A/N: Hi! New Story.. really this is the first multi-chaptered story I'm uploading, so cut me some slack, yeah? I'm really excited about this though, so I hope you guys like it. As it is my first story, feedback would be appreciated *hint hint*. I'll try to update weekly, but I'm in school and things may get a little hard. Other than that, I hope I can keep up with this!

Note: For the purpose of this story, Lily's Birthday is on the 30th of June, as opposed to the 30th of January. Hope that doesn't put anyone off.

Disclamer: If I owned any of this, I would be rich. I'm not, but it's nice to dream.

Without further ado, enjoy! :D

"Seventeen"

(And the pajama situation)

Lily Evans sat at the edge of her bed at exactly one minute before midnight, a toothy grin threatening to split her face. Her wand was gripped tightly in one of her hands; waiting for the exact moment she would be able to use it outside of Hogwarts.

She stared at the muggle alarm clock by her bed, willing the 30th of June to come, officially making her of age. "Come on, come on," she whispered quietly, for she was supposed to be asleep hours ago.

Any second now… She thought, gripping her wand until her knuckles were white, but her smile never faltered.

And then, suddenly and with no warning whatsoever, the clock read 12:00 and she was no longer 16. But Lily didn't move, staring at the clock, a million things swimming through her mind, the main being 'I can do magic now, what are you waiting for?'.

Her smile began to fade, replaced by a shocked expression as she loosened her grip on her wand and looked at it curiously.

Suddenly she was on her feet whispering, "Lumos," half expecting a letter to fly in and tell her she was breaking the wizarding law.

A smile spread through her face again before she started throwing spells everywhere. Her carpet was white again, cleared from that wine stain (certainly not hers) that had been there as long as she could remember. The crack in the window was fixed. Her clothes were neatly folded in her closet.

Lily exhaled happily, setting her wand back on her nightstand and quietly opening the door of her room, a slight skip in her step. She looked around, expecting Petunia to jump out and call her a freak for the millionth time, but none of that happened. Instead, there was a small tap on her window that made her jump. Frowning, she closed the door and walked over to her bedroom window, taking her wand again. What was Toodles doing, bringing her a letter at this time of night?

She opened her window, but instead of her brown owl flying in, she was almost hit by a small rock.

Lily yelped and jumped aside just in time as the small rock flew inside her window and landed on her carpet. She vanished it absentmindedly and squinted at the ground, seeing a tall shadow standing there.

She was about to hex the living daylights out of it thinking it was a death eater, when she noticed it wasn't just standing there, it was on a broom. Now, Lily thought, Death Eaters don't travel on brooms, don't be stupid Lily. That, with the fact that a Death Eater probably wasn't going to get her attention by standing there throwing rocks at her window, made her stick her wand in her waistband and run quietly downstairs, opening the front door.

"Who's there?" she whispered, only slightly panicked.

"Lily," a familiar voice slurred, "Happy birthday."

Her eyes widened in disbelief, "Potter?"

The shadow dismounted the broom and staggered into view, revealing himself as, indeed, James Potter. A trashed James Potter, at that. Brilliant.

Lily sighed exasperatedly, "You're drunk," she stated.

James grinned, opening his arms. "Now, Lils, is that the way to greet your friend? Come 'ere and give him a nice hug."

Lily gritted her teeth. "Don't call me that, and I will do no such thing Potter."

James pouted, "You wound me, Evans," he slurred loudly, lifting a hand to his heart.

"Rubbish," Lily whispered angrily. What on earth was this prat thinking?! "What are you doing here?"

"I'm wishing a beautiful girl a happy, happy birthday," he said, his grin back in place.

"And you came here on that broom all the way from your place?" She asked incredulously, and he nodded.

"Well, I'll be going then Lily, wouldn't want to worry Sirius and my parents," he said, swinging one leg over the broom and almost falling in the process. "Whoops," he grinned.

"Sirius?" She asked curiously. She didn't think his parents would let him leave home.

He looked at her, then at her arm which automatically grasped his arm to steady him. She retreated it quickly and looked at him expectantly. "Wha –Oh, yeah, he moved in a while ago."

Lily studied him quietly. His sleeves were rolled up sloppily, revealing his rather muscular arms. There was a grass stain on his trousers, as though he had fallen. His hair was as messy as ever, nothing new there. His glasses were askew on his face and his eyes were drooping dangerously. She knew the possibilities of him getting home unscathed were very low, considering his condition.

She sighed exasperatedly, watching as James tried to kick off from the ground. She couldn't believe she was about to do this. "Potter, wait."

He looked up at her, startled. "Oh Lily, I forgot you were still there."

"Of course you did," she muttered annoyingly, "Get off that broom already, will you?"

"But –"

"You're not flying anywhere like that," she said, pulling the broom out of his grip.

He groaned. "How 'm I supposed to get 'ome?" he muttered, kicking a rock.

Lily rolled her eyes, "You're not going home, you're staying here. Only because you're drunk," she added when he opened his mouth, surely to add some cheeky comment.

He whistled, "I knew you secretly loved me all along," he slurred.

Lily pushed him inside the house, "Don't push it, Potter."

"Got it."

"Drink this," Lily said, handing James a mug of freshly made coffee. She sat across from him on the old stool his father used to love, pulling up her red hair into a messy bun.

James looked at the cup and then at her, "But I didn't –"

"Just drink it, Potter," Lily said, shaking her head. "It'll make you… less foggy."

"Yes ma'am," he saluted, gulping down the whole cup. "Thanks."

She rolled her eyes, "You didn't have to down the whole thing at once."

James looked embarrassed, but merely shrugged. They settled into a slightly awkward silence, and Lily turned her head from his burning gaze, pretending to be interested in studying every single detail her small kitchen had to offer. The vase of flowers by the window, the cream paint that was peeling off in certain places, the old, brownish cabinets… she even had time to look at each picture frame on the 'family wall', as her mother called it. No, it wasn't awkward at all.

"Are you cold?" James suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

She was, she realized, hugging her arms, but she wasn't about to admit that to him. "No."

He smirked, "I wouldn't be surprised, what with those skimpy pajama's and all."

Lily was completely mortified; she hadn't noticed she was wearing short shorts and an old tank top that rode up her stomach every time she moved.

She felt her face burn up. Great. "I –" Eloquent as ever, Lily. "It get hot in bed."

James eyebrows shot up, and only then did she realize what she had said. "No! I mean yes, but no. Well… oh shut it, Potter."

James laughed as she glared at him, but a small smile was still fighting its way through. She stood up and walked out of the kitchen, and she heard James set his cup down and follow her. Lily, careful not to bend down and show anything more than she had to show to James sodding Potter, retrieved some blankets from the cupboard and handed them to him.

"There are pillows on the couch and more blankets here if you need any, good night Potter," she said, turning to leave.

James caught her by the arm. "Wait, I wanted to ask you something."

Lily sighed, knowing what he was about to ask. "Look Potter, it's past midnight and I'm really tired, so just save that for tomorrow, deal?"

"I wasn't going to ask you out, I just… I mean, we were doing so well at the end of sixth year and I really didn't mean to ruin everything and I just," he took a deep breath, "we´re still friends right?"

Lily swallowed at the remainder of the events of nearly two weeks ago. She had done her best to forget about his existence ever since, vowing to get as far away from Potter as she could and convincing herself that being friends didn't work at all. And she was doing a damn good job of it.

James took her silence as a chance to keep rambling. "I know I screwed everything up, and I don't care if you won't go out with me… okay maybe I care a little. But being your friend is a hell of a lot better than being nothing to you. Merlin Lily, I really want –"

"James," she interrupted.

"Yeah?"

"Okay," she said, wondering what the bloody hell she was saying.

"Okay, what?"

"Let's forget anything happened," she said slowly, swallowing her pride. "I… I really do like being friends with you, James."

His face brightened considerably. "You do? I mean, I'm glad. Well, thanks for letting me stay the night."

She sighed in relief. "Sure, no problem. Night James."

"Night Lily," he grinned. Lily turned and walked up the stairs, only just catching a glimpse of James' retreating form. She smiled to herself, walking into her room and switching the lights off. She climbed into bed and closed her eyes contently.

Maybe Lily didn't have to pretend not to like James Potter after all… as a friend of course.

A/N: So.. is it worthy of your attention? Leave a review, I'm begging of you. Bad, good, anything is appreciated, as long as it's honest :D (And not rude).. seriously, reviews are like PB&J Sandwiches that I really want but I have no jelly for mah peanutbutter. Dammit.

-Nicky