Merely Caught in the Moment

Disclaimer: I don't have an inkling to do with Harry Potter other than I have JK's fabulous books on my shelf in my room. Thank the Lord for her.

Author's Note: This story's plotline is taken from a few lines in the song by Rascal Flatts, "Fast Cars and Freedom." Ever since I first listened to the song (a wonderful song, by the way), those lines kept reminding me of the many romances picked up by JK Rowling's characters in FanFiction. The lines are:

Starin' at you takin' off your makeup
Wondering why you even put it on
I know you think you do but baby you don't need it
Wish that you could see what I see it when it's gone
--Rascal Flatts

I am not going to use those lines anywhere in my story except that it is based off of those lines. Thank you.

It was dark out, and though in mid November, the Quidditch players were drenched in sweat from a very intense practice. Some chose to shower right away (some even in their clothes to refresh them a bit) in the locker room, but others, like the captain, James Potter, and his best mate, Sirius Black, preferred their dormitory showers.

"Oi, Potter, you arse, why do'ya have to be brilliant?" Sirius' voice hollered through the locker room from his locker. James, who was ruffling through some game plans on his own personal desk in his own personal office, chuckled.

"Sorry, Pad, just can't help it," he called back, finally having semi-organized the scattered papers by tossing them all in the same general direction (top left corner of the desk). He grabbed his small red and gold duffel and headed out into the locker room, where it was steamy from the showers, smelly from the sweating bodies, and cluttered with brooms, safety pads, and other various forms of Quidditch equipment. He made it to Sirius' chosen locker, where his friend was gathering all of his things.

"You come up with awesome plans, yeah, but must we practice each one to perfection every bloody time you have a new one? Most times, it isn't too bad...but today you had five new plans! I love you, mate, but you're a tad off your rocker," Sirius complained as the two trudged through the locker room and outside, where the brisk wind caught them. James' hair immediately ruffled at the touch of the wind, but not too much as his hair, too, was dripping with the sticky, salty sweat. Both welcomed the breeze as they crossed the grounds toward the Entrance Hall doors.

"Yeah, so it's life. Get over it," James said, grinning.

"Get over it? Get over yourself, mate!" Sirius gasped. The two started laughing.

"If I knew you didn't have late night plans with a Miss Johnston from Hufflepuff, I would beat you to a bloody pulp right now," James joked.

"How'd you know?" Sirius asked, shocked. He pulled open the castle door and held it for James and himself to go inside.

"I'm only your best mate, I'm not an idiot, I know what goes on," James countered, still grinning.

"Well, thing is, Diggory dumped her yesterday, and now I'm here to comfort her. I'm meeting her at the Hufflepuff entryway and leading her to the astronomy tower," Sirius said, his eyes dancing.

"Sirius, you dog!" James gasped, swatting his friend over his sweaty head as the two headed up a staircase.

"Yeah, I may be a dog, but you're a st...wait, guess that doesn't work, stags are bigger than dogs," Sirius stopped halfway through, murmuring the rest. James just laughed.

"Well, I'd better get back to the Head common room. I've still got homework to be finished, and I need a shower," James said, giving his friend a wave and heading up a different staircase.

"You do need a shower, you stink," Sirius said, pinching his nose but grinning nonetheless.

"Not as bad as you!" James called as he got to the top of the staircase and turned left down a corridor. Reaching a portrait of Sir Cadogen, he stopped and cleared his throat. "Fine Finnish Fights," he said to the picture of the knight on a horse.

"Ah, you again! Stay and try to conquer me! I know you can't," the picture dared.

"Oh, just let me in," James groaned. The portrait swung open, still calling after James, calling him such names as 'chicken!' and 'scaredy cat!'. James rolled his eyes. "Bloody dolt," he muttered, heading to his room on the opposite end of his own common room. Actually, it wasn't just his, it was also Lily Evans, the resident Head Girl of Hogwarts. He could tell she had been in the room recently, as her book bag was still on the floor next to the table she normally sat at to do her school work and work on her Head Girl written duties.

For many years now, James had been attracted to Lily Evans. Not only was she pretty (gorgeous in his eyes), but she was smart, dedicated to her work, and she believed in herself. She set goals for herself (one of them being never to give into James Potter), which she was pretty good at keeping. All in all, James saw her as perfect. He had asked her out numerous times between fifth and sixth year. Something she had said, however, at the end of sixth year made him stop and wonder all through the summer between sixth and seventh years. She had told him that he was a self-centered jerk who didn't deserve half of what he had. That had hit James deep down, and he realized that unless he stopped his cocky, jerkish ways, she'd never think highly of him. Not saying anything to his friends (Sirius, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew) about him planning to change, he worked on it all alone. He was genuinely nicer to everyone all the time, he realized that hexing Slytherins just for the house they were placed in was a very conceited thing to do. When he returned to Hogwarts in September, he didn't hex anyone along with his friends. He spoke to people he hadn't before. He had grown up and changed during the summer. Lily didn't seem to understand this concept, yet him being Head Boy, the counterpart to her being Head Girl, meant she had to speak with him. They had gotten to be friendly. Not all best-matish-chummy and all that jazz, but friendly. And that was good enough for James Potter at the moment because he knew inside that he had achieved something, and he felt great about it.

Snapping from his trance on staring at Lily's school bag, James finished his way across the cozy, red and gold decorated room to his door and opened it. Inside was his own personal dormitory, complete with a fourposter bed, a window over the Quidditch Pitch, and a door to the lavatory he and Lily had to share. Tossing his dirty, smelly Quidditch practice robes to the floor of his room, he headed to the lavatory door, listening for noise. He thoght he heard a little something and cracked the door just enough to see in. Sure enough, Lily was there washing her face. She had a wash cloth soaking in the sink as she rubbed makeup removal off of her face. Her auburn hair was back in a low ponytail, and her hair trailed halfway down the back of her bedroom robe. Her robe was a light emerald green, made of silky material, and she always wore it over her night clothes. She didn't notice the slight squeak of the door James had propped open a tad, maybe because she was humming a little tune as she took the washcloth and wrung it out before wiping the makeup removal off of her face.

James couldn't believe she even wore makeup. She always had a slight trace of light brown eyeliner just below her emerald orbs, and a light, rosy blush was always covering up her cute freckles and perfect skin. James always noticed that with her makeup on, she looked a little older and more professional. He also noticed that without her makeup (he figured he was the only male other than her father to see her without makeup since she was in third year as they shared a dormitory), she looked younger. Not younger than her age of seventeen, but younger than she did with makeup on. This made her look a little more vulnerable, though not in a bad way. Leaning against the doorframe silently, James was in a trance. The way she hummed, the way she scrubbed her face, the way she was just there reminded him of how he really vfelt for her. This made him long for something more than friendship. This wasn't the lust he had felt for the many girls he had taken out in his former years. No, he had been going through a phase back then. But this couldn't be love. She hardly liked him. He couldn't have feelings of love for someone who could genuinely careless for him.

As Lily turned to pick up a fluffy white hand towel to dry her face, she noticed the cracked door. Squinting, she saw a tall shadow in the door frame.

"What are you doing?" she asked accusingly. She marched over to the door and pulled it all the way open to reveal the sweaty James, whose heart was pounding in confusion.

"Sorry," he said quietly, though not dropping his gaze from her. "I was going to shower, but noticed you were in here when I was opening the door," he explained, his voice a bit louder now.

"How long have you been standing there, then," Lily asked, an unreadable expression on her face. James decided she wasn't mad, at least not viciously mad. He just couldn't read her expression.

"I don't know, possibly five minutes?" he said, a small smile playing at his lips.

"Five minutes? And you couldn't say anything? You couldn't leave? You couldn't knock, for Merlin's sake?" Lily inquired, not enraged, but not necessarily happy either.

"Of course I couldn't say anything, Lily! There you were, beautiful as always, washing your face. I don't know, it was like you pulled me into a trance!" When he said this, Lily blushed, her face naturally rosy. James decided he liked natural better. "I know you remember the countless times I asked you out, back when I was cocky about every bloody thing in the world. I don't know if you realize it or not, but I wasn't just trying to prank you. I wasn't just trying to snog you senseless. I could never treat you like that. You're different than everyone else. Bloody hell, Lily, I liked you then, I like you now! You try to leave a lavatory when the object of your affections is there, looking so perfect!" James exclaimed, glad to have said all he did, but a little embarrassed to have said it all. His face flushed and he averted his gaze to the red and gold hand towels, complete with embroidered 'L's and 'J's.

Lily just stood there, vulnerable-like in her silky robe with her hair pulled back low and her face all washed, all but the rosy blush that graced her features. "I--I don't know what to say," she finally said after several moments, finally dropping her gaze from James'. He just stood there, his heart breaking. She was going to tell him she didn't care for him. He knew it.

"You don't need to wear makeup," James suddenly blurted out, of course, not meaning to. It was something he couldn't control at the moment, and now it was out there, lingering between them.

"Pardon?" Lily said, looking up. She had half-expected James to say something completely cocky, like "I need a shower, would you care to join me?" But he hadn't.

"You don't need to wear makeup," James repeated, this time confident. "I don't know why you do, actually. You're beautiful without it. At least to me," he said, the last part rather quietly.

"That has got to be the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me," Lily said, blushing furiously. The two of them stood there, in the doorway of James' room and the loo, silent and blushing. After several minutes, Lily spoke again. "Well, er, looks like you need the shower, so," she said, sounding as if she didn't know what to do. Before she turned and left, however, she spoke yet again. "You really have changed, James Potter. In a good way." With that, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek quickly before smiling shyly and turning to leave the loo.

About James Potter...not only was he shocked by the entire thing, but he was grinning madly. She had used his first name and she had kissed his cheek. Change was good.

Author's Note: Yes, entirely fluffy, but who doesn't love fluff? Hope you enjoyed it. Go review, pretty please!

'Lyne