Pavlov's Lily
A Harry Potter fanfiction
Lily x James
Lily Evans was a seventh year student at Hogwarts. She had a lot going for her: outstanding grades, Head Girl, top of the class… well, that last one was shared with another student: James Potter, the bane of Lily's existence, or who Lily liked to call The Progeny of Beelzebub.
James Potter was also a seventh year student at Hogwarts, claiming the titles of Head Boy, secret animagus, and Marauder with his three best friends: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. James was irrevocably in love with a certain Lily Evans.
Ever since the first day they met on the Hogwarts Express back in first year, and Lily had seen James shamelessly pick on her then-best friend, Severus Snape, Lily had hated James. However, James, ever since third year, when it had come as an epiphany to James that Lily was a very pretty girl, had fallen in love with the witty red-head instantaneously. It wasn't for the fact that Lily was the only girl in history to refuse a date with him, and none of those cliché reasons like "she has a mind of her own…" No. James loved Lily for reasons not even known to him. James figured that was what it was like to have found your soul mate: no reason to love, but instant nonetheless. Unfortunately for him, Lily did not reciprocate those feelings.
After the… let's just say situation, in fifth year involving one Severus Snape and a rather unclean pair of underpants displayed to half the Hogwarts student body, James had realized he had been going about trying to get Lily in all the wrong ways. Lily had said unforgettable things to him that day, things about being an "arrogant prick of a toerag," and "bloody insufferable." Those were the somewhat polite things she had said.
James did a lot of thinking over the summer. See, James acted completely different whenever Lily was around. He was immature, loud and attention-seeking. Mostly seeking Lily's attention. When he was with his friends, however, he was albeit a little quieter, mature with a great sense of humor (sometimes dirty… but hey, he's a teenage boy). Lily was like an opposite-button for him. Put her in the picture and BAM he's the git.
Sixth year, James shaped up, and succeeded in behaving, well, Jamesy. Lily had noticed this change in behavior, and the two had eventually become somewhat friends. They were no longer hostile towards each other, at least.
Seventh year was when it all changed. Sirius would call it "The Great Coco-Bean Incident of '78." James would call it "Finally," and Lily would call it "Realization." This is where our story really begins.
Apart from being smart and Head Girl, Lily was chocoholic. Lily absolutely adored anything and everything that was chocolate. She figured she even had developed a chocolate sixth sense, allowing her to just know when chocolate was within a ten foot radius. She could smell it farther away than anyone else, too. Her best friend, Alice, knew never to interrupt Lily when she was on a chocolate conquest.
James knew about Lily's love for chocolate. It was more severe than Remus' adoration, and Remus had an excuse. It was actually Remus that conjured the idea in James' mind one Saturday afternoon under their favorite tree by the Black Lake.
"REEEEEEEEMUS REMY REMY KINS!" bellowed Sirius, hanging one armed from a branch like a monkey.
"Yes, Paddy?" Remus replied, pulling his gaze away from his psychology book. Light reading, he called it.
"Tell me, why are you reading about Muggle Cyclopsy, when it's not even a class here? One-eyed Pirate Muggles, though fascinating, really delude a fantastic weekend of doing absolutely nothing."
"Sirius, it's not 'Cyclopsy,' it's psychology. The study of the human mind. Very interesting stuff. You should read some, but you haven't finished Dick and Jane yet." James and Peter roared with laughter at this last statement.
"Very funny, Moony. You're very clever." Sirius pouted, jutting his lower lip out in a mock-sad face.
"Actually, let me tell you what's clever. This psychologist, his name was Pavlov, and he trained dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell ringing. He called it classical conditioning."
"What did that endeavor entail?" James asked, interest notably sparked.
"Well, he showed the dogs meat, let them smell it and see it as he rang a bell. Then he would give them the meat. Eventually, after doing this process for awhile, Pavlov noticed that even though the meat wasn't present when he rang the bell, the dogs would salivate in anticipation for it anyway."
"LET'S TRY IT ON ME! I LOVE MEAT! CAN WE?" Sirius shouted excitedly.
"…Er, no."
"But… but… I'm a dog. It would work. Wouldn't it?"
"Those dogs read Dick and Jane. They were a step above you intelligence-wise. That's why it worked on them." Remus said quickly.
"Wait…"
James had stopped paying attention to Remus and Sirius arguing. He looked out at the glittering lake, an idea forming in his mind. He and Lily had become friends this year, having to do Head duties together and work civilly together. He considered himself very lucky having Lily as his friend, and was ecstatic to hear it when she told him he was one of her closer friends. James tried to stay happy with the "just friends" status, but he never got over her even though he had ceased asking her out incessantly. James stood up, his friends giving him questioning looks.
"I, er, should go inside and see if Lily needs me to look over the prefect schedule or something before we do rounds."
With that, he walked away, grinning to himself. This plan would work.
Lily was in the Head's dorms on the couch. The fire crackled warmly as she sat comfortably, legs tucked under her as she read the assigned chapters in her Advanced Potions textbook. The portrait hole opened, and James crawled in.
Lily looked up, checked her watch, and stood up to stretch. As she stretched, her shirt inched up, revealing her abdomen and bellybutton. James gawked, but then turned quickly. Too tempting.
"Hullo James."
"Er, hey Lils. Getting stuff done?"
"Yeah. My day has been pretty boring. What were you up to?"
"Eh, nothing much. Just hanging with the guys, you know." He smirked.
Lily's eyes flitted to the smirk. Her heart sped up a tiny bit. She didn't understand her hormonal reactions lately whenever James was around. Her stomach would get butterflies in it, and her skin would burn. Indigestion, maybe.
"It's almost time for rounds, James. You coming?" Lily said, putting her hair up in a ponytail and smoothing her robes.
"Yeah. Go on out and wait for me. I have to grab something quick. I'll only be a few minutes." James jogged to his room. Lily exited the dorms and waited for James just outside the portrait hole.
James went to his trunk and pulled out 5 chocolate frogs, stuffed them in his pocket, and ran out to join Lily.
It was dimly lit in the corridors, as they walked side-by-side, wands at the ready. Suddenly, Lily stopped.
"What? Did you hear something?" James whispered.
"No, nothing like that. You have chocolate."
Wow, she's not joking when she says she can sense it from a mile away. James thought, smirking.
"As a matter of fact, I do."
Lily gave him an innocent pleading look. James ran his hand through his hair, then took out two chocolate frogs. One for him, one for Lily. Before giving hers to Lily, he ran his hand through his hair again. Lily watched his every move, anticipating the chocolate. James handed Lily a chocolate frog. They both opened them and ate in silence. Lily sighed in contentedness when she finished hers, tongue licking her lips searching for any trace that may not have made its way in. James watched Lily closely, just finishing his frog.
"Mmmmm…."
"Good?"
"Of course. It's chocolate, James. It is always good. Chocolate is the foundation of all things that are good in the world." Lily sighed, smiling.
"I agree," though James was thinking of the one who inhaled her chocolate to be the foundation of all things that were good in the world.
They began walking again. It was an hour later before James stopped.
"Hey, what…?" Lily questioned, eyeing James.
James ran his hand through his hair. Lily watched. For some strange reason, she was expecting something to happen. James drew from his pocket two more chocolate frogs. He once again ran his hand through his hair, then gave Lily a frog. They once again snacked on their frogs, Lily enjoying every last bit. Lily smacked her lips together after finishing. James just smiled. He had one frog left.
They continued their rounds, catching two couples snogging in the astronomy tower and the dungeons, respectively. After a particularly stressful encounter with three Slytherin fifth years beating up a Ravenclaw first year, Lily having to literally restrain the Slytherins with magic while James escorted the boy to the hospital wing taking 150 points from Slytherin (50 for each boy) at the same time, James and Lily reunited by the Transfiguration classroom.
"Wow. That was excruciatingly painful to witness."
"That poor boy. Is he alright, James?"
"He'll be fine, that boy is one tough little bugger. Did the Slytherins cause you any trouble while I was gone?" James asked, hazel eyes boring into Lily's emerald eyes. Lily looked away.
"No. I just performed a body-stiffening charm, then levitated them back to their common room. I made sure I was a good 5 minutes away before I released the charm." James exhaled a breath he didn't know he was holding.
"No one stands a chance against the unstoppable duo of Jamesy and Lily-Flower!" James yelled, performing a super hero stance, fists at his hips, looking gallantly to the side. Lily chuckled.
"James, you're a wanker."
James returned to a normal posture and ran his hand through his hair. This is it. The final time. Lily watched his hand as it glided through his ebony locks like a ship on the ocean. Her mouth began to water. She could suddenly taste chocolate in her mouth as she held out a hand as if to receive something.
James looked at her oddly, while drawing the last chocolate frog from his pocket. Lily licked her lips. James smirked, ran his hand through his hair, and then opened the candy and popped the entire frog in his mouth. Lily waited expectantly for her frog. When she realized James didn't have one for her, her hand slowly dropped back to her side. Her eyebrows creased a little, a confused frown displayed on her face.
"James…"
"Mhm?" James answered, still chewing. A bit of chocolate was at the corner of his mouth, mocking Lily with its subtle deliciousness. That sodding little demon of a chocolate speck…
James swallowed, and then grinned at Lily. The chocolate speck at the corner of his mouth lifted with his smile. Lily unconsciously drew closer, eyes still focused on the chocolate speck. Their faces were inches away. James' Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he gulped. Lily was really close. She had never been this close to him before. He didn't know if he could control himself.
Lily didn't know when it happened, she just knew she wanted that chocolate, but her mouth suddenly connected with James' mouth. James let out a guttural groan as Lily's tongue ravaged his mouth. He eagerly responded, turning the kiss into a hot, open-mouthed one. Lily's arms hooked around James' neck as his arms snaked around her waist pulling her flush against him. Their tongues continued to battle for dominance. Lily could taste the recently eaten chocolate frog in James' mouth. The sensation was amazing, and he tasted absolutely brilliant.
James backed them up until Lily's back hit the wall. She jumped up, wrapping her legs around James' waist. A small growl escaped from James' throat as he reluctantly released Lily's lips and attacked her neck. He placed small gossamer kisses all the way up her throat and met her lips again. The kiss was completely out of control. Lily grabbed his locks in her fists trying to bring his face impossibly closer to hers. James slipped his tongue into Lily's mouth once again. Her taste was like a drug, and James was addicted. Lily moaned as she sucked on James' tongue.
Eventually, the kiss calmed down into sweet pecks, then stopped completely. James and Lily panted, foreheads together. James pressed a kiss to Lily's forehead, then brought her chin up so she was looking at him. He smiled lovingly.
"What was that for, Love?"
"Er, well, you had some leftover chocolate on the corner of your mouth, and you know me, I'm a sucker for chocolate, and would never let it go to waste, even a small amount like that… it just tastes really good, and I have an incurable addiction to it, and now to you, because I really fancy you, James." Lily clapped her hands over her mouth and looked at James in horror.
Did I just admit that out loud?
James' smile grew into a dazzling, toothy grin.
"You fancy me, eh Evans?"
Lily's hands lowered. She did. She did fancy James. She had for a long while now, she just repressed those feelings. She straightened her back, squared her shoulders and looked proudly into James' face.
"As a matter of fact, I do, Potter. Is there anything you want to do about it?"
James did want to do something about it. So he did.
Once again, the two lost themselves in a chocolaty, mind-boggling kiss.
Pavlov, you're a genius was James' last coherent thought before he completely let the sensation of Lily capture every sense in his body.
That was my very first fan fiction. I hope you enjoy it! Feel free to R&R!