Matter of the heart
"God, Lily! If you ogle him that way any longer, whole Hogwarts will know that you're in love with him!", Alice sighed, ignoring McGonagalls glare.
The redhead glared at her as well. "I don't ogle him."
"Sure you do. Lily, I mean, it's totally comprehensible. He's the hottest guy at school."
Lily shrugged. "Doesn't help. I mean, he's over me, Alice. He doesn't like me that way anymore."
"Why do you think that?"
The redhead sighed. "He's my partner, we're Head Boy and Girl. I could tell if he did."
Alice rolled her eyes. "Really, Lily. That's hardly evidence. We'll check it out."
"And how do you-"
"Prewett and Evans, if my lesson is that boring, maybe you should leave the room. I don't want to boring you!", McGonagall interrupted with twang.
"Believe me, Lily, we will."
.:::.
A few days later, a Friday night, Alice had put her plan into action. A big party in the Gryffindor Common Room.
She had forced Lily to wear something cheekier and sat now with the redhead and boyfriend Frank Longbottom on the couch and watched the other people partying.
"C'mon, Lily, just ask him to dance. You're nearly friends. He won't reject you. It's just a dance." Alice was nearly pleading and Lily being Lily was really stubborn.
As if he knew they were talking about him, James Potter turned around and waved at them.
"And he's coming over!", Alice breathed in sing-sang-voice.
And he did. And while he did, Lily's heart beat erratically.
"Hi!", he smiled and ran his hand through his raven black, scrubby hair.
Lily knew she was blushing. "Hi."
"Eh…yeah…well…", he laughed awkward. "Very nice party, Alice. Good job."
She grinned. "Yeah. But James, our dearest Lily over here really wants to dance with you."
Lily turned scarlet and she felt if someone punched her in the stomach. How could Alice do that? She didn't even dare to look at James.
"Well…", the blushing boy murmured. "If you want, who would I be to reject you?", he mumbled embarrassed and took Lily's hand carefully.
And while he lifted her from the couch, Alice laughed slightly. "Have fun."
Lily really felt like dreaming as she walked hand in hand with James Potter to the dance floor. Everything felt that surreal. And everything was so embarrassing!
James seemed a little more self confident again and when he turned towards her, he smiled. "Look, let's just try to have fun, alright? There's no need to feel that awkward. It's just us, Head Boy and Girl, remember?"
Lily swallowed slightly. If he only knew! She nodded and allowed him to pull her into his arms. She wrapped hers around his neck and placed her face on his soft skin. He felt him nuzzling his face into her hair and then he started to sway slightly.
Lily felt like heaven, even if her heart still pounded way too loud. She didn't know when and how she happened to fall in love with him, she just did. Maybe it was because of his hazel eyes or his messy hair or his muscular body. Or maybe it was his charm smile or the tenderness he treated her with. She couldn't really tell, but it didn't matter, did it? The fact was irrevocable: she was in love with him. And Lily was grown up enough to accept the fact.
"The song is over in a few seconds!", James whispered suddenly and a shiver ran down her spine. Why did he have to make it even harder for her? Or did he just really not know what effect he did have on her?
And then she surprised him probably even more than herself when she quietly said: "Let's just stay here, okay?"
She felt him nod even if her erratic beating heart made it difficult to feel anything but it. And then he tightened his embrace around her fragile figure and kissed her head, just very careful, feathery.
Lily felt like standing beside herself and watching herself interact with James. Everything felt surreal. Dancing with him, enjoying his presence, his feathery kiss and now her own gentle peck she placed on the soft skin of his neck.
He looked at her, his hazel eyes vulnerable and somehow…hopeful. His arms tightened around her again and he placed his chin on her head. "Flower!", he sighed. "Don't make it even harder for me, please."
Lily swallowed and stroked through the hair at the nape of his neck. Did she already mentioned that she wasn't really being herself this evening?
"Would-would it be any easier if I asked you to kiss me right now?", she asked in a low, nervous tone.
James gulped. "Lily…", he whispered, no quite sure what to say or do.
She didn't even know when she started to pull his neck forward to make contact with his lips. She just felt those two sensations: his crazy beating heart against her chest and the firework that exploded as their lips touched.
And it seemed if he felt the firework as well and that it was all the encouragement he needed because he started to deepen the kiss. His tongue darted out, caressed her lips in a oh-so-fucking-amazing way and she opened them to let him in.
James pulled her closer, so close that she more felt than heard him groan, while his tongue did the most incredible things with hers.
Panting heavily he leaned his forehead against hers.
"What does that mean, Flower?", he asked and his hazel eyes shown more hopeful than she had seen them for a very long time.
"It means that I might like you to do that a few times every day for a…long time."
His smile was wide and joyful, more joyful than she had ever seen. And he kissed her, passionately and there lay a promise in the kiss, a promise to treat her like a princess for their whole future, to love her unconditionally and as long as his heart beat.
"Thank you, Lily!", he breathed on her lips and pulled her even deeper into his body.
.:::.
Alice watched the redhead grinning.
"You really are a witch, you know that, right?", Frank whispered teasingly into her ear and chuckled lightly.
She grinned at him and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. "What can I say? Quite a good job, don't you think?"
He laughed and nodded. "Yeah. It's good that they're finally together. They kinda belong together and he's crazy for her since day one."
Alice grinned. "Let's join him." And with that she pulled her soon-to-be fiancé to the dance floor.