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He was only a few inches taller than her. It came as something of a surprise to her. The way he walked, with his chin up and head held high…At some point, Lily had just begun to imagine him differently.
However, as he worked on chopping the valerian roots beside her, his elbow brushing her arm, she noticed among other things that she had been mistaken. It wasn't as though she was displeased with the revelation; merely surprised.
Finding that she had forgotten to keep the temperature in check, Lily jumped to a start. She scanned the thermometer to see where the mercury had reached and allowed the glossy grey liquid to simmer.
"I think I managed. They're probably not as finely cut as you would have done-," he was cut off halfway past running his hand through his unkempt hair.
"No, no, these will do. I just need another minute to get the temperature fixed and then we can add the roots," she smiled at him, looking slightly flushed. Her wand hovered over the potion and kept the liquid from settling.
James looked somewhat relieved. He laughed, pushing up the rim of his spectacles so they sat comfortably on the bridge of his nose. Laying the knife beside the roots, he grinned, "Brilliant! What next?"
"N-next? Right! Um… I-you need to get Rickler's reagent out of the closet so we can make the second part of the potion. I'll add the roots in and begin on mixing the beetle juice with Vivlan herbs. Then we just add them into the second cauldron," Lily recovered quickly enough but her voice shook slightly.
"Sounds good. I'll get the reagent then," he shot her a smirk, shoved his hands in his pockets and strolled to the cupboard.
Lily winced. She had never been a decent actor – in reality, she was awful at it - but she didn't resent the fact so much until now. Heaving a sigh, she tried not to glance at the mop of unkempt hair engaged in a conversation with one of his mates. That was harder said than done, though.
Keeping her focus on pouring the sample in to a flask, she did a relatively good job of diverting her attention from the Quidditch Captain.
Slughorn's praises kept replaying in her mind as she returned to James shuffling through the textbook, looking for the next step. He glared at the parchment as he concentrated. Lily's lips twitched upwards and crossing her arms, she asked, "Find something you like, Potter?"
Still poring over the words, he replied dryly, "Yeah, Evans. Just going through the instructions for brewing Amortenia; thought it might come in handy one of these days."
"Oh, c'mon, don't be so harsh on yourself. I'm sure you'll find your perfect girl or a girl that would be willing to tolerate you," Lily smirked, quirking her eyebrows as if to sell the prospect as desirable.
James finally turned his gaze to her, grinning crookedly, "Rude, Evans, but not a bad retort. I'll have to remember that one."
"So you can use my insults on me?"
"The world doesn't revolve around you, Potions Master's pet. I was thinking more along the lines of an idiot Slytherin. Perhaps I'll use it on your best mate but then he'd just…" James trailed off. He flipped over to the next page. "Should we get started on the second part?"
Lily had half a mind to ask what he had been about to say but had a feeling he wouldn't answer, not honestly, in any case. "Yeah, that's-uh," she sighed, "sure."
Wordlessly, after having reminded him of his part of their project, Lily began working on hers. However, the silence didn't last long. It was interrupted in frequent intervals from James drumming his fingers on the chopping board or Lily's humming.
"Excellent work, Ginger," he commented as they finished pouring in all the ingredients to the potion into the cauldron. Not wasting much time, he lit the matches and set timer. "Slughorn's right about one thing. You're a fair hand at Potions. Might even make a job of it."
"Thanks, Potter. So… when's the next match? Aren't you playing Hufflepuff soon?"
"Hmm, yeah. Next Saturday, in fact. Can't be entirely certain about this one. Hufflepuff's been tough this season," he muttered, awarding her a third of his attention.
"I suppose it helps to be a Quidditch nut then."
"I'm not a Quidditch nut. No, you see, Padfoot is a Quidditch nut. Actually, he's just a nut but not an ordinary, boring nut. More of a mad dog. Yeah, that's it. He's barking mad!" James sniggered at his joke and for a moment, Lily was highly perplexed. Although, she usually never did understand a lot of the jokes he made regarding his friends. And somewhere along the line, she stopped trying out of equal parts fear and fatigue.
"Oh," Lily muttered.
Mildly disheartened by his lack of interest, she continued on about mixing the juice with the herbs. They didn't speak much for the latter half of the class, save to talk about the potion when necessary. Soon enough, they were bent over the rim of the cauldron, matching the color of the liquid to the ones on the palette in their textbook.
He emanated a strange scent, in the sense that it was one that she wasn't familiar with. It oddly reminded of leaves and trees.
She internally berated herself for letting her mind wander into that territory. It did absolutely nothing to help her current situation. Heck, it seemed to work against her.
When the timer rang and the color changed on cue to match the blue on the palette, Lily got rid of the fire and James began to flask a sample.
And since they submitted their sample, James had taken to mutely scribbling into a notebook, not paying any heed to Lily. She sat on her stool and tried not to think about it.
Biting her lip, she swallowed the nervous lump growing in her throat. She held her resolve like she had planned last night with Emily and Katie. Summoning every ounce of courage, she went on, imagining the worst case scenario.
"Did you make any plans for Saturday?"
"Saturday?" James appeared innocently surprised. "This Saturday? What's this Saturday?"
"Valentine's day," she said, attempting to keep her voice bland. Her face didn't cooperate as well. It glowed pink. She was immensely grateful that Potter had been too distracted to look at her just then. Clearing her throat, she prompted, "So?"
"Oh," he said, blinking his eyes rapidly. Then, smiling at her, "I hadn't thought about it much. I'll probably just end up with the lads. How about you?"
Her cheeks grew hotter. Hoping it wasn't too conspicuous, Lily touched the back of her hands to them. She shrugged, "Nothing so far. But I don't know, I was, er, wondering-"
"You have someone in mind?" his face lit up and he straightened with an amused grin stretching across his face. There was a glint in his eyes; very subtle. "So, which lucky bloke do you fancy, Evans?"
When she said nothing, he went on, offering guesses suggestively, "Who is it, Evans? You can trust me. I bet it's that Ravenclaw chaser, what's his face – Simmons? Is it? No? Then Smith? Tell me it isn't Spinnet. He's probably one of the most boring people I have ever met."
"It's not him," Lily whispered, practically inaudible.
"Good for you then. Knew you could do better. I don't know but you've never struck me as boring…"
"Potter, listen…" Lily attempted to cut in but she wasn't nearly loud enough for him to hear.
"…Interesting, someone's caught your fancy. Mullings will be disappointed still when I tell him you're a taken bird…"
"I'm really not…" she started with a pleading tone.
"…Sirius won't get enough of teasing him about it. Really, though, Mullings has been pining for you since, what, Third year, perhaps? Couldn't keep track…"
"…Potter, I'm not interested in…"
"…But what I'm curious to know if who the bloke is how he managed the impossible. I'm joking, of course, Evans. You're decent enough…"
"…Will you ever let me go on? Honestly…"
"… At the end of the day, I always thought that you would… but that's no matter anymore. Bit ridiculous, in actuality…"
"…Go out with me, Potter!" she blurted out louder than she had planned. Hot-faced, clammy hands fisted on her skirt and color dissolving from her neck, Lily panted heavily.
"W-what? I-I didn't k- I'm sorry, Evans, I-" his smile faltered and he looked guilty, grimacing.
"No, it doesn't- never you mind. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told- I've got to go," she said, hastily shoving her books in to her bag. She held back the wetness behind her eyes as she stalked to Slughorn's desk in front of the class.
Why did she even fancy the prat? He was a bully and she disliked him for it. However, that was one aspect of his personality. His loyalty to his friends greatly attracted her. His immense devoted hatred for prejudice and his ability to be kind to many, they all acted as factors that made her like him.
Although, she wished it didn't.
She stormed out of the classroom as fast as her feet would carry her.
The shock that held James from going after her, released him seconds too late, for Lily had already pleaded her case with the Potions professor, gesturing to her head as if it ached and he had been generously given her permission to leave.
James gritted his teeth and plopped back down onto his stool, resolute to think of anyone but a particular redhead.
It was only a matter of time until he did. Over the days, he noticed her, her movements, the way she talked, the way she laughed around her friends as compared to everyone else, the way she was cheeky and shared his sense of humor - more often than not.
He grew accustomed to the sound of her voice; her laugh was more pleasant to his ears; her perpetual need to hum songs when she was left empty-handed, even if she was a tad tone-deaf, mechanically brought a smile to his face.
He found himself far more invested in finding opportunities to spend time with her. And before long, Remus, Sirius and Peter were already on his case about her.
She never brought up her proposal again, and he tactfully never mentioned it. After they got over the initial awkwardness, they found that they enjoyed the other's company. So James was even less inclined to bring it up.
He realized that he perhaps fancied her.
But this wasn't something that could be left unresolved. Nearly a year later, mid-Sixth year, James stood outside the Potions classroom with Lily.
"…He was wiped clean off of his feet. I swear Merlin's beard, I've never seen Padfoot look that horrified before. And then the git got a hang of the broom and that's where it gets boring. All things considered, the hols were quite fun. I miss Mum's apple's tarts," James chuckled, leaning against the wall.
"Sounds like it," Lily replied, enticed by the thought of flying. "I really would like to do it once. Not the way they taught us in First Year, but properly. What's it like?"
"Flying? It's one of the most exhilarating things you could experience. Whenever you're free, come remind me and I'll take you out to the pitch. You can borrow my broom."
"I don't know. It's been awhile. Perhaps it would be better to start from scratch on a… slower broom. But thanks for the offer," she hugged her bag closer to her chest.
James caught the familiar tinge of pink of her cheeks. He ruffled his hair and took a deep breath.
"Happy to help," he muttered under his breath. "Anyhow, I was wondering, Lily, if maybe you'd like to… go out?"
Lily felt breathless all of a sudden.
"So whatddya say, Evans?"
"'Evans' again? I thought we were past that," Lily laughed.
"Who knows with us?" There was a change in the way he spoke. "You haven't answered my question. Should I take that as a 'no'? Just as well, I figured there wasn't any harm in asking."
James's smile faltered. He dug his hands into his pockets, shrinking slightly. "I'll see you around, yeah?"
Lily froze transiently. As he was about to turn, she caught him by the wrist and pulled him back more forcefully than she meant to. Mumbling a hasty apology, she started, "This isn't-this isn't a joke? You're not planning something to make the mickey-"
"Lily, Agrippa's sake," he interjected irately. "I wouldn't do that! I'm not-"
"-Cruel, but c'mon, James: bullying is cruel," she stated outright. "I'm not saying this to hurt you…"
"That's exactly- When was the last time you saw me bullying?" the words seemed wrenched out of his grasp against his will and the hurt was clearly visible on his face. "You don't think I realize that?"
"I have noticed. I'm sorry; I shouldn't have brought that up. I didn't mean to attack you. But I had to ask-"
"No, you didn't. Why do you think I could be capable of-"
"I'm not saying you'd do it maliciously. We're mates and we're supposed to pr-"
"We don't come up with pranks like those. We hide confetti in Filch's office, we possibly give him warts or hide Mrs. Norris, but we don't make personal attacks. Mates don't do that," he argued fiercely.
"I asked you a year ago and you couldn't seem the slightest bit enthused by the prospect. What's changed? Do you really expect me to believe you've changed your mind?" Lily's anger flared. She stood with her hands on her hips, glowering up at him.
"That's precisely what I expect. It's been a year. Could you allow for a possibility that I might have changed my mind because I was a daft oaf and didn't realize before? I hadn't paid enough attention to you and since we became mates, I've had an abundance of time for just that. I thought you might decline but not because of this," he spoke rapidly, jaw taut and an angry arm lifting to ruffle his hair out of frustration.
Lily was taken aback. "You're serious," she breathed out, to herself more than him.
If he caught the words, he made no reaction. He continued on his tirade, "We did become mates, right? And haven't we spent more time together in the past year than in the previous four years combined? How did you not see that I fancied you? Don't girls generally notice these things? Or haven't your mates asked you about me? Haven't they observed it?"
A smile was beginning to play on her lips. He would have gone on, had she not taken the step forward and planted her lips firmly on his. James was quick to get over the shock, responding hesistantly at first before picking up the pace with enthusiasm.
That is, until the bell sounded, requesting that they go into the classroom. Students started filing out into corridor and James and Lily pulled away breathless, beaming madly at each other.
"Still don't believe me?" James asked.
Lily thought she detected a bit of uncertainty in his tone. "Oh, I do. We should do this again sometime."
"Not a bad idea, love," he said smugly, any hint of doubt gone as if it had never existed. "Friday, then?"
She raised a finger, motioning for him to wait a minute, and stood on her toes to kiss him again. Parting, she answered, "Yes."
A/N:- Some feedback would be nice so please review