This part of the library was always dark. Well, darker than the rest of the library. Something about these books requiring darkness to retain their pristine state. It made it jolly hard to work out what book you were looking at though. Even worse if you were looking for a particular book, as she happened to be.
Lily leaned in close to one of the books, and determined it to be The Time Traveller's Complete Guide to Time Turning. Right, so, completely wrong section then. Lily tried another aisle, just as dark as the last. She glanced up at the towers of books looming over her. It was a daunting prospect. Lily sighed and glanced at her watch. It was quite late; just after the fourth years' curfew. There hadn't been many people in the library when she'd entered half an hour ago, and she could only assume that more people had left since. She thought she could chance it.
"Lumos," she whispered.
Magic in the library was one of those rules that she was forced to break all the time. Well, forced may not be the right word, but it was hardly her fault if the faculty decided against lighting the library properly. The reason for the rule was because magic apparently aggravated the books, however, as she wasn't often in the area of particularly aggressive books, she usually pronounced it safe to proceed with magic.
She guided the tip of her wand along the spines of a few books, and found herself to be in the right section. Of course, typically, the book was going to be just out of her reach or something equally as frustrating. She lifted her wand high, and by its light, was just able to scan the names of the books. Yes, there it was. Practical Defence for the Modern Witch. Merlin knew why they even /had/ a book of its calibre. She could only assume that it was kept for those who didn't get onto their assignment quickly enough, and so were stuck using the dregs of useful books on the subject. Like her.
Why on earth she'd left it this late, she had no idea. Well, actually she did, but she didn't care to think about it. Anything involving Severus, three cubes of cheese, and a broom handle didn't deserve the honour of being thought of or mentioned more times than was absolutely necessary. Knowing Severus, and suspecting what she did, he would probably be delighted by the fact that she was trying to not think about him in a dimly lit room.
Lily stood up on her toes while extending her free arm in an attempt to reach the book. It was proving difficult. She contemplated using a Hover Charm to get the book, but magic like that was sure to bring Madam Pince running. And yelling. And banishing Lily from the library for the next three months. The Hover Charm was a no go. She tried reaching again, twisting to gain more height. She lifted a leg, because that always makes one feel taller. The creak of the door opening and closing startled her. She assumed a relaxed standing position, feigning a nonchalant sort of apathy. The person came around the corner of her aisle.
"James," she said, almost taken aback. She supposed she oughtn't be. James did often seem to turn up wherever she was, at some point. It wasn't that she didn't like having James around, it was just unsettling. She liked him, and she wasn't supposed to like him. They'd only just started becoming friends and then her stupid hormones had to go and pull this on her. Bloody hormones.
"Hey," he
replied.
"How was quidditch practice?" Lily asked. It
wasn't a small talk question. She was genuinely interested. A
bit.
"Oh, fine, fine. Simons is still trying to act captain,
but at the rate he's going, I'll have reason to kick him off the team
soon enough."
Lily smiled. "Well, that'll be relieving
for the rest of the team. Good of him to be so obliging." James
chuckled. When he didn't answer, she added, "So, what are you in
here for?"
"Just looking for a book, actually," he
said, smirking.
"Yes, funny that." Lily grinned. "What
for?"
"That Defence assignment." He had the good
grace to look sheepish. Lily laughed.
"Me too." From
what she could tell, James had a mock look of shock and scandal on
his face.
"Not Lily Evans, the-" he paused, searching
for a word. "What's the opposite of procrastinating?"
"Oh,
Merlin, I don't know. 'Dis-procrastinating'?"
James laughed.
"Sure, that works," he said, and then resuming his tone of
shock, "Not Lily Evans, dis-procrastinator extraordinaire!"
Lily snorted, and her hand snapped immediately to cover her nose and
mouth. She giggled in a very atypical Lily Evans way, and then turned
away from James. She raised her wand, and attempted to get the book
down again. As expected, the book did not jump out into her
waiting hand. She sat back on her heels and frowned.
"Would
you like some help?" asked James. Lily turned back to him.
"Help
would be much appreciated, if that's all right," she replied
good-naturedly. He strode over to where she stood and reached up to
get the book. He wasn't even standing on his toes. Bastard.
The bastard was, however, very close. The way he was reaching up to obtain the bane of her evening was making his school shirt and jumper ride up, exposing one side of his hips. Lily stared at the skin for a few fleeting moments, before snapping her eyes away to the bookshelf on the other side of the aisle. She tapped her wand against her thigh, the tip creating a blur of light. James brought the book down, and handed it to her. He didn't step away. She found that she didn't want him to.
"It's more than all right," he
said. Lily stared up into his face and blushed in way which she liked
to think was attractive. She still hoped he didn't notice her flushed
cheeks, though. He brought his hand up to her face and skimmed his
thumb across her cheek.
"Your cheeks are hot," he
whispered. Damn. Lily glanced down at the ground and swallowed. She
probably should stop this. Right now, too. She was going to
regret it later, she knew it. If it advanced any further, she was
going to stop it.
She felt his whole hand on her cheek now, dragging her face upwards. She stared at his lips as they came closer, until she couldn't without going cross-eyed. At that point she simply closed her eyes. Her lips parted and she was breathing heavily. The air seemed charged; thick somehow. It was ridiculous. That sort of thing only happened in novels. Sappy romance novels, at that. She felt his lips barely touch hers, before he brought them back down and kissed her soundly.
She was in such shock over
the whole ordeal that she wasn't even kissing him back. She was just
standing there like a statue. That in itself was stupid; she could
have seen the moment coming from miles away if she was reading a book
or watching a movie. Coming from James the action surprised her.
Surprised her so much that she jerked away. She turned her head to
the side and stared at the books for a few seconds, shell-shocked. He
leant down to kiss the side of her mouth, but she evaded him.
"I'm
sorry, but, no." He looked hurt, but not half surprised. "Thank
you for getting me the book," she continued, "but, just,"
she closed her eyes and shook her head, breathing heavily, "no."
She side stepped around him and hurried from the room so quickly that
she didn't even hear the door click shut behind her.