A/N: Hey, y'all! This was written for the Hogwarts Eastern Funfair for the Ferris Wheel. My prompt: (occupation) lifeguard

Word Count: 1610

Thanks to my sister for beta'ing!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Those rights go to JK Rowling.

Enjoy!

Lily pulled her hair up into a loose bun. A few shorter strands of hair fell about her face. Sand slid between her toes as she walked along the beach heading over to join Alice, her friend. The sun was beating down on her shoulders mercilessly and the light was hurting her eyes, so she put on her sunglasses. She hadn't put on any sunscreen yet, and hoped that she found Alice before she burned. Luckily, it wasn't long before she spotted her friend's brown locks.

She ran towards Alice, holding her sandals in one hand and waving wildly with the other. "Alice! Over here!"

Alice turned around and grinned as Lily approached. "Took you long enough. Potter ask you out again?"

Lily rolled her eyes. In truth, she was warming up to Potterm but she wanted solid proof of his maturity before she considered becoming… anything more than friends. "Yes. I mean, he's matured a lot since last year, but until he can prove he's become more responsible…"

"You're not interested," Alice finished.

"I'm not interested," Lily agreed.

Alice shrugged, her freckled shoulders jumping up and down. "Ah, well. Moving on from Potter, guess who's here!"

Lily pulled off her cover up, revealing the swimsuit underneath. "Who?"

Alice wagged her eyebrows. "Your handsome lifeguard, that's who."

Lily playfully hit Alice on the arm. "Alice! He's not my lifeguard. He's just someone I admire for keeping the beach safe. And you have no idea if he's handsome or not— we've only ever seen him from a distance."

Alice rolled her eyes. "Sure Lily. Whatever you say."

Lily quickly lathered on some sunscreen. "Are you going to swim with me or not?"

The rest of the time went by quickly, and the girls were soon heading home. As they walked out of the beach, they caught a glimpse of the boy in the lifeguard tower. He was lending a couple of kids some money for the snack bar. Lily smiled at his totally random act of kindness.

"Aw," Alice cooed. "I can see why you like him."

Lily groaned. "Alice, will you ever give this up?"

Her friend shook her head. "Nope. It's been too long since you've had a crush on someone. You should talk to him, it's not like you and Potter are going anywhere."

Lily frowned sharply and stopped. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Alice snorted. "Please, Lily. You like Potter— don't try to deny it! When are you two going to put this stupid rivalry behind you and move on with your lives? Specifically, when are you going to ask him out? Because him asking you isn't working."

Lily flushed darkly. "I don't like Potter like that, Alice. And our feud isn't silly— he used to be a right prick."

"Yeah, used to be," Alice grumbled. "But now he's not. I know you like him; you're my best friend, I know when you're lying. And if you really don't want to move forwards with him, can't you give the lifeguard a chance?"

Lily opened her car door, thinking over Alice's words. "Maybe I will."

Alice grinned. "Atta girl. You up for sushi?"

The next day at school, James Potter approached her. "Hey, Evans. How're you?"

She glanced at him, smirking. "I'm fine, thanks for asking, Potter. Something wrong? You seem nervous."

It was true, he did. His hazel eyes couldn't seem to focus on anything, and he kept opening and closing his mouth. After long last, he spoke.

"Lily. I know we joke about this sort of thing a lot, and that's my fault, but this time, I'm not joking. I wanted to ask you—"

Lily's phone buzzed. She pulled it out and checked the time, and her eyes widened. "Damn! I'm going to be late!" She turned back to James. "Alice and I were supposed to meet at the beach— can you ask me real fast, or…?"

James frowned in confusion. "I thought you met Alice on Tuesdays and Thursdays…?"

Lily nodded distractedly, stuffing her books into her bag. "Yeah, but Alice is trying to set me up with this guy this guy we saw— so unless I want her to skin my hide, I gotta dash."

James' smile seemed forced. "Yeah, sure thing."

Lily smiled gently at him. "Thanks, James. Don't forget to tell me tomorrow or text me later, okay?"

He nodded, and she ran to her car.

She parked quickly and rushed to find Alice. Her green eyes squinted against the bright light. She found Alice near the lifeguard tower, sipping a smoothie.

"About time you got here," she grumbled. "What kept you this time?"

"James," Lily admitted. "He wanted to tell me something."

Alice looked curious. "What did he want?"

Lily shrugged. "Dunno. You texted me before I could find out."

Alice handed her a smoothie. "Ask him later. Right now, we're going fishing."

Lily groaned. "Do you have to call it that? And I thought we agreed that we'd just introduce ourselves. You know— get to know him a bit before anything else."

Alice looked bored. "Lily, I know what you're doing. Stop stalling."

Lily sighed, but followed her friend towards the lifeguard tower. She took a sip of her smoothie and hummed in delight. Mango. Yum. She took another sip and looked out at the ocean. She was nervous meeting the lifeguard, but excited; for the longest time, she'd been admiring him from afar, the only discernible feature being his black hair. She'd watched him teach a CPR class, play with kids on his break, and help many people while on duty. She hoped that their meeting would reflect those actions.

Just as she was turning to look towards the tower, she collided with someone. Lily gasped as the styrofoam cup she was holding burst open, spilling tis icy contents all over her.

"Cold," she choked out, waving her hands around. "Cold!"

The boy who'd run into her froze. "Oh my— I'm so sorry! Here," He pulled off the towel from around his neck. He frantically tried to wipe the freezing smoothie off of Lily. Goosebumps erupted all over her body, and her face was flushed crimson from the embarrassing ordeal. She tried to take the towel from him, but he seemed too humiliated to listen properly. Alice was no help at all; she was laughing her head off a few meters away.

After several agonizing minutes, the smoothie was finally cleaned off, but Lily was still shivering. The boy, still rambling off apologies, grabbed another towel and draped it around her shoulders.

She laughed a little and looked up at him. "Really, it's— James?"

His head snapped up, startled. Then he grinned. "Lily! Um. Sorry again about your smoothie…"

Lily waved his apology aside. "Don't worry about it. What are you doing here?"

James looked at her strangely. "I work here. What are you doing here? I thought you were being set up with some bloke."

Lily pulled the towel tighter around her shoulders, wondering if it was jealousy that she heard in his voice. But that wouldn't make any sense.

Or would it?

"Yeah, I was supposed to be seeing that dark-haired lifeguard, but," She took in the whistle around his neck and the red swim trunks. "I guess that's you."

James looked surprised. "Really? Me?"

Lily's eyes narrowed, and she tried to mask her embarrassment. "You are a lifeguard here, aren't you?"

James quickly confirmed this fact, lest she get the wrong idea. "Well, yeah. So, um... Alice was going to set you up with me?"

Lily's eyes widened as she realized the implications of this. "No! We were going to get to know you before we— I— tried anything, and…" She groaned. She really hoped that she hadn't overstepped any of his boundaries. For all she knew, he just wanted to be friends. After all, she was only just now realizing that she wanted them to move outside of friendship.

James was grinning, mirth sparkling in his eyes behind his glasses. "But that was the plan. To eventually ask me out."

Lily, blushing up to the roots of her hair, looked around desperately for backup. Alice was nowhere to be found; Lily cursed her friend silently.

Defeated, she answered. "...yes."

James' grin, if possible, grew wider. "So, can I… buy you a smoothie?"

Lily blinked at the random change of topic. "What? Oh, don't worry about the smoothie. Alice paid for it anyway."

James shook his head and leaned closer. "Let me rephrase that. Could I take you on a smoothie date?"

Speechless, Lily just stared at him. She must have been silent for too long, because James' grni began to falter.

"I just thought— see, that was what I wanted to ask you earlier, and I guess that you coming over with that same intent seemed like fate, and—" He stopped himself.

His rambling had snapped Lily out of her daze. "James, no— you just took me by surprise." She laughed nervously. "I'd love to— wait a minute, that's what you were trying to tell me after school? Why didn't you just ask then? I would've said yes!"

James brightened considerably. "You would have?"

Lily rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "I'm going home to change into something casual. When your shift is over, you change too. Pick me up at six, and take me somewhere simple— to the movies, or for pizza, or something. Nothing extravagant."

James saluted. "Aye aye, captain."

Lily smiled over her shoulder as she walked away. "See you at six!"

When she reached her car, she heard James let out an excited whoop.

She grinned all the way home.