The Incident
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
I became aware of how uncomfortable my pillow was as the bright light of the January morning streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Heads' Common Room. I squinted through my exhausted eyelids, rubbing away the last vestiges of sleep as I lifted my head off of my 6-inch thick Runes textbook.
Lily, you must have dozed off halfway through your translation! Now you will have to finish it tonight. I groaned as I realized how much homework still needed to be completed, and fought the very strong desire to skip breakfast and go back to sleep.
The sour taste of my morning breath decided the internal struggle, and I slowly got to my feet in order to go brush my teeth in the Heads' bathroom. Pull yourself together, Lily. I chided myself. You have double Transfiguration first thing today, you have to be on top of your game. I pushed open the door of the bathroom without thinking to knock.
…don't want to let stupid Potter beat you for top of the class now, do we now, Lily? That would just be one for thing for him to bother you about... My internal monologue was suddenly silenced, and all of the breath in my lungs whooshed out as the marvelously toned, half-naked form of James Harold Potter, Head Boy Extraordinaire and leader of the infamous Marauders stepped out of the shower, fluffy white towel tied quite haphazardly around his muscular waist.
Oh my…I felt my face flush, my jaw drop, and my breathing accelerate as I stared at the beautiful chest and abs of none other than my incredibly annoying arch-nemesis.
"Lily! Wha..what are you doing here?" James nervously ran his fingers through his jet-black hair and grabbed onto the towel so that it would not fall.
I searched for words as I forced myself to make eye contact with him. "Me? I was just coming to brush my teeth, Potter. Do I have to explain myself to you?" I shot at him, embarrassed for forgetting to knock the door.
"No, Lily, I'm sorry, I was just taking my shower. Quidditch practice ran late and I forgot to lock the bathroom door." James flushed a bright red and quickly scooped his discarded pajamas off of the floor and hugged them to his naked chest.
"Well make sure you do next time, Potter! You disgust me! Do you think I want to see you half-naked the minute I open my eyes in the morning? Do you want them to bleed?" My shrieks resounded off of the tile walls, and I momentarily thought I had been too harsh. It was me, after all, who had forgotten to knock. It hadn't been his fault at all.
James brushed past me on his way out of the door, muttering apologies and avoiding eye contact with me. The door snapped shut behind him, and I slid to the floor, knees too weak to support my frame for much longer.
What is wrong with you? It's only James bloody Potter! I stood back up and ferociously grabbed my toothbrush, and, in my agitation, squeezed enough mint toothpaste onto the bristles that would probably concern the local Poison Control Center.
As I fiercely scrubbed my teeth, I wondered why Potter hadn't made some sort of innuendo when I had been in the room. That was his specialty! "Gee, Evans, I knew you wanted me, I just didn't know how much!" Or something like that.
The morning was full of surprises.
Who would have thought that those years on the Gryffindor Quidditch team would have done…that…to Potter's body? Even my unfathomable loathing for the boy couldn't disguise how I was slightly impressed by what I had seen.
Who would have thought that Potter would not have taken advantage of a situation like that to make a joke at my expense? Everyone at Hogwarts knew of his…ahem…devotion (I like to call it stalking) of me. What was going on?
I wiped away the steam on the mirror with the sleeve of my shirt, scrutinizing my face. My hair, an aggravatingly vivid shade of red, was in wild disarray. There were lines running down my face from the imprint the edge of my Runes textbook had made when it had been pressed against my cheek during my sleep. All in all, it was definitely not an attractive morning so far.
The image of Potter's torso was burned into the back of my eyelids. I tried to shove the image away as I roughly pulled my black school robes on and yanked a hairbrush through my hair. I hefted my school bag onto my left shoulder as I shuffled down the stairs from my dormitory and ducked out of the portrait hole, determined to find my best friend Alice and discuss the distressing situation with her.
Weighing my options, I decided to head to the Great Hall. Alice was an early riser and a great admirer of food, so she would probably already be eating breakfast instead of lazing about in bed as I often spent my mornings.
Sure enough, the shiny blond pigtails of my best friend were easily spotted among the sea of heads along the Gryffindor table. As I spotted James, with the rest of the Marauders, (Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew) sitting at the far end of the table, I heaved a sigh of relief as I noted that none of them seemed to be looking at me.
Maybe he hasn't spoken of The Incident yet. I plunked my bag down onto the floor and sat down heavily on the thick wooden bench next to Alice, grabbing a few slices of toast and buttering them with my knife.
Alice seemed to pick up on my mood, and rolled her eyes. "What did he do this time, Lily?" Alice, like the rest of the school, firmly believed that it was only a matter of time before I caved and agreed to go on a date with James. She thought that my hatred of him was 'ridiculous', and seemed to pick up on the fact that all of my bad moods were brought upon by the tall, messy haired Gryffindor.
"He was naked, Alice. NAKED." I whispered fiercely, not bothering to brush my hair out of my eyes.
"WHAT?" Alice screeched. Hundreds of heads from all four tables whipped around to stare at us.
I glared at her while simultaneously shushing her. This was NOT something that I wanted broadcast to the entire school.
"Okay, so he wasn't totally naked. He had a towel around his waist after stepping out from the shower. It was the most disgusting, foul, horrible…" I was rudely cut off by another one of Alice's sighs.
"That's it then? You saw him shirtless? Lily, you are such a drama queen. And you know the reason that you are still thinking about him is because you enjoyed the view," Alice rolled her eyes once more and turned back to her bacon and eggs.
I was about to make a hasty denial when there was a sudden commotion.
"She saw you WHAT?" Sirius Black yelled from the opposite end of the table, and four pairs of eyes, one bespectacled, one devilishly handsome, one tired, one beady, and all astonished, turned upon me.
I knew why they were looking at me. I flushed once more in anger and dropped my unfinished breakfast back onto my plate.
"I'll see you in Transfiguration, Alice. I'm going to go use the bathroom." I rushed from the Great Hall into the quiet solace of the corridor, where no teenage boys were staring at me. I wandered in the direction of the Transfiguration classroom while I argued with myself. Should I apologizing for forgetting to knock?
Lily, this wasn't his fault, it was yours! You should apologize!
Why couldn't he have just locked the bloody door? Why did he have to tell the Marauders? Why does he just have to be the bloody bane of my entire existence?
My better half was winning this argument. I was Head Girl! I should set an example by being polite, no matter how difficult it was.
I would have my chance in Transfiguration, where Potter and the other Marauders sat behind me.
How am I going to apologize? What do I say? Potter and I were not on speaking terms, so I cringed at my impending doom and embarrassment. I only prayed that he wouldn't make fun of me.
I barely heard McGonagall as she started class and assigned the task for the day. We would be transfiguring porcupines into pillows. No sharp, pointy pillows would be accepted for credit.
As McGonagall went around the room with the crate of porcupines, I swiveled around in my seat to face Potter. He was staring intently at the back of my head, and blushed when I caught him at it.
"Potter, I just want to apologize for forgetting to knock on the bathroom door this morning. It made for quite the awkward situation. I'm sorry." The words were reluctant; I didn't like swallowing my pride and admitting I had been in the wrong.
James looked momentarily flabbergasted that I had been the one to broach the topic, and that I had even deigned to apologize!
"Uh…that's okay, Evans. Sorry I forgot to lock the door. I'll remember next time." The rest of the Marauders were equally amazed that I had initiated polite conversation with James.
I swiftly turned back around in my seat, trying to hide my blush from Potter and his friends, and picked up my wand to tackle the transfiguration of my porcupine.
This is SUCH a strange morning.
A/N: This is my first ever fanfiction! I have been reading them for years and just figured that I would try my hand at writing a Lily/James one instead of studying for my midterm examinations...please review! I would like to know whether or not I should keep writing or whether I should just stick to reading. If it sucks, tell me! If you love it, let me know! Thank you soo much! Lexicon211