Chapter 49

"Run, James!" Nora exclaimed, her hand intertwined with his as they ran down the hall of the train, ignoring the protests from the ticket man behind them, frantically trying to keep up with the two teenagers slipping through people, hiding in compartments, laughing their heads off as they dodged the ticket man for a few moments, purposely allowing him to up with them until they sped off again, running close to each other, James' arm around Nora, a wide grin on her lips as she stumbled ever so slightly, losing her balance only for him to catch her.

The train they were on came to a stop at a place that definitely wasn't the destination of the two, but they didn't care all that much, with the large backpacks that contained their lives, they didn't mind much, they wondered how they were able to get past so many people with so much stuff with them, weighing them down, but the adrenaline had kicked in, and missing the ticket man swiftly, both teenagers slid past him, the shortest of the two, the girl with the cheeky smirk stopped, risking everything to throw the man a wink, and soon did she hurry off the train after James, only for the door to close in the man's face, watching with fury in his eyes as the two waved to him.

Nora couldn't help her laughs, her head thrown back, the bun atop of her head falling out of place and soon did her hair tumble down her back, framing her face, showing off the wide grin she wore perfectly, James was grinning at her, shaking his head with disbelief, chuckles tumbling from his lips as he stared at the girl clad in shorts far too short for the night weather soon to come and his t-shirt - that she had stolen - tucked into them, with Remus' denim jacket thrown over it, the memory of him realising that he had took it replayed in James mind, they were half way down the road leading away from the home when Remus came rushing after them, "protect it, Nora, you better," he warned, shoving something into the pockets before patting her head, pulling her into another hug.

"Can you believe it?!" she exclaimed, her arms flailing around as she danced around him, jumping happily, swaying to the music in her mind, "we beat him, we didn't get caught!"

"We're two crazy teenagers," James teased, quickly reaching out for her, his hands on her waist, his smile wide as he pulled her into him, "how do you suppose we get to London now?"

"Well, we could always wait for the next train, or if you really want to be a crazy teenager we can find some cargo train stop and train hop for a bit?" she asked, "saves us from running away from angry ticket men."

"You know, I did have enough money to pay him," James laughed softly, "real life muggle money!"

"Well, my dear boy," she giggled, patting his cheek, "it's all part of the experience!"

"Ah, yes," James smirked, intertwining their fingers together, reaching forward to press his lips to hers, quickly attempting to deepen the kiss but soon did she pull away, a wink thrown in his direction.

"Oh please, James Potter," she giggled, "no French kissing until France!"

He laughed, shaking his head as she pulled him along, "cargo stops are usually not too far from train stations," she mumbled, pulling on the strap of her bag, a smile on her lips.

"Well we need to make it to London by ten tonight," James chuckled, "or we're never getting to Paris."

"Oh, we're getting to Paris," Nora spoke, "even if it's the last thing we do, we're going to bloody Paris!"

"Eager to French kiss?" asked James, seeing the smile twitching at her lips, rolling her eyes as she pushed him.

"You're an arse," she scoffed, shaking her head, giggles finally tumbling from her lips when she guided his hand over her shoulder, clutching onto it, and soon wrapping her arm around him tightly, "but you're my arse."

"I'm sure that's what Adria said to Sirius," James smirked, "goodness, Nora, you can't even think of your own lines!"

"Oh, shut up, you're more of an arse than Sirius, so it applies!" she exclaimed, bumping him with her hip, watching him stumble, and soon pulling her with him, "that was uncalled for."

"It really wasn't," James chuckled, walking through the small town they had made their way into in a search for a cargo stop, he didn't have much clue as to what it was, instead, he was letting Nora look for whatever it was, seeing as she was the one who most about it all, he thought it better for her to do it.

The town looked rather small as they walked down the main street, but they hadn't seen much of it to judge, and well, they weren't staying long, simply stopping by on the lookout for something. James felt helpless as Nora looked around, a frown on her lips, stopping for a few moments and then starting to walk again, it was odd, but again, she knew what she was doing.

Her eyes brightened as they spotted something up ahead, a metal fence, a track behind it, there was no doubt about it, and soon did Nora's grip tighten on James' hand as she pulled him across the road, just missing the car that honked it's horn far too many times.

It wasn't that drastic, Nora thought.

"Can you believe we found one!" Nora exclaimed, a grin on her lips as she turned excitedly to a smiling James.

"You found it, Nora," James chuckled, pushing her over the fence and soon climbing it himself, reaching for her hand to help with a hand to jump down, "I stood and watched."

"Well I just know what we're looking for, if you did, you would've looked too," Nora smiled, pressing a kiss to his cheek, "and for that, I'm grateful."

-

"I'm bored," Nora grumbled, leaning against a tree, most cargo trains travelled through London, or near London anyway, so finding one on the track they were facing would get them closer to London anyway, the only problem is, there hadn't been any trains in the last two hours.

"I know," James nodded, his forehead against the tree behind her, a sigh escaping his lips, "you've told me three times."

"James Potter is that annoyance laced within your tone?!" Nora gasped, clutching a hand over her heart as the boy looked up, a small smile on his lips as he reached for her, pushing her against the tree ever so slightly, his smile forming into a smirk.

"So, what if it is?" he asked, his head titled to the side, pushing himself forward, taking a step forward so that they were flush against each other, one hand on her waist and the other on her thigh, trailing soft patterns with his thumb over the skin, watching her take the skin of her bottom lip between her teeth.

"I was merely asking a question," she shrugged, her eyes wide, innocent looking but she was far from it. Her head titled ever so slightly to the side, her smile widening on her lips, and soon did her eyes, not so subtly, and very slowly trail down to his lips, heaving her shoulders as she slowly bit her lip, feeling him tense against her, "something wrong, James?"

"I can't wait until France," he spoke, and soon his hands where on the side of her face, pulling her closer, his lips pushed against hers hungrily, passionately, begging for something that she so willingly gave. She laughed against his lips as he pulled on her thighs, soon did she wrap them around his waist. The cargo stop was completely isolated of anyone, but they were in public nonetheless, but neither of them seemed to care as their lips moved together.

"Do you just like kissing me?" asked Nora, a giggle falling from her lips as she pulled away from him, jumping from his waist, wrapping her arms around him, leaning her head on his chest, "I'm sorry for being annoying."

"Oh please," James shook his head, "you could never annoy me, I was frustrated because I was bored too, but I'm certainly not anymore."

"Oh merlin you're so-" she cut herself off when she heard the noise, and with a smirk, she turned to him suddenly, grabbing his bag and handing it to him, speaking, "ready to jump?"

"What, Nora?!"

"Come on, or we'll miss it!" she laughed, pulling him along, ready to look for an empty, the cargo train was going to slow down any minute to load up at the next stop, or it was going to keep going, thankfully it wasn't speeding past, making it a perfect time for the two to jump, who knows when the next train would be.

"Nora- I can't," James shook his head furiously, wide eyed, "merlin, Nora, you didn't tell me anything about Jumping!"

"Because I thought you'd be cool with it!" she laughed, watching the train round the corner, they had a few minutes before it would pass them, and Nora was sure a few minutes was all she would need to convince him, "James I'd never let anything hurt you, bloody hell!"

"I know- it's not me, it's- what if you get hurt?" he asked, shaking his head, frowning, "what if you jump, and you miss it, and you fall?"

"Then I get back up again, James," she sighed, smiling softly as she hurried towards him, pushing her lips to his, "we're crazy teenagers, James Potter, let's act like some!"

"Nora-"

"We can go back to the train station if you want to James, I'm not going to make you do something you don't want to," she whispered, pressing her lips to his cheek softly, "I would never- but train hopping is part of the experience, it's an adventure in itself and I want you to experience everything, with adventuring, with me, I want to do everything with you James, you don't need to use me as an excuse, if you're scared, I'll hold your hand, I was terrified the first time I jumped onto a moving train, it doesn't go fast, it won't sweep you away, it's holding weight, it can't go as fast as a passenger train," she spoke reassuringly, pressing her lips to his for a second time.

His eyes scanned the train, it was still at least two minutes away, way up ahead as the two waited for it, he wanted to do it for Nora, and whilst she saw right through his lies, he didn't know, she knew he was scared, and whilst he was, he still wanted to do it.

"Come on, James, show me your courageous side," Nora smirked, watching him turn to her, seeing the cheeky smile wide on her lips, "take my hand."

"I'm not scared."

"James-"

"I'm fine Nora, I'm not scared."

She rolled her eyes at his stubbornness, "fine, I'm scared, hold my hand, James."

"What?!2

"I'm terrified, I need you to take my hand," she spoke, reaching out her hand, taking a deep breath, and soon, quickly, tightly, did his hand reach for hers, lacing their fingers together, pulling her closer, he knew she wasn't scared.

But she knew him all too well.

"Alright on the count of three James, we jump."

"Are we going to die?" he asked, turning to her, seeing the small smile twitching at her lips. The train was right at them now, passing them, sweeping their hair, blowing the cold breeze in their direction.

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

"Jump!"

She squealed as she pulled him with her, jumping with him and soon did they both land into the empty compartment, by sheer luck, they ended in a compartment with the door open and not on the side of the train, shuffling along looking for one just like the one they had stumbled into.

She let a laugh escape her lips as she slipped her bag off, she had lost James' hand in the process, and when she looked over to him he was wide eyed, shocked, he did it, he actually did it, with the help of his wonderful girlfriend, he had successfully jumped onto a train.

She crawled over to him, sitting herself on his lap, wrapping her arms around his waist as they sat in the empty space, a giggle falling from her lips as he snapped from his daze, automatically holding her hips as she sat on him, smirking down at him, leaning forward to steal a kiss, running a hand through his hair softly to calm him.

"My courageous Gryffindor," she whispered into his ear just after she had kissed him, pressing her lips to the skin of his earlobe, brushing them down his neck as he tightened his grip on her.

"My crazy Hufflepuff," he smirked, laughing as the grin erupted onto her lips.

"We did it!"

"Merlin, Nora, we did."