A/N: So this is not my first time writing fanfiction, but is my first time posting it anywhere, so any reviews/comments would be appreciated :) I've never liked the idea that Lily and James are already very sexually experienced by the time they get together (because to me sleeping around at age 15-16 seems a little unrealistic), so this fic was basically inspired by the idea that neither of them have any experience at all and they discover things together. It starts in the middle of their 7th year.
WARNING: Smut ahead. Fluffy, romantic, awkward smut, but smut all the same. So if that's not your thing, don't read past the first chapter.
Lily was standing by the fire when James finally entered the common room, her cloak discarded on the back of the sofa and her hands extended over the flames for warmth. She had removed her hat, her hair cascading around her shoulders in a mess of bright curls, and when she turned to face James her cheeks were flushed from the cold.
"No mates marauding about our common room tonight?" she asked, a sparkle in her eye and a teasing smile on her face.
James smiled back and noted absently how beautiful she looked, before he caught himself and remembered that he wasn't supposed to think like that anymore. "Nope," he said. "Figured you've probably had enough of that lot lazing about."
"You do realize you're included in 'that lot', as you call them?" she said. "And I can't get rid of you." She kept her tone light to let him know that she was joking as he discarded his own cloak and joined her by the fire, but her expression turned serious as he approached. She gazed into the flames, her eyes far away, and added in a low voice, "And it's fine, you know, your mates hanging out here. I really don't mind the company."
James glanced sharply at her, but her face betrayed nothing. He hesitated for a moment, unsure if she expected him to say something, but eventually he screwed up his courage. "Lily," he said slowly, watching her face carefully. "Are you… doing alright?"
She turned to face him and he saw to his dismay that her eyes glistened with unshed tears. "It's fine if you don't want to talk about it," he said hastily. "I just want to make sure you're okay."
Lily looked at him for a long moment, her eyes locking onto his. She nodded shakily and James gave her a weak smile. "Well, you know the lads and I are here if you need anything, right?" She was facing the fire again and James couldn't read her expression, but he thought maybe the tears had disappeared from her eyes when she took a deep breath and spoke quietly.
"I don't think I've thanked you yet," she said, eyes lost in the distance, staring at something James couldn't see. After a long pause, she turned to face him, taking a step closer. "I know Marlene and Alice asked you to stay at Hogwarts over the holidays for me, so that I wouldn't be alone and I just… I hope you know I'm grateful."
James opened his mouth (although he had no idea what to say), but before he could put a sentence together she had stepped forward and was hugging him, her arms clinging tightly to his waist. Tentatively, he reached out and wrapped his own arms around her small frame, inhaling her scent as she buried her face in his neck.
James' heart was racing, his thoughts scattered as he breathed in the smell and the feeling of holding Lily in his arms. His emotions were all over the place; he hadn't expected this at all, hadn't thought about it in what seemed like ages. He had been so focused on trying to rid her eyes of that sad, vulnerable look that it had been the last thing on his mind. But now that she was there, in his arms, and this was happening like he had dreamed of so often in the last few years, all of the nervous butterflies and feelings he had been pushing down since her parents died came surging back to the surface.
James took a deep breath, nervous all of a sudden but not sure why. It was just a hug between friends, he reasoned to himself. Nothing more. Why did it feel like so much more?
He cut himself off before he could go any further down that road. Lily needed a friend right now, so that was what he would be.
A moment later, Lily pulled back a little to look at him, remaining within the circle of his arms. She closed her eyes for a moment, and James would have given anything to know what was going through her head. "I think I'm going to head to bed now," she said quietly.
"All right," James answered in the same tone. "Goodnight Lily. Let me know if you need anything."
Lily smiled and, before James knew what was happening, she leaned in towards him. Her lips brushed against his briefly, soft and tentative, but she pulled back after a few seconds, a red flush creeping up her neck.
James was frozen. He had barely reacted to the touch of her lips, too stunned to do anything but try to process that that had actually happened. The realization had just begun to sink in (Lily Evans had kissed him!) and an ecstatic grin had made its way across his face when Lily, eyes downcast and wearing a hesitant smile of her own, whispered a quick "Goodnight James" and slipped away.
Still immobile in front of the fireplace, lips tingling and heart only just remembering how to beat normally again, James started at the sound of Lily's bedroom door snapping shut. He took a few useless steps in that direction, but, realizing the moment was gone, was left to collapse on the sofa, running a hand through his hair, wondering what in Merlin's name had just happened.