Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zippo. Goose egg. I got nothin'. The 'butt-faced miscreant' bit is from Gilmore Girls.

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Irresponsibility

Lily Evans was going to die.

Lily Evans didn't want to die. In fact, that was really the one thing she didn't want to do the most. If she wrote down all the things she didn't want to do, dying would be number one. Kissing James Potter was number two, followed by gouging her eyes out with a fork.

At the moment, the girl bound for death was sitting in the back of her Transfiguration classroom, banging her head against the top of her desk.

Why was she banging her head on top of her desk?

Well, she had forgotten to do her homework. It was an honest mistake, really! Anyone could have done it! After all, she did have to complete a potions essay, an astronomy chart and attend a prefect meeting the night before. It was a simple mistake, right?

Wrong.

Not completing homework for Lily Evans was like William Shakespeare laying down his quill, like the Beatles packing away their instruments, like Merlin deciding to go muggle!

Lily groaned. The rest of the class was just starting to file in, shuffling to their desks and plopping down unceremoniously in their chairs. The good, hardworking, perfect students pulled their homework from their bags and set it on their desk, chattering with the other good, hardworking, perfect students that surrounded them.

She heard something fall to the floor beside her and a chair scrape against the floor as it was pulled out, and felt a body sitting on it.

"How's it hanging, Evans?" the body asked pulling out its books and parchment.

Bloody good, hardworking, perfect body.

Lily Evans moaned in reply.

"Evans?" The body questioned, prodding her with the tip of its quill.

Lily Evans groaned once more and shuffled away from him, refusing to lift her head from her arms.

"Evvannnnss!" the body called in a sing-song voice.

Lily sat up, fixing the boy beside her with the best glare she could muster.

"Please leave me alone, Potter," she hissed at him, her eyebrows narrowed. "I'm trying to soak up as much misery and hopelessness I can before I die, and you're ruining it."

The boy furrowed his brow. "Who said anything about dying?"

"I did. Now shut up."

"May I offer my sincere opinion?"

"No."

"Alright, well, I suggest you don't die. My life would be left empty and boring, and I just don't think I could continue if you die."

He paused. "May I ask why you're going to die?"

"Yes," she replied.

"Why are you dying?"

She sighed. "Because I didn't do my homework Potter."

His face was filled with confusion. "I don't seem to understand, Evans. Why are you dying?"

"Because I didn't finish my homework, Potter," she repeated tersely, glowering at him once more.

He laughed. "That's ridiculous, Evans. There's no need for you to die, its just homework!"

Her eyes widened and she sat shocked for a few moments before crying at him, "Just homework? Just homework? You're barmy! Insane! Mad! Off your rocker!"

"My arse is perfectly situated on my rocker, thanks," he informed her, wiggling around in his chair for effect.

"How could you ever possibly think that it's okay for me not to do my homework?" she gushed. "I should be arrested or killed or sent to live with a bunch of hairy trolls that don't like to take showers!"

He quirked an eyebrow. There was seriously no reason for her to be this upset.

"There's seriously no reason for you to be this upset," he told her.

"Yes there is," she answered glumly. "I didn't do my homework."

"Well, I've got the perfect solution!" he said cheerfully, digging through his bag. He whipped out a bit of parchment with an, "Aha!" and set it down on the desk.

'What's that?" she asked uncertainly, eyeing the parchment with a suspicious look.

"Your homework," he responded happily.

She looked over the parchment, deciding that it was in no way her homework. For one, she hadn't done her homework. Secondly, the name James Potter was scrawled messily at the top. Plus, the writing was definitely his, all tall and loopy and untidy.

"This is your homework, idiot," she said, shoving it back over to him.

"Not for long!" He announced, taking out his wand and muttering "Escribires differentes!" Within a second, the writing changed from a distinctly masculine hand to softer, gentler writing. It was a perfect match for Lily's.

She gasped. "You'd let me have this? Really?"

He held up a finger. "I have one condition."

"Anything," she replied without hesitation.

"You can have it if…" he paused dramatically, leaning in to whisper in her ear. "You kiss me."

She jumped back, appalled. "In your dreams, Potter!"

"Most definitely," he replied with a suggestive grin.

She moaned, once more dropping her head into her arms while he whistled innocently beside her.

A few minutes later, he leaned down and hissed, "McGonagall'll be in here in a second, Lily. You want it or not?"

She sat up slowly, her forehead crinkled with worry, a look of complete pain filling her face.

"Fine," she said quietly.

He grinned and placed the paper in front of her.

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Lily sat on edge for the rest of the class, refusing to look at him. He kept glancing at her, smirking when a blush consumed her cheeks when she caught him out of the corner of her eye.

Finally, the bell sounded and students began to pack their bags, throwing them onto their shoulders. Lily jumped up, grabbed her bag and began to run out of the room, only to be stopped by a strong hand on her arm.

"Not so fast," James said in a low voice.

Panic overtook her. "Here? Now?" she asked quietly, glancing around in horror.

"Of course not," he replied with a smile. "I'm a classy guy."

She gulped. "O-okay. Well, where?"

"If you follow me like a good girl and don't try to run away, you don't have to hold my hand."

Her jaw dropped. "Out of all the evil, vile, terrible, heartless- I will not hold your hand, James Potter! Its bad enough I have to kiss you, now you go so far as to threaten me with hand-holding? I have no words! Oh, no, wait. I thought of some. Jerk! Ass, arrogant, inconsiderate, mindless, frat-boy, low-life, butt-faced, miscreant!"

"Butt-faced miscreant!"

"How could you ever propose something like that?"

"I'm sorry, 'butt-faced miscreant'?"

"I hate you."

"I love you," he replied, grapping her hand. "Now come on."

Lily allowed herself to be dragged out of the classroom, down a hallway, a set of stairs and another hallway, before James pulled her to a stop in front a broom cupboard.

"This is what you call classy?" she asked with a snort.

"Hey, I spent a lot of time and money getting this thing in perfect condition for our future escapades," he replied, sounding offended.

"Our future escapades?"

"Yes," he said, pulling open the door. "After you, milady."

She took a deep breath and entered, noticing that there was not one bit of decoration anywhere. No flowered curtains, a sofa or even potted plants. It looked like a regular old broom cupboard.

He slid in after her, closing the door and latching it softly.

So that's the decoration he was talking about, she thought, a lock on the inside. She rolled her eyes. Git.

She stared down at the floor, refusing to acknowledge the lack of space between them.

She took another deep breath, "Alright. Let's get this thing over with, yeah?"

"Yeah," he replied softly. "But one thing first- I just wanted to er, tell you that um…"

He's nervous! she realized, a small smile beginning to form on her lips. He was never nervous, always the very picture of confidence. Any mistake he'd ever made was flawlessly covered with a wide smirk or arrogant remark. James Potter was nervous. There was no doubt about it, if James Potter was nervous, the apocalypse was coming.

"Well, see, here's the thing. I, well, like you. I have for a long time. This… this thing we're about to do, well, it's going to mean something. To me, at least. And it's the only way… well, the only way that I could, er, think of that would make you see…" he trailed off, looking down at his shoes. After a second, he lifted his head up once more and met her eyes. "To make you see me."

Without another word, his lips descended on to hers.

Lily's head exploded. She felt the rest of the world fade away as she closed her eyes, feeling nothing but his soft lips gently moving against hers. She had kissed a few boys before, but nothing ever felt the way this did. It was indescribable, amazing, magical and terrifying all at the same time. Her lips had a mind of their own it seemed, for she didn't even notice when she began to kiss him back. His tongue ran against her bottom lip for only a millisecond before she parted her lips to allow him access. It grew intense, but remained gentle and passionate at the same time. They kissed wildly, her hand grasping at his inky black hair, tufts of it sticking out between her fingers. One arm held her tightly around her waist, while the other was laced though the auburn hair hanging lose behind her head.

Minutes later, they both pulled back, gasping for breath. Each looked as surprised at the other as they simply stared, breathing heavily.

A few seconds after, Lily tentatively reached up and ran her thumb over his cheek. His eyes widened and she felt him shiver under her hand. She smiled softly. Slowly, she stood up on to her tip-toes and moved her hand to the back of his head, bringing him down to meet her once more.

Sometimes, Lily decided later, it was okay to mess up. Irresponsibility could sometimes have better consequences than one could imagine. She smirked as she stared at the flames dancing in the common room fireplace. No matter what happened between her and James, she must keep on forgetting to do her homework once and a while.

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A/N: My second one-shot! I'm incredibly pleased with this one. What did you guys think?

Thanks for being so inspiring with your reviews of James' Jinx; it means the world to me!