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This is just a little drabble that wouldn't stop nudging at the back of my brain!

Hope you Enjoy! 3 Rosewood

Vanilla. Vanilla with an undertone of something a little spicier. It was a smell that had driven him mad for years. Three years, five months, and twenty-one days to be perfectly accurate. He had noticed it for the first time when he sat behind her in History of Magic in Fourth Year. Granted, he'd initially sat behind her so that he could hex paper to fly at the back of her head, but he'd gotten slightly sidetracked when she'd flipped her hair and a sinfully delicious wave of vanilla had rocked his world.

That damn smell was all he could think about now, as he stared, once again, at the back of her head as Professor Slughorn relayed the finer points of drafting the Draught of Living Death. While somewhere in the back of his head, he knew this would most certainly be on the N.E.W.T.s he would have to pass to become an Auror, he just couldn't bring himself to care. Not with Lily Evans sitting a mere seat in front of him. Every time she so much as moved her head, her scarlet curls would bounce, sending an onslaught of vanilla in his direction.

Ever since that day in fourth year, James had fought, tooth and nail, to situate himself in the seat behind her in classes. For starters, it gave him license to stare at her without her hexing him, but it also ensured that that thoroughly intoxicating scent became a part of his daily routine. Though his friends assured him, good-naturedly, that he'd gone completely out of his mind, James couldn't seem to stop the fascination with her.

If James Potter was perfectly honest with himself, he'd had a bit of an obsession with the feisty redhead since they met. It had taken him four years to realize, however, that he'd rather date her than prank her. Well, four years and a waft of vanilla that had left him so bloody unhinged he couldn't see straight. Or, perhaps he had always thought of her that way? Perhaps at eleven he'd just been a little too young to realize that the pull he felt towards Lily Evans was the start of a truly spectacular crush. But it was more than a crush, wasn't it? If it was just a crush, wouldn't he have moved on by now? He wasn't completely unfortunate looking; there were plenty of girls at Hogwarts who would have been more than willing to go for a date with Quidditch star, James Potter, but none of them were Lily.

That was the reason that James had hung on as long as he had. None of the other girls surprised him or challenged him. None of them stayed up for hours on end, tutoring younger students who were ready to dissolve into tears over McGonagall's transfiguration homework. None of them had mastered a Patronus on their third try. None of them had helped a house elf pick up the set of dishes that he had dropped. And none of them certainly had endless green eyes, or legs so long it should be illegal (truly, how did she expect him not to stare when she had legs like that?)

He just couldn't shake her. It had taken him years to figure out what she wanted. Obviously the pranking annoyed her, and he'd finally left Snivellus alone, and it had been a full five months since he'd asked her out. And it seemed that she finally didn't loathe the ground he walked on. She'd stopped glaring at him when they made eye contact, and last week in Herbology, she'd even laughed when he'd cracked a joke about Bellatrix secretly being a man. God, he would never forget that day. To see her face light up because of something he'd done was like heaven. He hadn't been able to think about anything else for the rest of the day. It was just about the happiest he'd ever been. He had even used the memory to conjure one of his best Patronuses for a Defense Against the Dark Arts test the next day.

Maybe he was actually getting somewhere? Maybe if he kept it up, and he could manage a conversation without her shouting at him, he could get her to give him the time of day. If he could just get her to agree to one date, hell, he'd be happy with a walk around the lake, maybe he could make her see how much he really cared about her. How much he loved her. Love? Really? Is that what this was? He couldn't possibly be in love. He was only seventeen, he hadn't even graduated yet. But then, was it love when the sight of her could make a bad day a good one? When the one time you saw her cry you thought your heart had literally been ripped from your chest? When you wanted her to be happy so badly, that you didn't even really care if it was with you, as long as she was happy?

"Potter?" a soft voice interrupted his thoughts, "Um, James?"

James had to physically keep his jaw from dropping when he saw that Lily had twisted around at her seat and was looking at him expectantly.

"Huh?" he said, mentally kicking because he couldn't even form a coherent sentence. He still wasn't quite sure if she was actually talking to him or not.

"Um, I asked if I could borrow a quill? I must have left mine."

"Uh, yeah, sure," he said digging through his bag so fast that he dropped three books on the floor in the process.

He handed it to her, hoping to Merlin that he looked cooler than he felt.

"Thanks," she said with a quick smile before turning back around to face the front of the classroom.

As she did, her hair brushed the edge of James' desk and he had to stifle a sharp intake of breath as it touched his hand for a fleeting second. Oh, it was even softer than it looked, and he was suddenly so enveloped in a cloud of vanilla that he thought he might fall off his chair.

The memory of the brief but genuine smile she had given him was enough to ensure that he was going to learn nothing for the rest of the day. She had spoken to him, and smiled at him. God, she had a beautiful smile.

"Yeah," he thought, trying desperately to keep a rather sappy grin from his face, "Definitely love."

Fin

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