He moved over and sat down on a bucket that was closer to her, never breaking eye contact. His hand brushed lightly down her cheekbone, and along her jaw. He had never been this close to her. He now noticed small things about her that he never had before, like how she had small flecks of yellow in her eyes, and tiny freckles dashed across her nose and her cheeks. These things only enhanced her beauty in James' eyes. Both hands now held her delicate face, his fingers meeting in the back of her hair. With every time she blinked the urge inside him grew stronger, and there was no doubting in his mind now. There was no turning back.

He then closed his eyes and tilted his head, leaning in to gently brush his lips with hers. His kiss was full of passion, but somehow it remained gentle and innocent. His kiss held no demands, but more of a loving plead. Her lips were just as soft as he had imagined them, if not more. He then slowly stopped, and opened his eyes. He stroked her hair, fingers running through the silky mane of red. Now all he could do was wait, wait for her to yell, wait for her to scream, he was even prepared for her to slap him. But even if she did all those things, he would still know in his heart that he gave it his best shot. If she rejected him, he would accept it and let her continue living with this night as only a memory. But even if she rejected him, and they left this closet as one angry, and one hurt, he would still have a place for her in his heart, a place where she would always be welcomed. He then looked back into her eyes, and whispered,

"I could never get bored with you."

Lily could see what he was doing, and she wasn't sure why she didn't stop him. Maybe it was the fact he seemed so genuine. Maybe it was the deep ache she'd seen when she even hinted at full rejection, at them never being a pair. She felt his hands on her face and in her hair somehow, but it was like she was powerless to stop it. One half of her head was screaming at her to slap him and hit him and scream, while the other held her back. Was she curious? Was she pitying him? She didn't know. His unfamiliar touch sent shivers down her spine, callused fingertips making her heart pound and toes curl in her shoes. A moment later, she felt his lips upon hers.

Her head spun.

She almost instinctively closed her eyes after a moment, a touch too stunned to to much else. The young woman could feel the heat in her cheeks, splashing them with a red that nearly matched her hair. She went a bit limp, and could have sworn she was floating. It seemed to last only a moment and eternity all at once, and sparks flew through Lily's mind. Merlin.

She felt him pull away, hands still tangled in her hair. She opened her eyes, intense gaze locking upon him. Lily could feel herself trembling a bit, the blush still in her cheeks, heart trying to leap from her chest. The girl realized she wasn't breathing and inhaled deeply, gulping a bit. Hell's bells, she certainly hadn't prepared herself for that. Her lips parted a bit as if she were about to say something in shock or anger, but no words came out. She wasn't sure what had just happened, but her voice didn't seem to want to cooperate. Lily limply raised a hand, as if to slap him, but promptly dropped it. She couldn't.

"What in the seven Hells." she uttered, staring at him, obviously quite bewildered that she'd suddenly lost most of her motor functions and couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from him.

"I'm sorry…I probably shouldn't have…" James said now realizing that this was probably a mistake. He got up and went to the door, as if it would open for him. He knew it wouldn't. He set his hand on the doorknob, and rested his forehead on the door itself. After a moment he turned around and leaned on the door, staring at Lily.

She watched him, and very nearly reached out to grab his hand, but didn't. Her mind was a war-zone all of the sudden. Her logical side, which generally won, was yelling at her about what a dreadful boy he was and how his behavior was currently going against everything she'd ever come to expect of him. On the other hand, her emotional side was at least stalemating her logic. That kiss had been special, somehow, and Lily knew it. It had been like being hit or kicked in the chest. She found herself faintly wanting to reach out and place her arms around him and bury her face into the crook of his neck. At the same time, she wanted to slap herself for even thinking something like that.

"No...it's... alright..." she managed to get out, taking her eyes off of him and choosing to, instead, look at her feet and focus on controlling her blush.

"No…It wasn't." James heaved himself off the door, "This is exactly the kind of thing you hate about me. My bloody impulses. I only did that because…well...because it seemed right. It's what I'm good at isn't it? Making a mess out of everything…yeah, that's my skill." James said venting. He then looked at her; she looked baffled, with her hair askew. "And look…" he said gently taking a step towards her, "I've messed up your hair too." He took a hand and brushed down the red locks that were out of place.

The look on his face was one of a hurt puppy dog, with his forehead wrinkled and eyebrows crooked in a manner that suggested someone had just broken his favorite possession.

Feeling stupid he stood there. He may not have been embarrassed right after the kiss, but it was slowly growing on him now. He had just kissed Lily Evans, the girl who loathed him, in a broom closet. She was bound to hate him forever. He completely ignored the fact that she had said that it was alright, and he was still waiting for her to slap him at any moment.

She felt her heart flutter at his touch. Lily J. Evans was a strange creature when it came to emotions. She hated them. All of them. Emotions caused her to look imperfect which, in her opinion, wasn't an option. She'd grown up expected to be perfect, and that's how she'd gained her respect and power at school. People looked up to her. She felt needed. And that was important to her. Therefore, when emotions became too strong for her to simply lock away, she wasn't a terribly happy girl.

"James. Shut up." she said simply at his babblings of 'I'm sorry' and 'this is why you hate me'. Well. He was right. She looked contemplative, before her emotional side, for one of the first times in her life, beat out logic. She grabbed his collar, pulling him down to her level again, as if to yell or inflict physical damage upon the boy. She removed his glasses, putting them down beside her, and looked into his eyes. She looked ready to scream or yell or break his neck. Instead, however, Lily did something that would have caused most people in the school to have a heart attack. She kissed James.