Cupboard Love

A/N: I've just finished my GCSEs!! YAY! So, I now have plenty of time to write – starting with this rather slushy but lovely little one shot. L/J; trapped in a cupboard, you know what happens next. Read and Review please ;)

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I restore my quill to its ink pot and re-read my Potions essay for any obvious mistakes, although it's too late in the day for perfection. They told me Head Girl duties combined with my NEWTs would be hard work…they were right. I watch the moonlight dance over the glass doors of the nearby antique cabinet with eyes glazed over. For the last hour or so I've been slowly plodding my way through the book content of this cabinet, and by estimation I'd expect it to be well past midnight now. Burning the midnight oil like this isn't unusual for me. But it's not only this that's bothering me; there's a further complication. James Potter. When I found out he was Head Boy, I felt like giving up then and there. After years of him following me around, asking me out twenty times a day, and generally acting like an egotistical bully, I was fully prepared to give up my position as Head Girl just to escape the nightmare vision of him having even easier access to stalking me around the clock. I mean, if we were sharing Head duties; patrolling, having regular meetings with the prefects and Dumbledore…that would mean every night of the week spent in his company! But Alice told me to stick it out for a week or two to see how it went…and as it turned out, James didn't ask me out once. He's been kind…and thoughtful, and attentive. To my complete surprise he seems to be taking the whole thing quite seriously, he's taken on his responsibilities and isn't turning everything into a joke for the first time in his life. And it's all these things which unnerve me the most. In fact…since he's been giving me a bit of space a number of mortifying revelations have come to light…like how he does look amazing when he smiles…

I realise I haven't been taking in a word of my essay, and admitting defeat, I pack up for the night. Heaving a great yawn, I extinguish the oil lamp with a lazy flick of the wand, and levitate the books back to their shelves. I'll have to wake up early enough to finish it properly, I tell myself as I leave the library to head back for Gryffindor Tower. And then it happens; just as I'm rounding a corner on the third floor, rough hands grab me suddenly from behind and force me through a door standing ajar to my left. Caught unaware, I fail to resist, and merely make a series of nonsensical noises, until spinning to see that my attacker is none other than my best friend, Alice Longbottom.

"Alice, what the--"

"Expelliarmus!"

Did my best friend just disarm me?! I see my wand fly through the air to land neatly onto her outstretched palm, but as I make a move to retrieve it, she winks and slams the door in front of me, followed by the dreaded incantation, "Colloportus!" My best friend just ambushed me, disarmed me, and locked me in a creepy dark room, glowing faintly in the light of a single candle somewhere behind me.

How normal is that?

"ALICE!" I shriek. "What the hell?!" I pound on the door with my fists angrily, but I know it's pointless as I hear her footsteps ebbing away. "I bet the Marauders put you up to this!"

And that's when I hear the quick release of breath behind me as someone stifles a laugh. Oh…oh God no...I turn slowly on the spot to see the one person in the world who could exacerbate the situation. He's leaning against the wall of what I have now realised is a dusty and crowded broom closet, looking amused and smug…his hair as messy as ever and his grin lopsided. When I see him a quick string of emotions floods through me; elation, annoyance, panic, and excitement. And what I notice straight away is his eyes; they're alight with mischief…and for a moment I feel like I'm drowning in them…those deep hazel pools of—

"Well, Evans," James says smoothly, interrupting my musings. "I thought it was about time we worked out some of our issues!"

I roll my eyes and sigh exasperatedly, "Potter!" I groan. "What is this?!"

He ignores my predicament entirely, and instead pulls up a bucket and mop, removes the mop and upends the bucket. What on earth—ah, he's offering the bucket to me as a seat. How kind.

"This is ridiculous, Potter. Let me out, now."

"Couldn't if I wanted to!" he beams. "Sirius has my wand, and as you obviously heard, your dear friend Alice has locked us in."

He looks so pleased with himself. I suppose I can allow for him to be smug, he has actually managed to corner me. How did I end up landing myself in a cramped broom closet with my sworn enemy?

Sworn enemy who you have a crush on…says a small voice at the back of my mind. I ignore it.

"So what, I'm just stuck in here until either Sirius or Alice comes to rescue me?"

"You're stuck here until I let Sirius know that we've sorted it all out," James tells me.

"And how are you going to do that?" I ask sceptically.

"Magic, Evans," he grins.

"You don't have a wand!" I cry in exasperation.

"Oh, there are other ways Lilyflower. Now," James continues smoothly. "Have a seat, lovely."

Stiffly I accept, dropping my bag loudly from my shoulder to the floor and perching on the edge of the bucket. James does the same with another, and for several moments I sit glaring at him opposite me, the candlelight between us, waiting to see what'll happen next. If he dares try anything…

"Isn't this exciting?!" he grins, clapping his hands together. "Our first official date!"

He looks so ecstatic I can't help laughing at his enthusiasm. Our first date…in a broom cupboard! I can't seem to regain my composure; the giggles are getting worse, which I take as a very bad sign because I tend to snort very unattractively. Oh God, I just snorted. I steal a humiliated glance at James, and to my intense relief he does not look repulsed, in fact he looks quite admiring. I've always had a nervous laugh…but why should I be nervous around Potter?

"What's so funny?" he asks me bemusedly.

"This is a date?" I gasp, "You tried to orchestrate a date, and you couldn't do any better than this?" I ask him.

He quirks an eyebrow, "would you have said yes to a proper date, then?"

I blush, but firmly retort; "No, of course not."

But thinking about it…maybe I would have. He's not the same Potter I've known for six years…I've found that over the past few months all the reasons I used to use to justify my dislike for him have slowly ebbed away. I don't have an excuse not to like him anymore…and Alice is always telling me how I'm lottery lucky to have the hottest guy in school crazy about me. I used to roll my eyes (and snort), and tell her I didn't see what the others saw in him; but that was only true when all I could see was a stuck up, arrogant toe-rag. Now that that stuff's gone, so has my ignorance to how gorgeous his is. There's something incredible in the way his hair flops down over his eyes, jet black against his skin, and in how his eyes sparkle in a way that he seems to reserve especially for me…he clears his throat slightly, and as I'm recalled to the here and now I see that he's watching me with a kind of tenderness I've never seen in anyone…there's more than just good looks, it's as if he can see right through me, right into my soul …I smile coyly and his eyes are slightly creased at the corners with a hidden grin…

HOLD IT. What is going on here? I'm not going to fall for his charm! I bet he does this to all the girls! Corners them in broom closets, and looks at them like that until they crack and just…I don't know…just jump him or something…not that I'm contemplating doing that or anything…I look down at the ground and feel heat prickle from the neck up, wondering how I'm going to escape this situation. It's the close proximity that's making me have these insane thoughts. Yes, that's all it is.

"Now," he says, "I suspected you might be difficult, so we may be here for a while. I've brought some food rations just in case--"

"I'm not being difficult," I reply. "I'm just waiting to find out what I'm doing here. The sooner you tell me, the sooner I can leave."

His feet shuffle over the dust in front of me, and then he heaves a sigh and says quietly;

"I'm really sorry, Lily."

I snap my head up with a frown, completely nonplussed. An apology? Really Potter? "Sorry for what?" I ask him bewildered.

He chuckles slightly. "Everything, I guess. But especially for--for what I did to Snape, back in fifth year. I knew what he meant to you, and what you meant to him…I suppose I was just a jealous fifteen-year-old guy. And an "arrogant bullying toe-rag" of course," he adds with a sly grin.

I'm completely taken aback. He's saying sorry for something he did to me two years ago?

"Well, I…I mean—trust you to apologise two years late…"

"I'm special," he shrugs.

Yes, there's the same old James. Full of himself to the brim. After a small silence I realise he's waiting for me to reply and quickly hasten to add; "Oh…and apology accepted. It wasn't your fault, what happened between me and Severus…we were always going to clash one day."

James nods slightly, and then his eyes begin darting between my eyes and my lips. This action starts to trigger alarm bells; Evacuate…evacuate…warning…warning…

"So….did you set me up just to say sorry for that?" I ask hopefully. James scoots slightly closer, and my heart is pounding against my ribcage and I can hear my blood roar in my ears--

"No," he says. "I wanted to ask you something, too."

"Ask away!" I attempt to say breezily, but my voice seems to stick in my throat, and comes out unnaturally high pitched. What is wrong with me?!

"Rumour has it that Snape's in love with you…" he says, and a small crease appears between his eyebrows. "Did you…or do you…love him?"

I watch a spider dangle down from its web near the James' head as I think. People have told me Severus feels that way about me before…but I can't help wondering, if he really did love me, how could he have done that to me? I shake my head slowly, and gradually force myself to meet James' eyes;

"No, of course I don't love him. I never have."

I watch his features brighten like the sun. His eyes widen with relief and he heaves a sigh. He then takes a deep breath and carries on easily as if without interruption;

"Excellent. This brings me to my next question. Why do you hate me?"

Again, I'm completely caught off my guard. "I—I don't hate you," I answer him jerkily, vaguely aware that my cheeks are flushed once again.

He looks incredibly pleased to learn this. Honestly. Here am I, being obvious beyond belief that I've started to like him, blushing all over the place, having fits of nervous laughter, and he still thinks I hate him. "Is this how you talk to all your friends? Like they're in an interrogation?"

"Don't you?!" he asks ecstatically, again edging slightly closer, his bucket scraping the ground.

"N-no," I manage shakily.

"Maybe the reason we're always fighting is because we can't be together…but we can't be without each other," he says quietly, extending an arm to brush the hair out of my face. My stomach flips and my heart quickens, and I can feel his body heat next to mine…trying to focus on what he's saying, I reply;

"What…are you trying to convince me that we're soul mates now?"

The attempt at my usual sarcasm isn't quite successful; you can hear the doubt in my and the tremor in my voice. James notices it too. With all the effort in the world I make myself look him in the eye. There's barely four inches between us…when did he get so close?

"No, I'm not," he whispers, "Because you already know we are…"

He leans in slowly, and I automatically move away, getting to my feet and backing against a wall. "Just because you apologised...and…well, it doesn't mean--"

"Come on Lily," he says in soft tones. "What real reason can you have not to give me a chance anymore?"

"I just…" I trail off. Taking a deep breath, I reply, "Sometimes people play hard to get because they need to know, that the other person's feelings are real. And I'm almost sure that everything you're feeling, is from down there…" I gesture subtly to his crotch, eyebrows raised challengingly. For the first time since we've been trapped here, James looks genuinely angry. He gets to his feet and steps over to stand in front of me, mere millimetres between us.

"Lily, this is real," he says simply. "I really, really, care about you. I'm amazed that you still can't see it," he smiles slightly. "I love how you are, what you do, how you care about everyone and everything around you. I love how you're the only one who stands up to me, I love how you can make me look at myself…I love how you play so hard to get," he winks.

"That's just it isn't it!" I shout, my frustration taking over. "You like the chase, Potter! And that's it. You'd be bored of me within a month."

"Actually, Lily, I'd say it's you who likes being chased," he smirks at me.

Damn. He's right.

"But—I'm just…I'm not very good at this…I don't know--, I'm not--"

James interrupts this chain of fragmented speech with a swift, sudden and powerful kiss. The moment our lips touch, it feels like an electrical charge is channelling through me. My body goes slack with the shock, and James takes the advantage by gently easing open my lips with his, placing a hand on my lower back. Our breath mingles together, and I realise there's nothing like it, I realise he's everything to me…I deepen the kiss instinctively, teasing his tongue with mine, pressing my body against his and arching my back. I let his hands travel down my side to graze my thigh, just as my fingertips graze over his chest…

"And, Lily," he whispers against my lips. "That was real. Did you feel it?"

"Yeah…" I gasp in wonder of it, "I felt that."

James smirks, and affectionately I push the hair out of his eyes, planting kisses over his jaw-line as I breathe in his intoxicating musky scent. "See," he says gently. "Just let it happen…"

"I think I'm getting it," I smile, before kissing his lips sweetly once again.

He cups my face with his hands, and meets my eyes with a hard, blazing look which makes my insides squirm; "Will you be my girlfriend?"

I elicit a slight smile; "Yeah, James, I will."

He looks at me in complete awe with wide eyes, before kissing me again, pressing me into the wall so that I can feel his heartbeat running beside mine…he kisses the crook of my neck, and it all feels so natural and wonderful, as if this is what we've both been waiting since…since forever, really…

James' hand slides away from where it had been caressing my body, to reach into the pocket of his robes. From there he draws out a small and cracked mirror. He steps away from me regrettably, and I groan slightly, wishing he would close the distance again; "Fancy a walk in the grounds, Lils?" he asks me, fumbling the mirror. Before I have a chance to ask, he whispers "Sirius Black," against the mirror, steaming its surface with his warm breath. Brilliant. My new boyfriend is officially insane, speaking to mirrors as if they are his real life friends—

"Everything sorted?" I hear Sirius' voice. Shocked, I see that his face has appeared in the mirror. James chuckles at my stunned expression. "This is how we communicate when in separate detentions," he tells me impressively.

"D'you want us to let you out?" Alice's face appears beside Sirius', and they both grin up at us.

James and I look at each other, forming a silent agreement. "Err…" James turns back to them both, "Maybe in an hour or so!" he beams, pocketing the mirror and turning back to me.

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"And half a year later, here we stand," James says proudly, as we stand side by side in front of the broom cupboard.

"Ah yes," I smile. "This is where we had our 'first official date'!"

He chuckles, "Shut up Lils, it was a big deal for me."

I frown slightly, and turn to him, lacing my hand in his. "It was a big deal for me too," I tell him.

We turn to face each other, eyes shining out as beacons of understanding. In his beautiful brown eyes I can see trust, bliss, admiration, and….something else…

"I love you," he says softly.

My heart plummets sharply and my stomach goes into freefall, but I know that I don't have to give anything a second thought before I reply; "I love you, too."

I guess sometimes, with a little help from those around you, you can realise something you've known in your heart all along.

"Happy six month anniversary," James whispers, before his lips meet mine in a fervent and wonderful kiss.

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A/N: Sorry for the cheese. Hope you liked! Review x