The seventh years scrambled out onto the grounds as soon as Professor Binns dismissed the class. That Friday in particular had been particularly extruciating as teachers had been piling on N.E.W.T. review work. The beautiful weather had been taunting them while they worked in the dark classrooms and to say they were relieved for the end of the day would be an immense understatement. Some of the more outgoing kids had stripped down for a cool swim in the Black Lake while others were simply resting in the shade, enjoying the relaxation time. Everyone was pushing the upcoming exams to the back of their minds. Everyone, that is, except for a certain red-haired Gryffindor who happened to be sitting away from the rest of the students, furiously scribbling on a piece of parchment and occasionally glancing towards the books that lay open before her.
Upon catching sight of this girl, a tall boy of raven hair, strutted over with a sense of self-confidence in each step. He plopped down next to the red-head, causing her to jump.
"Potter," she muttered, her tone full of aggrivation," Go away."
"Nah, I don't think I will. This spot has a particularly nice view," he responded with a wink, his gaze dropping to her blouse, which she had partially unbuttoned due to the heat. A blush formed on her cheeks and she scrambled to redo the buttons.
"Don't worry Evans," he said with a smirk, "I didn't see anything."
The wink he added to the end of the statement caused her cheeks to become even more red as she remembered the last time he had said that to her. It had been earlier that week and he had unceremoniously barged into her dormitory. He did that quite often, mind you. Their status as head students gave them private dormitories that connected to an adjoining common room and Lily swore that the boy was a complete stranger to the concept of knocking. This time, however, James had barged in while she was in the process of changing her clothes. He had caught her without a shirt on and it had definitely been one of the most embarrasing moments of the seventeen-year-old's life. Luckily, she had still been wearing her bra, but it had still been a mortifying experience.
During her flashback, James had scooted even closer to the girl, plopping his feet on her books.
"Do you mind?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.
"So Lilyflower," he started, completely ignoring the icy glares she was sending his way, "Why is it that on this gorgeous day, while everyone is relaxing, you are revising."
"Well, believe it or not, Potter," she spat, "Some of us actually care about passing the N.E.."
"Silly Lily. You really are too uptight sometimes," he said, snatching her quill out of her hands.
"Potter, if you don't give that back right this second," she began, her fist clenched menacingly around her wand.
"Oh, I'm sorry, did you want this," he asked with a lopsided smirk, holding the quill in front of her. She made to grab it, but he jumped to his feet, holding it far out of her reach. She stood, and attempted to summon the quill, but before she could even say 'accio' he brought his fingers together, snapping the quill in half.
"Argh," she fumed, stomping her foot,"I hate you, Potter!"
"Oh, really?" he asked, "You hate me?"
"Yes, Potter, I hate you," she confirmed, annoyance decorating her features.
"Okay, let me get this straight. You hate me, so you're saying you don't like me? You're saying you have no positive feelings for me whatsoever?"
"Yes, Potter," she said rolling her eyes, "I think we've established that."
"Wait," he said, "I'm not finished. As I was saying, you say you hate me, so you're saying that you don't secretly love it when you catch me staring at you? You're saying that you don't feel anything when my arm brushes yours?" His fingers reached out to touch her arm and she quickly jerked it away. Unfotunately, she knew exactly what he was talking about. Of course, she had written it off as teenage hormones, but she did in fact feel a chill when his skin touched hers.
"You're saying that you will not feel your body heat up, when I take a step closer?" He moved forward, bringing them close enough that she could see the brilliant gold specks hiding in his eyes, and the slight hints of brown in his hair, almost undetectable against the brilliant black.
"You're saying that it doesn't send tingles running through your body when I say your name?" She could feel the warmth of his breath on her neck as he brought his mouth to her ear.
"Lily," he whispered, and he felt a surge of pride and happiness as he noticed a shudder run down her back.
"And you most definitely will push me away and call me an insufferable, conceited, toerag, when I do this." And suddenly his lips were on her neck, causing her to gasp. Every sense of reason she had was screaming at her to stop this immediately, but she lost all self-control as his teeth grazed her earlobe. He continued to plant soft kisses down the length of her neck, stopping to nip at her collarbone. Her eyes fluttered closed and she held back a moan.
Then, as suddenly as it came, it was gone. Lily's eyes shot open to find herself staring directly at James' lips, which were curved up in a smirk. Normally, she would of yelled at him. Normally, she would of called him a long list of insults. Normally, she would've slapped him right across the face. Instead, she leaned forward and kissed him. She hungrily attacked his mouth and she felt him begin to return the action, but then he pulled away. She looked up at him, surprise written all over her face.
"Sorry, Evans," he said, "But I don't snog people wo hate me."
Her jaw dopped to the ground as he turned and walked away. She felt completely shocked and slightly hurt. He had already joined his friends who were lounging by the lake and they were laughing at a joke that one of them had told. Her face hardened in determination and she marched over to the Marauders.
"Potter," she growled, " A word?"
He looked up at her expectantly.
"Alone?" He slowly stood and followed her as she walked away from the group. Once they were behind a thick tree that obscured them from the view of their fellow students, she stopped and turned on him.
"What the hell was that?" she asked angrily, giving him a shove.
"You said that you hated me," he said, his face completely calm, "And, as I said, I don't snog people who hate me."
"I don't know what you're playing at, Potter. But you have no right to mess with my emotions like that and then walk away as if nothing happened!"
"Oh, so you do have feelings for me."
"Yes!" Lily yelled, causing his eyes to widen at the confession, "I have feelings for you, Potter. Is that what you want to hear? Do you want me to tell you about how I've hated that you've gotten more mature and completely proved everything I've said about you wrong? Do you want me to tell you about how I feel sick in my stomach when I see you all over your flavour of the week? Do you want me to tell you how much I want you to just grab me and-," she found herself cut off as James' mouth crashed to hers, fierce with seven years of pent up desire. He backed her up against the rough bark of the tree, but she didn't seem to mind. A shiver ran down his spine as she ran a hand down his toned chest, burying the other in his hair.
This time, she began to attack his neck, getting him back for the loss of self-control he had inflicted on her earlier. A low groan escaped his throat and he felt her smile against his skin. He grabbed her chin, pulling her back up to his lips and slipping his tongue into her mouth. Lily knew that they should probably stop before anything happened that they would later regret, but she couldn't bring herself to pull away from the boy that was attacking her mouth.
"Well, it's about time," a voice called and Lily instantly jumped away, horrified at being caught. James, however simply looked annoyed.
"Really, Padfoot?" he called to the boy that was approaching them, "You have the absolute worst timing."
"Good job, mate," Sirius said, patting James on the shoulder, "You finally got her."
"Hey, Evans, you have a little something," he said, gesturing to her neck. Her hand immediately shot up to cover the bite mark.
"Shove off, Black," she said.
"Okay, okay, I'm gone. You two just continue with whatever you were doing," he said with a suggestive wink before turning and sauntering away.
James turned back towards Lily, who was blusing and looking at the ground. He pulled her hand away from where it still rested on her neck.
"Don't cover it up," he said, running his fingers along the mark, "It let's people know that you're mine."
"You're insufferable,"Lily muttered, rolling her eyes, but bringing her hand down nonetheless. James reached down and intertwined their fingers, leaning casually against the tree.
"So, Lily, how would you like to accompany me to Hogsmeade?" he asked, bracing himself for the rejection that had become an ordinary occurance in his time at Hogwarts.
"I would be honoured," she said, with a smile. He looked down at her, a wide grin spread across his face and planted a kiss on her lips.
"Finally."