James
There's just something about the way she smiles. The way she flips her hair drives me nuts. She absolutely beautiful in the morning, even when she's still half asleep and her eyes are still red from the dry morning air. She's even prettier when she's flustered from potions' class and her hair gets frazzled and starts to stick up a little. I love it when she rolls the sleeves of her uniform up and it crumples her sweaters. She's so smart, but not a bitch about it. She keeps all snooty comments she has, and believe me, she has them, to herself. She never rolls her eyes when someone gives a stupid answer. She's patient and kind. She picks on me and harasses me and I hate her for it. But in the end, I can't hate her at all. She's everything that I need.
I want her to know exactly how I feel about her. I mean, she knows because I ask her out every chance I get, but I really want her to understand. I want her to realize that there's nothing about her that I don't want. I want her to know she's perfect exactly as she is and there's nothing she could possibly do to make herself better or worse in my eyes.
And I guess that's where it all started. I wanted her to know that I feel this way and that I'm pretty sure that I always will. I wanted her companionship so badly that I wanted to change for her. I didn't need to be the douchebag who tried to get her attention by showing off anymore. I just wanted to be me, and I was going to show her who 'me' is.
I decided all of this in seventh year after an extremely close Quidditch match where it came to my incredible chaser skills to get us enough points to win even though Ravenclaw had caught the snitch. Everyone was celebrating - we were going to be in the House Championship and everyone was getting a bit tipsy off of the firewhiskey that Sirius had smuggled in from Hogsmeade. I had seen Lily's two friends Alice and Marlene drink quite a bit of whiskey and begin all of the dancing on the small end tables.
It was clear that Lily was not going to join in on their tomfoolery and I noticed her taking in all of our drunken housemates with an expression that could only be described as amusement and disappointment. I took my goblet of Butterbeer and grabbed an extra with me and I made my way to the other end of the common room to sit next to her on the stairs.
"I'm not going to drink that," she said, indicating the goblet I had grabbed for her. I shook my head.
"It's Butterbeer," I told her as I held it out to her. She took it and sniffed it. After a careful inspection, she decided it was safe and took a sip. We looked out amongst the party. "Sirius outdid himself this time."
She nodded. "Marlene and Alice got a little too into the game. I surprised they kept their shirts on. I felt like they were more focused than you guys were."
"I could hear them. They started the chants, didn't they?" I asked as I took a sip of my drink. Lily nodded and pointed to my cup.
"You're not drinking?" she asked. I shook my head.
"Does that surprise you?" I asked. She nodded again and looked away embarrassed. I laughed. "It's okay if it does. I feel like as captain, I should let them know that it's okay not to drink and I want the younger kids to think that it's cool not to."
Lily seemed taken aback by my statement and I smiled. I'm already off to a good start. She hasn't pushed me away, yelled at me, or declared her undying hatred towards me. I waited for her to reply before I asked her my own questions.
"That's really cool, James," she smiled. My eyes widened in shock as she realized what she had just said. Her gorgeous green eyes widened with fear.
"It's all right," I smiled. I was tempted to put my hand on her arm, but I didn't push my luck, "So with all of this underage drinking and alcohol on the premises, I'm surprised you're not having a field day with this."
Lily laughed, a sound that I could get used to. "I think it'd be quite hypocritical if I were to take away all of the contraband."
"And why would that be, Lily Evans?" I asked with my eyebrow raised. She seemed embarrassed at my intrigue. I was just happy she was talking to me.
"I've had about as much as Alice and Marlene have had," she admitted quietly. My jaw dropped. "More, actually if you count the two shots I took to prepare myself."
"Lily Evans, you sure can hold your whiskey!" I exclaimed. I was genuinely surprised, proud even, by her inclination to drink and I didn't even notice her scooting up to me.
"James," she whispered. She delicately placed her hand on my leg and she turned her body towards me. I shuddered at the contact and my whole body froze when I finally noticed her proximity. "I need to tell you something."
"You can tell me anything," I breathed. My brain was buzzing and I could barely form the words of the sentence. She scooted even closer now. "Lily."
"Ever since Sev called me a Mudblood and chose to immerse himself in Slytherin, I've been able to appreciate you more. And I really like you," she said quietly. I remained still throughout her confession and I really couldn't believe what I was hearing. I tried not to react in any way that would get me hexed in anyway. "But I'm also incredibly drunk."
I slid back as soon as she said it. I couldn't do this. I couldn't let Lily seduce me, no matter how much I wanted her to. I couldn't take advantage of her like this. She scooted towards me though and I felt my back hit the railing of the stairs.
"James, please. I want this," she begged. I shook my head and pulled away as best as I could.
"Lily, you're drunk, please," I replied quietly. I took her hand, " let me take you upstairs."
"You can't go up our stairs, silly!" Lily giggled. The drunk Lily finally came out and I could see how the alcohol affected her. "You're a boy!"
"Aye, but I am a Marauder as well," I reminded her. I stood up and took her goblet of Butterbeer from her. Then I lent her my arm, which she took happily. I marched up to the boy dorm where I grabbed my broomstick. We got on carefully to avoid falling and any other dangerous precaution. We flew over to the girl dorm and I let lily lead me to her bed. She got up really close to me, leaving a ghost of a kiss on my lips.
"I'm only admitting this because I am beyond drunk," She whispered. And I nodded, dumbstruck by what had just happened. I left her room and I went down the stairs, letting it turn into a slide and I slid down into the party, not bothering to get up from the sitting position I was in.
Lily Evans kissed me. She kissed me! I could not believe it. I would not believe it. I have literally spent years wanting this. And here we were, Head Boy and Girl, up to no good. She has hated me for years and I didn't do much to help, but now. Now this was my chance! I couldn't muck it up for any reason. I had to wait, be patient. I had to let her come to me.
The rest of the night passed slowly, the party was much duller without Lily there. I went up to bed early and I realized that I had left my broomstick in Lily's dorm. I decided that it was in a safe place for now, I was exhausted. And so, I went to bed.
Lily
I opened my eyes and I instantly felt pain. I have never drank that much before in my life. I have never actually drank before in my life. My head was pounding and my body ached from slumping in an uncomfortable position in bed. I looked around the room to make sure I wasn't the first one up. I was. But then I spotted a broomstick. It belonged to James.
I tried to think back to last night to see if I could remember anything about James' broomstick. My subconscious brought up horrible images and suggestions stemming from the mere thought of James' broomstick. If only Marlene knew what I actually thought about...
Determining that I had no recollection of the previous night, I got ready for the day, despite my throbbing head, and I grabbed the broom and went downstairs. I was lucky to see James alone in the Common Room, reading. I walked up to him and cleared my throat.
"Hey," I said quietly. He looked up and I instantly got nervous.
"Well hello there, Lily! How are you feeling this morning?" he asked, grinning widely. He knew. I couldn't lie my way out of this. I was ruined.
"Bloody awful. I've got your broom. Any idea how it got to be in my possession, you perv?" I asked him, trying to put on an annoyed facade. James' grin faded somewhat quickly.
"You don't remember last night?" he asked. I detected a hint of sadness in his voice, butIi tried to ignore it. I shook my head. "Let's just say you needed help to your room."
"Oh. Thanks?" I offered. He nodded it off, taking his broom and setting it next to his chair. "What happened?"
"I don't think you want to know," he replied. He was probably right, but I needed to know whether or not I completely screwed up my reputation.
"Oh Merlin, was I loud or obnoxious or anything?" I asked. He didn't reply. I brought my hand to my mouth as my eyes grew wide. "Did I take something off?"
"No, no," he said quickly. I sighed. "You were very quiet. Just not to me."
He seemed apprehensive, like he shouldn't be telling me this but he wanted me to know that I can't keep my ruddy mouth shut. I slumped into the seat next to him. This could either be good or bad for him. It was going to be hell for me regardless.
"Was I mean?" I asked. He shook his head quickly. "Oh I was really friendly." he nodded. "Did we...?"
"No, as tempted as I was, I just took you to bed before you threw up everywhere," he said, leaning his head towards me. I snorted.
"You're such a gentleman," I smiled at him. "Thank you so much."
"Yeah, it's no big deal," he replied. "I do need to ask you one thing."
"Go ahead."
"Did you mean it?" he asked. I guess I should have expected that. If last night I said that I thought he was bloody gorgeous and I absolutely melt when he's near me, then yes, I meant it.
"Of course I did. I mean, I don't know what I said, but I feel like it's been obvious since term started. James, you've grown up so much. You've become an adult. And I guess you kind of have to be, going into the world that we are headed towards, but you've grown more than I could've ever imagined. I see how you've matured. And you're not the boy you were. You're kind, sweet, and thoughtful," I told him. i had waited until I was done speaking to look up at him. He was grinning. "Not to mention you're bloody gorgeous."
He wasted no time in leaning down to kiss me. And I let him. I brought my hands to his hair and pulled him even closer to me. It was a short kiss, but a great one. I pulled away and grinned.
"Lily Evans, would you be so kind as to be my girlfriend?" he asked. I nodded and kissed him again.
"Just never let me drink again, okay?" I told him. He laughed and kissed me on the forehead.