughly or the little sound that escaped her mouth when his teeth tugged at her bottom lip.

And maybe it was because James knew how to press himself harder into her when she herself didn't know what she liked or the way Lily knew to squeeze his hair to make him crumble in her embrace.

Neither particularly cared whose fault it was because somehow, they each knew how to push the other one closer to the edge while still drawing each other closer.

And maybe it was the way James bit down on her neck with just the right amount of pressure or the way Lily angled her hips just so, but they both pulled away at the same time because if they didn't, they would go too far and possibly ruin everything.

And maybe it was the way Lily had whispered something about wanting him or James' suggestion of a vague room on the seventh floor.

Whoever's fault it was, Lily had stopped lying to herself by breakfast and James promised his mischievous side that it would no longer have to hide.

Pages: 2
Words: 971
Disclaimer: Don't own
Notes: This just sort of… popped out while I was at work :)