Title: Catgirl
Ship: Lily/James
Name/Pen Name: Cat/Placid Destruction
Word Count: 1,567
Theme #/Theme: 3/Your Choice
Challenge count: 4/7 finished

Content: PG
Spoilers: Books 1-5
Warnings: None...except that I'm incredibly unhappy with parts of this one.
Summary: Lily and James just want to be alone, but Sirius insists on interrupting them.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Catgirl

One cold winter night, Lily and James could be found in the Gryffindor common room on a couch by the fire, sitting close together and speaking so low that no one else could hear what they were saying.

They had been dating for exactly one month and three days, and they were still receiving bewildered looks from people in the corridors between classes or in the Great Hall at meals or in class or even while they were just sitting in the common room. But most of the time, they didn’t even notice the looks. They were too distracted by each other.

It was amazing how taken they both were by each other. Even their friends hadn’t realized how perfect they were for each other (although Sirius swore that he had known since the first day of their first year), and nobody would have guessed that Lily had spent the greater part of the past two years avoiding and rejecting James.

Even Lily didn’t like to admit that she had been wrong. But it wasn’t entirely her fault. James had been different before, but he had changed. He had changed for her.

That was how she had known that he was serious. He wouldn’t have changed so drastically if he hadn’t cared for her a great deal. So, she had thrown all caution to the wind and agreed to go out with him.

They had spent much of the past month exactly as they were now – snuggled together in the common room or in the library or outside in the snow, talking and laughing quietly.

“Have you finished your Transfiguration essay yet?” Lily was asking.

“Of course not,” James replied with a twinkle in his eye. “Don’t you know me better than that?”

Lily sighed. “James, it’s due tomorrow.”

“I’ll finish it tonight. Besides, I’m the top of our year in Transfiguration. I’m sure I can make something up and still pass.”

Lily smiled. Normally, she would have condoned James’s behavior, but she had recently come to accept the fact that she could only make him change so much. Some things would never change, and there was nothing she could do about it.

“It’s rather quiet around here,” Lily said, glancing around the common room. “Where are your friends?”

“Remus is patrolling,” was the answer. “And Peter and Sirius have detention. They should be back soon though.”

As if on cue, Sirius Black stumbled through the portrait hole and plopped himself down in a chair by the couch where Lily and James were seated. He looked tired.

“How was detention?” James asked cheerfully.

Sirius looked at him, his face void of all emotion except exhaustion.

“You know,” he said bluntly. “One day reality’s going to hit, and you two won’t be so happy all the time. I’ll even throw you a ‘welcome back to the real world’ party.”

Lily and James didn’t seem fazed by his comments.

“But as for detention,” Sirius continued. “It was hell. We had to polish the trophies in the trophy room again. You know, I think those things multiply at night when no one’s watching.”

“It’s possible,” James said. “Where’s Peter? Wasn’t he with you?”

A small smile crept over Sirius’s face.

“Yeah, he was with me,” he replied. “But just as Filch was letting us leave, Peter managed to knock over a rather large trophy that hit Filch and knocked him to the ground. It was rather funny, but Peter had to stay and do extra work because of it.”

“Poor Peter,” Lily said quietly.

“Yeah, poor Peter,” Sirius repeated. “But you didn’t see the look on Filch’s face as the trophy teetered back and forth on its pedestal before finally situating itself on top of him.

“And speaking of knocking people over,” he continued. “I nearly ran some girl over on my way back to the common room.”

“Which girl?” Lily asked.

“Erm.” Sirius thought about it for a moment. “I think it was that cat girl. I was just in such a hurry to get away before Filch made me do extra work that I turned the corner and ran into her, but she wasn’t paying attention and nearly fell backward.”

“Cat girl?” James repeated. “The Hufflepuff with about twenty cats?”

Sirius shook his head. “No, not that cat girl. The other one.”

“There’s another cat girl?”

“Well, maybe she wasn’t the cat girl. I didn’t really look, but I think it was…the other one though.”

“Not the Hufflepuff?”

“No, no.” He stopped to think again. “Ravenclaw, I think. She’s short with black hair about shoulder length. Rather clumsy.”

Lily giggled.

“You mean Cat?” she asked.

Sirius nodded. “That’s what I said!” he insisted. “The Cat girl.”

“Her name is Cat?” James still seemed confused. “I thought you meant that she owned a cat.”

“No, he means Cat,” Lily told him. “That’s her name.”

“I don’t know who she is,” James said. “She’s a Ravenclaw, you said?”

“Yeah.”

“She’s a sixth year,” said Lily.

Sirius sat up and looked around the room.

“I’ll be right back,” he said suddenly and then left the common room through the portrait hole.

It was late, and Lily was getting tired. She pulled her feet underneath her so that she was curled up like a cat and rested her head on James’s chest.

Soon, Sirius returned, a dazed-looking girl behind him.

Lily lifted her head slightly as the two entered the room and smiled at the girl.

“There,” Sirius said triumphantly. “I found her. This is Cat.”

Cat was taking in her surroundings.

“How do,” she said absently to Lily and James.

“Sirius, you didn’t have to drag her in here,” Lily said, laughing. “I already know Cat, and I’m sure James believed that she was real.”

“Hmm?” The girl seemed to realize that they were talking about her. “You’ve been talking about me before I came here?”

“Sirius was just telling us about how he almost ran you over in the hallway,” James explained.

“Oh,” she said. “Well, it’s been nice, but I think I should go. I shouldn’t be in here anyway.”

Sirius snorted. “Ravenclaws have no sense of adventure.”

Cat’s demeanor suddenly changed completely. She stopped looking around and focused on Sirius, her facial expression hardening. Then she sat down in a chair across from his and folded her arms across her chest.

“Never mind,” she said. “I think I’ll stay. After all, if two Gryffindors can be smart enough to be named Head Boy and Girl,” she pointed to Lily and James, “then I think that a Ravenclaw or two is allowed to be a little brave.”

“You don’t care if you get in trouble?” James asked.

Cat shook her head. “I hope I do!”

Lily smiled and glanced up at James and Sirius. Neither one seemed to know what to make of the girl. In the meantime, Cat had begun to study the Gryffindor common room once again. Her eyes finally came to rest on Lily and James – Lily with her head on James’s chest and James stroking Lily’s hair.

“You two seem quite happy together,” she observed.

“I worked hard enough for it,” James muttered.

Cat nodded. “I know your story. I think it’s sweet.”

Lily smiled. “Thank you.”

“Well, I think I ought to be going,” Cat said, standing up. “I think I’ve been here long enough. Have a nice night.”

“Bye.”

“What an odd girl,” Sirius commented once she had left the room. “Do you think she knows that she was only here for about three minutes?”

“She didn’t want to get in trouble,” Lily said. “She’s a Ravenclaw. They follow rules. You should have known better than to drag her up here.”

“You’re right,” Sirius replied. “I’ve learned my lesson. Now, can I go to bed?”

“Of course.” Lily laughed. “I’m not stopping you.”

“Goodnight, you two,” Sirius said as he stood and stretched before heading toward the dormitories. “If I wake up in the middle of the night and you’re not in your bed again, Prongs, I’m going to come find you and drag you there myself. Sleeping on the couch can’t be good for your back.”

“I’ll be up in a little while,” James assured him.

Once Lily and James were alone again, Lily looked at James and asked when he planned on finishing his essay.

“I’ll do it after you go to bed,” he assured her.

“Then I think I’ll go now,” she said, starting to get up.

James grabbed Lily by the waist, lifted her from the couch and positioned her back on top of him like she had been before. Lily began to laugh and kick her feet in an attempt to get away, but he held her still so that she couldn’t leave.

“Please let me go, James,” Lily pleaded, her eyes glimmering with laughter. “I’m tired.”

“No, you’re not,” he replied. “You just want me to do my homework. I’ll get it done, Lily. I promise.”

Lily sighed and gave up. She knew that James would do as he pleased no matter what.

Moving closer to him, she repositioned her head on his chest. She barely felt him kiss the top of her head as she began to fall asleep.

When Remus and Peter returned to the common room only minutes later, they found both Lily and James asleep on the couch, James’s essay still incomplete.

It was sweet!

Thanks!