Then Prove It
"Where is it? Where is it?" James Potter scanned the rows of books in front of him, looking for the one that would help him with his Transfiguration essay. He knew it was here; he'd used it in his fifth year. He rounded a corner and began to scan the next row. No, this wasn't it. He'd gone too far and was in the Invisibility section. He made to turn back but stopped abruptly when he heard a familiar voice to his left: Lily. He'd know that voice anywhere. His curiosity getting the better of him he made sure he really was in the Invisibility section (and therefore invisible) and quietly made his way up the row.
There, sitting at a table not too far from him sat Lily Evans and her friends. Their books were strewn about them but it didn't look as if they were doing much work. The five girls were crowded around the latest edition of Witch Weekly from which a handsome young man was smiling up at them.
"What's his name again?" asked a girl with dark hair, Claire.
"Who cares?" Hayley sighed. "He's gorgeous."
"He is," agreed her cousin Julia, nodding her head vigorously. "Did you know he won last months Most Charming Smile award?"
"Who cares what his smile's like?" said both Lily and Hayley at the same time.
The girls burst into giggles. They often got giggly when they had their girl talks, which was quite often. Sophie shook her head, her short brown hair bobbing. "You guys are terrible."
Lily grinned, knowing she had only said what her friend was thinking while Hayley gushed, "Have you seen his body? It's enough to make a girl drool." She closed her eyes dramatically.
"A Quidditch player's body," nodded Julia.
James turned to leave. He really did have to find that book and this really wasn't the sort of conversation that interested him. He stopped in his tracks, however, at Hayley's next comment.
"Just like our Head Boy, eh Lily," she said, nudging her friend in the ribs.
He turned on the spot just in time to see a slight blush creep up Lily's cheeks as she swatted Hayley's arm away.
"Oooh, she blushing," teased Claire, smirking.
"Just admit you like him." Hayley added.
"Shh," hissed Lily, "Someone will hear you." She glanced around but as far as she could see there was no one near them. "And I don't like him."
"So last night it was an accident your eyes just happen to fall on his butt when he was getting his quill from under that chair?" Sophie asked innocently, her eyes full of laughter.
Lily turned an even deeper red as the girls burst into giggles. Over in his hiding place James grinned stupidly. So Lily Evans liked his butt.
"Leave Lily alone," chastised Julia.
"Thank you, Julia," said Lily graciously, pulling her books towards her and opening them. "At least I have one sensible friend."
"She's allowed to perve on James if she wants to."
James was shaking with silent laughter wishing Sirius were there. He was never going to believe this.
"I do not…I don't…" spluttered Lily, turning her darkest shade of red yet. "I do not perve on James."
"Come on Lil, you have to admit he is good looking," Hayley pushed.
"He's cute," she answered, not meeting her gaze. A disbelieving noise from Hayley made her look up. "Alright, fine," she sighed, closing her book with a snap. "He's gorgeous. Bloody gorgeous. Happy now?"
"Yes," said James, immediately clapping his hand over his mouth, horrified he had said it aloud, but luckily he was drowned out by another batch of giggles. James rolled his eyes. Girls could be so girly sometimes.
Hayley leaned back in her chair. "Very happy," she smirked.
Sophie had been watching Lily very closely throughout this conversation. Now she leaned forwards and asked her quietly, "The guy's been asking you out for years. Why don't you just say yes?"
"Why don't you just give him a chance? What have you got to lose?" Claire asked. James leaned forward so as not to miss a word, holding his breath, waiting for her answer.
"How about my sanity?" muttered Lily.
Sophie smiled slightly before saying, "I've been on the same Quidditch team with him for three years. He certainly has grown up in that time, especially this year." Over in the isle James silently cheered for Sophie.
"Claire's right," Hayley said, as the other three girls nodded their agreement. "Give him a chance."
"No," said Lily stubbornly.
"Why?" pressed Hayley. Lily glared at her but she didn't back down. "Just tell us why and then we'll leave you alone."
"Fine. You really want to know? I like James. I would like to go out with him but I can't. I'm just a game to him. That's all. He'll get into my pants and then leave me. I don't want that. I want something more."
"Oh, Lily," said Hayley, leaning over to give her a hug for she was on the verge of tears. James stood perfectly still, shocked. He had never imagined that was what Lily thought of him. He could handle her thinking he was arrogant or conceited but for her to think he just wanted to, well, get in her pants as she put it, was an insult. No matter what anyone thought James knew his feelings for Lily were real.
Lily mumbled something, wiped her eyes dry and opened her books once again, the other girls following suit.
James waited for them to begin talking again but they didn't. After a few minutes of silence he heard someone calling him. "Prongs? Oi, Prongs!"
"I'm here," said James, hurrying to the end of the isle, making himself visible to a red faced Peter, silently cursing him for disturbing him.
"Where have you been?" asked Peter sulkily. "I've been looking everywhere for you. Anyway, do you want to help me with my Transfiguration essay? You're much better at it than me." Peter looked hopefully at James, whose head was still spinning from what he'd just heard.
"Uh, yeah, sure. Whatever, Wormtail," said James, running a hand through his head, trying to clear his head.
"I have called this emergency meeting of the Marauders," said James solemnly, "to discuss a very serious matter." He tapped his wand on the end of his bed much like a judge would tap their gavel and glanced around at his fellow Marauders. They were sprawled around their dormitory that evening.
Remus rolled his eyes at James's statement. "Do you have to be so serious? Shut up," he added, pointing at Sirius who had opened his mouth to speak.
"I wasn't going to say anything," he protested, as the other three rolled their eyes at each other. They all knew the bad serious/Sirius joke that he was about to make.
"Yes, I do have to be serious," said James.
"Does this meeting have anything to do with a certain young redhead?" asked Sirius, lazily flicking a piece of dust off his robes.
"How do you know?" asked James, his head snapping around to see Sirius better.
Sirius shrugged casually, "You only ever get this serious about two things. Lily and Quidditch. And seeing as we don't normally have secret meetings to discuss Quidditch, I figured it was about Lily."
Impressed by his friends deductive skills James nodded. "I saw her in the library today–"
"When?" asked Peter, sitting up. "I didn't see her."
"It was before you came," explained James. "Well, actually I didn't speak to her. I overheard her–"
"Spying. Got it," nodded Sirius, causing James to throw him a dirty look before continuing.
"Her and her friends were talking–"
"About what?" asked Peter.
"If you'd shut up I'd tell you," said James, throwing a pillow a Peters head.
"Fine," muttered Peter, looking sullen but James didn't care at the moment.
"She said she likes my butt," James said, a smile lighting up his face, "that she would like to go out with me," the smile turned into a grin, "but she would never go out with me because all I want to do is get into her pants." The grin slid off his face, leaving a gloomy expression.
"So?" asked Sirius. "Isn't that what you want?"
"No," said James heatedly. "Believe it or not but some off us don't judge girls on how much they put out. But I wouldn't say no if she offered," he finished, the grin returning to his face.
Remus threw a pair of socks at James's head to revive him from his daydream. "Well? What are you going to do?"
James shrugged. "That's the problem. I don't know. I need to prove myself to her somehow. Any ideas?" he asked. He let out a groan of defeat as the Marauders shook their heads.
How was he going to prove to Lily he was serious about her? James had been asking himself the same question for the past three days. Unfortunately he was yet to come up with a solution.
"James? James? Hello?"
He suddenly snapped out of his musings. The sixth year Hufflepuff prefect he was doing rounds with was staring at him strangely. "I asked if you were going with anyone on the next Hogsmede trip." She flashed him a brilliant smile.
Hogsmede. Lily. How he wanted to go to Hogsmede with her. Even just for one date.
"Oh, never mind," snapped the girl, clearly disappointed he wasn't getting her hint. She stomped off towards her common room, leaving James alone with his thoughts. He hadn't seen much of Lily lately. Classes had become even harder with their N.E.W.T's approaching and everyone had been busy. He missed the time he used to spend just gazing at her. He smiled ruefully to himself, letting out a heavy sigh. How creepy did that sound? But it wasn't like that. He thought she was beautiful. Extremely beautiful. There was just something about her. He sometimes tried to figure out just exactly why Lily had this effect on him but he never came to an answer. He just accepted it as one of those things.
"Hi James, what are you smiling at?"
James jumped, so lost in thought he hadn't even heard Lily approach him. He blushed slightly, wondering what she would say if he told her the truth. "Uh, I'm not smiling. I just…" He trailed off, waving his hands.
Lily looked at him intently. She could have sworn he just blushed. Deciding it was best not to push it she shrugged it off. "Have you finished rounds? I'm heading back to the Tower."
"Oh, yeah. I just dropped, err," Why couldn't he remember her name? "That Hufflepuff girl, off at her common room."
As they began walking Lily frowned to herself. Something was up, James was acting odd. "She's going to be very upset," she told him, trying to make him smile.
"Hmm?"
"That girl. Georgia. She's going to be very upset that James Potter couldn't remember her name."
"Oh," he smiled slightly, but she could tell he wasn't amused. Something was obviously on his mind. He wasn't being his usual talkative self.
"Are you okay?" she asked, searching his brown eyes with her green ones. "You don't seem yourself." She genuinely was concerned about him. She may not believe his feelings for her were real but over the past year they had slowly became friends and she cared about him.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He ran a hand roughly over his forehead, trying to rid it of his previous thoughts of Lily that were zooming around in there.
They had reached the Fat Lady and Lily gave her the password. She swung forward to admit them into the nearly empty common room.
"Well, good night." Lily said, still concerned about him.
"Lily, wait." James grabbed her upper arm, licking his lips nervously. "I…" lowering his gaze he muttered, "Good night," then let go of her arm and dropped into the nearest chair.
She sat beside him but he wouldn't make eye contact. "James. Something's wrong. Tell me." He opened his mouth to argue but she cut him off. "We've been friends long enough for me to know when something is wrong. Tell me," she repeated more forcefully.
"We're friends?" he asked her skeptically, still staring at the floor.
"Of course," she answered, puzzled.
He took a deep breath then said quickly, "I like you, okay? Really like you. I have for years. But for some reason you think I'm not serious about you. I don't know what else to do," he finished quietly. He chanced a glance at her before getting to his feet. She was staring intently at the fire, her mouth formed in a small 'o'. He hadn't meant to say that. He had meant to come up with a plan; something so incredibly romantic she would fall into his arms then and there.
Lily sat there, lost in thought and it was a few moments before she realized James had left. Catching up with him at the bottom of the boy's staircase she seized his arm, forcing him to stop. He turned slowly to face her, a wary look on his face. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, staring at the floor again. "I shouldn't have said that."
"James, could you at least look at me when you talk to me." He finally looked at her. She didn't look angry. She didn't look happy either. "Can you blame me?" she asked softly. "I've heard the rumours. How you've been with this girl and that girl and then you come and tell me I'm the only girl for you. How do you think that makes me feel?"
"Lily," he said, desperate for her to understand, "those rumours. Half of them aren't even true. I swear."
"But the other half are true?" she asked him sadly.
"Those girls, they knew what they were getting into." He took a deep breath and stared directly into her eyes. "My parents, they brought me up by the old ways. Oh, God, no Lily. Not like that. Not that pure blood crap," he said, correctly interpreting the look of horror on her face. He placed his hand on her waist to stop her leaving. "I mean," his eyes roamed the room, as if he was suddenly embarrassed. "They brought me to be a, well, a gentleman," he said, a hint of embarrassment in his voice but his eyes on hers again.
Lily raised her eyebrows and he continued. "I was raised to open doors for old ladies, to carry their heavy shopping and to never, ever lie to a woman. Those girls Lily, I never told them they meant more to me than they did. I never led them on; they knew exactly where they stood. They all knew how I felt about you." He waited, expecting her to say something, but she remained silent. "Lily?" he asked, and then suddenly realising his hand was still on her waist he let go immediately. "I've never been this serious about a girl since, well, ever."
"James, this is just so…" she looked up at the ceiling and James wondered if she was going to cry. He hoped not. "I don't know what to think." She said this last part so softly James almost didn't hear it. She felt lost. She liked James. A lot, but she didn't want to be hurt by him.
"Have you listened to a word I said?" His shoulders sagged with realisation. "You still don't believe me." She backed away slowly, towards her own staircase. No, thought James, she's not getting away. He swiftly ducked around her and blocked the doorway.
"James, please. It's late; I can't deal with this now." She did look worn out, he noticed.
"What will it take?" he asked the desperation evident in his voice. "I am serious about you Lily. I am."
"Really?" she asked and he nodded fervently. "Then prove it," she whispered, ducking under his arm and up the stairs.
Over the next few weeks, despite the teasing from his fellow Marauders and Sirius's accusation that James had lost all his fun, James was nothing short of a perfect gentleman whenever Lily was around. Trouble was this didn't seem to be working. They were friendly, patrolling together and even worked at the same table together in Potions but Lily showed no signs of affection towards James.
Not in front of him, anyway. When she was with her friends that was a different story.
"Why can't he just ask me out," she grumbled, climbing into bed one night. Venting some of her frustration she plumped up her pillow with much more force than necessary. "Reparo," she muttered as a few feathers flew out the end.
"You know, Lil," said Claire, propping herself up on her elbows to see Lily better. "You could ask him out."
"Oh, God, no. I can't ask him out. He's supposed to be proving himself to me. I just hope he gets a move on."
"How's he going to do that?" asked Sophie, pulling her pyjamas on.
"I don't know." Lily shrugged, shaking her hair back. "But it better be good," she added thoughtfully.
Sophie let out a cynical laugh. "Are you serious? You think he's going to come up with some great plan to sweep you off your feet? He's a guy, Lily. Unless you're going to count a ride on his broom you're going to be severely disappointed."
"She's right, you know," said Claire, nodding her head towards Sophie.
With a "humph" Lily closed her hangings and went to sleep.
Lily let out an audible yawn as she made her way to the library on Wednesday night. She was exhausted but knew McGonagall would not be happy if she didn't have something to hand in tomorrow. Taking one of her favourite short cuts Lily pushed threw a tapestry and made her way down a deserted corridor. She was just about to push through the tapestry at the other end when she stopped, listening intently to the voices on the other side.
She recognised the first one instantly: James Potter. The second one belonged to Georgia, the Hufflepuff prefect. They seemed to be finishing their patrol of the castle. Lily's hovered uncertainly not sure if she should interrupt them or not. Her curiosity getting the better of her she pushed her ear closer to the tapestry. Her eyes widened in shock as she heard the proposition the girl was whispering to James. She stood there in shock, waiting for James's answer. His voice was higher than usual as he answered, "Uh, thanks for the offer, but, err, not right now."
"Come on," Georgia whispered, "I promise you it will be fun."
"No, Georgia, I wont," came James's voice, stronger this time.
"Don't you think I'm pretty enough," she pouted.
"It's not that. It's just there's...someone else."
"Oooh, who?" asked Georgia instantly, dropping her act at the first sign of gossip.
Lily heard them move and braced herself, ready to be caught eavesdropping but to her relief they walked straight past.
"It's not Lily Evans, is it?" pressed Georgia, "Because I don't think she likes you very much." Lily pressed her ear closer to the tapestry but to her disappointment she could not hear James's response. She waited several minutes before slipping out the corridor and around the next corner as fast as she could.
At the other end of the corridor Georgia was still pressing James for information. "I'm not telling you," said James, turning on the spot. "I don't want this spread all over the school." He glanced up as something at the far end of the corridor caught his eye and his stomach jolted as a flash of red hair whipped around the corner. Lily had been listening.
Lily sat in the library, staring at the open book in front of her, not taking in a word. Heaving a sigh she dropped her head onto her folded arms and closed her eyes. She sat there, enjoying the peace when she heard someone sit down next to her. Opening her eyes she found James sitting beside her, mimicking her posture.
"Hi," he said, smiling, his breath warm on her face.
"Hi," she whispered back, closing her eyes again, not consciously realising how comfortable she was in his presence.
"You know," James began, a teasing twinkle in his eye, "You wont get much work don't that way."
She opened her eyes again and smiled. "It's only Transfiguration. It's not like its important," she teased back, knowing it was his favourite subject.
He grinned, but didn't answer. "Did you hear us?" he asked after a few minutes, knowing she had.
"Oh," said Lily, embarrassed by the fact she had been caught. "Not all of it," she answered truthfully. "I didn't mean to," she added, "I was coming through that shortcut and didn't want to interrupt you."
"But most of it?" he asked and she was glad to see he didn't look mad.
She nodded; something which was hard to do with her head on her arms but he got the message. He reached out a hand, playing with the tips of her fingers for a few moments.
"I was talking about you," he whispered, searching her face for a reaction.
"I hoped you were," she whispered back throatily. She waited for him to say something but he didn't. He simply kept staring into her eyes and playing with her hand. "James?" she whispered, her stomach fluttering.
"Mmm?" he asked absently.
"Will you kiss me now?"
A grin lit up his features as he leaned in closer, "I'd love to," he murmured, before capturing her lips with his own. Lily's breath caught and her head began to spin. The only things she could think of was James and how important it was for this kiss to never end. Too soon though, he had pulled away, his forehead resting on hers, breathing heavily.
"Don't," she whispered.
"But you just said –" he began, confused.
"No," she corrected him, "don't stop."
"If you insist," he smiled, leaning in for another fiery kiss.