Now that James and Lily were Heads, they got their own private chambers, with a small common room in between. And, because of their close quarters, had become good friends. They could talk and laugh together easily.
"Lily!" came a frantic cry.
Lily jumped, startled. Then, grabbing her wand, she ran in the direction of the shout. It had sounded like it came from James's room.
Blasting through the door, she raised her wand and scanned the room with a cool, practiced eye. As far as she could tell, there were no threats. And, she noted, no James.
"James?" she called, expecting the worst. Maybe he'd already been taken hostage.
"Lily! I need your help, quick!" came the reply. It was definitely James.
"I'm here. Where are you?" Lily called back anxiously.
"In my washroom. Hurry!" James said.
Lily, still on the alert, made her way as quickly as she could to James's washroom. The door was ajar.
"James?" she called hesitantly.
"Lily? You there?" James asked.
"Yes. What do you need?"
"Come in," James replied.
Slowly, Lily reached her hand out and pushed open the door, walking in with her wand out in front of her, scanning for threats, like cops did on Muggle TV.
Except that, upon initial inspection, absolutely nothing was wrong. Well, James was dressed only in an undershirt and boxers, and rummaging about wildly, but, hey, it was James Potter, after all.
"James, this had better be good," Lily said, wand in hand but lowered, relaxed.
"Oh, it is," James said, not even looking up from his digging.
"Well?" Lily asked, impatient now. He'd sounded pretty frantic not two minutes ago.
"Lily, I can't find my tie," James announced, standing in front of her. He got right into her personal bubble, towering over her, and staring into her eyes, all seriousness.
"You can't find your tie?" Lily asked slowly, her eye twitching slightly.
"You understand the seriousness of the situation," James said, backing away and searching in random drawers, presumably looking for the tie.
"James, why would I know where your stuff is?" Lily asked, exasperated.
"I don't know. Girls just know this kind of stuff. So where is it?" he asked.
"Have you checked the laundry?"
"Brilliant idea! Thanks, Lily!" James said, turning to his-ahem-pile, of clothes on the floor.
"Men!" Lily said, shaking her head. Still, she stayed where she was, deciding that if James didn't find his tie, she would help him look for it.
"Hey, Lily!" James said from the depths of the pile of clothes.
"Let me guess. You found it?" Lily asked, sarcastic.
"I told you girls were good at this sort of stuff! Thanks!" and he hugged her. James. Potter. Hugged her. Oh, Merlin. He only had on boxers, for Merlin's sake...
"James. You're so impractical," Lily said, stepping away.
"I know. I can't thank you enough, though. I've got a major divination test today, and my lucky tie always helps me ace Divination tests," James explained, rushing into his chambers and pulling on dark slacks and a white button-down shirt. Walking back into the washroom, he pulled the tie even around his neck and tied it. It was lopsided when he finished.
"Here, let me fix that for you," Lily said. She hastily undid James's knot, and redid it. It looked tenfold better, if she did say so herself.
"I really appreciate this, Lily," he said, pulling the tie just so.
Then, he did the unthinkable. He leaned down and kissed her. A quick peck, really. Like a husband giving his wife a quick good-bye kiss in the morning before heading to work. But still, a kiss all the same.
"I'll see you," he said, and, grabbing his books, ran down to breakfast.
"Goodness. Did I-no way. Did I just fall in love with James Potter?" Lily asked. Suddenly weak in the knees, she leaned against the door frame. "Oh, Merlin..."
"Guys!" James said, grabbing a seat next to his best mate, Sirius. "You'll never believe what just happened!"
"Remus got laid!" Sirius guessed.
"Hey!" Remus said, indignant.
"Sorry," Sirius said, not at all sorry.
"A piece of the sky fell to Earth?" Peter asked, random as always.
"Wait don't tell me! Snape got laid!" Sirius guessed again.
"Ew!" all four boys said at the same time.
"Professor Binns gave an interesting lecture?" guessed Remus, trying to study his History of Magic notes, with little success.
"As if," Sirius snorted.
"As in, as if you pay attention in class?" Remus retorted, stressed from trying to focus on his notes and being constantly interrupted by his friends.
"Let me talk, and you'll find out!" James said, still breathless.
"Alright, out with out, ole chap," said Sirius.
"So, you know that test in Divination we have today?" James asked.
"Wait, we have a test in Divination?" Sirius asked.
"Well, you're obviously going to fail. You should have seen it coming!" Remus punned.
"Ha ha. I'm listening to Jamsie," Sirius said. "Go on. This test. What's it over?"
"The test isn't what's important! Okay, so. You know my lucky tie? The one I always wear for tests?" James asked.
"Yeah, you're wearing it. So what?" Remus asked, intrigued as to what could make James so excited. It was just a normal test and a lucky tie, after all. He set his notes aside.
"Well, I couldn't find it this morning. I looked all over my chambers, and couldn't find it. So I looked all over the washroom, every last drawer!" James said, not even embellishing.
"Logical places to look. So what?" Sirius asked.
"So, I started to panic! And then I yelled for help, and Lily showed up!" James said, pleased.
"Of course she showed up! She probably thought you were in mortal danger!" Remus said.
"Whatever. She showed up. And I told her about my problem. And she goes, did you check the laundry? And I thought, well, how bloody brilliant. I never would have thought to look there. And wouldn't you know, there it was!" James continued.
"Really?" Sirius asked, fascinated. "How do girls know stuff like this?"
"It's in their genes," Remus said, sarcastically.
"Really? I mean, they wear 'em so tight, I don't know where they could hide anything in them..." Sirius said, thinking hard. This was, after all, his favorite subject.
"Never mind. Continuing with the story, James," Remus said, shaking his head.
"Yes. Well. I, uh, put the tie on, but I was so thankful I'd found it, my hands were shaking, and I guess I didn't so it just right. So Lily says she'll fix it for me," James said.
"You guys were that physically close? No way," said Remus.
"Way. And then guess what happened," James said, almost bouncing in delight.
"Go ahead and tell us before Sirius starts guessing," Remus said with a chuckle.
"I kissed Lily!" James said, his eyes closing momentarily in bliss.
"No, really. What happened next?" Sirius asked, wondering if James's obsession with Lily had finally cracked his mind.
"That is what happened!" James said, defiant.
"Yeah? So when's the wedding? I'm in it, right?" asked Sirius.
"And I said, I'll just tie it for you. So I did, and it looked so much better, Alice, you have no idea. Then he tugged on it a little, and then..." Lily trailed off, knowing Alice hated cliffhangers.
"Oh, come on, Lily, tell me what happened!" Alice said, elbowing Lily.
"He leaned down, kissed me on the mouth, and ran down to breakfast. Just like that," Lily declared, snapping her fingers in front of Alice's stunned face.
"No way. We're talking about James Potter, right? The stalker?" Alice said, confused.
"The one and only," Lily promised.
"Wow. Is there more to this?" Alice asked, dazed.
"Yeah. There is," Lily admitted, her cheeks flushing.
"Ooh, tell," Alice said, leaning closer.
"Let me put it this way. I believe the next time he asks me to Hogsmeade, it'll be a yes instead of a row," Lily said, flushing still darker.
"Oh, Lily," Alice said, wrapping her arms around her best friend. "I'm in the wedding, right?"
"Oi! James! You propose to Lily yet?" Sirius asked, stepping into James's kitchen.
"Merlin, Sirius, don't you know it's polite to Apparate outside, then knock?" James asked, putting his wand back in his pocket.
"Yes, I do know that. Well, Lover-boy?"
"Yes, I did," James managed to say calmly.
"Really? And you didn't tell me about it immediately because?..." Sirius asked, amazed that his best mate was getting hitched.
"I just did," James said, a huge grin on his face. "I asked her just last night, as a matter of fact."
"So, I'm in the wedding, right?"