A/N: Woohoo! Another challenge down, many hundreds more to go. No, just kidding. This was written for Bad Mum's Lucky Dip Challenge. James/Lily sort-of one-shot. Hope you enjoy!
Lily drove fast. She had never really liked cars, but they were alright if she could drive really, really fast. Petunia liked fast cars, too, especially when her sister was driving. It made her feel dangerous, and she loved feeling like she and her sister were sharing something, just for once, considering they had so little in common.
There was one other thing they liked to do together as well. They liked to go to nightclubs. Petunia didn't like dancing very much, because she was so self-conscious, but she didn't feel so odd when she was dancing with Lily, because they were just having fun.
That was where they were headed right then. Lily had just graduated from Hogwarts, giving them something to celebrate. The last time Lily had been home—she came back for Easter holidays—had been the first time they had gone to a nightclub together. Lily looked over at her sister with a devilish grin on her face as they pulled into the parking lot.
The Muggle nightclub was surrounded by people, as it always was. It usually took hours just to get inside, but Lily and Petunia were experts at getting what they wanted, even before Lily had the Confundus charm at her disposal. The girls giggled as they entered the club, waving flirtatiously at the men they were passing on their way in, earning a few stares as they walked past. They felt invincible.
James, Sirius and Remus were standing outside the Muggle nightclub just as it was starting to get dark outside, waiting. Sirius, of course, not knowing what they were waiting for, was complaining loudly.
"But why couldn't we have gone somewhere else? There are a hundred places more fun than this in London, and they'll be full of witches, not Muggles," he said, "Muggles are too easy." The last part was a mumble.
"Shut up, Padfoot," James said, for what seemed like the millionth time. Then he turned to Remus, who looked exhausted. James felt bad for dragging Remus along when he was so tired, but this was important to him. "Are you sure this was the place she said?"
"Yes, I'm sure. She said she liked this place and that she and her sister would be here the day after graduation to celebrate," he sounded more annoyed than James or Sirius.
Sirius looked confused. "Wait, who are we talking about? We aren't talking about Lily, are we? 'Cause if we are, I'm sorry for complaining. I completely understand now." He looked serious for the first time in his life. "So who's this sister of hers?" Sirius had a mischievous look in his eyes now. James was about to hit him when he saw her out of the corner of his eye.
Lily had always been beautiful, but there was a certain beauty that could only be attained through wearing Muggle clothes, and Lily had attained it. He couldn't see her very well from the other side of the road, but he could see her clothes. She was wearing a tight red shirt with long sleeves and a sweetheart neckline and tight black jeans with black heels that he was surprised she could even walk in. He smiled when he saw her, recognizing her only by her hair and the fact that her sister was right next to her.
"Let's go," he said, grabbing Sirius' arm and waving to Remus, who may or may not have already Disapparated, going home to get some well needed sleep.
The boys followed the girls inside without much trouble—Confundus charms were great—and proceeded to sit at one of the bars. James looked for Lily, but couldn't find her amidst all the other bodies. Sirius was busy chatting up the lady working at the bar. After awhile, James was beginning to get worried. What if she had left? Things weren't looking good as Sirius walked away with the girl from behind the counter. And then, hope rekindled itself when he saw a girl with red hair dressed in red and black coming towards the bar.
Lily loved to dance. It was great to be around so many people that shared her interests, with so much energy around her. But it was also extremely tiring. She eventually grabbed hold of Petunia, who seemed to agree, and they both went to get a drink from the bar. However, upon seeing the bar itself, Lily stopped in her tracks. That couldn't be James, could it, standing--or rather, sitting--in her way? She wondered if she had let something slip to him about this place. No, no, that wasn't possible. And even if it was, he would never go to a Muggle nightclub. So she kept walking, only to realize that it really was him.
James waved at Lily, and she rolled her eyes at him. Petunia looked at each of them in turn, bewildered, and Lily felt she had to introduce them now, what with her shooting malice at him with her eyes and him looking at her with far too much interest.
"Petunia this is James," she said to her sister, shouting to be heard above the music even though she is talking right into her ear. She assumed James knew who Petunia was, and she really wasn't interested in getting that close to him.
She walked to the bar, pretending to be completely disinterested in where he was, which put her much closer to him than he would have liked. She stood waiting for almost ten minutes before she realized that the bartender wasn't coming back. She huffed loudly, and turned towards James, who was almost silently laughing at her.
"She went somewhere with Pa—I mean, Sirius," he said, yelling to be heard over the music. "Which obviously means she won't be back anytime soon."
Lily sighed and turned away from him, starting to walk back to the dance floor, fully expecting him to just let her go. Which was why she was surprised when she felt his hand at her waist and his voice in her ear, asking her to dance with him.
She rolled her eyes again as she turned towards him. "I thought we were done with this."
He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into him so he could whisper in her ear, "Not even close, love."
James loved seeing that look in her eyes, the look that said she was angry at him. That may seem to be an odd thing to love about someone, but he loved seeing her emotions, so often hidden from the world. Except for him. He knew just which buttons to push to make her angry at him. And he pushed them as often as possible, because he loved seeing her emotions displayed upon her face.
She pushed him away with a scowl, usually such an ugly expression, but one that made her look fantastic.
"Well, I'm done with this," she said, walking away. James followed her. Petunia, looking concerned, walked behind both of them.
She started to dance, obviously trying to ignore him. He watched as both of the girls dance, so in sync they looked like twins, although he supposed that was normal between sisters.
James liked to watch her. She looked like she was having so much fun. Her hair was coming out of the intricate twist she'd had it in, and he wondered why she had gone through all the trouble, especially if she wasn't trying to attract people to her. Again he was surprised by the fact that she had such great balance, as those heels had to be murder on her feet.
He forced himself to stop marveling at her, and started dancing with her instead, expecting her to immediately move away from him and closer to her sister. But she didn't. In fact, she reached up and rested her hand on his shoulder, pulling him ever so slightly closer to her.
Without wondering what had changed, James slid his hand onto her waist and continued to dance, still seeing things about her he had never noticed before. He had never noticed that small, adorable freckle on her collarbone, or that she had highlights in her hair, or that one of her teeth was just the slightest bit crooked, or that, on that particular night, her fingernails were painted black.
The list of things he loved about her continued to grow.
Lily couldn't quite explain why she had let him get so close to her, or why she had let him dance with her, especially after she had practically said she was done with him. But there had always been something about James that she had been, well, slightly attracted to. And, well, it was a dance club. And she couldn't stand having him just look at her anymore. So she pretended like he was just a random stranger who had wanted to dance with her. Someone who wasn't so infuriating. Although, she couldn't say she disliked their arguments. It was sometimes fun to see him look so, well, flustered, as he did when she shouted at him, usually using big words that he wasn't likely to understand. It made her feel smug when the expression on his face told her that he wasn't following what she was saying anymore.
But it was so different to be dancing with him, having him so close by while they weren't shouting at each other. The last time they had been this close had been a few weeks before graduation. As Head Boy and Girl, they had to plan the exact schedule for what was to happen on that very special day. For some reason, James hadn't been taking it seriously at all. It had, of course, escalated into a shouting match that she was sure could be heard all throughout the school. He never took anything seriously. She never had any fun. Evidence of these statements was shouted; comebacks and biting, sarcastic remarks were said. It all seemed very normal, until they realized that they had gotten much closer to each other during that particular shouting match than they ever had been before.
That was when she noticed certain things she had never seen before. Like his eyelashes. He had such long beautiful eyelashes. And the fact that his eyes had flecks of gold in them. And the way his nostrils flared. And his smell, dear lord, did he smell good, like the Quidditch pitch after it rained, mixed with the smell of honey. And that scar on his lip, the one she would never have noticed…
He had been examining her as well, although she couldn't think of anything interesting about her. And then…well, it seemed as though he was leaning down to kiss her, but she would never find out, because right then, Sirius, Remus and Peter had walked in, and Lily and James had simultaneously pushed each other away. They had hardly spoken since, and when they did, they had been very civil and polite. Lily completed the schedule on her own and James…well, James continued to be James, although without the "annoy Lily" factor.
And now here they were again, studying each other, looking for weaknesses, or something like them. Lily looked at the scar on his lip again, even paler in the lights of the nightclub. Without thinking, she gently reached up and touched it. His eyes closed, as if he was just enjoying her touch. She withdrew her hand, immediately recognizing her mistake. Encouragement. Encouraging him was a bad idea. She stepped away from him, too, latching onto Petunia's arm and starting for the door.
James caught Lily quickly, eager to make sure he didn't miss yet another opportunity. He didn't care about anything but her at that moment. He didn't care about Petunia or the rest of the people in the club or anything else, for that matter.
He grabbed her arm, turning her around and kissing her, more passionately than he had intended to, but less passionately than he wanted to. But that was OK, because her kiss was heaven.
Lily's mind almost shorted out when James kissed her. Almost everything she had noticed about him was being rediscovered right then. She felt his nostrils flare as he breathed in deeply, and although she couldn't feel his eyelashes or see his eyes, she imagined them in her mind. Her tongue played at the tiny scar on his lip and for a brief second, she wondered again where he had gotten it.
And then there was his smell. He still smelled bloody amazing. Just like he always had. He smelled like Quidditch and honey and….roses. Wait, roses? Why did he smell like roses? That didn't make sense.
She pushed herself away from him, eyeing him suspiciously. "Why do you smell like that?"
He looked confused. "Like what?"
"Roses. It isn't right."
Petunia looked shocked and a little confused about the scene taking place before her, but neither James nor Lily took any notice.
Realization dawned on James' face. "Oh, yeah, these are for you," he said, pulling a bouquet of red roses out of his jacket. "I wasn't sure what color you would like, so…"
She smiled a little half-smile that no one could have pulled off except for her. "Well, for your information, I prefer lilies."
He grinned. "Of course you do." And then with one last smile, Lily and her sister left. But he would see that red-head again, he was sure. He wasn't worried at all.
Walking out the door Petunia looked at Lily and said, "Who was that?"
Lily still lightheaded from James kiss, had trouble regaining her composure to answer. "He's just a boy from school...Look Petunia I'm sorry for leaving you all alone in there."
"Oh, that's okay, I wasn't entirely alone," Petunia said with a sly grin. "Did you really think you were the only one dancing out there?"
Lily laughed. "Well who would've expected it from you, Petunia?"
The girls didn't completely stop laughing until long after they got home.
James arrived back at his house after the nightclub and collapsed into a chair in the living room.
"So, how did it go?" asked Sirius from the couch nearby.
James looked up to see that all three of his best friends were there. "It was…definitely worth the wait," he said with a smile. Remus smiled, still looking tired, Peter shrugged, as if he had expected it all along, and Sirius downright laughed. And with everyone in such high spirits, they temporarily forgot what danger lurked outside of their own bubbles of happiness. Right then, it wasn't important.
A/N:So anyways, please review. I really want to know what you think. Oh, and kudos to my aunt for being such a great unofficial beta and helping me work out the kinks in the ending!