James Potter flew another lazy loop around the pitch before finally resigning to the fact that he could barely see the end of his broomstick. He had wanted to practice hard, but the storm had rolled in so quickly that the rest of his team had scattered. He touched down on the soggy ground and swung his broom over his shoulder, walking slowly to the dressing room. Rain ran in little rivers down his face and his hair was plastered to his head. The wind whipped fiercely around him, tugging hard at his robes.

James sighed as he entered the dressing room. He hated being alone, he hated that his team had left him alone. When he was alone there was nothing to distract him, nothing to make him stop thinking about Lily Evans. He was flat out in love with her and she hated him. No, hate wasn't strong enough for what he was sure Lily felt. She despised him, loathed him, wanted to feed him to dragons.

Yet he couldn't stop thinking about her. Her smile came to him at dinner. The fiery red color of her hair flashed in front of his eyes when he studied. Her sharp wit reached out to him while he slept. It was heartbreaking and exhilarating all at the same time. He loved her, she hated him, and somehow it was much more real that way.

Of course, he wanted her to love him in return. But, he figured that if she wasn't going to love him, it was better that she hated him, than felt apathetic towards him. Grabbing a towel from his things, he scrubbed it over his head and face, but didn't bother with changing. He was going to get soaked again making his way to the castle.

With a loud bang of the door he exited the dressing room and went to hurry towards the dry warmth of the castle. He stopped suddenly when he saw Lily standing before him. Her robes were drenched and her long hair stuck to her skin.

"What in the world are you doing out here Evans?" James asked, covering the short distance between them in a matter of seconds. "You're soaking wet."

"Very astute observation, James," Lily said, her acerbic wit was diminished by the fact that she had called him by his first name. She had never, not once in their nearly seven years of schooling, called him by his first name. "Listen, I came out here to tell you something important," she said, snapping him out of his reverie. "But if you don't want to hear it, then I'll go back inside." She turned to leave but James reached out to stop her.

"No, Lily, don't go." He too had finally called her by her first name. It felt strange on his tongue. Sure, he said her name probably a million times a day, but never out loud. He was constantly rolling her name around in his head, but this was different. "What did you need to say?"

She looked up at him; her electric green eyes pierced him like a knife. "That I'm really, really mad at you."

James racked his brain, searching for something he might have done to offend her this time. He couldn't think of anything. "What for?"

She blinked and glanced away momentarily, then looked back at him steadfastly. "For making me fall in love with you," she said, matter-of-factly.

James was at a complete loss for words, this was not what he had expected her to say. Not at all. But it was what he had always hoped she would, one day, say to him. He didn't know what to do but she solved that by kissing him suddenly and firmly on the lips.

With the rain pouring down around them, the sky darkening, and both of them trembling from cold and excitement, James Potter and Lily Evan kissed for the first time.

This was written for the Kissing in the Rain Challenge over at HPFC. I've never tried this pairing before and I liked it a lot. I hope you do too.