Disclaimer: The plot is mine. The characters are J.K. Rowling's.

Lily huffed. She was getting nowhere. If that tendril of hair escaped the elastic one more time, she was going to hex it off her own scalp. She was going to be late for rounds, but Lily wanted her whole face to show and all of her hair to be up. She just felt like something different today.

The amount of effort Lily was putting into her hair had nothing to do with anyone, though. Really. Nobody told her in passing that they liked the way her face looked. Nobody expressed the sentiment that she would be beautiful with even a simple ponytail. Nobody used to push stray locks behind her ear before she swatted his hands away. She spent too much time thinking about Nobody. Unfortunately for Lily, Nobody's name was James Potter.

No matter that he had said it all three months ago, before The Change (yes, it needed to be capitalized). Recently, Lily found herself recalling the most trivial facts and pieces of their conversations, nay, their arguments. And she was doing all she could to reverse The Change, but only because she wanted to prove him wrong. Prove that he couldn't really keep up this façade. It was a simple experiment. Nothing more than a matter of winning an argument.

………………..

Damnit, Lily! I'm just tired. I'm so tired. If you can't tell the difference, then I'll . . . I don't know. . . I'll just stop. okay?

I don't believe you!

FINE!

……………….

Only he hadn't stopped. At the last not in the way Lily expected him to. She expected him to stop being so . . . so . . . likeable (because as much as she hated to admit it, that's exactly how she felt) and go back to being the familiar arrogant prick. Instead, Potter stopped everything that made him James. Stopped ruffling his hair. Stopped playing with the snitch. Stopped being late to class. Stopped creeping into the Heads' dorms past curfew. Stopped asking her out.

After a little struggle involving a few too many bobby pins, Lily gave up with her hair and joined James in the hallway. Without so much as a word from either of them, they set off.

Lily kept sneaking glances throughout their patrolling to see if James was looking at her. To see if he noticed anything. She had been trying the last six times they were alone together to get some sort of reaction out of him. Something with some semblance of James. She slightly resented that she had resorted to using her physical appearance, but Lily was going to do all she could.

After a particularly embarrassing encounter with Sirius and a sixth year Ravenclaw behind a suit of armor, James finally addressed her.

"Evans? I mean, Lily?"

"What is it Potter?" Lily huffed, and then winced immediately after. What was wrong with her? He finally talks and she snaps at him?

James seemed oblivious to her inner battle. His face fell a little more, if that was even possible. "Nothing," he managed to sigh out, and brushed past her.

As he turned into the Charms corridor, Lily regained her composure and caught up to him. After a deep breath, "James? . . . um. did you want to say something?"

He stopped and looked at her intensely. Lily began to wonder if he heard her at all until he whispered, "yeah."

Another pause, " . . . yes. um, you . . . you look—I mean, your hair—I, uh. . ."

Lily held her breath. He was about to come through. He was almost there.

Suddenly, James seemed to remember himself and muttered a quick, "never mind," before turning away slightly.

Lily mentally shook herself out of her daze and whispered a barely audible, "tell me, James."

Slowly, so slowly, as if he was afraid of getting burned, his left hand rose and extended to Lily's head. She leaned in a little. Just a little, so he wouldn't notice. She felt his finger on the top of her head lightly touching her hair so that it ticked. A little more. And before Lily could process what was happening, James withdrew his hand and took a step back.

Her surprise at his lack of making a move must have shown, because James looked down and muttered something about a 'lump of hair' and an 'elastic' and 'sticking out.'

Severely disappointed at the lack of progress, Lily let out a choked sob. James' head shot up, alarmed. Lily leaned against the wall, and in an instant, she found herself leaning against a warm chest instead.

This only made Lily feel guilty. Trying to be brave, she sucked up her tears and withdrew from James, but he kept his hands on her shoulders giving her that same intense look. Heart beating a little faster than usual, Lily mentally prepared herself for another comment on her messy ponytail.

Right on cue, James leaned in a little closer. Lily stayed put this time, not wanting to embarrass herself again. When he was close enough that she could see his separate eyelashes, Lily had to close her eyes to stop herself from counting them.

Oh God, Lily realized, She had been lying to herself for almost three months. She wanted James. She wanted him to kiss her. She wanted him to hold her. She wanted him to talk to her again. She held her breath, waiting for James to draw away as her heart gave a pang.

But instead of feeling his fingers in her hair, she felt the pads of his thumbs wiping away the remnants of her tears. Surprised, she opened her eyes to see James' closed. He looked so peaceful, as if he was savoring the moment.

And then, without opening his eyes to look at her, he kissed her cheek. Lily, who was turning her head slightly away, froze. Since Lily was halfway looking to the side, James caught her lips when he went for her other cheek.

It was like an awakening. James stilled, not pulling away in the slightest. Then he felt Lily's lips move against his almost undetectably. Suddenly, one hand was in her hair and the other was pulling her flush against him as he peppered her face and mouth and neck with frantic kisses, in a passion that told Lily that this really was James Potter.

As James was giving attention to the side of her neck, Lily held on tightly to his broad and muscular shoulders. She smiled a little. She found him. She found James. And without even realizing it, Lily won. James could never stop loving her.

constructive criticism is appreciated.