Lily sighed. It was freezing out here. And it wasn't helping that she just stood on the path to the Quidditch pitch while all the other students rushed past her, with red cheeks and glowing faces from the excitement that a Quidditch game usually evoked.
'Bloody Mary' she swore under her breath and silently cursing her friend for never being on time.
Her train of thought suddenly stopped and she chuckled a little.
'Bloody Mary' she murmured again, laughing a little louder. She shook her head over her own silliness and averted her attention back to the students surrounding her. She still couldn't see her friend in the crowd.
Instead she saw a familiar mob of messy black hair and a broomstick protruding over his shoulder. He wore the red and gold coloured gear of the Quidditch team and the Captain's badge visible on his chest. She caught her heart racing and wanted to turn away from him, lest he see her staring. But she couldn't keep her eyes of him, he'd grown so handsome in the past few months. And she didn't know if that was because he physically grew more handsome or because her perception of him had shifted. He definitely had grown, she decided. He couldn't have been this good-looking all this time. She would have noticed.
Finally able to tear her gaze away from his features, she concentrated hard on getting her heartrate in check. This couldn't be possible. This boy had just mere month prior annoyed her immensely. But that had been before he had shown her unusual kindness when her father had died or before she had befriended Sirius because he had done something so terrible that even his best friends shunned him for it. He had told her some things about the real James Potter and his family that now made her heart go like a canary.
Great Sirius! She thought, annoyed with herself, that's all your fault.
And if he had heard her, Sirius approached her, also in his Quidditch gear.
'Hello Ginger! What's up?'
'Blaming you for liking Potter!'
A roar of laughter escaped him. 'Oh Ginger, I think that's entirely his fault, just look at his immaculate features or his lush hair, and those lips…'
Lily sighed, and caught herself just a moment too late.
Sirius laughed again. She hit him.
'I still blame you.' She looked over to James who had just managed to get away from a crowd of third-years that probably wanted his Quidditch advice, and was now looking straight at her. Her eyes widened and panic seeped through her veins. She quickly turned her head back to Sirius who had followed her gaze. He grinned at her.
'Oh Ginger, it's so sweet seeing you like this, I'm always tempted to tell James just to see this exact look on his face.'
He already turned away from her, ready to walk away when she grabbed his arm.
'First of all: Don't you dare! Second of all: What?'
Laughing again, Sirius completely freed himself of her grip and started towards the pitch.
Not a moment later she saw James Potter, having almost reached her. She smiled at him, or tried to anyway.
He winked. 'Wish me luck, Evans.'
This time her smile was genuine and she nodded hesitantly. His ears turned pink and he drove a hand through his already messy hair as he followed his best friend.