Lily Land, The World of Strawberries, and Everything That I Love About You

by birchermuesli

Title: Lily Land, The World of Strawberries, and Everything That I Love About You
Author: birchermuesli
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance/Humour
Disclaimer: Lily Land, The World of Strawberries, and Everything That I Love About You is a fanfiction based upon characters and situations owned or created by J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Inc., Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and other publishers. No money is being made and no copyright infringement is intended.

Hey everybody! This is just a little something that I wrote today in honour of my lovely friend Caity, who will be spending the day in hospital some time this week. Love you all! :)

"Uh, Potter?" Lily Evans said, cocking an eyebrow as she looked at the boy in front of her.

"Yes?"

James Potter lifted his gaze to meet her gaze, and for a flitting moment Lily was taken aback by the unnerving handsomeness of her fellow Head Boy. She couldn't help but grudgingly admit that those hazel green eyes were every girl's dream – large and soft, and perhaps she was being overly poetic, but just so deep.

She also hated them.

Hated them so much that she was finding it incredibly hard not to just shove herself towards the boy and plant a huge kiss on them.

But of course, Lily Evans wouldn't do this – because there was no way in hell that she could ever, ever feel attracted to James Potter.

Absolutely impossible. Out of the question.

"I wish," she said through gritted teeth, "that you would stop trying to sneak down my bloody arse every ten seconds already." With much more force than was necessary, she slapped a firm grip down on James' moving hand and yanked it away to her waist again, narrowing her eyes at him all the while.

Merlin, how she hated the boy.

James grinned sheepishly and cocked his head in a show of innocence. "Sorry, Lilykins," he said in a sweet tone, and patted her back lightly. Tingles went up Lily's spine. "I really don't mean it, you know."

"Don't mean what?"

"To have my hand become magnetically attracted to your lovely buttocks every ten seconds or so."

"Shut the hell up, Potter."

"But why should I do that, Lilykins?"

She didn't know why, but something clicked in her then.

Why was she even letting Potter dictate everything, anyway? Just because Gryffindor had won the Quidditch Cup, and just because McGonagall would do anything to celebrate a triumph over the Slytherins and James was obviously smart enough to go to her straight after the victory to request a Gryffindor party in the Quidditch team's honour, it wasn't as if Lily had to consent to it.

Well, she had no choice about the actual party, but she didn't have to allow James to convince her that ballroom dancing was an obvious, "must do" activity for Quidditch victors. And because she was the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain slash Head Boy's counterpart, she obviously became a Quidditch victor by default as well. Which obviously meant that she had to participate in the dance, even though she was a complete deficient in the Delicate and Graceful Feet Department.

And obviously, this dance had to be with James. After all, what would be the point in organising everything if this didn't happen?

Ah, right. She may have just skipped over that minor detail.

James Potter – she was dating him.

Obviously.

Yes, some would find it strange that she was desperately seeking to convince herself that she didn't feel attracted to him when they were already "officially" going out (according to James). But they just didn't understand.

Didn't understand that by saying, "Get your hands off my arse", everything in Lily aside from her brain screamed out to no end, "Get your hands on my arse, and quickly. I'm feeling like this is a great moment for something that entails more-than-just-kissing." And James would, without question, never let her forget it if she were to be the one to make the initial move of anything more-than-just-kissing.

Not because he was arrogant or conceited (though he sort of was) – he would just be too busy basking in Heaven, Lily Land, The World of Strawberries (the scent of her shampoo), or whatever he called it nowadays.

Because Lily Evans would have finally fallen for him.

Completely and utterly fallen for him, in that all-telling more-than-just-kissing way.

"You know what?" said Lily snappishly, pulling away from him all of a sudden. She muttered a spell to turn the music they had been dancing to down to a minimum. "We don't need to practise. We don't need to dance. There is no such thing as 'practising' in these stupid sessions, because all I end up doing is falling over your feet and all you end up doing is successfully making contact with inappropriate places."

She waited for a response, but it didn't come. "I think we should just leave this and do whatever at the party tomorrow, or formal, or whatever you call it," she continued in a defiant manner. "That's what normal people do. Hell, that's what normal couples do. They don't need to make things perfect if they really love each other, do they? The guy won't dump the girl if she stumbles over his feet, or her own feet, more often than, uh, usual. So I think you're just being bloody stupid with all of this dance practice business."

There was silence for the next few moments as James regarded her with a cocked eyebrow.

"Actually," Lily said, beginning to feel increasingly confident, "I think we should just abolish this whole dance idea altogether. It's stupid – yes, so stupid. Let's not do it, yes? Why should I even have to—"

"Lily," James finally interrupted in a flat tone.

"Yes?"

A pause. Then, "Did you just call us a couple?"

Oh crap.

Lily froze. Her jaw dropped, eyes widening.

She couldn't believe herself – she had let it slip. She had let it slip.

"Lily?"

She swallowed hard.

James' eyes began to twinkle, and the impish grin on his face grew wider and wider with each second that passed with Lily's failure to respond. As a last resort, Lily quickly squeezed her eyes shut to block out everything around her, muttering obscenities beneath her breath. She desperately prayed that someone would be so kind enough as to cast an Obliviate memory spell on her.

How hopeless of her. How utterly, utterly stupid.

A sensation of anticipation and dread mixed with a tingle of excitement dawned upon her, leaving her feeling slightly nauseous and decidedly unsettled.

Oh, Merlin save her soul. Now she was in for it – the Lily Lands, Worlds of Strawberries, et cetera, et cetera. Now she couldn't pretend to loathe him, or snap at him, or scold his attempts of more-than-just-kissing.

Or maybe she still could, Lily didn't know. Only time would tell. She was quite convinced that from now on, the mere sight of James would turn her face into a ghastly and unsightly shade of tomato red.

There was just one thing she knew for certain, though, and it was that James Potter now knew that she was in love with him.

In love.

Love.

Who knew how exactly the boy would use this newfound discovery to his advantage?

Oh well. At least Lily could now engage in some quality more-than-just-kissing – and she wouldn't even have to say that she was one who made the initial move.

How very handy.

And with that, Lily decided that she wasn't so dismayed about the slip up after all. She cocked her head at James, who was now in the process of regarding her rather steadily – rather seriously, in fact - and twisted her lips into a playful smile.

Thank you for reading, and to all you lovely reviewers who I (very rudely) haven't yet had the chance to reply to yet, you are absolutely AMAZING and I really, really love you... all the way to the moon and back! ;)

Until next time,

birchermuesli xx