OH MY GOD HALLELUJAH IT'S FINISHED!
I've been working on this thing for a week. It's a monster. Six-freakin'-thousand words! It's the second-longest oneshot I've ever written (the longest being only six hundred words more).
I hope you enjoy it. I am so sick of this thing at this point; it's probably really, really crappy, but I don't care. It's finished.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything associated with it. All rights to Harry Potter and affiliated products belong to Ms J.K. Rowling and the other proper entities.
Summary: "I don't get it." James burst out with. "Why are all the Seventh Year Gryffindor girls mad at me?" Remus sighed. "Solidarity, mate. You know, that thing that happens when you hurt a girl and all her friends band together against you?"
Rating: T
Pairing: James/Lily
Warnings: Other than some good ol' British swearing, not a whole heck of a lot.
Solidarity
That Friday morning started just like all the others.
Lily Evans rose at the sound of her alarm squawking at her that it was time to start the new day. Blearily, she collected her towel and school robes, and tripped into the bathroom as her dorm mates woke around her; some of them merely hit the snooze button on their alarms, others complained that Lily had gotten the first shower. They all fumbled around the dorm, half asleep, organising their class books and equipment.
It wasn't until Lily was showered, dressed, made up, bag packed, and in the process of doing her hair that she remembered that breakfast today was supposed to be different.
"I don't think I can do this." She gawked at her reflection, almost hyperventilating. "I really, really don't think I can do this!"
"Relax, Lily." Alice yawned from behind her, towelling her hair dry after her morning shower. "It's going to go fine."
"But what if it doesn't?" Lily was near hysteria as she tugged on her braid, trying to get some of the more stubborn waves to sit straight. "What if he says no? What if he laughs at me?"
"Oh, for the love of Merlin, girl!" Mary laughed from the dorm, practically skipping in with a towel and her toothbrush. "The bloke fancies you rotten. If anything, you have to worry about him jumping you in the Great Hall!"
"Mary!" Lily gasped, scandalized, as her dorm mates roared with laughter.
"Really, Lily, you're going to be fine." Marlene finished brushing her hair and pushed a chequered black and white Alice band into it. "You're just asking the bloke out to Hogsmeade; it's not like you're proposing or anything." And they were off, laughing again at Lily's horrified expression.
"You're all rubbish mates." Lily scowled at them. "You hear me? You're all bloody terrible."
"Yes, yes, we're rotten." Alice waved her off. "Now go on, go wake Dorcas. We'll walk down to breakfast with you, if you want." Lily harrumphed as she stalked out of the room.
Twenty minutes later, Lily was laughing with her mates as they made their way down to the Great Hall.
It really was unfair, Lily thought, that James Potter was so bloody popular. It was unfair that he'd matured so much over the last two years; it was unfair that he happened to make such a good Head Boy, when he'd never really done much to earn the title (unlike Lily, who had worked her arse off to get the Head Girl badge); it was unfair that he was absolutely brilliant at everything (again, unlike Lily, who had to work for her good grades). It was unfair that he made such a good friend. It was definitely unfair that he happened to be so good looking.
And it was bloody unfair that he'd stopped making any more romantic overtures toward her that year.
She almost turned around the moment she reached the doors of the Great Hall and spotted him at the Gryffindor table. It was only through the intervention of Dorcas and Marlene that Lily remained facing firmly forward, marching resolutely toward him.
"You can do this." Marlene murmured to her.
"It's just five words." Dorcas encouraged. "Just say, 'Go out with me Potter?' That's all you need to do."
"Five words." Lily repeated. "I can do this. Right."
"'Atta girl." Alice gave her shoulder a squeeze before lightly shoving Lily in James's direction.
She stumbled a little before straightening and glaring at her friends as they went to sit a few seats down from where James and his friends were sitting. There was, conveniently, a seat vacant on James's right-hand side; she sat there and hoped no one saw her hands shake as she stashed her bag under the table. She turned to James, whose attention was focused on buttering his toast. "Good morning."
He gave a small start and turned his eyes to her. She was proud of herself for not blushing any more than normal. "Morning, Evans." He flashed her a smile. "And how are you on this fine November morning?"
She shrugged with a smile of her own. "I've been better," she answered honestly, busying herself with making a cup of tea, "but I've also been much, much worse."
"Haven't we all." He shrugged, turning back to his toast.
Lily wracked her brain as she made a bacon and egg sandwich, trying to find something to talk about. Sirius and Peter were busy arguing over… something that Lily didn't understand; Remus was reading from his Herbology textbook and looking a little ill. She chewed on her lip. "Did you do the Arithmancy reading?" She blurted, cursing herself and taking a bite of her breakfast to avoid saying anything else stupid.
He gave a playful groan. "Trying to send me back to sleep, Evans?" He teased, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "I don't talk numbers this early in the day."
She grinned. "Sorry." She followed his hand with her eyes. She'd never admit it, but she found pushing his glasses up his face to be incredibly… well, not sexy, but definitely attractive. "I was fishing for a topic of conversation and I didn't think you'd appreciate talking about patrol schedules." She shoved the sandwich back into her mouth with a little more vigour than was strictly necessary to avoid saying anything else monumentally embarrassing; he didn't notice.
He gave her a strange look. "'Fishing for conversation'?" He repeated. "What for?"
Lily swallowed and opened her mouth—this was a perfect opportunity—hesitated for a second, and then chickened out. "Aren't I allowed to talk to my fellow Head student?" She teased instead, nudging him with her knee under the table.
The strange look stayed on his face before he shrugged and said "I guess. It's just odd that you're over here when your mates are down the table." He pointed to them with his knife. She didn't notice the gesture; she was too busy berating herself—wasn't she a Gryffindor?—about not just up and asking him.
She did hear his words, though. "They're rubbish friends." She scowled at her plate as she told herself to just get it over with.
"Trouble in paradise?" James asked with a laugh. "What did they do?"
"It's not funny, Potter." Lily fixed him with a stern look. "They've been taking the mickey all morning."
To his credit, he tried to reign in his laughter. "Oh?" He raised his eyebrows. "What about?"
"Well…" This was another opportunity. She seized her courage. "Last night, I kind of let slip that I wanted to ask you something."
His eyebrows just about disappeared into his hair. "And what was that?" He inquired,
"Well… I—I was wondering," she stammered, feeling her face heat up like a thermometer, "if you'd l—"
"Hi, James!"
Lily groaned and almost hit herself with something.
James looked startled for a moment before fixing his charming crooked grin back onto his face and returning the enthusiastic sixth-year's greeting. "Hey, Robbins." He greeted the other Gryffindor Chaser teasingly. "Something the matter?"
The younger Gryffindor giggled; Lily wanted to gag at the sound. "Actually, I was hoping that you might go to Hogsmeade with me after we finish thrashing Slytherin in the game tomorrow." She said casually, absentmindedly flipping a strand of her dark hair back over her shoulder.
Lily glared at her.
"Excuse me," she snapped acidly, "Potter and I were in the middle of a convers—"
"Sure, Chelsea." James didn't even blink as he accepted the girl's proposal with an easy shrug. "Did you want to meet in the Common Room, or the Entrance Hall?"
Lily blinked, her ears starting to buzz. She couldn't listen—even if she wanted to—as they worked out the details of their date; she was too busy willing herself not to spontaneously combust from shame. How could she have been so stupid? How could she have let her friends talk her into this?
She jerked her face around to look somewhere, anywhere, that was away from James, instead catching sight of the fiery eyes of Marlene and Dorcas two seats down; they had heard it all. As Lily watched, the two of them turned around and started whispering with Alice and Mary, who had been deep in conversation with some sixth years on their other side; they, in turn, also fixed James with murderous glares.
"Sorry about that." James, still grinning, turned his attention back to Lily as the bubbly sixth-year walked away. He was completely oblivious to the entire female half of seventh year Gryffindor silently shooting him daggers with their eyes. "What were you saying?"
Lily jerked out of her humiliation and looked at him with wide eyes. "Er—nothing." She managed to say. "I was going to ask if you'd be able to help me with my Transfiguration after the match tomorrow. You know, they tease me a lot if I need help with something, since my grades are usually pretty good, and all." She lied pathetically, praying to whatever Powers that Be out there that he couldn't detect the slight wobble in her voice, "But obviously you're going to be busy, now. Never mind, I can con Mary into helping me."
"Oh," he blinked, "sorry. I can help you on Sunday, if you wanted?"
"No, that's okay." Lily picked up her still-scalding tea and drained half of it in a single swallow. "Alice and I agreed to work on the Potions essay on Sunday, since she has a date with Frank tomorrow."
"Are you sure?"
"It's fine," she stood up, haphazardly shoving The Daily Prophet into her bag, silently begging her cheeks to stop flaming, "really. I have to go; I've got to get to the sixth floor for Ancient Runes. I'll see you later." She slung the slightly bulky bag over her shoulder and scurried away from the breakfast table, her half-finished bacon and egg sandwich rolling around uncomfortably in her stomach as she flushed hot all over. She felt the telltale stinging of her nose, and desperately willed herself not to cry.
After a brief, furiously whispered consultation back at the breakfast table, it was Mary that hurried off after her.
Remus's eyes followed her from behind his textbook, eyebrows raised.
Conditions in the Gryffindor House had never been so tense in all of their years at Hogwarts.
Nothing had come to an actual head over the course of Friday's lessons; but as Saturday morning had dawned bright and chilly, all five of the seventh year Gryffindor girls rose together, showered, dressed, and marched down to breakfast as a single unit, four of the five glaring at their male counterparts (Sirius and Peter had taken turns the previous morning, after Lily had left, clapping James on the back and congratulating him for getting a date to Hogsmeade). None of the boys, bar Remus, had read too much into this; it wasn't unusual for the girls to be mad at them for some prank or other that they'd pulled, or a dirty joke that they'd told. Besides, they were looking forward to the game that morning, which always eclipsed everything else. The girls, they were sure, would be happy with them again by the end of the match. They always were.
The five girls sat at the opposite end of the table from the team, muttering depreciations about two of the Chasers to each other. Lily couldn't bring herself to look up from the plate of pancakes slathered in butter and syrup that Alice had pushed in front of her; she ate slowly, not really hungry.
Half an hour before the game was due to start, the Gryffindor team rose from their seats and strolled leisurely down to the front of the Hall and towards the doors to thunderous applause.
"Coming down to watch the game, ladies?" James asked the five girls obliviously, as was part of the routine for the morning a Gryffindor match. Particularly for a Gryffindor versus Slytherin match, the entire House was expected to be down at the pitch to show their House spirit and support the team.
Alice was the only one to look up at him, not even bothering to mask her contempt. She raised an eyebrow, casting her eye over the grinning, optimistic team (including one Miss Chelsea Robbins) before replying with a very curt "No."
It was if the single-syllable word were like a muggle bomb—the shockwaves that rippled through the Great Hall (even to the Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin tables!) sounded with whispering that sounded almost like buzzing bees.
"You're… not?" He repeated, blinking slowly, as if he didn't understand the word. "Why not?"
Alice's eyes flickered momentarily to the perplexed Chelsea before returning to the clueless boy. "We don't feel like it." She retorted.
"But… you have to come!" He protested. "It's the first game of the season! We're playing Slytherin, for Merlin's sake—!"
"We don't have to do anything, Potter." Now Marlene was glaring at him, too.
James reeled back as if he'd been slapped. He and Marlene had been friends (not the best of friends, admittedly, but always on a first-name basis) since they'd started Hogwarts. "What the bloody hell is wrong with you lot?" He demanded tersely.
"Leave it, Potter." Lily's voice was tight; she didn't even look up from where she was pushing pieces of pancake around on her plate. "Go down to the pitch and stop harassing us. You have a game to play."
"You too, Evans?" James bit. "Going back to your old standby, eh? Hating me again for no reason?" He scowled at her. "Right. Fine. Come on, team. We've got a match to win." They swept out of the Hall.
The five girls were acutely aware of most of the Gryffindor table—all clad in red and gold—glaring at them. "Let's go back up to the dorm." Marlene suggested. Looking at each other, they all abandoned their half-finished breakfasts and sped off back to Gryffindor Tower.
They could hear the commentary from their dorm window. Lily insisted that they leave the window open so the noise from the pitch could float into the room while they used the extra time to finish their homework. The other girls had wanted to block out the match; but, Lily said, just because she was upset about the previous morning, didn't mean she didn't want to know how the match was going. She just didn't particularly feel like going to the match.
It sounded like a particularly brutal game. The girls all winced as one when the commentator announced that little Thomas Smith—a third-year and the other Gryffindor Chaser—had been hit so hard by a bludger that he'd nearly fallen off his broom. There were, Lily had counted, a total of at least five injuries so far in the half an hour that the game had been running, on both teams. They were lucky that Madame Pomfrey was able to heal in such a short time, or else the match would have to have been called off.
"And Avery drops the Quaffle. Possession taken by Smith, who tears up the pitch—watch out for that bludger, Smith!—ooh, that had to hurt, but Smith passes to Potter, who passes to Robbins, who passes back to Potter—nice bludger interception by Black, there! Ouch! And the second bludger hits Slytherin's keeper from the left, leaving the goals wide open—come on Potter, you can't miss this one…! GRYFFINDOR SCORES!"
"What's the score now?" Alice stopped pretending to work and stared out the window.
"Fifty to thirty, Gryffindor way." Lily answer automatically. She had stopped pretending to read about ten minutes ago; her eyes were staring at her textbook, but unmoving. She'd been following the match commentary almost desperately. "You know, you can go down and watch the match." She told her friends; she knew that they were only staying to keep her company.
"…It's fine." Alice finally shook her head. "We'll stay with you."
"Go." Lily said forcefully. "You're all distracting me."
"No." Marlene shook her head. "What kind of mates would we be if we went to the game now? We're supposed to take your side!"
Lily tossed her book aside with a disgusted sigh. "Look, let's just go down to the game. If we hurry we can get there before one of them gets the snitch."
"I don't think…"
"Are you sure…?"
"Lily…"
"I thought you didn't want…"
Lily shot her friends a tired glare. "Let's just go. I can't stand you lot sighing like that. It's not like the bloke broke my heart or anything—this is just ridiculous, and you are going to go to that game, even if I have to drag you all there by your hair. And besides, there are people on the team other than those two," she spat the words, "and it counts toward the House Cup. We should go."
Her friends all looked at each other.
"Besides," Lily pressed, "I know you want to."
Two hours later, the game had been won, and a blissfully happy Gryffindor Tower was celebrating their victory.
Lily and her friends sat at the back of the Common Room, away from the main crowd. Some had gone to Hogsmeade, but others had stayed behind, opting to celebrate with the younger years.
"Have fun!" Lily and Marlene called out to Alice, who was leaving to go on her date with Frank. Alice turned around and gave them a wicked grin and a thumbs up.
"A galleon says they end up under the seats in the pitch." Mary snickered as she sat back down with them, handing each girl a goblet of pumpkin juice.
"I don't take losing bets." Lily laughed as she sniffed her drink. "You sure this isn't spiked?"
"Potter left straight after the match, and Black and Pettigrew haven't come back from the kitchens yet." Marlene pointed out. "Unless Lupin has a death wish, I think it's pretty safe to drink."
Lily sighed as her friends started chattering. "Where's Dorcas?" She asked, looking around.
"Over there." Mary pointed to the other side of the room.
Lily's eyebrows got lost in her fringe. "Oh." She tilted her head to the side as she studied them. Dorcas was sitting on the lap of a sixth year whose name always escaped Lily, practically eating his face. "How are they even breathing?" Her friends laughed.
"One day, Lily," Mary patted Lily's shoulder in a comforting-yet-condescending manner, "you'll get a good snog in and you won't need to ask these silly questions." Lily was saved from spluttering indignantly by a tap on her shoulder.
She turned around, finding Remus Lupin standing behind her with a smile. "You have a second?" He asked her. "I wanted to ask you something."
"Er… sure." Lily blinked, putting her goblet down on the table. "I'll be back in a few." She told her friends as she followed Remus to a deserted alcove off the side of the Common Room. "What is it?"
"I saw you at the game today. I didn't think you were going."
"We changed our minds." Lily shrugged. "Why? Aren't we allowed?"
"It's not that." Remus coughed uncomfortably. "I was just wondering if… James did something to upset you?" He finally asked.
Lily balked. "Why… would you think that?" She asked after a moment's hesitation.
Remus leant against the wall and smiled gently. "I wasn't eavesdropping, I swear," he promised, "but I happened to be sitting next to James yesterday morning. You didn't really want to ask him about Transfiguration, did you?"
She suddenly found her shoes very interesting. "I…" she cleared her throat and willed her blush to subside, "…don't know what you're talking about."
Remus sighed. "Look, Lily, I can talk to him if you want—"
"No!" Lily squeaked, jerking her gaze up to his face. "Remus, you can't. Please! Please don't tell him!"
"So I was right." Remus's grin turned gleeful.
Lily blinked. "Wait. I thought…"
"That I knew you fancy him?" Remus's grin was positively wolfish by that point. "I didn't. Not until you practically admitted it just now."
Lily's eyes were wide with horror. "Remus Lupin!" He hissed, grabbing his shoulders. "I swear if you so much as breathe about it in Potter's presence, I will curse off your manly bits!"
Remus laughed. "Don't worry, Lily." He shook her hands off. "I wont tell him. But you really should talk to him when he gets back from Hogsmeade."
"I don't want anything to do with him." Lily crossed her arms sullenly.
"Ah, don't be like that." Remus shrugged. "Look, take my advice; talk to James."
"Why should I?" Lily demanded.
"Trust me." Remus sniggered.
Lily huffed and went to rejoin her friends.
"What did he want?" Marlene asked as Lily dropped back into her armchair and drained her pumpkin juice.
"Nothing." Lily lied.
Two days later, Lily was one of the last people left in the Common Room, trying to finish a piece of homework for Professor Flitwick. It was about one in the morning; the only other people up were a few students who had put off their homework. Lily, however, could not concentrate; James and two of his friends were only a few feet away, seated at one of the desks in the shadows. Peter had gone off to bed not long ago, leaving Sirius and Remus with their friend as he tried to finish a Potions essay. From their position, they couldn't see her nestled in the armchair by the fire. They didn't know she was there.
"I don't get it." James finally burst out with, throwing his quill down. "Why are all the Seventh Year Gryffindor girls mad at me?"
So he'd noticed. Lily would seriously have doubted his intelligence if he hadn't; the girls' sudden aversion to him was not disguised. They openly glared at him at the Gryffindor table; they went out of their way to avoid talking to him; when they did talk to him, it was always in short, clipped tones, and the conversations were always dropped at the earliest possible convenience. When he'd asked if they were okay, they'd all snapped at him that they were fine and left. Lily, herself, had completely avoided speaking to him—no mean feat, considering they were both Head students.
"I mean," James was still complaining, "what did I do?"
Lily stilled and felt a sudden stab of fear; Remus knew why. Remus had promised not to tell, but he was a 'marauder', after all.
Remus sighed. "Solidarity, mate."
"Solidarity?" Sirius barked with a laugh.
"What do you mean, Moony?" James asked, confusion evident in his voice.
Remus's voice was tired; Lily could practically see him pinching his nose. "Yes. Solidarity. You know, that thing that happens when you hurt a girl and all her friends band together against you?"
"What?" James spluttered. "Who did I hurt?"
"Shut up, Sirius." Remus grumbled at Sirius's laughter. "Look, James, it's not my place to say," Lily practically deflated in relief, "but you should talk to the girls. They all know what's going on, I think."
"But you know." James's voice was flat.
"A little." Remus admitted. "I don't know all the details, though, and I promised I wouldn't tell anyone. Talk to them."
"I've tried talking to them!" James ground out in frustration. "The only one I haven't been able to corner is Evans, and she turns and walks away from me whenever she sees me walking down the hallway. I swear, I thought we were friends this year, but it's like she's gone back to fifth year after Snivellus called her a you-know-what by the lake. She didn't even come to the game on Saturday; none of them did."
"She's a girl." Sirius scoffed. "They're moody. Maybe it's that time of the month."
"You're a sexist pig, Sirius." Remus shot in exasperation. "And they did come to the game, James. I saw them there. They didn't go down with everyone else at the beginning, but apparently they changed their minds and came after all."
"They did?" James's voice was incredulous.
"I didn't see them." Sirius argued.
"They came; I saw them in the stands after about an hour." Remus insisted. "Look, James, you and Lily have patrol tomorrow. You can 'corner' her then." James grunted in the affirmative. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get this homework finished."
"Speak for yourself." Sirius snorted. "I'm going to bed."
"Me too." There were identical creaks as the two tall boys stood from their chairs. "Night Moony."
"Night."
Lily sunk into her chair and prayed that they wouldn't notice her; she finally heard their footsteps disappear up the stairs to the boys' dormitories and sprang to her feet, collecting her things.
"Lily?" She spun around to meet Remus's gaze. He was looking up at her in mild shock. "You were there the whole time?"
"Yeah." She blushed, stacking her books and sweeping them up into her arms. "Thanks, Remus." Neither of them needed her to clarify what she was thanking him for.
"I promised, didn't I?" He smiled.
She returned it and dashed up the stairs to her dorm.
As it turned out, James managed to corner Lily before rounds the next day. She'd made the silly mistake of heading down the stairs on the way to breakfast alone that morning, thinking that it was late enough that James and his friends would have already gone down to the Great Hall.
She was wrong.
She'd barely stepped off the stairs when a hand had shot out and grabbed her, spinning her around and dragging her in front of her captor. She found herself staring at James Potter's furious face.
Apparently, he had not gone down to breakfast yet.
"What the bloody hell is wrong with you?" He demanded.
"And a good morning to you, too, Potter." Lily snapped, making to step around him and head out the portrait hole.
"Cut the crap, Evans." He demanded, wrapping a hand around one of her wrists like a shackle. "Answer the question."
"Let go of me." She demanded, trying to extricate her arm from his iron grasp.
"Not until you answer me." He said firmly, his voice like thunder.
Lily practically growled. "I don't answer to you, Potter." She snapped. "You have no right to demand anything from me. We're not even friends."
That, apparently, was the wrong thing so say.
"I don't get it, Evans." He said tightly as the rest of Lily's dorm mates appeared at the bottom of the steps, staring at the two of them in shock. "You've been avoiding me since Saturday morning, and now you're talking to me like I'm a load of dragon dung. What the bloody hell did I do?"
"No, Potter, not since Saturday." She hissed at him furiously. "I've been bloody avoiding you since you agreed to a date with Robbins, in case you hadn't noticed."
"What does that have to do with anything?" He demanded, voice slightly rising. "What do you care about who I go to Hogsmeade with?"
"Because I wanted to go to Hogsmeade with you!" Lily shrieked, managing to check herself before she stomped her foot like a petulant three year old. Neither of them registered the sudden silence of the Common Room.
James reeled back, the fire suddenly gone from his eyes. "What?"
"You heard me!" Lily shouted. "I wanted to go out with you! But you went out with Robbins instead!"
He backed up from her, frowning. "Why didn't you say something—?"
"I was about to!" She yelled, the sound coming out slightly strangled around the lump that lodged itself in her throat. "I was in the middle of asking you the bloody question when she interrupted me! And when I was about to tell her to bugger off, you said yes!"
"No," James said slowly, "you said you needed help with your Transfiguration."
"Well what the bloody hell else was I supposed to say?" She demanded. "It's not like I could ask you then, was it? You already had a date!"
His face softened. "Evans—"
"I don't know what I was bloody well thinking!" She continued on her tirade, slapping his hands away when he reached for her shoulders. "I thought—I thought you might still fancy me, since you've been so nice to me all year. I thought maybe—maybe I could give it a go. I thought maybe—maybe—! But I was so humiliated! And—and—!"
And to her horror (and the horror of James and the shock of else in the common room), she covered her face with her hands and burst into loud, noisy sobs. "You're such a bloody wanker!"
As she turned tail and sped up the stairs to the girls' dormitories, James started after her, stopping at the base of the staircase to avoid tripping the slide charm. "Evans! Oi! Evans, wait!"
"Leave it, James." Marlene muttered as she and the other girls hurried up after her. "She's embarrassed enough as it is."
The Common Room was deadly silent as James turned around. Looking at the crowd with wide eyes (he'd quite forgotten that they'd had an audience of well over twenty people), he snapped "What?", and stormed out of the portrait hole.
Her dorm mates practically pushed Lily downstairs that night when it was time for rounds. They'd managed to pry her away from her bed for their classes that morning, with promises that they would keep James away from her; every time he'd started toward her, they would push her ahead and one would stay and detain him until Lily was safely in a bathroom or a classroom—there was no chance for him to catch her again the whole day.
"You're being ridiculous." Alice had said firmly, when Lily ran back to hide in their dormitory after dinner. "So the bloke knows you fancy him now. So what? Do your hair, fix your makeup, and drag him off to a broom closet somewhere to mess them up again. Really, Lily, stop being such a daft cow. He's been asking after you all day. You can't really expect to say the things you said to him this morning and expect him to walk away like nothing ever happened. It's pathetic."
Lily had huffed as Dorcas had rolled her eyes and threatened to stun her if she didn't do as she was told. One look at her friend had proven that she wasn't making an idle threat, and Lily had sworn and complained as she fixed her hair and straightened her uniform.
"I hate you all." She growled as she left the dorm, spinning around and slamming the door on their giggles.
Her heart was thumping in her throat as she descended the stairs. She pointedly ignored the intense stares of everyone else in the Common Room—everyone had heard about her outburst that morning—and climbed out of the portrait hole to wait for the Head Boy.
"I didn't think you were going to come on patrol tonight." She heard James say softly as he climbed out from behind the Fat Lady after her. The painting swung back into place with a click.
"I really, really don't want to be here, Potter." She sighed. "Let's get this over and done with. I just want to go to bed and pretend today never happened."
She set off.
He easily matched her pace. They marched through the halls silently, their footfalls echoing off the stone walls. Every few minutes she would hear him take a breath, like he was going to say something, and then let it out in a deep sigh. She was privately thankful; her face was so red that she could imagine he could feel the heat radiating off her skin. Her heart had decided that it liked the new view from her throat, too; it showed no inclination to return to her chest, where it belonged.
They were on the third floor corridor when James finally spoke.
"Look, about this morning…"
"Just forget it." She couldn't have imagined that her cheeks could get any redder, but they proved her wrong.
"I can't." He reached out and grabbed her hand, gently pulling her to a stop. "Listen—"
She stared at the floor. "Please, Potter—"
"Aren't we a little past the last-name basis, Lily?" She didn't answer. "Look," he sighed, running his free hand through his hair, "if I'd known what you were going to ask me on Friday morning, I wouldn't have said yes to Chelsea." He confessed. She looked up at him sharply. "I probably shouldn't have said yes to begin with, but she's on the team and I didn't want to risk hurting her feelings…" he cleared his throat. "She's a good mate, but I don't fancy her. We didn't even have that great of a time. We actually agreed about halfway through the afternoon to call it off and go our separate ways."
"Why are you telling me this?" Lily asked in a tiny voice. "It's not my business who you go out with."
"I just… I wanted to explain…" he sighed with a frustrated huff, letting go of her hand and rubbing his forehead with the base of his palms.
"You don't have t explain anything." Lily insisted. "It's none of my business—"
"But it is." He insisted softly, taking her hand again and starting to walk; he allowed himself a smile when she fell into step beside him and didn't immediately pull her hand away. "I just… oh, bloody hell!" He swore as he stopped by a broom closet, dropping her hand again.
"What—!" Lily spluttered, indignant, when he reached out and pulled it open.
She blinked at the sight that greeted her. Two fifth-years were tangled together in the tiny space; she raised her eyebrows at the positions of the young couple's hands—in no place that a fifteen-year-old's hands had any business being—as James cleared his throat.
"Oi. You pair."
They froze, slowly pulling their faces away from each other and turning wide eyes on the Head Boy. "Ten points from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Get back to your dormitories, both of you," he ordered, "and stay there."
They scrambled off down the hall, separating at the staircase. They didn't even pause to say goodbye as the Hufflepuff girl went downstairs and the Ravenclaw boy sped up the stairs as fast as his legs could carry him.
"Bugger."
She couldn't help it; she giggled at his petulant expression. He looked like a little boy who had just been told that he couldn't have his favourite toy back. "What's so funny?" He grinned.
"Nothing." She chuckled, taking his hand again on impulse. She caught sight of his smile as they entwined their fingers. "Just something that Alice told me before I left the dorm tonight."
"Oh, really." He raised an eyebrow. "And what was that?"
"Nothing I'm going to tell you." Her face heated up again, a little.
"If you say so." They lapsed into silence as they started roaming the halls again.
"I'm sorry for yelling at you." She murmured.
"Don't be." She could practically hear the grin in his voice. "How else would you have told me you fancied me?"
"I did not say that!" She spluttered, glaring as he laughed. "Potter—!"
He tugged on her arm and brought her to a stop. "Lily." He warned.
Her indignation melted away as she sighed. "Look, I… just forget about it. It's okay that you don't like me anymore—"
"Where the bloody hell did you get that idea?" He gave her an incredulous look. "Don't be daft, Lily, of course I still fancy you."
"You… do?"
He laughed. "Of course I do. I never stopped."
"But… but… you stopped asking me to Hogsmeade!"
James shook his head. "Would you have treated me with even a little civility this year if I'd kept hounding you?' He asked. She frowned. "Exactly. I figured it would make this year easier if I didn't harass you all the time."
"You're right." She sighed.
He winked at her. "But, I guess I can break my resolution now." He gave her a wicked smirk. "Go out with me, Lily?"
She stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. "Sure, James."
- E N D -
And here is where I drop dead.
I really, really hope you enjoyed this one. Please review and let me know what you thought?
Thanks for reading!
Sparkly Faerie