Lily was frustrated. Again. Things had changed in her life for the worse recently and now she felt more alone than ever before. She still had friends of course, but things just weren't the same now. Only a year ago James Potter had been completely besotted with her and she had been best friends with Severus Snape. After one inconsequential day she had yelled at Severus, therefore ruining their friendship and now James had even quit giving her the attention. Her parents had said that you only know that you love somebody when you lose them and after years of having laughed at them for such a stupid saying, Lily now knew exactly what they meant.
Her frustration wasn't helping her tonight though as she attempted to complete a particularly difficult charms essay that they had been burdened with. Her friends sat next to her, subdued and looking equally annoyed as they poured over thick volumes or scribbled their work onto the parchment as soon as a half decent idea popped into their minds.
Lily picked up a tape measure and proceeded to check the length of her parchment. Damn, she was still three inches too short. Pulling a textbook towards her, she leafed through the thick pages, searching for something—anything—which would help her to complete the essay that she had been slaving over for hours now.
Upon finding nothing of any help, she sighed and slammed the book closed. She just couldn't concentrate. The ironic thing was that the common room was much quieter tonight what with James Potter at Quidditch practice along with the rest of the obnoxious and loud team. Sirius had also disappeared and Lily suspected that he had followed the team in order to watch them train. After all, he had been eyeing that sixth year chaser for some time now.
With the two ring leaders of the gang missing, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were sitting together in one corner, heads bent over a piece of parchment that they were scrutinising closely. So the common room was much quieter without the abundance of noise that the four boys routinely made without fail each night yet Lily was finding it much harder to concentrate without the noise than she did with it.
Able to stand it no longer, she placed her quill next to her unfinished essay, causing her friends to look up to see what was wrong.
"I'll be back later," she muttered, standing up. Lily marched out of the portrait hole and through the castle. She came across nobody which she was glad about. At the moment she didn't feel like talking to people.
Outside, the cool night air hit her face, making her feel more awake. It reminded her of all those days she had spent with Severus before either of them had received their Hogwarts letters, before they had fallen out. She didn't want to think of that though. As she wandered along, she passed the lake. Thousands of memories flooded back to her but one stuck in her mind, featuring predominantly. Severus dangling from a tree, James advancing with his wand outstretched. Herself in a foul temper rushing towards them in order to prevent Severus the humiliation but she didn't want to think of that either.
Eventually she reached the Quidditch pitch and realised that her legs had been subconsciously bringing her here all along. She hated to admit it to herself but ever since James had ceased asking her out she had been a lot more moody and only now did she realise why that was: she loved him back.
She stood there for a while, contented to watch him fly around the pitch. He was talented, she told herself and even though she had been avidly denying it for the last few years, Lily knew that she had been lying to herself about him for too long.
After some time, practice was called to an end. She watched James land and noticed in detail his long, messy hair flapping in the wind. As he landed, he looked around, obviously searching for Sirius but instead his dark eyes caught hers and held the gaze. Lily didn't want to be the first to break the stare and eventually, James looked away, face the shade of her hair. Lily was disappointed but then she saw him begin to walk towards her and her heart began to beat at double the usual pace.
"Evans," he greeted as he reached her.
"Potter," she replied. His broomstick was casually slung over his shoulder and his hair was windswept, giving it an almost sexy edge. That was going to make things awkward.
"What are you doing here?" he asked looking suspiciously at her. Lily couldn't tell if he was simply curious or actually glad that she had come.
"I thought I'd watch you train," she answered trying not to give too much away.
"By you, do you mean me or the team in general?" Damn, he was asking for specifics.
"And why should you care?" she avoided the question, eyes carefully trained on the floor so as not to give any sign of emotion away.
"You know why Lily," he used her first name for once "but you always push me away."
"Well what if I didn't?" she was still trying to be evasive.
"Then I'd know that you loved me back." His answer was so simple, so truthful that Lily knew without an ounce of regret what to do.
"Then I give up," she whispered. A sharp intake of breath emitted from James' lips and he looked at her in disbelief. "I love you."
"You too, Evans," he smiled and before she knew what was happening he had kissed her on the lips. It was short and as they drew apart Lily saw stars behind her eyes. She had done the right thing. James grinned his mischievous smile and Lily smiled shyly back. However, a cough from behind her made them both look away from each other and into Sirius' handsome face that was covered with shock.
"I think you have some explaining to do," he stared at them and Lily looked towards James.
"You start."