[b]Better at second glance[/i]

Chapter 1

It was one of those typical Saturdays in the Gryffindor common room. The four marauders sat at their table brooding over their predictions for the divination class. These four young men were none other than James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupine. They were mostly to be found in this group. At most they only went to the toilet on their own.
"Tell me, James," Sirius began out of the blue and tossed his quill aside. "What's the trash good for? I mean, we've been doing ... how many years now, Remus?"
"Sirius ... you've been fortune-telling since the third year of school, you should be able to buckle it by now," he just mumbled and bent over your arithmetic book, brushing a strand of hair behind his ear that had fallen back into his field of vision.
"Oh, right ... you nerd preferred the weird stuff"
"It's not weird!It's infinitely interesting! "
"Yes, yes, it's good, it's interesting and you're calm," Sirius grumbled and leaned back in his chair. He folded his arms behind his neck and yawned heartily once. "How far are you, James?"
"Leg May 27th, so soon finished-", but suddenly he stopped and looked at the young woman who was just coming into the common room. He had hardly seen her all day. Just in Defense Against the Dark Arts, then she was gone again.Probably to the library,he said to himself. He had just got up and was about to see her, when Sirius grabbed his cloak and pulled him back onto the chair.
"She was definitely back with the fat-haired slipper in the dungeon," he muttered softly and waited until Lily had left the room.
All eyes were now on James. How long has he been trying to talk to Lily? Since four years? Since five? It was hopeless that even James should have finally learned that.She didn't want anything to do with him.
"Crown, don't stiffen up in anything"
"Yes, but ...", but then he preferred to pause and take his planet map. Actually, they were all right. The two had become student representatives that year, but had hardly exchanged a word except that it was necessary. She distanced herself from him and he had no idea why something like that could be. But it annoyed James even more that the woman of his dreams was always with Severus. What did this guy have that he didn't have?
"Guys, I have a vision right now!" Sirius began to be silly. He held one hand over his forehead and held the other up in the air, just as the teacher always did for this subject. "I see it very clearly before my eyes. Our dear Krone will fall down the stairs tomorrow because certain people look too long as it is good for him. I see him trapped in a trick step and fell long on the floor of the Great Hall!"
"Shut up, Sirius!", he hissed at him. He rammed his elbow into his friend's ribs and stood up. He packed his things in his pocket without further ado, didn't even close the inkwell. Everything was too stupid for him again Hagrid! "And with that, James disappeared from the room. If he could, he would have slammed the portal door behind him with full force.
"Our crown is in love, our crown is in love!" Sirius exclaimed loudly and began to prance around the table. Peter did the same, only Remus sat over his book and tried to concentrate with the whole noise. It was always the same with both of them. As hateful as Sirius was to James, the two were also attached to each other. There was not a day when they didn't eat anything they had to sit down for. As many visits as these two have already had at Dumbledore's, they could have moved into the office straight away. Or at least pitch a tent, because tomorrow they would be there again at the latest.He was certain.
"Can't you make the noise down?"
"Oh Remus, now don't be like that. Here you are not prefect, here you are our Moony, so put the book down and join in," Sirius said again.
"No need, thank you." He just got up from his seat. But instead of following James, as they'd thought, he went the other way. And worse, he went up to the girls' room.
Peter and Sirius both stared at each other, even pausing in motion. "Um," came from both of them at the same time, but then Remus was already locked behind the door. Behind Lily's door.
That was really hard to believe. What did he want with her now? They all knew that the young woman was popular everywhere. That James wanted to be with her and had the best chances, but Severus came as a rival, because he also seemed very interested. But Remus? Both shook their heads in confusion. That was really too much for a woman.Three men who were after them. How could she go one step further without being followed? With a shrug, the two remaining sat down on their chairs and brooded over the books, because annoying someone who didn't answer or wasn't even there was not really fun and so you could devote yourself to homework.

Only in the evening did James come back into the room. Everything was quiet, the fireplace crackled. Winter was slowly approaching, it was cold outside. The young man had his broom under his arm, he had just returned from Quidditch training. He was frozen to the bone, but he felt fine. Even a cold was nothing to spoil his mood. He climbed the stairs to his room. He fired the things on his bed and looked around. Nobody was there. James raised an eyebrow and looked at the clock.
Then he let his head fall forward. Then it occurred to him. It was time for dinner now.And so it was no wonder that no one was there anymore. But he didn't feel like going under it either. He wanted to go swimming first.
And so James grabbed his bathing suit, put on his invisibility cloak, and disappeared from the tower. He knew the routes by heart, he no longer needed the marauder's map. And so he stood in front of the prefect's bathroom. "Sea breeze," he said and the door popped open.
But not only did he jump, but someone else entirely.
The young man heard a rather squeaky scream and his eyes widened at the sight that was presented to him. He was still under the cloak, but the cloak slowly fell to the ground so that first his head, then the rest of it, came to light.
The guest in the bathroom swam behind the large, central point of the faucets and later only looked outside. Her red hair hung down her body, her green eyes sparkled like stars.
"Lily ... I ..." James stammered and wanted to step out, but the door was closed again behind him.He was still standing there, staring at the young woman. His face must have been bright red by now, but there was little he could do about it. Despite all the outward signs, he smiled happily. There he was in the bathroom with the woman of his dreams - at least if she stayed.
She felt that she was being watched, scratching more and more bubbles around her body. She didn't even know what to do. It was so strange. So far she had always been able to bathe alone at this time, but now there was someone in the bathroom. Your colleague as head boy. He was covered in mud from head to toe and his knees were grazed. Had he fallen off the broom again? Has he hit the ground? She shook her head imperceptibly, but remained a little hidden.
"Do you want to stay there forever, James?" He asked her calmly, looking at him.
"So ... actually ..." What should he say to that now? He couldn't just step into the water with her and pretend she was air.Just the thought that she was as naked in the water as he was about to be made the blush of shame even more in his face.
He stood there rooted to the spot. He couldn't go back or forward. He was caught between wanting and being able. But what did he actually want? Did he want to join her in the water or would he rather flee? Could he just dare to bathe with her or would he just have more problems afterwards? If someone found out about what was happening here, what would happen to them? He didn't want her to have problems, to deal with the school administration about such things.
How the wheels turned in his head, Lily could see that well enough even from a long way off. She closed her eyes for a moment, then finally gave up. James would freeze to death outside and she would surely be completely shriveled soon. With a few short strokes, she swam to the edge of the pool and put her arms on it."Can you at least give me my things then, James?"
She looked up at him with her big cat eyes. She even thought there was something cute about James. They both came to Hogwarts on the same day, seven years ago the hat split them into the Gryffindor house. And from then on they ran into each other every day. But each time James had a tendency to cause trouble. He couldn't help it, apparently, but he was an arrogant show-off. He thought he was better and as soon as the other three boys were behind him, he couldn't be stopped. But the way she looked at him, this rough man also seemed to have a soft core. He might even look vulnerable in a sense. His hair, otherwise indomitable, hung limply from his head. It had to rain during training, even storms were perfectly normal at this time of the year.
Minutes seemed to pass in which the two just looked at each other and tried to fathom the deeper inside of the other.Years seemed to pass when James finally managed to free his body from rigidity. It wasn't a long way to her belongings. They were maybe half a meter behind him, but that one seemed infinite to him.If only I could stay with her longer,his heart longed. But without giving away another thought of the daydreams, he reached for her bathrobe. It was very soft and her initials were embroidered.Lily Evans
In the next moment, however, he realized what all of this would mean. She would rise out of the water and most likely not be harmed. Just thinking about that made him blush again. He hadn't felt this way in ages, if he had ever felt this way anyway. Sure, she wouldn't be the first woman in his life, but she was very special. For years he had courted