"What on earth…?" Lily muttered in confusion as she pushed open the door to her small, one bedroomed apartment with her hip, her arms full of shopping bags, only to be hit with an outrageously loud wall of noise. It didn't take long before she realised that the sound that had assaulted her ears was in fact none other than her hyperactive, flirtatious neighbour. Carefully lowering her weekly groceries onto her kitchen top counter, she strutted through her living area and out onto the balcony that over looked one of the prettier back-streets of London below. Directly across from her flat, precisely in her line of sight, she could see her childish neighbour...I suppose she could call it dancing around his apartment blaring out The Beatles 'Twist and Shout' at the top of his lungs. She couldn't resist the smile that crept onto her face at his ridiculous antics; nor could she resist the uncontrollable urge to heckle him. Clasping her hands around her mouth, somewhat like a megaphone, she called out over the gap between their balconies, "Is that supposed to be singing, Potter?"
"Like you could do any better, Evans!" Came the indignant response of her neighbour, and not a moment later, a messy head of black hair and glasses appeared around the curtains.
"I could kick your arse any day, neighbour." Lily responded, challenging him with an infuriating smirk. Potter, as Lily called him, contorted his face into an expression of outrage before his head disappeared back into his apartment, and a few seconds later the music was cut short. A peaceful quiet filled the space between the two accommodations and Potter sauntered out onto his own balcony, running a hand through his already tousled hair in the process, and leant forward casually, supporting himself with his hands.
"Oh yeah? You sure about that, Evans?" He questioned teasingly, "I think you're just jealous. Because, unlike me, the great James Potter, you have not been blessed with amazing talent and angelic vocal chords." He flourished and Lily couldn't stop the laughter than bubbled forward she fell into hysterics. "Hey! That's just mean!" James protested, holding a hand to his chest above his heart. "That hit's me hard Evans, pains me deeply."
"Yeah, yeah sure it does." Lily said sarcastically, straightening up from her laughing fit and tossing her auburn hair over her shoulder, flashing a faux serious James a winning smile.
"Do you know how hard I'm trying to be mad at you right now?" James asked in what he hoped was a stony voice. Lily sighed contentedly and checked her nails.
"Absolutely," she preened, "But you and I both know that you find that impossible. Especially since I have done nothing to offend you." She concluded, glancing across to her neighbour mischievously. The look of complete and utter disbelief etched across Potter's face coaxed a rather unattractive snort to escape from her. "What?" She declared, laughing indignantly, throwing her arms out to her sides theatrically.
"Nothing to offend me?" He exclaimed, "Evans, I think you will find that I was having a rather enjoyable solo dance party before you ever so rudely interrupted, not to say hello, but to insult my obvious musical talent. How, dear neighbour of mine, would that not offend me?" He finished, leaning forward smugly, like he had just won a game of poker.
"The giant grin on your face kind of gives it away." Lily stated matter-of-factly, gesturing out across the gap to the beaming smile that resided on James' face.
"Naw shit." He said, smiling broadly, slapping his thigh in emphasis "Well that's me busted."
"As melodramatic as ever I see."
"You wouldn't want me any other way, Evans." James said winking. Lily, once again, let loose another rather unattractive snort which surprisingly dissolved into rather attractive giggles.
"You're so full of yourself, Potter." She said, trying to control her girlish laughter, "And yet, your insufferable attitude is rather endearing."
"I knew you'd come around eventually." James said confidently, pausing to allow Lily time to compose herself a little more before continuing, a playful smirk dancing on his lips. "Now, back to the 'I totally insulted your dancing and singing capabilities but I'm going to deny it until I win' business-"
"I didn't insult you."
"There we go again! Honestly, you need to stop lying to yourself Evans. After all, you know I'm right." He said cheekily, throwing his arms open as though to bask in his own glory, which Lily non-too-kindly pointed out to him.
Their back and forth banter continued late enough into the evening that the flickering light of the stars could faintly be seen over the yellow haze of the street lamps. They were only snapped out of their little bubble when James let out a rather loud and indignant response to a teasing comment of Lily's and their raucous laughter lay cause to multiple complaints from a few of their more elderly neighbours. After a minute of garbled, profuse apologies, the guilty pair slowly locked eyes once again and promptly burst into stifled laughter.
Unable to control this new wave of hilarity, James and Lily both covered their mouths or bit their fists to avoid further angering the neighbours. They resolved silently through a brief exchange of head nodding and finger pointing that it was time to call it a day, and both returned swiftly to their separate apartments to allow the full extent of their fit of hysteria to settle down.
Lily was about to seal her balcony doors shut when she heard her name being whispered across the street, non-too-surprisingly from the abode of one Mr James Potter.
"Evans! Hey Evans!"
"Yes Potter?" she sighed exasperatedly and rolling her eyes, a mischievous twinkle arose to her neighbour's eye.
"OOHH SHAKE IT OUT BABY NOW! Shake it out baby! TWIST AND SHOUT…"
And that was all it took for the red-head to collapse to her knees in exasperated amusement. Gasping for breath she raised her head to stare bewildered as her neighbour slid across his carpet, leapt up onto his sofa and proceeded to bounce up and down waving his arms about in a particularly ridiculous manner. Shaking her head Lily rose to her feet and flashed James a knowing smirk before finally sealing her door and was just closing her curtains when an almighty crash sounded from James' apartment. Her eyes locked onto the glass doors opposite with wide, concerned eyes. A dishevelled head of black hair popped up sheepishly from behind the coffee table and raising a hand, James shouted across to her.
"I'm okay!"
"Idiot!" She shouted back affectionately.
"Rude!"
"You know you love it!"
James flipped her off and she returned the gesture with a patronising thumbs up. Shaking his head he released an amused sigh.
"Night Evans."
"Night Potter."
Author's Notes
Hey Guys!
My first Jily fanfic is up and running and I really hope it's an enjoyable read for you guys! I'm going to admit this now before I'm in too deep...I have no idea where I'm intending to go with this story. I don't even know if it will have an actual story line or not so please bare with me on this one?
In terms of updates, I have a lot of stuff involving school going on at the moment and this year is also exams year for me, which means lots of work, stress and, consequently, very little time to write. I therefore cannot, unfortunately, promise when and how often I will update, sorry. The same goes for anything else I write/am writing.
As always, thank you so much for reading and reviews are more than welcome! Enjoy guys!
Hattie x