A/N- All credit for characters and locations goes to J.K Rowling and her amazing mind.
Lily didn't know why she was so nervous. It was James' Freaking Potter. She'd known him for years. Mind you, he hadn't been making things easy on her in the past few weeks. Every time Lily had seen him, he'd gotten even more unbearable. It was as if he could sense the end of their companionship growing closer with the coming of the close of their final year at Hogwarts. With little over a half a year left, James' efforts had doubled. The other Marauders had taken to talking to her in the hallways, always dropping hints about James, and pointing out his good features. Not that Lily Evans hadn't noticed those. She just chose to ignore them whenever James was around.
That was easy enough to do when he was near her. An unbearable git, James teased her, obviously flirting, while at the same time making fun of Snape. She could overlook the few good points he had, but only when he was around. When she was free of his presence, that was when her mind wandered to the good features of James Potter.
Deep breath in, Lily, and out. She thought to herself as she sat in the great hall alone. Looking at her watch, which read 9:03, Lily sighed. James, as always, was late. Funny, considering that big fancy watch he always wore. You'd think he'd use it more often.
Standing up, she took out her wand and began moving Christmas trees on her own. Hagrid had brought them in for her around 8:45. She'd been here early, hoping to get a head start on the process of decorating the Great Hall for the Christmas Feast the next day. All of the decorations had been organized for quick installation. Easy as a two person job, of course, which was usually done by the head girl and boy. Unfortunately for Lily, James Potter was a rebellious and never punctual. Lily had major revision to do for once school resumed. This had to be done quickly, and impossible feat for a single girl.
But her expectations for James Potter hadn't come through. He was late, and she was angry. Having moved all of the boxes by herself already, fuming, she turned to them and began.
Laying on the table among the boxes, James Potter grinned at her. "Stop staring Evans," he began, running his hand through his messy black hair. He sat up as Lily stood there, mouth open. A wave of heat rushed over her as he finished his statement. "You look slightly less stunning when you do that." Anger. Not embarrassment. Or love. Anger. That was the cause of the shade of red her face had reached. Anger.
Lily didn't trust herself to speak at that moment. Regardless of how much she didn't like him, she had to get along with Potter or she wouldn't be able to study. She lifted a box filled with lights and put it in front of him without a word. James looked from the box to the redhead, and sighed. "Look Red, I'm sorry I'm late. I was stopped in the hallway. Moony-Remus, can vouch for me." Lily just nodded, grabbing a second box and placing it in front of her tree. Lifting up the tinsel with her wand, she began to walk around the large pine tree.
James didn't try to speak to his companion again, other than for instructions on where to put things. After dropping her third green and red dressed wooden elf, James suggested they take a break. The Head Girl nodded silently, taking a seat on the nearest bench. Being holidays, the usual four long house tables had been replaced by a few round tables placed close to the front of the hall. Quite a few students from the houses had opted to stay at school instead of going home. Not many last year Gryffindors stayed. Only Remus, Lily,Frank Longbottom, Sirius and Alice Lancaster remained of the year. The final Marauder had chosen to go home over the holiday.
"Why didn't you go home Red?" James' voice pulled Lily out of her thoughts. She stared at him for a moment, debating whether or not to answer. In the end, she decided to try to be civil.
"Family problems at home. Nothing you would understand, I'm sure." Lily glanced at the ground. Tuny and Lily had a huge row the summer before her final year. She shuddered thinking about it. She'd made her sister tell her fiancé about Lily's abilities, after years of her protesting. Petunia hadn't understood the witches longing to no longer be looked at like an outsider. The Evans family had been telling Dursley that Lily'd been going to a "special school out in the country." Vernon had assumed that she'd had a mental problem and treated her accordingly. So Lily had made Tuny tell him. He vowed to never let her see Tuny again, and they'd argued. Lily couldn't stand to look at Tuny after some of the things she'd said to her last time they'd spoken. So when Professor McGonagall sent around the sign-up sheet during Transfiguration last week, Lily just passed it on.
James laughed. "I wouldn't understand? Red, I'm the king of family problems." Surprisingly though, he didn't push her for a further explanation. Instead he hopped up onto the table and lay down. "You know what I like to do sometimes? Don't tell anyone, but I come here and just stare at the ceiling. It's an exact replica of the real night sky." Lily looked upwards.
In the seven years she'd been here, the only times she had looked up to see the sky were on feast nights. Well, there had been many, many nights where she would stay up late watching the stars from her dorm window. But they weren't like these. Stretched out across the entire Great Hall ceiling was the night sky. It was obviously a clear night outside, and it showed here. Her neck began to hurt. James scooted over a bit on the table.
"You know, Lily. It's a bit more comfortable up here. I won't try anything, I swear. I just need to make it up to you for being late, and I don't like you not speaking to me. It's unnerving." She looked at James, eyes narrow. James, being James, met her gaze and didn't look away until she stood up. He turned his head to look back up at the sky as she climbed up onto the table, laying down next to him. They stared for a few minutes. Surprisingly, it was James who reminded them that they should get back to work.
Together, they picked up boxes and brought them to the next tree. They managed to make quite a bit of progress, making small talk. She absentmindedly wrapped a string of lights around a tree when she bumped into James, who was heading in the other direction with ribbon. Feeling stupid, they did that awkward two person dance, where you both try to go the same direction to get around each other and stopped.
Then Lily did something incredibly stupid. It seemed right at the time. "James." She began. "Why do you fancy me so much?" James' goofy grin faded.
"In all honesty Red?" James took a step closer to her, his face getting closer to hers. She could feel her cheeks redden again. "The first time I saw you, on the train ride here… when Sirius and I hid in your compartment. I saw you with Snivellus, and thought you were the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen." James got even closer to her. She could see her reflection in his glasses. "And as we grew up, every year I would try to get you to see me, to pay attention to me. But you wouldn't give me the time of day. I thought maybe it was Snivellus, so I picked on him. You've driven me mad Lily Evans. Past the point of no return."
She was sure her face was the same color as her hair by that point. Could it be? Was Lily Evans actually feeling something towards James Freaking Potter? SHe started to lean in towards James. "How mad Potter?" Lily asked, staring into his eyes. She'd never noticed how nice his eyes were. Well, she'd never gotten close enough to see. His hand grabbed hers.
"I'd battle an ogre for you, Lily Evans. I'd brave a Veela to see you again. I'd ride on the back of a Hippogriff, or a Dragon just to see you." He lifted her hand to his lips, and she could feel the soft warm breath on her skin. Butterflies in her stomach. She didn't think our bodies could have gotten any closer without touching. James' tall figure leaned over me. He continued.
"I've never wanted anything so badly. All I want to do is take you back to my Head Boy room and do unspeakable things." James' wink was interrupted by her body pushing past his.
The moment was gone. Lily Evans was infuriated with James Potter again. All those things he'd said, ruined by one statement. One stupid, stupid statement. She stormed back to the boxes, grabbed one and hastily made her way across the Great Hall to another tree. She could hear the echo of his footsteps behind her. Feel his hand grab her shoulder, turn her around, and grab the box that she was holding, placing it on the nearest table, James continued to speak.
"C'mon Evans. I was only kidding! I mean, yeah, I'd like to do that stuff… but who wouldn't? I mean, I'm sure that even Remus would like to do that stuff if he found a girl that was into school as much as he was. I was only kidding about doing that stuff though! My point is that I like you Lily…" SHe didn't let him finish.
"Potter. You blew it. I, am tired, and you've embarrassed me and yourself enough tonight. I'll let you finish with the remaining trees. You're the one that decided to show up late, and there isn't much left to do. I'm going to bed." With that, she stormed out of the room. If she'd turned to look back, she would have seen James, staring at her as she left, his jaw dropped wide open.
He'd never gotten so close to finally winning Lily Evans.