Disclaimer: I own Olivia, JKR owns everybody else.

For Bittersweet x, one of my lovely loyal reviewers, who requested this a loooong time ago with the prompts honeysuckle, pumpkin juice, and time is just a suggestion :)

Also dedicated to Jenny (inescapable scars) because she loves JamesLily and she's been motivating me to finish this for ages, and I love her lots! :D

And this was the winner of my poll, so I do hope everyone who voted for it reads this and likes it and reviews! :D

In the beginning, it's just a lot of flirting masquerading as bantering.

She's outside, rain drizzling down through the leafy branches of the chestnut tree and dampening her fire-bright locks, with a book on her lap and a mug of coffee in her hands. Hardly anybody sees Lily Evans ever looking less than perfectly put together, but today her hair is loose and messy with rainwater, and her sundress is crinkled, and she's barefoot, and he thinks she looks beautiful.

"Evans?" he calls, his voice ringing surprisingly loudly in the empty courtyard, and the volume makes her look up from her muggle fiction book. "Can I call you Lily?"

Lily chews on her lip, a light that looks like laughter dancing in her green eyes, and if he were more poetic, he might compare them to emeralds or the green of the honeysuckle vines twisted around the legs of her bench, but he's not, and that's cliché, so he settles for grinning at her.

"I don't know, can you?" she shoots back easily after bookmarking her page and turning her full attention to him (and don't tell anybody, but he really likes it when she does that and she's not yelling at him; it's quite an accomplishment). "Are you physically capable – "

James waves his hand in the air, rolling his eyes in a manner that might seem exasperated or annoyed to anybody who hadn't known him for seven years, but he knows Lily knows he's just amused. "Yeah, yeah, you gave me the whole spiel about 'can' versus 'may' back in fourth year, Evans. May I call you Lily?"

Lily casts him a disinterested look as she opens up her book again, but her shoulders are shaking, which means she's secretly laughing (he takes that as a victory). "You may."

"Fantastic," he says cheerfully, his grin threatening to overtake his face. "Lily, what book are you reading?"

She glances up at him once more, only for a second, but it's enough to set his heart hammering in his chest. "Jane Eyre, Potter, which – "

"It's James."

Lily blinks. "Pardon?"

"My name is James, Lily," he answers, flashing her what he hopes is a charming smile. "Since we're on a first-name basis and all, now."

A smile twitches her lips. "Oh, all right, James. It's Jane Eyre." His name on her lips sounds like happiness and triumph, and James feels rather like Gryffindor's won the Quidditch Cup and the House Cup in one fell swoop.

"What's it about?" James asks, half genuinely curious about the worn, gray book and half just wanting to spend more time with her.

Lily hesitates for the space of a heartbeat, and then she smiles and gestures at him to sit down, and James thinks that seventh year is off to a good start.

-:-

The next time, she finds him in the kitchen, absently tearing a cinnamon stick to pieces, house-elves bustling all around him, and the fading golden beams of dusklight shimmering through the nearby open window, and when he first sees her, he thinks she's smiling almost affectionately, but why would Lily Evans smile affectionately at James Potter, anyway?

"Hungry, Lily?" he asks, glancing up at her with a grin and adjusting his glasses so her pretty visage doesn't appear blurry to his vision. "Or are you in here to read?" he asks, spotting the book – Jane Eyre, again – held in her hands.

"Both, actually, P – James," Lily tells him, smiling a little as she slides into the seat opposite him and lays her book on the table separating her from him. "I didn't expect to see you in here sans the rest of your little posse. Are they off pulling pranks or something?"

James pops a piece of the cinnamon stick into his mouth. "Or something," he says nonchalantly. "I wouldn't know, really. I'm not their leader, and they all have their own lives. I'm actually here to get away from them for a bit."

"Oh, really?" Lily raises an eyebrow, seeming rather more curious now than she was before, interlinking her fingers on top of her book and flashing him an almost-teasing smile. "Why? They can't possibly be annoying you now, after seven years, can they?"

"Can't they?" he retorts, grinning and wishing she'd always been this comfortable and easy around him, because she really looks pretty when she's smiling like that. "Why not? Perhaps I prefer your company, Lily, m'dear."

She snorts and looks away, green eyes traveling to the bread basket and pitcher of pumpkin juice near them, clearly avoiding his gaze. "I find that hard to believe, somehow."

James blinks, surprised. "Really? Why? I never made it a secret that I liked you, did I?" he asks, picking up a ball of bread and offering it to her with his most charming grin on his face. "Because if you didn't know that, maybe you need these glasses instead."

Lily stifles a laugh. "No, it's not that. It's just whenever you were around me, you made it your mission to annoy me to no end in previous years. Why, if you wanted to spend time with me, would you do everything in your power to make me storm off in frustration?"

There's a moment of silence as James considers that, adjusting his glasses and not looking at her as she smiles and accepts the bread ball. The house-elves' chatter dies down in confusion at the unusual silence coming from the table, and even Lily starts fidgeting in her seat.

Finally, James sighs and catches her gaze with his. "I wasn't trying to annoy you, Lily. I was young and hopelessly in love with you. All I wanted was your attention."

Lily stares at him, too startled by the intensity in his voice to speak, and James stands up, dropping the cinnamon stick crumbs onto his plate and offering her one last smile as he leaves the kitchen. The babble of the house elves starts up again, but Lily doesn't say a word as she watches him go.

It's weird, he reflects, that he's finally gotten her attention when he's trying to get over her.

-:-

As always, by 11 p.m., the Gryffindor common room is mostly deserted, except for a few stragglers wanting to finish their last-minute essays or cram for tests the next day. James lounges in the couch by the fireplace, watching Peter trounce Sirius at chess while Remus makes wisecracks at the expense of Sirius's awful chess skills and Lily sits on a nearby chair, far enough removed from them to read her book – not Jane Eyre, this time, he notices – in peace.

He also notices that her green gaze occasionally darts around, and often lands on him, sprawled inelegantly out on the couch with his arm hanging over the back, his tie loose, his shirt unbuttoned, and his hair too messy for his own good.

James hopes she finds the image attractive, but she never looks for long, quickly returning to reading her latest muggle classic every time he catches her looking.

"Hey, Lily," he calls finally, trying not to attract the attention of his now-bickering best friends. "What book is that?" he asks curiously when she looks up at him.

"Um," she hesitates, almost seeming to blush, though it's hard to tell by the firelight. "It's Shakespeare. Much Ado About Nothing. I was…in the mood for a comedy – well, I suppose you wouldn't know what it's about, anyway."

"Shakespeare?" James asks, trying not to appear too amused by how flustered she is – it's really cute, actually, but she might castrate him if he says that out loud. "That famous muggle playwright who talks really weirdly? You like him?"

"He's a classic," Lily says defensively, then offers him a small smile and adds, "though, no, I don't really like most of his dramatic works. I much prefer the comedies, even though my mother thinks drama always trumps comedy."

She makes a face, and he laughs. "That's not true. The Marauders are at their best when we're being funny and not arguing with each other," he tells her, winking as he gestures to his friends. "And you're way prettier when you smile instead of yell at me."

Lily hesitates, and there's certainly a blush on her face now, and then she smiles. "Oh, yes, well, thank you," she says, biting her lip and clearly trying to suppress a laugh. "I – I'm glad you agree."

Without thinking twice, James reaches over, closing the gap between his couch and her chair with his arm, and takes her hand to squeeze it. "Anytime," he grins, and she laughs for real this time.

"Well," Lily says lightly after a moment of holding his hand with a smile on her face, "I better go to sleep. Big Ancient Runes test tomorrow, after all." Hastily, she drops his hand and stands up just as the Marauders' curious gazes swivel to them.

"Come on, surely you want to spend some more time with us?" James implores, flashing her what he hopes is a disarming grin as he tilts his head up to look at her. "At least let me see you beat Peter in chess, just once!"

"Hey!" Peter complains. "Mister Smarty-Pants over here couldn't beat me, y'know!" he points out, nodding at Remus who grimaces. "What makes you think she can?"

Lily laughs, gathering up her book and bag. "Don't worry, Peter. I really don't have time to spare, James, sorry."

James leans his head back on the edge of the couch to watch her when she starts walking away towards the girls' dormitories. "Time is just a suggestion, Lily," he calls after her, earning another genuine laugh for his efforts, though she doesn't turn back around.

"Wow, Prongs," Sirius whistles. "First-name basis, huh? That's quite some progress."

Remus frowns in puzzlement at him. "I thought you were trying to get over her this year?"

James sighs and brings his head back up, burying it in his hands. "Yeah, well, that's not working out too well," he mumbles, his voice muffled but aimed at Remus. "She's – she's actually talking to me this year beyond just yelling insults. Am I supposed to just let her go now?"

"Weren't you planning on it?" Peter questions, curious but cautious with his words. "I mean – she hasn't liked you for six years, right? That was your reasoning, wasn't it?"

"Leave me alone," James says. Quickly, after a few more encoruaging words, his friends scatter, leaving him alone by the fireplace, dreaming of emeralds dancing in the flickering flames and a smile that blazes brighter than the fire, a smile only he can draw out of her.

It's easier to make this decision when she's not with him, not smiling and laughing and talking to him – but he decides he needs to finally get over Lily Evans.

-:-

The quickest way to do that is to get a girlfriend. Next Hogsmeade weekend, he asks out Olivia Fletcher, a sweet brunette girl with a talent for the flute and only smiling when there'a nobody else around to see it. She's pretty, though, and she's nice, and she agrees easily to go with him, and he thinks maybe this is the first step in the right direction.

Or, he reflects after bumping into Lily at Honeyduke's, the wrong direction.

"Um, hi, James," Lily greets, a little distracted, and her smile not as bright as before. "Looking for something?" she asks, sifting through a display hosting every kind of chocolate except the normal kind. "Are you here to buy sweets for your…girlfriend?"

James watches her carefully, absently picking up and flipping over a triangular box of dark chocolates. "She's not my girlfriend, she's just my date," he protests, wondering if he's imagining the flash of jealousy in her eyes. "And I'm here to buy sweets for both of us. She's waiting at Madam Puddifoot's – in case you're interested."

Lily looks down, her red hair cascading over her face like a fire-bright waterfall, pretending to examine the price tag of a bag of mint chocolate bars. "Close enough," she murmurs. "And I'm not. I was just – Alice is sick in bed, so I thought I'd buy some chocolates to cheer her up. In case you're interested."

"I am," James answers easily, moving closer and wishing his heart wouldn't pound when she glances up and he can see every light reflected in her green eyes. "Here," he says, pushing the triangle box into her hands, along with some galleons he's quickly withdrawn from his pocket. "Buy this for her from me, would you? Give her my best wishes."

"Will do," says Lily, looking a little startled even as her fingers curl around the box. "I – thank you, James. That's very sweet of you." For a moment, she seems almost impressed, and her smile seems almost affectionate, but the moment is broken by the jostling of other customers, and she quickly averts her gaze.

He grins at her, leaving his hand on the box so their fingers brush. "I'm influenced by my surroundings, Lily, what can I say?" he jokes, inciting a giggle out of her, much to his surprise – as a general rule, Lily Evans does not giggle, especially not at James Potter.

"You'll never fully change, will you?" she asks, her smile turning amused when she lifts her head to look at him again.

James raises an eyebrow. "Do you want me to?"

Lily's silent for the space of a heartbeat, and then she's suddenly so close, he can smell her pineapple shampoo and the sunflowers of her perfume. If he just angled his head to the left and she leaned in a bit more, he thinks that maybe he could kiss her – but maybe he can't, because he has Olivia, and she's Lily and he's James, and they could never work.

"No," she breathes, her emerald gaze suddenly very intense as she looks at him. "No, I don't want you to."

With her words lingering in the chocolate-filled air around them, she pulls away, taking the triangle box and galleons with her, and offers him one last smile over her shoulder as she walks away.

Funny, isn't it, James reflects, that the closer he gets to her, the further away he feels?

-:-

Enjoying the rare lack of rain with Olivia out on the grounds is fine and dandy and all, but James really thinks, sitting under a maple tree with his quiet girlfriend of three weeks, that it's really rather boring.

(He can't help but think that if Lily had been there in Olivia's place, they would both be talking a mile a minute, debating this and that, with her hair flying in the wind and his getting more ruffled than usual, both their cheeks stained red with cold, and it might actually be fun.)

(Maybe they could even kiss once in a while.)

(But only in his dreams, probably.)

"Olivia," James begins, straightening up and turning to face his girlfriend, hoping his smile seems real and not horrendously fake, "don't you think we ought to – maybe – I don't know – kiss sometime soon?"

She pauses for one long moment, observing him with startlingly perceptive grey eyes, and then she shrugs. "I thought you were waiting for Evans to gather up her Gryffindor courage and prove to you that she's head over heels in love with you?"

James splutters. "Wh–what?" he asks, bewildered and pretty sure he's blushing at her words.

Olivia blinks at him. "Well, I mean, if you're not – and if you're positive you're not – then I suppose we can kiss. I wouldn't want to get in the way of true love, after all." Her tone of voice is so matter-of-fact, he has to do a double-take to make sure he's heard her right.

"Lily and I aren't – " he tries to deny, feeling his cheeks heat up even more under her steady gaze. "We're just friends – it's not true love or anything – I – um, that's crazy!"

"Am I?" Olivia sighs, then reaches out, drapes her arms around his shoulders, and pulls him closer to press their lips together. She tastes like grapes and chilly days, and nothing in her kiss leaves him warm and longing for more.

"Oh, sorry," interrupts a familiar voice from nearby, "am I interrupting something?"

James jerks apart, a feeling of dread growing in his stomach as he looks up to see Lily standing there, her red hair damp from the light drizzle starting up and her green eyes most certainly not looking at him. Besides him, Olivia gets to her feet, murmurs a goodbye, and all but runs away from the growing tension in the courtyard.

"Lily!" James coughs, clambering gracelessly to his feet. "I – uh, what are you doing here?" he asks, trying awkwardly to make conversation as he shoves his hands into his pockets, watching Lily watch the leaves rustle on the tree branches behind him.

"It's not a private courtyard," Lily snaps at him, shoving a bundle of parchment into his arms which he hadn't noticed her holding before. "I can be here if I want. But as it happens, I'm here on Head business. You're the Head Boy, in case you've forgotten that somewhere between Fletcher's lips, and this is your share of the detention notices we need to file and give to Professor McGonagall for this month."

James swallows, accepting the bundle. "All right, I can do that," he mutters. "But, Lily, you're not being fair."

"I'm not being fair?" Lily demands, whirling on him, green eyes blazing. "How do you mean, Potter?"

"We're back to 'Potter', now?" James asks in surprise. "Listen, I – Olivia and I – it's not really – we're not – "

Lily scoffs. "Save it. I'm not interested in your love life, James. And I'd really rather not hear about what you and Olivia do when you're alone. Seeing it once was more than enough for me, thank you."

James blinks. "Are you jealous or something? Because, Lily, you – "

"No!" she insists indignantly, looking away from him. "Of course not. That would be ridiculous. Why would I be jealous of you…and her…and – never mind."

"You are jealous," James announces, grinning in spite of how angry she is, because the fact that she's actually jealous of his girlfriend gives him hope and butterflies all at once. "You are, aren't you? Come on, Lily, admit it, you – "

"Shut up!" Lily cries, rounding on him once more, but she takes one look at the wide grin on his face and starts smiling. "Oh, you're awful, James, truly. How do you manage to make me laugh when I'm mad at you, honestly?"

James shrugs, wandering closer to her now that there's no fear of danger to his person. "I couldn't always. This seems to be a recent development," he teases, reaching out and tweaking a strand of red hair.

Lily sighs, stepping closer. "Look, James, I – I'm sorry," she says, and it's painfully obvious she's never done this before, never apologized quite like this to a boy like him. "For everything over the past seven years and for acting like a – like a bitch with Olivia. I just – I don't know what came over me this year."

"Yeah," James agrees, watching her closely as her gaze darts from his face to his hand still holding her curl to the grass around them and the skies above. "It was almost like you liked me or something."

"Just a bit," she agrees, laughing. "I – I do like you, James. You're a lot sweeter and more mature and funnier this year, and I like you. But – you have a girlfriend – " she stammers, curling her fingers in and out of fists. "And – and I just don't know – "

"Somehow," James grins, leaning closer, "I really doubt I have a girlfriend after today. But I'd love to, provided she's the right one," he adds meaningfully, winking at her.

Lily props her free hand on her hips, his casual teasing evidently putting her at ease. "That is a terrible way to ask a girl out, James Potter," she informs him, a genuine smile stretching her cheeks when he laughs and hooks an arm around her waist.

"Did it work?" he asks, leaning his forehead against hers, his dark, ruffled locks brushing her skin. Lily smiles fondly and reaches up to sweep them to the side, her green eyes brighter than the leaves on the tree behind them as she looks at him.

"It might have," she whispers, before her lips are on his and his mouth is full of her peppermint-and-bubblegum taste and all he can see is LilyLilyLily until his world is eclipsed by red curls and green eyes and a smile brighter than the sun when she looks at him, brighter, even, than the bubble of happiness that wells up inside him as he kisses her back and relishes the moment he's waited for seven years to enjoy.

In the end, all those years of chasing paid off.

Author's Notes: Well, there's my first venture into Marauders' territory since that one fic three years ago! =P Hopefully, this was a little better than that time, and if you liked it (or even if you didn't), please drop me a review to tell me what you thought! Thank you! :)

Don't favorite without reviewing, please and thank you.