"What do you mean you don't like sugar quills?"

Lily shrugged.

"I just prefer more substantial sweets… Exploding Bonbons! Now those are fantastic."

"But… but…" James blinked in horror. "Sugar quills!"

He said the last two words forcefully, as if saying them in a harsher tone would suddenly change her opinion. Lily bit back the urge to laugh at the ridiculous expression on his face.

"You are weird, Lily Evans." James shook his head, placing the packet of sugar quills down on his desk and crunching down one more. "A complete nutter. I love a complete nutter."

It took Lily a few seconds to register what he'd said. And when it slammed into her with the force of an obese Quidditch player on a racing broom, her limbs jerked, the quill in her hand snapping with the pressure, ink dribbling messily across a Prefect Report sheet.

"What did you just say?" She choked out, her voice somewhere between a gasp and a snap, her head twisting to take in the full view of her boyfriend, her red hair flying every which way in the process. James was grinning at her, leaning back in his chair, a knowing sparkle in his eyes.

A knowing sparkle in his eyes?

Of course. Of course.

The urge to laugh was narrowly reined in as Lily bit her lip.

He knew she loved him back.

Of course he did. James knew Lily inside out - he wouldn't be so relaxed, so casual, if he wasn't completely, one hundred percent sure that she completely, one hundred percent loved him back with every fibre of her being.

Typical James Potter.

Green eyes locked onto the hazel. The Head Girl and Boy simply stared at each other, their expressions frozen in place, as if they were having some bizarre telepathic battle.

Well? Are you going to be brave and say it?

His eyes dared her to speak her mind.

Lily sucked in a breath, wiping ink from her hand.

Of course she loved him. She just hadn't expected him to just spring it upon her so suddenly -

"I love you too, James."

The words tumbled from her mouth of their own accord, her lips stretching into a smile. James cocked his head to the side slightly and beamed at her, his expression full of love, his hand reaching up to rumple his hair.

"You're beautiful, you know that?"

Lily finally broke eye contact, a blush warming her face as she ducked her head down. Dear Merlin. How was it even possible that, after all this time knowing this boy, he could still work her body into a nervous pile of hormones and mush with a few words and a grin?

"Well done on the suaveness." She quipped, flashing him a smirk. "Ten points to Gryffindor."