As a couple, Lily Evans and James Potter didn't fight that often. They'd had their fill, they felt, of petty feuds and screaming matches when they were younger, and so when they got into a relationship resolved to be as mature as possible about every conflict that arose. For the most part, they did a good job at this. In fact, the castle was rather quiet without them (or as quiet as Hogwarts could be). Even in late March, after they'd been together several months, their fellow students hadn't quite gotten used to it yet. It was a good thing that their personalities, however perfectly suited for each other, were apt to clash.
"You're an idiot!" An angry voice echoed down the deserted hallways, awakening the Fat Lady with a start. She peered around, the remnants of a dastardly headache from her night with Val rendering her vision slightly blurry, and eventually was able to make out the indistinct shape of what appeared to be an angry red blob storming towards her.
"Lily!"
A tall boy with a wrinkled uniform quickly followed, just on her heels, his face flushed and glasses askew. The girl paid him no mind, simply stomping right up to the portrait and tersely delivering the password. The Fat Lady gave her a sympathetic look, for she had always felt that Lily Evans was a decent sort of girl, and couldn't understand why she bothered with the riff raff that she did. Well, she supposed, it seemed she was finally learning her lesson. Whatever the other paintings might say, she did not have a soft spot for James Potter.
As if to prove this point, she turned and glared at the Head Boy as he approached. He made a face back at her (what a child), but quickly turned his attention back to the pretty redhead.
"Lily, listen to me!" he pleaded.
"Flibbertigibbet," she said fiercely, acting as though she hadn't heard him. The Fat Lady swung open to allow her entry, but when Potter tried to follow, quickly shut back up again.
"Oi! Open up!" He sputtered, outraged. She glared down at him, puffing out her chest and doing her best to look intimidating.
"Password?"
"She just ruddy gave you the password!" He snapped. "Now let me in! She's getting away!"
"Well, she didn't look too much like she wanted you to follow her."
"Thats none of your bloody business!"
"Password."
He repeated the password through gritted teeth, and she began to creak open as slowly as possible. Finally having had enough, James grabbed ahold of her frame and wrenched her away from the wall. Then he climbed through the portrait hole, not bothering to apologise as he slammed her violently behind him.
"Really!" The Fat Lady exclaimed, smoothing out the creases in her pink satin gown and glaring over her shoulder as if he could feel her disdain through the layers of canvas and stone. "How rude!"
"Lily!"
The common room was empty when James came stumbling inside, catching sight of his girlfriend ascending the staircase and crossing over to her in three miraculous bounds, grabbing her arm and spinning her around to face him all in one move.
"What do you want?" She spat, looking more mad than he'd seen her in over a year.
"Lil, come on," he said, tugging at her wrist. She was forced to grab onto his shoulder to keep from falling as he looped one arm around her waist and directed them down the steps and back into the cozy circular room below.
"Let go of me!" She snapped, slapping at his hands, which were now comfortably settled on her hips. She disentangled herself from him, then took several steps backward. "I don't want to to talk to you."
"Why are you so mad?"
"Why am I mad?" Lily's face turned stormy, and James flinched. Wrong question. "You attacked that little boy!"
"I didn't attack him," he mumbled, crossing his arms and now refusing to meet her gaze. "I just gave him a little talking to."
"You scared the crap out of him!"
"He fancies you!"
"He's a first year!"
"So?"
"So?! So, you don't own me, James Potter! I'm not your property."
"But I'm your boyfriend, and I love you, and if some other bloke is trying to-"
"Trying to what?!"
"Trying to-"
"Wait a second."
Lily held out a hand, cutting James off mid sentence. They were close together now, almost nose to nose, and yelling so loudly that she was surprised they hadn't woken up any of the children in the dormitories. It was almost one o'clock, after all (they had been coming back from patrols when he'd confessed his 'talking to' with Tommy Jordan), and they were the only ones in the Tower who were making any noise at all. But this isn't what had made her pause their argument.
"What did you just say?" She asked, not seeming particularly angry. James was concerned by the lack of warning in her voice.
"Right, well, erm, what I said was that if some bloke wants to-"
"No no," she shook her head, halting his rant before it really got started. He sighed, exasperated. If they let his anger sit idle by for too long, it would eventually cool down, and he'd have to admit that he was the one in the wrong. "Before that."
"Before that? Lily, what are you talking about, I haven't said anything except-"
"Yes you have!" Her green eyes were wide, but she didn't seem to want to tell him what he'd let slip that was so shocking. She wanted to hear it from him. "You said-I mean- it was only a few seconds ago-"
It was also another few seconds before James had an inkling of what she was saying now. For a moment he pondered over their conversation, analyzing everything he'd said (Merlin knew that birds could and would latch onto the smallest detail) and how it could potentially have made Lily upset. Then it came to him.
I'm your boyfriend, and I love you, and if some other bloke is trying to-
I'm your boyfriend, and I love you.
I love you.
It was the first time either of them had said it, but James found, after the initial shock, that he had subconsciously assumed she already knew. I mean, of course he loved her. Some part of him had loved her since they were eleven years old. Wasn't it obvious, the way he all but blushed whenever she touched him in even the most casual manner? The way he couldn't keep his eyes off of her when they sat across the room in Transfiguration (where they had a seating chart) or in the library (when she was too busy with her schoolwork or the occasional romance novel to pay him any attention)? He'd chased her for years-why would he put this much effort into someone he didn't love, for Merlin's sake? Why would he put up with her stubbornness, her meddling, if it weren't because he wanted-needed- to see her everyday, to kiss her and to hear her laugh? As he contemplated her apparent cluelessness, her expression changed-her cheeks flushed and she averted her gaze- and he realized he'd been silent one second two long, despite what must have been a visible representation of his realization.
"Er…" she looked anywhere but at him. "Nevermind. I'm sure I just...imagined it or something. Mad moment. Sorry. 'Night."
She turned away from him and tried to get away, but he caught her around her waist this time, preventing her from taking more than two steps.
She sighed. "I wish you'd stop doing that."
"I love you."
For some reason, she was again startled by this. "What?"
"I love you, Lily," he repeated himself, taking in the freckles dusted across her nose and cheeks with great affection. "I said I love you."
She didn't seem to know how to react to this, so, after a few moments of endearing stammering, he put her out of her misery, leaned down, and pressed his lips against hers.
James thought he'd kissed Lily in every way possible, but this kiss was not as passionate or urgent as ones in the past. Their lips moved together softly, her hands tangled themselves in his hair, and they seemed to be communicating something silent and important to each other. In her own non-verbal way, Lily was saying 'I love you too.'
When they finally broke apart what seemed like ages later, they both needed to regain their breath, but Lily seemed to have recovered her ability to speak. She leaned back slightly, so as to look him in the eye, and raised one eyebrow.
"You're still a bullying ponce."
He grinned, pecking her just below her chin.
"I know."