[A].t. {My} t H R O A t [James]

[Lily Evans]

Saturday night and it was boiling. Lily Evans sat in her room, just starring out the windo w at the Black Lake, it looked so inviting, but she didn't own a swimsuit. It was supposed to be winter so she hadn't yet gone to purchase one. She sat there for several minutes before finally deciding that she would go take a dip in her undergarments. After all, it was about 2 in he morning and it was most likely that no one would show up.

With that, she pulled on her shoes and began to make her way down to the castle's entrance. To her dismay, when she stepped outside, the air was warmer then that of the castle. She let out a sigh and pulled her long red hair into a ponytail as she walked.

Finally, she reached the lake. Oh the waters looked so good, she wanted to just jump in with her clothes on, but if she were to be caught on her way back in, it would be a bit embarrassing. So, she spared herself a minute and removed her clothes to reveal a red lacey bra and boyshort underware to match. Yes... Lily Evans, Miss Proper was wearing lace... that would give anyone who knew her a shock. Without wasting any time at all, she dove into the water.

As she plunged under the water felt so good on her skin. She would have stayed under for the rest of this blasted night if she could have, but humans can only hold their breath for so long. When she sufaced, she closed her eyes and ran her fingers through her hair, just letting the cool water drip off of her.

[James Potter]

James couldn't get to sleep. He had lay in his bed tossing and turning for nearly two hours with no luck. Not only was it extremely hot and the air excrutiatingly stiffling in the boys dormitory, but James had too much on his mind. His head swirled with questions and confusion. He wondered about his friends... Sirius and Emme... Remus. Occasionally the new girl who seemed to hate him for no real reason would pop in. But, really, his thoughts centered on one person, Lily. He just didn't understand her. Any other girl in the school would die to have his affections, and yet all Lily did was spurn him. She was different from all the rest, this was probably why he liked her, but sometimes he got tired of getting nothing in return. Sirius was constantly telling him that it was a lost cause, telling him not to put up with it, and reminding him of several other girls he could have in the blink of an eye. Even though they didn't say it, he could tell that his other friends thought the same thing. He considered the other girls in the school, but his thoughts kept being interfered by images of flowing red hair and gorgeous green eyes. He couldn't take it anymore.

He had been laying in bed with his eyes shut. Finally giving in to the fact that he was not getting any sleep, he opened his eyes and peered around the moonlit room and spotted his broomstick. Whenever he needed to clear his head, flying always did the trick. He looked out the window and saw that the moon illuminted the entirity of Hogwarts grounds. He made up his mind and got up to fetch his broom. He changed into jeans and a plain t-shirt and headed out the door. Instead of risking getting caught by walking all the way down to the entrance hall, James headed up to the astronomy tower which was much closer. As soon as he reached the fresh air he was met by a cooling breeze. He was immediately happy with his decision to come outside, even if it did happen to get him detention.

He took off from the rooftop and soared up and around the turrets of the castle. Thinking that he was more likely to be caught this way if a teacher looked out their window, he changed course and headed for the open lawns by the massive lake. He flew just above the lake's surface and let his feet drag in the water, getting his tennis shoes all wet. He decided to take them off so that he could fully enjoy the coolness of the lake. Thus, he changed course and headed towards their tree... the tree that he and his friends could often be found sitting under. He landed softly by the trunk and slipped his shoes of with ease. He had been a bit oblivious to his surroundings before, but now he noticed clothing in a neat pile near the water's edge. He looked around but didn't see anyone. As he scanned the water, he saw ripples on the surface followed by air bubbles rising to the top. He considered whether or not to hide as the bubbles were followed by a person. He froze, not daring to make a sound.

[Lily Evans]

Lily surfaced from benieth the waters and smiled gently to herself as she ran her fingers through her hair, not yet opening her eyes. Finally, after what seemed like a minute, she opened them and looked straight ahead, which was facing the opposite side of the lake that James was on. The night was so beautiful. Stars shone brightly over head and the cresent moon acted as a lantern, illuminating the dark grounds. She decided to dive under once more, then come back up and head for shore.

She let her body sink back into the water and she swam closer to shore. Once she reached where she could stand, she surfaced and once again ran her fingers through her long red hair and her green eyes fluttered open, but she fell back in surprise when she saw James sittign there. She let out a yelp when she realized she was standing in the water up to her hips and all she was wearing was her red bra and underware. Her face went as red as her hair and she sunk down into the water slowly.

"James!" she yelled, not even bothering to call him by his last name as she normally did. "Wh-what are you doing here?" she asked him, still shocked and embarrassed by the fact that he had seen her in her undergarments.

[James Potter]

Even though the moon was out, it reflected in such a way that the swimmer was in silhouette. He couldn't tell who it was, but he could tell that it was a girl... a girl who, judging by the clothes up on the grass, was wearing very little or nothing. James couldn't help but smile at his luck. As the girl went back under the water, James considered hiding up in or behind the tree. However, he hadn't made his decision quick enough. Before he could move at all, the person again appeared above the water... this time much closer to the shore and to where he stood. As the girl emerged she was no longer cloaked in the shadow of the moon but fully visible to James.

Being a typical guy his eyes did not immediately go to her face but instead were attracted to her nearly bare chest. She was wearing red lace and James could only think that he must have been dreaming. He was not knocked out of his dreamlike state until her shriek pierced the night air.

"James! Wh-what are you doing here?"

He didn't need to look at her face to realize who it was he had just been oogling; he would recognize that voice anywhere. Still, he was in a state of deisbelief. Thousands of things ran through his mind. What is Lily doing up in the middle of the night? Why is she swimming by herself? SHe wears lacy red undergarments? He smiled a big grin at this last thought, but it didn't last as she ducked down back into the water. He considered her question, and looked at the broom in his hand. He would have thought it would have been quite obvious. "I might ask you the same question" he said, avoiding any kind of real answer that might get him into trouble. After all he had stumbled onto a prefect... though she was clearly not on duty at the moment, as far as he could tell.

[Lily Evans]

Lily felt his eyes on her and her cheeks whent even reder. He was eyeing her. She bit her bottomg lip and attepmted to cover her chest a bit more. Why was it that she always ended up running into him in all the most awkward situations? She let a small sigh escape her lips as she stayed in the wate. How was she going to explain this? She was a prefect.

"I um..." she was at a bit of a loss for words. "I needed to clear my head.." she said quietly. She looked at the broom in his hands and grinned slightly. "If I know you at all, I'd guess that you were doing the same thing." Everyone at the school knew that whenever Potter needed to clear that big head of his, he would go flying, but why was he still up at two in the morning?

"Can you please do me the favor of turning around so I can come out of here and get dressed. I'd rather not have those eyes of yours scanning me up and down." she said in a slightly annoyed tone.

[James Potter]

James knew that he had caught her in a rather unfortunate and embarassing situation. He realized that this gave him the upper hand and he vowed not to waste the opportunity.

"I um... I needed to clear my head... If I know you at all, I'd guess that you were doing the same thing."

He couldn't help but smile. "Really? And I thought you didn't care to know anything about me" he said a bit smugly. He couldn't help but be overjoyed at the moment. He was out in the middle of the night with a half naked Lily Evans. Hadn't he dreamt about this numerous times. Sure, maybe not exactly this scenario, but... you take what you can get. He was brought out of these thoughts by her next request.

"Can you please do me the favor of turning around so I can come out of here and get dressed. I'd rather not have those eyes of yours scanning me up and down."

Obviously he should have expected her to say something like this. Did he really expect her to go waltzing around in her underwear in front of him. Well... a guy could dream, couldn't he? He sighed. "What would you do if I said no?" He couldn't help himself, he had to mess with her a little bit...

[Lily Evans]

The water was cooling down a bit and Lily shivered slightly, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. At his comment, she was again at a loss for words. He was right, she didn't care to know anything about him. Did she? Oh Merlin... he was messing with her head. "Wipe that smile off your face James. This isn't funny." she said with a small smirk on her own face. Why was she smirking? Could it be that Lily Evans was actually enjoying this a bit?

No? Her mouth dropped open and her smirk dissapeared. "You wouldn't..." she said, glaring at him. Oh.. but she knew very well that he would. "Well, then I'd just have to stay in here until you leave. " she told him, but both of them probably knew that she wouldn't.. she couldn't. It would be getting cold soon. "I swear James.. If you don't let me out of here I'll swim around until you leave."

[James Potter]

James saw her shiver a bit and realized that the water was probably cold for someone wearing next to nothing. Of course, he wasn't going to make her freeze to death, but she was being so stubborn.

"Wipe that smile off your face James. This isn't funny."

He couldn't help but let out a little laugh at this. Her voice didn't sound as stern and despising as it usually did... I'm making some progress he thought encouragingly to himself. "On the contrary, I find it immensely funny" he said, still laughing at her predicament.

"You wouldn't... Well, then I'd just have to stay in here until you leave. I swear James.. If you don't let me out of here I'll swim around until you leave."

She was so stubborn. He knew that she would rather give herslef pneumonia than give in. Obviously he didn't want her to come to any harm. But, at the same time, he could be just as stubborn as she was. Without a word he sat down on the grass defiantly, facing her as he leaned his back up against the tree trunk. A huge smile plastered itself on his face. He watched her continue to fidget around for a while, trying to cover herself up. After sitting there for a while an intriguing thought came to his mind. He wasn't quite sure how she'd react. "If we're going to be here for a while... do you mind if I join you?" he asked in a joking manner. He wasn't entirely serious... that is, unless she said yes.

[Lily Evans]

Lily rolled her eyes at his laughing. Why must he be so... Oh... she couldn't even think of the right word to describe James. He was a mixture of many different things that gave her so many mixed feelings. He was an annoyance, yet.. it was a bit fun. The rivalry between the two kept her going. Without it, life you be simply... boring.

'Join me?'

At that, her temper rose slightly and she glared at him. "Yes as a matter of fact, I do mind! Do you really think I would-" she could finish her sentence because something grabbed onto her ankle and began to pull her into the dark depths of the Black Lake. She looked down at her ankle as she was being dragged down and saw that it was a gryndillow. These blasted little thigs were tiny, yet really powerful and it was hard to free yourself from one when you were without a wand. Lily struggled to get herself free, but.. no use. Her only hope was James... and at this point, she didn't care if he saw her in her undergarments.

[James Potter]

"Yes as a matter of fact, I do mind! Do you really think I would-"

James rolled his eyes as well as he listened to her angry protests. He would have been lying if he said that he had not expected her to say no. Still, he was slightly disappointed in her. Didn't she ever let loose and just have a good time. Well, apparently she did he thought considering her midnight skinny dipping. Just not around me. This thought was depressing as well.

James had sort of tuned Lily's answer out as soon as he confirmed that she was against the thought of him stripping down to join her. However, the fact that she suddenly stopped caught his attention. "What? Cat got your to-" he stopped when he realized that she had suddenly gone under water. He wasn't sure if she was just trying to avoid him or... something else. He got up and sauntered to the edge of the lake to see if she was alright.

[Lily Evans]

Lily was loosing air fast. How could she get James to help her? She felt as if she was going to die. Her life began to flash before her eyes. But there was one thing that stuck out. James. In all of her memories, he was always there. Making some annoying comment, or just being.. well, James. In those few seconds, she realized that she wasn't actually annoyed with James... but she did feel something for him.

She tried to escape again, but failed. She then did the only thing she could think of, she blew bubbles until she was out of air, hopefully, James would see them and know she was in trouble. If he didn't come... she would die...

[James Potter]

It didn't take James too long to realize that she couldn't possibly be able to hold her breath that long. He panicked. He knew that she had just wanted him to go away and would probably hate him forever for seeing her so exposed. But, at the same time he couldn't let her drown. So, despite the fact that Lily might never forgive him, he made the split second desicion to dive in after her. Not bothering to disrobe, he jumped into the water. His first thought was that Lily had vastly exaggerated the water's temperature... it wasn't that cold. But, then again, he did have clothes on.

He swam as fast as he could out to the spot where it seemed she had gone under. He took one last gasp of air before diving under to find her. He spotted her almost immediately by the small air bubbles that were coming out of her mouth. He swam past her and pointed his wand at the creature attatched to her ankle. He tried to say the words, but nothing came out. Shit! he thought. He tried to grab the things hand to pry it off, but it was just too strong. James himself was running out of breath, so he could only imagine what state Lily was in. In a last act of desperation, James aimed his wand at the grindylow again and thought about the spell with all of his concentration. To his great relief the spell emerged and struck the creature in the face. It immediately let go. James grabbed Lily around the waist and pulled her to the surface, unsure if she was concious or not.

[Lily Evans]

Please James... hurry...' she thought to herself. Finally, she saw Jame swimming towards her and she felt a bit relieved. But when he failed to cast the spell, she paniced. She gave him a look as if to say 'Please' but then, he cast the spell in his head and the Grindillow let go and swam away. She felt his arms wrap around her and she was about to help swim, when she fianlly passed out.

Lily had never been a perdicalment quite like this. It was quite scary. When she was down there, all she could think of was the people in her life... and how she had treated James. In those few seconds, all she wanted to do was apologize to him. All the had ever tried to do was impress her... and she always just shot him down.

[James Potter]

James gasped for air as he reached the surface. He pulled Lily up next to him, but she merely hung limp in his arms. Shit. Shit. Shit. he thought to himself. He headed for the shore, though his swimming was considerably slowed down by the fact that he had to support another person. It seemed to take an eternity to reach the shore and the whole way his head was bombarded with nerve-racking thoughts. What if he had been to late? What if he had taken too long in getting that damn thing off of her?

He was extremely grateful when his foot finally struck ground. He hoisted Lily up into his arms and ran as fast as he could the rest of the way out of the water and onto the lawn. As he set her down on the grass, she didn't move. He didn't know what to do. Was she dead? He considered trying to revive her, but wasn't sure if that was the best idea or if he even knew how. He could run to the hospital wing and wake up Madam Pince or one of the other teachers. But that might take too long. Plus, both of them would most definately end up in serious trouble. He was already wasting valuble time standing there thinking about it. In a split decision he knelt down next to her and brought his mouth to hers. He had never performed CPR before, but was smart enough to know that it involved trying to force the air into the person's lungs and the water out. For a fleeting moment he realized that he was finally getting to kiss Lily... well, sort of. But this moment passed rather quickly as he came up for a breath, then returned to trying to revive her.

[Lily Evans]

Lily must have been unconsious for two minutes before air finally filled her lungs. She rolled over onto her side and coughed out the remaining water in her lungs. She lay there for at least a minute before she sat up and looked at James. Then, she smacked him across the face, but not to hard. "That was for not saving me sooner..." she said, then she did something he would have never expected. She pulled him into a deep kiss. When she pulled away, she gently bit his bottom lip and then smiled at him. "And that was for saving me." she said softly.

She looked out at the lake for a minute before she spoke, not bothering to wait for James' reaction. "James... I'm sorry." she started. "I know that all you've tried to do is impress me and all I've ever done was shot you down im mid-air. I shouldn't have. I was just being stubborn. When I was down there.. all I could think about was how mean I've been to you, and all I wanted to do was see you one last time and apologize. " she looked back up at him. "So, I'm sorry."