Disclaimer: JKR owns everything familiar.
Lily loved her job. She didn't love the shitty song blasting from the speakers. Although her boss, Mr. Green, was probably the nicest man she had ever met, he had terrible taste in music. Lily should have been used to the awful music by now as this was her second summer working at Flourish and Blotts, but today was one of those days where everything that could possibly go wrong had gone wrong. Shelves had collapsed, books had been misplaced, and customers had been ranting. She had a vicious throbbing in her head to show for all of the day's excitement.
Propping her elbows on the counter in front of her Lily rested her head in her hands and closed her eyes, willing her headache to recede. She had almost convinced herself it was working when she felt a shadow fall across her slouched figure. A deep voice came rumbling down from high above her. "Alright Evans?" Lily groaned loudly, recognizing the owner of the inquisitive voice immediately.
"Potter," Lily began without raising her head from her hands, "I am really not in the mood for any of your," she paused searching for the right word to sum up all of Potter's past exploits, "shenanigans," she decided, rolling her eyes even though no one could see it. "If you could just find what you need and leave quickly that would be great."
Lily sighed, already feeling slightly guilty for being rude to James when he hadn't done anything, but inquire after her well-being. Well he hadn't done anything yet, and anyway things had been far less tense between them this past school year. On a good day, Lily might even find herself referring to James as a friend.
"You heard her, Jamesie-boy," said another all-too familiar voice. Lily's headache magically reappeared. "We better find our school books fast before Lily Flower decides to punish us for our 'shenanigans'," said Sirius Black, filling the last word with more sarcasm than Lily thought necessary for the situation.
Lily lifted her head taking in the four boys standing by the register. "Oh, bloody hell, all of you? You had to choose today of all days to do your school shopping," Lily asked, voice rising in exasperation. The boys exchanged a glance, communicating with their eyes as only the closest friends can. James stepped forward cautiously as if approaching a cornered animal. Lily had to fight to keep the scowl off her face.
"Lily," he started hesitantly, "Do you want to talk about it? It sounds like you've had a bit of a rough day." Lily freed the scowl. James froze where he was standing. The tips of his ears turned pink and he pulled a hand through his hair stopping at the back of his neck and rubbing the flushed skin there. "Alright mates, Lily doesn't want to talk." He glanced at her and she made sure to keep the glare in place even though a tiny, rather insane part of her wanted to burst into hysterical laughter. The sight of him cowering under the weight of her glare was so comical she couldn't help but brighten up a bit.
Lily took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, exchanging the scowl on her face for a look of glacial coolness. The small part of her that wanted to laugh at the stricken boys in front of her grew and it took all she had to keep it pushed down. "Listen, just finish you're school shopping so I can get back to work and get rid of this headache." She pointed to the section housing the schoolbooks with a firm arm and a steely look in her eyes. The boys exchanged another glance and scurried away from the counter as fast as possible. Making sure all of their backs were turned, Lily let a small smile flit across her face before burying her head in her hands and letting loose a dramatic groan.
Fifteen minutes passed in quiet and Lily was making a dent in the paperwork she was going through when she heard something she hadn't heard all day: laughter. Very familiar laughter. Peering around the shelves slightly obscuring her vision of the schoolbooks, Lily saw something that took a second for her brain to process. James Potter was dancing, dramatically waltzing actually, to the new Celestina Warbeck song blaring from the speakers. Around him in a semicircle stood his friends clapping along to the song and doubled over in laughter at the sight of James' cheesy moves. The tiny part of Lily that had wanted to laugh earlier resurfaced and she was surprised when a loud, slightly hysteric, chuckle escaped her lips before she could clap a hand over her mouth.
The four boys turned to her in unison, giant, goofy grins transfiguring their faces. "Hey Red," James shouted across the room. Normally that "term of endearment" would have earned James a fierce glare (and on a bad day maybe an accompanying hex), but today all Lily could do was laugh. James' face stretched into an impossibly bigger grin and Lily felt her face mirroring his. "Come dance with me," he called, bowing and holding out a hand with a dramatic flourish. Lily gave him a look of mock disapproval.
"Some people actually have to work for a living Potter," she called back, teasing.
"Oh come on Evans," James said while wiggling his eyebrows in a silly, inappropriate manner, "Not many ladies get the privilege of dancing with a professional." Lily snorted loudly, disbelief etched into the lines of her face.
"You? A professional," Lily asked, voice incredulous.
"What's with the disbelief Evans? Sirius and I have been dancing since we were children."
"It's true," Remus added with laughter in his voice, "You should see them when their drunk. Even better." Peter nodded vigorously, giving Lily an exaggerated wink. Lily's face must have looked skeptical because next thing she knew James was motioning Sirius over.
"Let's show her how it's done, Padfoot."
"Oh Prongs, I thought you'd never ask," Sirius said in a high-pitched imitation of a girls voice. He let loose a very feminine giggle and put his hand in James.
Lily could never properly describe what happened next. James put his hand on Sirius' waist and Sirius' hand went to James' shoulder and then they were off, twirling all over the little piece of floor. It was a strange sight, but Lily had to admit that they were both great dancers. They were the embodiment of grace and elegance even if they were just being silly. Their training shown through in the simplest of moves.
Lily found herself imagining how it would feel to dance like that; James' hand on her waist, his strong, quidditch defined arms encircling her, twirling her across the floor, their bodies pressed close, face to face. Lily shook her head, trying to clear it of the inappropriate thoughts. Where had that come from? She refocused her eyes on Sirius and James just in time to watch James dip Sirius dramatically for the big finish.
"See Evans," James said while righting Sirius and giving his shoulder a shove. "You're in good hands." He held out his hand again and Lily found herself, as if in a daze, moving from where she was standing in full view of their "dancefloor" (When had she moved from behind the counter?) over to James. His goofy smile morphed in to a shy, sincere grin as Lily took his hand, and just like Lily had imagined, his hand went to her waist and his strong arms began to lead her through the dance. Every inch of Lily's skin felt hot; she was sure she was blushing. She was very aware of where James was standing and where he was touching her. Her clothes felt impossibly thin.
"Stop thinking about it so much, Evans," James said, his voice taking on a false note of sternness. "Just let it happen." And suddenly he was twirling her around the floor like he had Sirius and her mind went blank. She felt like she and James were water, rising and falling in unison, unpredictable and beautiful. She was vaguely aware in a distant corner of her mind that Sirius and Remus and Peter were still clapping and catcalling and whistling, but all she saw when she looked up from her feet was James. He was studying her face with that same shy, sincere, smile and he looked in his element, the same way he did when he was playing quidditch or sitting in transfiguration class. It was as if dancing with Lily was as natural as breathing to him and she felt it too. She felt the ease of their movements together, the trust she had in him to keep her on her feet. A small part of her brain was questioning when she had started trusting James, public enemy number one, but the rest of her felt like she had always trusted him. Maybe she had.
Her eyes met James' and as she heard the song drawing to a close, she saw a spark of mischief flit across his expression. Suddenly her world was upside down and her mind was wiped clean; he had dipped her. He righted her fast and she gasped as the air left her lungs. They were standing close, much closer than they had been at the start of the dance, and they were both breathing hard, panting as if they had run a race, breathing in each others air. Their noses were almost touching and they were staring into each other's eyes. Lily couldn't tell what James was thinking; his face was clouded over with an emotion she couldn't identify.
Sirius cleared his throat loudly. "If you guys are done doing whatever it is you're doing, we should probably get our books. James, we told your mom that we'd be back by dinnertime." James cleared his throat and the strange look on his face was gone, replaced by his familiar, crazy, lopsided grin. He let go of Lily and for a second she was certain she was going to fall, that her legs wouldn't support her weight, before she grabbed a nearby shelf. Hopefully no one noticed her slight hesitation. She felt her face breaking into it's own version of James' reckless grin.
"I will leave you guys to it," Lily said, turning around and walking back to the counter. She felt James' gaze heavy between her shoulder blades and her skin grew hot again. She sped up. What was wrong with her? Maybe she was getting a cold. She reached the counter again and forced herself to stand up straight and to pick up the paperwork she had abandoned earlier.
She heard laughter from where the boys were standing again and allowed herself a glance in their direction. Sirius and Remus were in an animated conversation about something in the new transfiguration book, gesturing wildly and laughing. Peter appeared to be teasing James about something. James' shoulders were hunched and his head was down, but the tips of his ears were an alarming shade of pink. Lily watched as Peter said something that made James throw back his head in laughter. His cheeks were the same shade as his ears, contrasting prettily with his tanned skin and white teeth. Lily found herself admiring his strong, graceful neck and the way his throat moved as he laughed. James glanced over at her, still smiling, and she quickly averted her eyes to the paperwork she was supposed to be studying. She had to pull herself together. It wasn't like she had never seen James before. She knew he was attractive like she knew the sky was blue, it was just fact, so she didn't know why she was suddenly so aware of everything about him.
"Oi, Evans," Sirius shouted waving his hand in front of her face. "Wanna ring us up so we can make it home in time for dinner. Mrs. Potter is making a pot roast," he finished with a dreamy smile softening the sharp edges of his face.
"Alright Black, no drooling on the till." Lily was back in her comfort zone. She knew how to do her job; she could do it with her eyes closed. It was just what she needed to refocus her mind and to stop thinking about James Potter.
"Thanks, love," Sirius said as Lily handed him the bag holding his books. She checked Remus and Peter out with no incident and then it was James' turn.
"Evans," James said with a cheerful smile handing his books over. Lily took them, taking special care to keep from brushing his fingers with her own. She didn't think she could handle any more physical contact right now. She rung up his books and bagged them with clumsy fingers. She took his money in the same careful manner she had taken his books, careful not to touch him. She thrust the bag at him with a stiff arm.
"Here you are Potter," Lily said trying not to drown in her awkward embarrassment. She gave him what was supposed to be a carefree smile, but probably looked more like a grimace. He donned a puzzled expression as he studied her face, but before Lily could think to hard about what that might mean, it was replaced by his usual crooked grin.
"I'll see you at school Lily," James said, with a cheeky wink. Remus and Sirius waved to her and Peter nodded at her before they all turned and exited the shop. Lily watched them go thinking that the start of the school year couldn't come fast enough.