Author's Notes: Okay, basically, the original version of Tell Me You Love Me that I posted had some MAJOR mistakes that I made while typing it (at the ending, James said "say" instead of "hear" D:). So I've reposted it altogether to get a fresh start. -vows to edit stories before AND after they're typed from now on-
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling is rich, British, married, and has children. I don't fit any of those characteristics. So I guess I'm not her.
Tell Me You Love Me
Lily Evans sat at a table in the deserted Gryffindor common room, facing the merrily crackling fire, which provided the sole source of light for the room.
"The… Goblin… Rebellion… of… 1672… was…" she muttered, her quill whizzing frantically across the paper. She paused, nibbling on the end of her quill as she searched for a proper adjective.
"Lily?" A familiar voice sounded from the other side of the common room, at the foot of the stairs to the boys' dormitory.
"What is it, James?" she asked, setting her quill down on the table and rolling up her partially-finished History of Magic essay. When she looked up, James had seated himself next to her at the round wooden table.
"You might want to sit down," he began seriously.
"And what have I been doing for the past two hours, the tap dance?" Lily asked exasperatedly.
"Very funny, Miss Sarcasm," James replied, laughing slightly.
"Wasn't it, though?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and laughing as well. She always had fun when she was with James.
"Enough with the sarcasm, Lily," he said, his voice becoming serious again, "I need to tell you something." He stopped. "Wow, that felt strange to say."
"Why?"
"Because I'm normally the sarcastic one, and you're usually serious," he replied, smiling so slightly it was scarcely noticeable.
"We're a regular pair of flip-flops, aren't we?"
"What?" he asked quizzically, frowning slightly and furrowing his brow.
"Never mind. What was it you wanted to tell me, James?" she asked, deciding to stop teasing her friend.
"Well, this year has been great, don't get me wrong, but something has been missing."
"And what would that be?"
James took her hand, which had been resting on the table next to her yet-to-be-completed essay.
"The girl I love doesn't know how I feel," he said as he laced his fingers with hers.
"Oh?" she asked, trying to hide that happiness she was sure was obvious in her voice, but to no avail.
"We've been friends for a while now, you see," he began, smiling, his eyes fixed upon their entwined hands. "But…" – his voice grew uncertain, and he glanced up at Lily – "school is ending soon, and she'll be leaving – we'll both be leaving, I should say – and… I'm afraid we'll never see each other again if I don't tell her how I feel."
"Right," she replied absently, her mind consumed with joy and thoughts of James.
"So, what do you suggest I do?" he asked, sounding mildly worried.
"Tell me." Her eyes met his and held them.
"What?" asked James, confused.
Lily smiled. "I said, tell me," she replied, quietly but confidently.
"Yes, yes, I know what you said. But why did you say 'me'?"
"Shouldn't I? I'm not daft, you know, James."
"But… I wasn't talking about you."
Lily froze, withdrawing her thin hand from James's firm grasp. She could feel her heart shatter into a million pieces, as if someone had dropped it from the Astronomy Tower and stomped on it.
"Oh," was all she could think to say as she furiously blinked tears out of her eyes.
"Only joking!" James said quickly, seeing Lily's heartbroken face and seizing her hand again. "Of course I'm talking about you! I just wanted to see how you'd react if you though I meant someone else."
"Some joke…" she muttered, shaking her head sadly.
"I'm sorry, Lily," he said, sounding sincerely apologetic as he stroked her hand.
After a few minutes, when she had composed herself, she asked confidently, "Well, what are you waiting for?"
"What?"
"Are you going to tell me or not? Because I've a History of Magic essay that won't write itself," she said, a smile in her voice.
"But I don't need to tell you now, I thought it was generally understood that I lo—"
Lily placed a hand over James's mouth, shivers rushing down her spine as she felt his warm breath against her hand.
"Just make it official, okay James?" she said as she reluctantly withdrew her hand from his mouth. "For me?"
"Oh, alright… I love you, Lily Evans."
She thought her heart was about to burst into song as she whispered her reply: "I love you too, James Potter."
He grinned. "I can't tell you how good it feels to finally hear you say that," he said, leaning over and kissing her lips lightly.
"You don't have to – I feel the same way," she said, feeling as if her heart might explode with joy as she returned the kiss.
Good? Bad? Okay? Something I need to work on? Let me know – review! Be brutally honest; I need to know what I should do to improve.