ALMOST UNREAL

Disclaimer: The Characters and everything else recognizable from Harry Potter books belong to J. K. Rowling. The music "Almost Unreal" belongs to Roxette, I'm just borrowing it.

Author's Note: Lily always hated James, right? Well, one cold, rainy night everything changed…

Baby, come in from the cold and put that coat to rest

Step inside, take a deep breath and do what you do best

Hey, kick off your shoes and live those city streets

Sometimes I feel, strange as it seems

You've been in my dreams all my life

Lily Evans sighed happily and buried deeply in the couch, pulling the mantle closer. Nights of rain were perfect for hot chocolate and a good reading, exactly what she was doing now. She was left alone for Christmas – her Dad had died when she was twelve and her Mom was out helping her sister, Petunia, with her wedding stuff – wedding which Lily had no desire to go. Being back at home felt wonderful. Of course, studying at Hogwarts was almost perfect, but there were things to consider… Like James Potter.

"Argh! Even here, at my home, he doesn't leave me alone!" she snorted and turned her attention back to her book.

"He wouldn't be that bad if it wasn't for his super inflated ego… He's rather pretty in a disheveled way and he's actually very intelligent…" Lily quickly stood up when she realized where her thoughts were leading her.

She couldn't possibly be thinking about Potter that way. Not the same James Griffindor chaser, head boy, marauder, prank player Potter. Always surrounded by Black, Lupin and Pettigrew and making Severus Snape – or Snivellus as they called him – suffer.

Since her first day at the school of magic – she was now attending her seventh year – James had become the bane of her existence. But since fifth year he started to act weirdly like if he… fancied her.

Pacing the room to and fro, Lily shook her head. " Get a grip, Evans. If it wasn't forbidden to practice magic outside school, I would say you've been cursed…"

The clock on the wall hung midnight and Lily decided she should go to sleep. If it wasn't to relax, at least to stop thinking about James… James! She had never called him James before, only Potter. And that's the way he should always be called.

Yawning, Lily threw herself on bed.

James didn't bother if it was raining hard, he practically did not feel the raindrops soaking his clothes and the chill didn't reach him. He felt numb.

It was late at night; he had woken up with the noise of voices downstairs. He easily recognized his Dad and Mom's voices the other one… Tiptoeing his way to the hallway, James hid himself behind a wall. He could see them clearly now, it was the Auror, Alastor "Mad-eye" Moody, and from the look on his face, it was no good thing that had brought him to the Potter Manor.

"Of course, you idiot! What would an Auror be doing at your house after midnight? Stopping by for a cup of tea?" afraid he had talked too loud; James shot a quick glance to the room behind him. His best friend, Sirius, was sleeping sound. Better that way. Lately, Sirius hadn't had many reasons to relax.

The sob coming from her mother snapped him out of his reveries. Looking down, he saw his father hug kindly his mother.

"I'm sorry Harold." Came the whispered voice of Moody. "I came as soon as I heard. Our spy inside Voldemort's Inner Circle is a hundred percent sure. The Dead Eaters were sent after you and your family."

It was the last thing he heard before running like a madman to his room and grabbing his invisibility cloak. The following seconds were a blur. Somehow he managed to sneak out of the house through the back door.

And now he was standing at her doorway, not knowing which wind had brought him here but not willing to leave. Sighing deeply, he knocked.

Lily woke up. Could it be her mother who had came back early? Still, she wouldn't come during a storm in the middle of the night… And a thief surely wouldn't knock on her door. Worry flooded her for she was sure something really bad had happened. She ran downstairs, almost tripping over the stairs.

She flung the door open. "Mom! What happened? Was it Petunia? Was it… James?"

Lily was lost of words when she saw the boy who had recently haunted her dreams standing in front of her, water dripping from his midnight black hair, completely wet.

James allowed a faint smile when he saw her. Her bright green eyes widened, her hair loose like she never wore at Hogwarts and… He had to control himself to don't stare, but she was wearing only a thin nightdress.

"You know, you never called me James at school…"

" W-What you're doing here?" Lily frowned.

James cocked his head to a side and gave her a grin "You're so beautiful when you frown…"

Lily snorted and motioned to close the door. " If you have nothing better to do…"

He put his foot to keep the door open. " No, Lily. Please, let me in. I… I need to talk to someone. Please."

She just stared at him for long seconds.

"Come in."

I love when you do that hocus pocus to me

The way that we touch,

You've got the power to heal

You give me that look

It's almost unreal, it's almost unreal

James sat in front of the fireplace and gladly accepted the mug of hot chocolate Lily was giving him.

"That's awful, James." Her voice came in a whisper. "I just can imagine what you're feeling."

"When I heard… I had to get out of there and your house…" James took of his glasses and cleaned them in the towel Lily had given him. "Once I was passing by and… And I saw you with your sister, I knew you lived here… It was the first place I could think." He knew he was babbling, but he couldn't possibly tell Lily that he knew almost everything about her.

"Why?" she asked gently.

"I don't know… I guess I didn't want to face my parents…"

"No, I mean…" Lily shook her head. "Why you came to my home. Why me? I know that Black is living with you, why did you choose me over him?"

James cleaned his glasses again, something Lily was quickly identifying as nervousness.

"I Dunno." He looked into her emerald-like eyes. "It just had to be you. Always." He touched her cheek softly with his index finger. "You with your flaming red hair, you with your lovely eyes and smile… Every time you smile I feel like I'm melting inside. Every time you laugh I feel like everything's gonna be alright. And every time you look my way – even when you're mad at me – I just know: It has to be you."

Lily swallowed hard. How could this be the same boy she knew from Hogwarts? His expression was so sincere that she couldn't doubt he was saying the truth. "Then why you act like that? Always doing terrible things to the Slytherins, always so shown off like you're the most important thing in the world. You and your friends never show respect for anything!"

He ran his fingers through his hair and gave her a shy smile. "Would you believe if I said it was all to impress you?"

She laughed. "No!"

But James's face was very serious. "I love you, Lily Elizabeth Evans."

He knew he was taking advantage of her surprised state, but it was now or never. James cupped her face with a hand and pulled her closer – staring briefly into her eyes to make sure she knew what he was going to do – and kissed her lips softly yet passionately.

Hey, you can't stop the rain

Let's find a place by the fire

I do believe love came our way

And fate did arrange for us to meet

Lily knew she shouldn't be kissing James like that… What would her mother think? She was all alone at home on a rainy night, wearing only a thin pajama, snogging the guy she claimed to hate! But it felt so good…! And neither of them was ready to let go of each other.

"God, if I'm dreaming I never want to wake up." James murmured against her mouth and then started trailing kisses down her neck.

Lily sighed contently. Never in her life had she been kissed like that. And she might not have a lot of experience, but she hardly believed it was like that with everyone. But it still was wrong and they had to stop.

"James we ought to stop right now…" she said between kisses.

It was difficult, but James finally managed to let go of her. However, he still had his arms around her waist. For a long while, they just stared at each other. It was Lily who spoke first:

"What we're going to do about it? I mean, if you're going to act like a jerk around other people I don't know if…"

James put a finger on her lips. "Now that I have you, I'm not gonna do anything to spoil it."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Even stop bothering Severus Snape?"

He moaned. "But he asks for it!" Lily's expression said it all. "Ok, ok. But if he or one of his bullies mess with me or the marauders, they'll have a reply."

Lily nodded. "Now I just have to decide what I'm going to do with you." Just now she remembered his clothes still were wet.

James rolled his eyes and gave her one of his mischievous looks. "Com'on, you're my girlfriend for about fifteen minutes and you're already trying to boss me around…"

"Girlfriend?!" she laughed. "Mr. Potter, correct me if I'm wrong but I do not remember being asked to be you anything of you…"

"You command, I obey." He smiled adorably, fell at one knee and took one of her hands, kissing it in the process. "Miss Lily Evans, would you be my girlfriend?"

Lily's smile was worth a thousand words.

It's a crazy world out there (it's so crazy)

Let's hope our preys are in good hands tonight

James smiled as he pulled away a hair strand from Lily's face. After a lot of talking she had fallen asleep. Both of them were lying down on her couch, happily nestled against each other, but sleep eluded James. Right now, the last thing he wanted was to fall asleep and wake up to find out everything had been a dream.

But the feeling of Lily's breath against his cheek was real, as it was the lingering taste of hers in his mouth. And, a second before drifting off, James knew they were meant to be and that everything was going to be all right in the end.

P. S. – Please, don't forget to review!

Annoriel